The 2019–20 Black Summer bushfires dramatically altered forest ecosystems across eastern Australia (Robinson et al 2025), raising urgent questions about how wildlife responds to large-scale, high-intensity fire. A recent study from Robinson et al published in the Wildlife Research Journal, explored how two glider species, the southern greater glider (Petauroides volans) and the yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis) were faring post-fire.The researchers predicted different response traits between the two species despite almost parallel ecological requirements.
Methods
Field surveys were undertaken roughly three years after the fires across more than 200 locations in New South Wales. Researchers used nocturnal spotlight surveys alongside call-playback techniques to detect glider presence.
Rather than focusing only on conditions at individual survey points, the study assessed fire impacts across multiple spatial scales, ranging from the immediate site to surrounding forest at 300m, 500m and 1000m away. Fire severity was categorised into unburnt, low-to-moderate, and high-severity classes to examine how both the intensity and spatial footprint of fire influenced glider occupancy.
Findings
High-severity fire was consistently associated with reduced glider presence for both species. For southern greater gliders, this decline became more pronounced when large areas surrounding a site had experienced intense fire, indicating sensitivity to broader landscape change. Yellow-bellied gliders, on the other hand, were most affected by severe fire conditions at the immediate site level.
Responses to low-to-moderate fire severity were less consistent across both species, suggesting that partially burnt forests can provide variable outcomes depending on how much canopy structure and food resources remain.
Species-specific traits played a critical role in shaping these patterns. Southern greater gliders are highly dependent on particular tree species for food and shelter and have limited capacity to move across fragmented habitat. As a result, the loss of mature canopy following intense fire poses a significant challenge to their persistence. Yellow-bellied gliders, with their broader diet and greater mobility, appear better equipped to inhabit recovering or patchily burnt environments.
Summary
Overall, the findings indicate that both glider species can persist in forests with partial canopy retention, as these areas continue to provide essential food resources. In contrast, high-severity fires that eliminate canopy cover are likely to substantially reduce occupancy probability. It is important to note that glider occupancy is also influenced by covariates such as forest disturbance and mean forest temperatures.
Read the original research paper here
Image: Greater glider (Petauroides Volans) on the South Coast NSW by David Gallan. Visit his website or his Instagram @wild.imagery to check out more amazing wildlife photography.
This article was written by Campbell Goff, the Healthy Ecosystems Project Officer with the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.
