The impact of bushfire events on wild Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations is poorly understood. Following the 2019/2020 bushfire season in eastern Australia, we resurveyed 123 field sites for which contemporaneous (current koala generation) pre‐fire survey data were available. Field sites were distributed across six fire grounds between Foster and Ballina on the north coast of New South Wales. At these sites, pre‐fire naïve occupancy levels by koalas ranged from 25% to 71% of the sampled habitat, while post‐fire naïve occupancy levels ranged from 0% to 47%. The median reduction in the naïve occupancy rate by koalas when considered across all six fire grounds was 71% when standardized against pre‐fire occupancy levels. Field data provided strong corroboration between site‐based, post‐fire foliage canopy cover estimates and modelled Google Earth Engine Burnt Area Map (GEEBAM) fire‐severity categories. In terms of GEEBAM fire‐severity categories, koala survival was five times more likely in areas where forest canopies were modelled as Unburnt or Partially burnt, compared to areas where forest canopies were Fully burnt. The capacity of bushfire‐affected koala populations to recover from the 2019/20 fire season will be conditional upon size of the original population in each fire‐affected area, the enactment and implementation of supportive, recovery‐themed management regimes, future inter‐fire intervals and associated intensities. Management actions necessary to assist recovery actions are discussed.

中文翻译：

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量化森林大火对野生考拉种群的影响：2019/20火灾季节的见解

丛林大火事件对野生考拉（Phascolarctos cinereus）种群的影响知之甚少。在澳大利亚东部的2019/2020年丛林大火季节之后，我们对123个现场进行了重新调查，这些现场具有同期（当前的树袋熊生成）火灾前的调查数据。现场地点分布在新南威尔士州北海岸的福斯特和巴利纳之间的六个火场上。在这些地点，考拉无尾熊幼稚前的居住水平范围为采样栖息地的25％至71％，而无尾熊幼稚后的自然栖息地水平为0％至47％。通过考拉幼稚的入住率平均下降时，在所有六个点火理由考虑为71％时，对标准化的预消防人数水平。现场数据提供基于网站的，之间的强确证后平射枝叶郁闭度估计和建模谷歌地球引擎被烧的区域地图（GEEBAM）火灾的严重性类别。就GEEBAM的火灾严重性类别而言，与将森林冠层完全燃烧的地区相比，将森林冠层建模为“未燃烧”或“部分燃烧”的地区，考拉存活的可能性高五倍。受丛林大火影响的考拉种群从2019/20火灾季节恢复的能力将取决于每个受灾地区的原始种群规模，制定和实施支持性，以恢复为主题的管理制度，未来的跨火间隔和相关强度。讨论了协助恢复操作所需的管理操作。