Wombat burrows are hotspots for small vertebrates in a landscape subject to gigafire

We examined how animal activity at Common Wombat burrows was affected by the 2019?20 Black Summer bushfires in Australia. We predicted that burrows would serve as hotspots for animal activity and as refuges in burned areas. The activity of several species including Bush Rat (Rattus fuscipes), Agile Antechinus (Antechinus agilis), Lace Monitor (Varanus varius), Painted Button-quail (Turnix varius), and Grey Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla harmonica) increased at sites where Common Wombat burrows were present, while other species avoided burrows.

Species that were more active at burrows tended to be smaller mammal and bird species that are vulnerable to predation, whereas species that avoided burrows tended to be larger mammals that might compete with Common Wombat for resources. Species composition differed between sites with and without burrows, and burrow sites had higher native mammal species richness. The association of several species with burrows persisted or strengthened in areas that burned during the 2019?20 Black Summer bushfires, suggesting that Common Wombat burrows may act as ecological refuges for animals following severe wildfire.

Our findings have relevance for understanding how animals survive, persist, and recover following extreme wildfire events. This dataset was provided to the ALA in the CamtrapDP data exchange format camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/) and transformed into a Darwin Core event-based dataset.