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After the fires
January 2003 saw perhaps the worst fires for more than 60 years in Victoria and New South Wales. The devastation caused to communities received the most media attention (over 400 houses were lost just in the ACT) but the fires raged out of control for days and days in the largely unpopulated alpine and sub-alpine "high country" of the Great Dividing Range. Unpopulated by people that is, the high country is home to many of Australia's most special plants and animals - animals which include the corroboree frog.
Every known breeding site of the corroboree frog was affected to some extent by the fires. The fires occurred at the frogs' breeding time so the frogs were to be found in the dampest area of their habitat. But the fires were so hot that even some of the wettest areas were pre-heated by the approaching firefront and dried enough to burn to ash as the fires passed through.
Gerry Marantelli took his camera and went to survey the damage.
The 'anything-but' Snowy Mountains
Vast areas of the Kosciuszko National Park that were recently grassy slopes are now ashen plains.
Patches of green amongst the grey
The boggy treeless areas on the high-plains are the habitat of the frog. These are the places where the recovery team may find frogs calling and potentially breeding. The fires burned right to edge, and in many cases, right through the middle.
Corroboree frog researcher Dave Hunter stands in deep ash in what would normally be described as a "frost hollow".
Some sites fared better than others, but even the usually-drenched patches of sphagnum moss (used for shelter by the frogs) were burnt to a crisp.
The view from above
A helicopter is used by the research team to access the remote breeding sites of the corroboree frog. The view from the air is sobering.
A slim chance
How will the frogs fare after such an enormous set-back. Already reduced to only a few hundred in the wild before the fires, how many have survived and are there still suitable breeding sites? We don't yet know the answers but some sites gave cause for hope.
Rebirth from the ashes
Many Australian plants incorporate fire into their life cycle for the stimulation of new growth. Alpine ecosystems, however, need fire to be generally absent. How long will it take to return from this complete destruction? We can only wait.
