Pyrodiversity - why managing fire in food webs is relevant to restoration ecology

The manipulation of landscape fire to maintain biodiverse, self-sustaining ecosystems in flammable landscapes is rarely considered by restoration ecologists. Fire regimes can interact with ecological processes, food webs, and biodiversity in complex ways (here called pyrodiversity) and understanding these complexities could be used to promote restoration and resilience. We illustrate this using an example from northern Australia. Understanding and using pyrodiversity in ecological restoration programs will be intellectually and financially challenging. In Australia, the considerable technical and financial resources of the mining industry could support such restoration programs, yet redirecting these resources from the current narrow focus on restoring native vegetation cover at the mine-affected site requires overcoming entrenched attitudes among policymakers and restoration ecologists.