Working in collaboration with Victorian, national and international research groups, we have many ongoing projects across the biological, physical and social sciences. This investment increases our capability to manage risks and deliver for all Victorian communities.

Research programs enables us to gain understanding and management of bushfire to:

  • improve ability to characterize and model severe bushfire
  • improve decision making about where to invest resources and plan bushfire risk reduction activities
  • improve bushfire and planned burn mapping
  • improve understanding and ability to mitigate the impact of bushfires on communities and communicate that risk to communities
  • improve ability to manage and communicate the impact of smoke during bushfires and planned burns
  • improve understanding of the impact of planned burning on biodiversity
  • improve ability to protect and promote fire sensitive species and habitats within foothills forests
  • improve data collection and data management in a way that better supports strategic bushfire management plan processes and guides the needs for future research.

Fire and adaptive management reports

We have been publishing a series of research reports as “Fire and adaptive management reports” or earlier “Fire research reports” since 1977. These reports are the final outputs from many of our research projects. It’s important to know that our research has many other outputs, such as complex computer modelling capacity, or improvements in data to improve models.

For each report the title, authors, report number and publication date are listed in the tables below. They are grouped by theme as follows:

For accessible versions of reports contact us directing your enquiry to the Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Unit in the Forest, Fire and Regions Group, and quote the report(s) you require.

Hard copies of reports that are still in print may be purchased from:

Information Victoria
Level 20, 80 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000

1300 366 356 for the cost of a local call, anywhere in Australia
Fax: 03 9208 3316

www.bookshop.vic.gov.au

Community: understanding, impact and values

YearTitleAuthors Report number
2010 The impacts, losses and benefits sustained from five severe bushfires in south-eastern Australia (PDF, 2.3 MB) C. Stephenson 88
2010 A literature review on the social, economic and environmental impacts of severe bushfires (PDF, 2.2 MB) C. Stephenson 87
2010 Guiding Principles: facilitating learning, understanding and change through relationships (PDF, 2.1 MB) C. Campbell, M. Campbell, S. Blair 80
2010 A case study of a "Strategic Conversation" about fire in Victoria, Australia (PDF, 809.6 KB) S. Blair, C. Campbell, and M. Campbell 79
2010 Developing a fire learning network: a case study of the first year (PDF, 1.6 MB) C. Campbell, S. Blair and A.A.G. Wilson 78
2010 Understanding, developing and sharing knowledge about fire in Victoria, Australia (PDF, 1.4 MB) S. Blair, C. Campbell, A.A.G. Wilson and M. Campbell 77
2010 Adaptive management of fire: the role of a learning network (PDF, 833.9 KB) C. Campbell, S. Blair and A.A.G. Wilson 76
2003 A review of the relationship between fireline intensity and the ecological and economic effects of fire, and methods currently used to collect fire data (PDF, 517.2 KB) Karen Chatto & Kevin G. Tolhurst 67
2015 Assessing the economic value and vulnerability of nature-based tourism in the Ovens and Alpine area of NE Victoria (PDF, 4.0 MB) J. Pyke, M. Jiang, T. De Lacy, P. Whitelaw and R. Jones 94

Smoke modelling

YearTitleAuthorsReport number
2003 Modelling transport, dispersion and secondary pollutant formation of emissions from burning vegetation using air quality dispersion models  (PDF, 614.0 KB) Orestis Denis Valianatos, Kevin Tolhurst, Steven Siems, Nigel Tapper 53
2019 Smoke emission and transport modelling (PDF, 14.8 MB) Martin Cope, Sunhee Lee, Mick Meyer, Fabienne Reisen, Camilla Trindade, Andrew Sullivan, Nic Surawski et al. 102

