The National Indicative Aggregated Fire Extent Dataset is accessible in the ALA. This dataset shows all areas of Australia affected by the 2019-2020 bushfires. You can use this information to search for species that may have been affected by the bushfires, by mapping occurrence records that have been logged in those areas, both before and after the fires.
How to use the bushfire extent layer to filter and download species occurrence records in the ALA
- Use this link to see all the species occurrence records in the ALA within areas affected by the 2019-20 bushfires.
- On the left, you can filter the records based on certain criteria. Some that may be of interest for bushfire effect research are:
- Taxon – narrow down the records to a particular species or family of interest.
- Date – you can filter by month or year to see species most recently sighted, and which might be more likely to be affected by bushfires. By default, “Year (by decade)” is available; to filter by year, click the “Customise filters” button at the top of the table, scroll down to “Occurrence”, tick “Year”, and then click “Update”.
- Location – narrow records down to those in specific states or territories.
- Basis of Record – narrow records down to “Human observation”, actual physical sightings by people, to exclude (for example) DNA samples, fossils or preserved specimens in museum collections. You may also choose to include or exclude “Machine observation”, which are from automatic animal tracking systems including sound recordings.
- To download records, click the “Download” button on the right. From here, you can download all Occurrence records in a CSV file, or a Species checklist, which is a CSV file containing a list of the individual species represented in those occurrence records. These files may take some time to generate, depending on the number of species or records they contain.
How to use the National Indicative Aggregated Fire Extent Dataset in the Spatial Portal, the ALA's spatial analysis tool.
- Access the Spatial Portal. You'll need to be logged into your ALA account to do this.
- Click the "Add to map" button, then click "Area". Click "Gazetteer polygon" and then the "Next" button.
- Type "fire extent" into the search box, then from the short list that pops up, click the smaller text that says "National Indicative Aggregated Fire Extent 2019-2020", then the "Next" button.
- The bushfire-affected areas of Australia will appear on the map - the colour and transparency of these areas can be adjusted using the options on the left.
- You can now add species and spatial layers to the map as usual. By default, the Spatial Portal will restrict occurrence records to those inside the bushfire-affected areas.
The National Indicative Aggregated Fire Extent Dataset
The National Indicative Aggregated Fire Extent Dataset was developed by the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) to help quantify the potential impacts of the 2019/20 bushfires on wildlife, plants and ecological communities, and identify appropriate response and recovery actions.
The dataset is a reliable, agreed, fit-for-purpose and repeatable national dataset of burnt areas across Australia for the 2019/20 bushfire season.
The National Indicative Aggregated Fire Extent Dataset includes:
- data from the national Emergency Management Spatial Information Network Australia (EMSINA) data service, which is the official fire extent currently used by the Australian Government, and
- supplementary data from other sources to form a cumulative national view of fire extent from 1 July 2019 to the 21 April 2020, these sources include NSW Rural Fire Service, Northern Australian Fire Information (NAFI), QLD Fire and Emergency Service, QLD Department of Environment and Science, SA Country Fire Service, SA Department for Environment and Water, Tasmanian Fire Service, TAS Department of Primary Industry, Parks, Water and Environment, VIC Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning, WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
The dataset is released on behalf of the Australian Government and endorsed by the National Burnt Area Dataset Working Group, convened by the National Bushfire Recovery Agency.