Development of a Traits Database and Vulnerability Framework to Assess Fire Susceptibility of Australian Invertebrate Species

The Challenge

Individual plant and animal species vary markedly in their population level responses to fire. Some species have characteristics that render them especially susceptible to mortality in fires or to a slow and challenging recovery. The persistence of such species in fire-prone environments is likely to need targeted – sometimes urgent – management. 

However, such information has not been readily collated, available or accessible, particularly for Australia’s ca. 320,000 invertebrate species. This lack of preparedness compromised action for at least 14,000 of the invertebrate species affected by the 2019–20 bushfires. The magnitude of invertebrate species affected by these fires far exceeded that of plant or vertebrate species, yet due to deficiencies in knowledge the response was inevitably skewed to those groups. It is critical we learn from the experience of the 2019–20 wildfires and address this shortcoming.

The Approach

The project developed a live dataset of invertebrate traits that relate to fire susceptibility along with a process for community approval. The dataset has been populated for a significant 10% of Australia’s 110,000 described invertebrate species. The project collaborated with the Atlas of Living Australia to arrange access to distributional data, linking fire overlap mapping to traits database to assess susceptibility.

The AusTraits plant traits database is being used as a model for the invertebrate traits database. The project worked closely with the AusTraits team, enabling linkages to be made between interacting species and allowing fire susceptibility of those species to be included in vulnerability assessments.

The Partners

• Invertebrates Australia
• University of Melbourne
• Australian Museum
• University of NSW
• University of Sydney
• Atlas of Living Australia
• EcoCommons Australia
• Australian Entomology Society
• Australian National Insect Collection
• Charles Darwin University

Further Resources

• Learn more about the project from a presentation by Payal Bal, Invertebrates Australia (DC012) at the November 2023 Bushfire Data Challenges Forum.
• Read about quantifying species range and overlap with fire-burned areas using concave hulls on ALA Labs.