Bushfire Management

YearTitleAuthors Report number
2014 National Bushfire Management Policy Statement for Forests and Rangelands (PDF, 3.4 MB) Forest Fire Management Group for the Council of Australian Governments  
2011 Establishing a link between the power of fire and community loss: the first step towards developing a bushfire severity scale (PDF, 6.4 MB) S. Harris, W. Anderson, M. Kilinc, and L. Fogarty 89
2004 Analysis of wildfire threat: issues and options (PDF, 318.2 KB) AAG. Wilson 55
2003 Prediction of firefighting resources for suppression operations in Victoria's parks and forests (PDF, 2.3 MB) Gregory J. McCarthy, Kevin G. Tolhurst, Michael Wouters 56
1997 Analysis of fire causes on or threatening public land in Victoria: 1976/77 – 1995/96 (PDF, 1.2 MB) Davies, C 49
1999 Development, behaviour, threat and meteorological aspects of a plume-driven bushfire in West-Central Victoria: Berringa Fire February 25-26, 1995 (PDF, 3.3 MB) Chatto,K.,Tolhurst, K., Leggett,A.,Treloar,A. 48
1998 Effectiveness of firefighting first attack operations by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment from 1991/92 – 1994/95 (PDF, 4.5 MB) McCarthy,G.J. and Tolhurst, K.G. 45
1994 Fire behaviour and fire suppression in an elevated fuel type in East Gippsland: Patrol Track wildfire, February 1991 (PDF, 1.3 MB) Buckley, A.J. 42
1993 The effect of fuel reduction burning on the suppression of four wildfires in western Victoria (PDF, 1.2 MB) Grant, S.R., Wouters, M.A 41
1993 A case study of wildfire management in the Byadbo and Tingaringy Wilderness Areas (PDF, 2.0 MB) Bartlett, A.G. 38
1993 Wildfire behaviour in heath and other elevated fuels: a case study of the 1991 Heywood fire (PDF, 1.1 MB) Wouters, M.A. 36
1990 Fire behaviour and fuel reduction burning: Bemm River wildfire, October 1988 (PDF, 5.1 MB) Buckley, A.J. 28
1987 Heathcote fire: Bendigo Fire No. 38: 1986–87 (PDF, 628.4 KB) Billing, P.R 27
1985 The Avoca Fire, 14 January 1985 (PDF, 355.7 KB) Billing, P.R 23
1984 Forest fire statistics 1974–75 to 1983–84 (PDF, 1.2 MB) Rees, B. 22
1983 Otways Fire No 22: 1982/83: Aspects of fire behaviour (PDF, 1.8 MB) Billing, P. R 21
1983 Otways Fire No 22: 1982/83: A case study of plantation protection  (PDF, 531.3 KB) Billing, P.R 20
1983 The Bright plantation fire: November, 1982 (PDF, 909.5 KB) Watson, N., Morgan, G., Rolland, D 19
1982 A summary of forest fire statistics, 1972–73 to 1980–81 (PDF, 1.2 MB) Rawson, R., Rees, B. 12
1982 A fire tornado in the Sunset Country January 1981 (PDF, 269.2 KB) Billing, P., Rawson, R 11
1980 Some aspects of the behaviour of the Caroline Fire of February 1979 (PDF, 831.6 KB) Billing, P.R. 7

