Are High Severity Fires Increasing in Southern Australia?

Wildfires worldwide are becoming more frequent but are they also becoming more severe? Here we used remotely sensed burn-severity data from wildfires in Victoria, southeastern Australia to address that question. We selected 162 wildfires of more than 1000 ha that occurred over the past 30 years across a wide range of forest types. Spectral indices derived from Landsat pre- and post- fire imagery were used to map fire severity. Our results show a significant increase in the absolute and proportional area burnt by high-severity fire over the last three decades. This study demonstrates that wildfires in the temperate forests of southern Australia are becoming more severe. Such change in fire regimes may have critical consequences for the sustainability and resilience of the studied forests.