Prescribed burning protects endangered tropical heathlands of the Arnhem Plateau, northern Australia

1. There are concerns that frequent intense fires are reducing biodiversity on the Arnhem Plateau within Kakadu National Park, northern Australia. Since the 1980s, prescribed burning in the early dry season has aimed to reduce the extent of late dry season wildfires. A programme of more strategic prescribed burning has been undertaken since 2007, aiming to increase intervals between fires affecting heathland and rain forest communities. 2. We assess the effectiveness of prescribed burning in Kakadu's Stone Country using a Landsat satellite-derived fire history (1980–2011), in terms of achieving ‘tolerable fire intervals’ for dominant plant communities. 3. Our analysis indicates that fire regimes have become substantially more favourable for biodiversity since the early 1980s. Although annual extent of burning has remained unchanged, two significant changes in fire regimes have occurred over the long term: (i) a switch from late dry season dominance to early dry season dominance and (ii)...