Despite evident advances in knowledge and understanding concerning the application of prescribed burning for delivering benefits in wildfire control and a variety of sociocultural, economic and environmental outcomes, the practical application of prescribed burning in Australia is increasingly administratively and logistically complex, often controversial and climatically challenging. This series of papers does not address the merits or otherwise of prescribed burning – we accept the lessons from antiquity and recent history that the use of prescribed fire in contemporary Australia is essential for reducing, although not always being able to deliver on, wildfire risks and meeting a variety of societal and environmental needs. This special issue focuses on several fundamental adaptive management and monitoring questions: are we setting appropriate management targets? Can these targets and associated indicators be readily measured? Can we realistically deliver on those targets? And if so, what are the costs and/or trade-offs involved? The 10 solicited papers included here provide a sample illustration of the diversity of approaches currently being undertaken in different Australian regions to address complex adaptive management and monitoring challenges.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚 21 世纪初的适应性处方燃烧——背景、现状、挑战

尽管在应用规定燃烧以在野火控制和各种社会文化、经济和环境成果方面带来好处的知识和理解方面取得了明显进步，但在澳大利亚，规定燃烧的实际应用在行政和后勤上越来越复杂，经常引起争议和气候挑战. 这一系列的论文没有讨论规定燃烧的优点或其他方面——我们接受古代和近代历史的教训，即在当代澳大利亚使用规定的火灾对于减少（尽管并不总是能够实现）野火风险和满足各种社会和环境需求。本期特刊关注几个基本的适应性管理和监测问题：我们是否设定了适当的管理目标？这些目标和相关指标是否容易衡量？我们能否切实实现这些目标？如果是这样，涉及的成本和/或权衡是什么？此处包含的 10 篇征集论文提供了澳大利亚不同地区目前为应对复杂的适应性管理和监测挑战而采取的多种方法的示例说明。