Hazard Management

YearTitleAuthors Report number
2016 Reducing the effect of planned burns on hollow-bearing trees (PDF, 2.4 MB) Bluff, L 95
2010 Overall Fuel Hazard Assessment Guide - 4th edition (PDF, 3.3 MB) Hines, F. Tolhurst, K., Wilson, A.G. McCarthy, G.J, 82
2003 Determination of sustainable fire regimes in the Victorian Alps using plant vital attributes (PDF, 1.6 MB) Gregory J. McCarthy, Kevin G. Tolhurst, Karen Chatto 54
2001 Effectiveness of Broadscale Fuel Reduction Burning in Assisting with Wildfire Control in Parks and Forests in Victoria (PDF, 244.3 KB) McCarthy, G.J. and Tolhurst, K.G. 51
1999 Overall Fuel Hazard Guide (Note - superseded by Research Report 82) (PDF, 2.8 MB) McCarthy,G.J, Chatto, K., and Tolhurst, K. 47
1997 The development and testing of the Wiltronics T-H Fine Fuel Moisture meter (PDF, 1.8 MB) Chatto, K. and Tolhurst, K. 46
2004 Surface fine fuel hazard rating – forest fuels in East Gippsland (PDF, 861.7 KB) Gregory J. McCarthy 44
1996 Fuel hazard levels in relation to site characteristics and fire history: Chiltern Regional Park case study (PDF, 1.6 MB) Chatto,K 43
1993 Fuel reducing regrowth forests with a wiregrass fuel type: fire behaviour guide and prescriptions (PDF, 2.1 MB) Buckley, A.J. 40
1993 The accumulation and structural development of the wiregrass (Tetrarrhena juncea) fuel type in East Gippsland (PDF, 1.2 MB) Fogarty, L.G. 37
1993 Elevated fuel guide (Note - superseded by Research Report 82) (PDF, 558.1 KB) Wilson, A.A.G. 35
1992 Fuel reducing a stand of eucalypt regrowth in East Gippsland: a case study (PDF, 1.4 MB) Buckley, A.J. 33
1992 Eucalypt bark hazard guide (Note: superseded by Research Report 82) (PDF, 493.0 KB) Wilson, A.A.G. 32
1992 Assessing fire hazard on public land in Victoria: fire management needs, and practical research objectives (PDF, 1.2 MB) Wilson, A.A.G. 31
1991 Fire hazard and prescribed burning of thinning slash in eucalypt regrowth forest (PDF, 1.6 MB) Buckley, A.J., Corkish, N. 29
1985 Effectiveness of fuel reduction burning -10 case studies (PDF, 12.5 MB) Rawson, R., Billing, P., Rees, B. 25
1981 The Effectiveness of Fuel-Reduction Burning: 5 Case Studies (PDF, 1.9 MB) Billing, P. 10
1981 Hazard reduction burning in the Big Desert (PDF, 298.4 KB) Billing, P.R. 9
1981 Changes in understorey vegetation in Sherbrooke Forest following burning or slashing (PDF, 1.0 MB) Rawson, R., Rees, B. 8

Ecosystem, monitoring and resilience

YearTitleAuthor Report number
2016 Integrated Forest Ecosystem Research (IFER): Program outcomes 2010-16 (PDF, 3.2 MB) State of Victoria DELWP 100
2016 Foothills Fire and Biota, Fire and Adaptive Management Report (PDF, 6.7 MB) Leonard, S., Bruce, M., Christie, F., Di Stefano, J., Haslem, A., Holland, G., Kelly, L., Loyn, R., MacHunter, J., Rumpff, L.,Stamation, K., Bennett 96
2014 Verification of Time-Since-Fire in Gippsland from Charring Retained on Stringybark Trees (PDF, 1.5 MB) Bluff, L 92
2012 Relationships between disturbance regimes and biodiversity: background, issues and approaches for monitoring (PDF, 1.1 MB) J. Di Stefano and A. York 91
2012 Review of resilience concepts and their measurement for fire management (PDF, 1.5 MB) M. McCarthy 90
2010 Growth stages and tolerable fire intervals for Victoria's native vegetation data sets (PDF, 6.6 MB) D. Cheal 84
2008 Flora monitoring protocols for planned burning: a user's guide (PDF, 2.7 MB) J. Cawson and A. Muir 74
2008 Flora monitoring protocols for planned burning: a rationale report (PDF, 1.1 MB) J. Cawson and A. Muir 75
2008 Underpinnings of fire management for biodiversity conservation in reserves (PDF, 3.5 MB) A.M Gill 73
2003 Effects of repeated low-intensity fire on reptile populations of a mixed eucalypt foothill forest in south-eastern Australia (PDF, 1.0 MB) Marc Irvin, Martin Westbrooke and Mathew Gibson 65
2003 Effects of repeated low-intensity fire on insectivorous bat populations of a mixed eucalypt foothill forest in south-eastern Australia (PDF, 990.2 KB) Marc Irvin, Patrick Prevett and Martin Westbrooke 64
2003 Effects of repeated low-intensity fire on terrestrial mammal populations of a mixed eucalypt foothill forest in south-eastern Australia (PDF, 737.4 KB) Marc Irvin, Martin Westbrooke & Mathew Gibson 63
2003 Effects of repeated low-intensity fire on bird abundance in a mixed eucalypt foothill forest in south-eastern Australia (PDF, 1.4 MB) Richard H. Loyn, Ross B. Cunningham and Christine Donnelly 62
2003 Effects of repeated low-intensity fire on the invertebrates of a mixed eucalypt foothill forest in south-eastern Australia (PDF, 389.3 KB) Nick Collett and Fred Neumann 61
2003 Effects of repeated low-intensity fire on carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in the soils of a mixed eucalypt foothill forest in south-eastern Australia (PDF, 1.1 MB) Peter Hopmans 60
2003 Ecological effects of repeated low-intensity fire in a mixed eucalypt foothill forest in south-eastern Australia - Summary report (1984–1999) (PDF, 1.4 MB) Department of Sustainability and Environment 57
1992 Monitoring vegetation for fire effects (PDF, 1.3 MB) Wouters, M.A. 34
1987 Monitoring the ecological effects of fire (PDF, 902.4 KB) Ed. by Hamilton, F. 30
2019 Framework for using and updating ecological models to inform bushfire management planning (PDF, 3.8 MB) L. Rumpff, N. Amos and J. MacHunter 104

