Fire regime

A fire regime is the pattern, frequency, and intensity of the bushfires and wildfires that prevail in an area. It is an integral part of fire ecology, and renewal for certain types of ecosystems. If fires are too frequent, plants may be killed before they have matured, or before they have set sufficient seed to ensure population recovery. If fires are too infrequent, plants may mature, senesce, and die without ever releasing their seed.

The ecological need to provide an appropriate fire regime is often at odds with the principles and goals of bushfire management, which aims to manage the human and financial costs of bushfires. One of the strategies employed is frequent prescribed burns. By firing the bush at frequent, regular intervals, the bush is burnt before much fuel has built up, ensuring a low-intensity, easily managed burn. Both the higher frequency of fire and the low intensity may have ecological implications, as may the tendency to burn off outside the usual bushfire season.