Pre-contact aboriginal, and contemporary fire regimes of the savanna landscapes of northern Australia: Patterns, changes and ecological responses

Fire regimes across the fire-prone savanna landscapes of northern Australia have changed markedly in many regions since the advent of European settlers (primarily pastoralists and miners) over a period spanning, at most, 150 years. These changes have been built on a large and rapidly growing number of descriptive and experimental studies. As a result, significant concerns have been expressed recently with respect to the cultural, economic, and ecological sustainability of contemporary fire regimes across that region (e.g. McDonald and Batt 1994; Rose 1995; Grice and Slatter 1997; Jacklyn and Russell-Smith 1998; Russell- Smith et al. 2000).