Aircraft and fire retardant

YearTitleAuthors Report number
2010 Fire Boss amphibious single engine air tanker: Final Report. November 2008 (PDF, 1.3 MB) H. Biggs 81
2004 Operational performance of the S-64F Aircrane Helitanker - 1997–98 fire season (PDF, 1.4 MB) H. Biggs 72
2004 An evaluation of the performance of the Simplex 304 helicopter belly-tank (PDF, 1.5 MB) H. Biggs 71
2003 Effects of fire retardant on soils of heathland in Victoria (PDF, 383.8 KB) P. Hopmans and R. Bickford 70
2003 Effects of fire retardant on heathland invertebrate communities in Victoria (PDF, 1.8 MB) Collett, N and Schoenborn, C. 69
2003 Effects of fire retardant on vegetation in eastern Australian heathlands: a preliminary investigation (PDF, 3.0 MB) Bell, T.L. 68
2003 Effectiveness of aircraft operations by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and Country Fire Authority 1997–1998 (PDF, 643.8 KB) Gregory J. McCarthy 52
2000 Assessment of the Effectiveness and Environmental Risk of the Use of Retardants to Assist in Wildfire Control in Victoria (PDF, 432.7 KB) CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products 50
1986 Operational aspects of the Infra-Red Line Scanner (PDF, 800.6 KB) Billing, P.R 26
1983 Retardant distributions from six agricultural aircraft (PDF, 1.0 MB) Rees, B. 18
1982 Project MAFFS/HERCULES: the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System in Victoria (PDF, 812.3 KB) Rawson, R., Rees, B., Stuckey, E., Turner, D., Wood, C., Woodman,M 15
1977 A study of the distribution of aerially applied fire retardant in softwood plantations (PDF, 1.0 MB) Rawson, R. 1

Pine plantations - fuels and planned burning

YearTitleAuthors Report Number
1985 Fuel management in Radiata Pine following heavy first thinning (PDF, 379.7 KB) Norman, P. 24
1982 Fuel properties before and after second thinning in Radiata Pine (PDF, 761.2 KB) Woodman, M. 17
1982 Using fire to reduce aerial fuels in first thinned Radiata Pine (PDF, 323.1 KB) Billing, P.R., Bywater, J.V. 16
1982 Fuel reduction burning in Radiata Pine plantations (PDF, 1.8 MB) Woodman, M., Rawson, R. 14
1982 Fuel moisture changes under Radiata Pine (PDF, 819.6 KB) Woodman, M. 13
1980 A low intensity prescribed burning operation in a thinned Radiata Pine plantation (PDF, 703.2 KB) Billing, P.R. 6
1979 Some effects of low intensity burning on Radiata Pine (PDF, 1.2 MB) Billing, P.R. 5
1979 Using fire to reduce fuel accumulations after first thinning in Radiata Pine plantations (PDF, 450.7 KB) Billing, P.R. 4
1978 Fuel properties before and after thinning in young Radiata Pine plantations (PDF, 1.0 MB) Williams, D.F. 3
1978 Low intensity prescribed burning in three Pinus radiata stand types (PDF, 914.2 KB) Thomson, D 2

Integrating and evaluating science

YearTitleAuthors Report number
2015 Science and its policy impacts: Establishing a research monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement framework-discussion paper (PDF, 2.2 MB) Bosomworth, K 93

Page last updated: 30/06/21