Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives

Volume: 45

Abstract Aim Changes to the extent and severity of wildfires driven by anthropogenic climate change are predicted to have compounding negative consequences for ecological communities. While there is evidence that severe weather events like drought impact amphibian communities, the effects of wildfire on such communities are not well understood. The impact of wildfire on amphibian communities and species is likely to vary, owing to the diversity of their life‐history traits. However, no previous research has identified commonalities among the amphibians at most risk from wildfire, limiting conservation initiatives in the aftermath of severe wildfire. We aimed to investigate the impacts of the unprecedented 2019–2020 black summer bushfires on Australian forest amphibian communities. Location Eastern coast of New South Wales, Australia. Methods We conducted visual encounter surveys and passive acoustic monitoring across 411 sites within two regions, one in northeast and one in southeast New South Wales. We used fire severity and extent mapping in two multispecies occupancy models to assess the impacts of fire on 35 forest amphibian species. Results We demonstrate a negative influence of severe fire extent on metacommunity occupancy and species richness in the south with weaker effects in the north—reflective of the less severe fires that occurred in this region. Both threatened and common species were impacted by severe wildfire extent. Occupancy of burrowing species and rain forest specialists had mostly negative relationships with severe wildfire extent, while arboreal amphibians had neutral relationships. Main Conclusion Metacommunity monitoring and adaptive conservation strategies are needed to account for common species after severe climatic events. Ecological, morphological and life‐history variation drives the susceptibility of amphibians to wildfires. We document the first evidence of climate change‐driven wildfires impacting temperate forest amphibian communities across a broad geographic area, which raises serious concern for the persistence of amphibians under an increasingly fire‐prone climate.

Despite global efforts to monitor, mitigate against, and prevent trash (mismanaged solid waste) pollution, no harmonized trash typology system has been widely adopted worldwide. This impedes the merging of datasets and comparative analyses. We addressed this problem by 1) assessing the state of trash typology and comparability, 2) developing a standardized and harmonized framework of relational tables and tools, and 3) informing practitioners about challenges and potential solutions. We analyzed 68 trash survey lists to assess similarities and differences in classification. We created comprehensive harmonized hierarchical tables and alias tables for item and material classes. On average, the 68 survey lists had 20.8% of item classes in common and 29.9% of material classes in common. Multiple correspondence analysis showed that the 68 surveys were not significantly different regarding organization type, ecosystem focus, or substrate focus. We built the Trash Taxonomy Tool (TTT) web-based application with query features and open access at openanalysis.org/trashtaxonomy. The TTT can be applied to improve, create, and compare trash surveys, and provides practitioners with tools to integrate datasets and maximize comparability. The use of TTT will ultimately facilitate improvements in assessing trends across space and time, identifying targets for mitigation, evaluating the effectiveness of prevention measures, informing policymaking, and holding producers responsible.