Gasser BAER Team at Killmore East–Murrindindi Complex North Fire

  • Nora Caplette, BLM-Las Vegas, NV, BAER Team Documentation Specialist
  • Cathleen Thompson, USFS-San Francisco, BAER Team Information Officer
Photograph of several team members in yellow uniform standing in front of a red helicopter.

Members of the Gasser BAER team include: Erv Gasser, NPS (Team Leader); Gavin Lovell, BLM (Deputy Team Leader); Nora Caplette, BLM; Mike Dolan, BLM; Richard Easterbrook, NPS; Kenneth Griggs, F&WS; Judy Hallisey, USFS; Chuck James, BIA; Lisa Jameson, F&WS; Richard Pyzik, USFS; William Sims, BIA; and Fred VonBonin, BIA.

ALEXANDRA, Victoria, Australia, Mar. 2, 2009—The biodiversity Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) group members on Erv Gasser's US Interagency BAER team are currently on assignment in Australia assisting with the Victoria bushfires. The biodiversity group specializes in flora issues and has been assessing the burned area of the Killmore East — Murrindindi Complex North fire since Wednesday, February 25, 2009.

The biodiversity group's field assesses soil burn severity across the landscape, while taking a closer look at the islands of specialized ecosystems that house many unique species. One of the areas the group looks at is the dry forest-shrub system in the Murrindindi area which is north of Melbourne. There, the medium-sized shrubs Banksia serrata and Hakea decurrens were found highly charred in an area of moderate intensity burn.

But the black scene is one that these plants have evolved with and rely on for propagation, similar to the redwoods and other tree families in North America. The seed pods develop with thick, tough shells that do not release the seed into the soil each year. Instead, the seeds are locked inside these "time capsules," and the only method of release is the heat of a wildfire. These seeds can last 20 to 50 years, waiting for fire conditions and the chance to reach soil and begin growing.

Gasser's BAER team is working with local Victoria State agency employees and recommends their monitoring of these forest-shrub sites to document the revegetation process. Monitoring will also aid in the early detection of possible invasive weeds that may take advantage of the bare soils and become established in these areas.