Tracking the recovery

Before you decide what to do, it helps to know what you’ve got. This part covers the monitoring that tells you what survived and what is coming back: photo points, a species list, a habitat structure survey, birds, and the animals that are only out at night. Each section has a protocol you can follow, and none of them need specialist training. The aim is not a scientific study but a record you can compare year to year, so you can see whether your bush is recovering and whether the work you are doing is helping.

What to watch for after a fire

• A shrub layer that stays thin. An area that used to carry dense shrubs still open in year two or three, while the rest fills in. Compare it against less severely burnt ground.
• A species on the seeder list from section 2.2 you cannot find. Particularly if your place has burnt twice in twenty years.
• Seedlings that appear then vanish. Browsed-off germination is the same outcome as no germination. After a fire there is little else for deer, rabbits and kangaroos to eat (4.4).