Morrison Clare, Grogan Laura F, Clemann Nick, Lanctôt Chantal
Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security and School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia.
School of the Environment, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
Environ Manage. 2025 Jun;75(6):1559-1570. doi: 10.1007/s00267-025-02143-z. Epub 2025 Mar 24.
Increasing global wildfire frequency and intensity due to climate change has led to increasing use of fire-fighting chemicals (FFCs). While there is information relating to the environmental impacts of these FFCs in some regions, to date, there is little information on the impacts of FFCs on native fauna species and ecosystems in an extremely fire-prone country, Australia. We elicited input from a national-level interdisciplinary cohort of experts in fire research and management to identify fundamental gaps in knowledge and research priorities in the use and ecological impacts of FFCs in Australia. We used an anonymized online survey consisting of 21 close-ended, Likert-style and open-ended questions to collect expert opinion on the impacts and management of fire in Australia, focusing on the key knowledge gaps and research priorities relating to FFC use. Knowledge gaps and research priorities were identified in the areas of (1) the different types of FFCs recommended for use in Australia, (2) short and long-term effects of FFCs on fauna species and ecosystems, particularly in aquatic systems, and (3) interactions between FFCs and other environmental stressors. Addressing these knowledge gaps and research priorities will provide scientific-based evidence and recommendations for FFC use to inform future fire management practice and policy in Australia and can guide similar approaches in other countries requiring extensive FFC use for wildfire management.
气候变化导致全球野火发生频率和强度不断增加，这使得灭火化学品（FFCs）的使用也日益增多。虽然在一些地区有关于这些灭火化学品环境影响的信息，但迄今为止，在极易发生火灾的澳大利亚，关于灭火化学品对本土动物物种和生态系统影响的信息却很少。我们征求了火灾研究与管理领域国家级跨学科专家团队的意见，以确定澳大利亚在灭火化学品使用及其生态影响方面的知识基本差距和研究重点。我们使用了一项匿名在线调查，该调查由21个封闭式、李克特式和开放式问题组成，旨在收集专家对澳大利亚火灾影响和管理的意见，重点关注与灭火化学品使用相关的关键知识差距和研究重点。在以下领域确定了知识差距和研究重点：（1）澳大利亚推荐使用的不同类型灭火化学品；（2）灭火化学品对动物物种和生态系统的短期和长期影响，特别是在水生系统中；（3）灭火化学品与其他环境压力源之间的相互作用。解决这些知识差距和研究重点将为灭火化学品的使用提供基于科学的证据和建议，为澳大利亚未来的火灾管理实践和政策提供参考，并可为其他需要大量使用灭火化学品进行野火管理的国家提供类似指导。
