Fire management interventions that promote ecosystem resilience and support ecological functions and processes are required to address the impacts of altered fire regimes on species and ecosystems. These targeted actions are often referred to as ‘ecological burns’ and can be critical in fire dependent ecosystems where the specific, timing, frequency, intensity and scale of fire is required to facilitate key functional processes including seed dispersal, plant germination and recruitment, support ecosystem restoration objectives and increase species diversity.
Ecological burning is differentiated from standard fuel reduction burning activities which aim to reduce risk to human life and property through augmenting fuel availability. Ecological burning can be loosely defined as the deliberate application of fire for clear and pre-defined ecological objectives including specific, process, species and ecosystem outcomes within the treated area.
The Victorian Government delivers a program of ecological burning across the state as a component of the broader delivery of fire management activities across on public land. Though Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) has delivered ecological burns the practices which constitute ecological burning are yet to be authoritatively defined. Additionally, a clear conceptual and operational framework which captures these components based on existing knowledge is required to inform, define and support a broader program of ecological burning.
The project has the following specific objectives:
- To develop a definition of ecological burning to be used in the department to support fire management activities for ecological objectives using a multi-methods approach.
- To develop a conceptual model and management framework for ecological burning to support planning and delivery of ecological burns including components, levers and responses. Thie framework would include approaches for identifying and defining the objectives, mechanisms required to achieve them and measures to evaluate success.
Frequently asked questions
Q) Is there a preference for a project team to be from a single research organisation, or from across multiple organisations?
A) The Centre has no preference for either a single organisation or a multi-organisation project team. EOIs will be accepted from either and will be evaluated against the evaluation criteria in the same way.
Q) Can the proposed project team include researchers from government agencies or research consultancies, as well as university-based researchers?
A) EOIs will be accepted from multi-organisation project teams, and project teams can include researchers at government agencies and research consultancies. The proposed project team's capacity to undertake the project will be evaluated in the same way whether researchers are university-, consultancy- or agency-based.
Q) Would academic salaries (excluding administrative overheads) be eligible to budget?
A) Yes, academic salaries can be included within the project budget, but only when they are direct project costs and their salary is not already covered elsewhere. E.g. the salary costs of a contract researcher who is actively working on the project can be included up to the FTE component they are contributing. However, the salary costs of a tenured academic who is already paid through the university/research organisation would be included as an in-kind contribution up to the amount of their FTE contribution to the project.
Q) What do you mean by "peer review"?
A) This is a quality control process. The final report must be reviewed by someone who is an expert in the field and independent of the project.
Q) At what rate can salary on-costs be charged?
A) Administrative overheads are limited to direct salary-related on-costs. Indirect cost recoveries are not to be included. Other administrative overheads and indirect costs can be included as in-kind contributions. Where the salary on-cost rate exceeds 28% this will need to be justified.
Q) Can equipment costs be included in the budget?
A) Ordinarily, project funds are not to be used to purchase equipment. Where funds for equipment are requested, they will need to be justified
Q) Can international research teams apply? Alternatively, can international research teams be part of a consortium bid?
A) International research teams can be part of research projects when they are part of a consortium submission that is led by an Australian research organisation. The international team would need to be subcontracted by the lead Australian based research organisation. Please note that all budget submissions must be in Australian dollars and the lead organisation must bear the cost of funds transfer and responsibility for due diligence as required under Australian Foreign Interference regulations.
Q) Is there an option of registering my interest as an independent researcher that could assist a larger team or are you only able to consider proposals that address the entire project?
A) Yes, you can submit an EOI as an independent researcher addressing part of the project requirements. In the EOI submission form, please outline which aspects of the project you can address. Once the EOI closes, we can consider linking researchers together, although whether or not we can do that will depend on a range of factors, so we can’t guarantee that outcome.
Of course, the other option is to reach out to potential collaborators now about putting in a joint EOI submission that addresses the entire project.
