Abstract
Live fuel moisture content (LFMC) and vegetation characteristics have been shown to significantly impact burn severity and fire recovery in many fire-prone regions of the world. However, comparatively few studies have been conducted in the Australian context. This study aimed to quantify the relative importance of LFMC and vegetation characteristics on the resulting burn severity and subsequent recovery of the devastating bushfires that occurred across eastern Australia during the summer of 2019/2020. Here we focus on the South Coast fire in New South Wales, which began with a lightning strike on November 26th, 2019, and burnt until February 2020. The Differenced Normalised Burn Ratio (dNBR) derived from Sentinel 2 data was used to assess the severity of the burn and regressed against spectral measures of vegetation health and moisture content. Across the region, dNBR increased with increasing vegetation health and moisture content; however, LFMC was below critical ignition values for all vegetation categories. That is, higher-density vegetation areas with more fuel moisture (albeit below the ignition threshold) burned more severely, with the highest severity burn occurring in Leptospermum forests. Post-fire, dNBR analysis showed enhanced vegetation growth, indicating recovery during the 12–24 months post-fire, with the slowest recovery observed for mangroves and rainforests. These findings underscore the ongoing importance of collaborating with land and fire management agencies to further refine and enhance the integration of remote sensing and vegetation mapping into fire season planning and the conservation efforts aimed at protecting Australia’s native vegetation.