My heart goes out to everyone affected by severe climate events worldwide—from bushfires and floods in Australia to record breaking wildfires in Nebraska and deadly storms across New Zealand, France, Italy, Indonesia, and Argentina. If you’re currently facing these hardships, this may not be the right time for recovery conversations. For those ready to reflect and rebuild, I hope these words offer comfort and support.
When discussing fire and water impacts the recovery times are nuanced and benefits and costs are the old goldilocks analogy, not too much and not too little. For flooding, the impacts will depend on the length of time the soil is submerged, the health of the soil beforehand, the volume of silt deposited or any possible contamination.
While for fires the duration, intensity, and materials burned can shift the dial from ecosystem benefit to long-term devastation. Under extreme hot fires, research in the Mediterranean demonstrated that full soil ecosystem recovery could take over 80 years, highlighting the slow nature of this process. The key question for many farmers is: how can we accelerate recovery?
Under conflagrations a mosaic pattern is often produced across a landscape dependent on factors such as fuel load, wind, or species composition. Invasive species like serrated tussock are capable of burning with an intensity 7 times greater than that of native grasses. Hot fires can cause extensive damage to soil by cooking soil surfaces, damaging plant crowns, burning off organic matter, increasing soil pH, and raising electrical conductivity.
This contributes to a cycle of degradation; erosion, dust, disrupted nutrient and water cycles, and the formation of hydrophobic waxes, which make soil water-repellent. Soils containing high organic matter materials, or plants like eucalypts with volatile organic compounds (oils), can also contribute to water repellency in soil.
Fire can cause changes in nutrient availability. Nutrient loss occurs through oxidation, volatilization, and ash transport, with mobile elements like nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and boron being particularly sensitive. Nitrogen can spike briefly, however its long-term availability often decreases.
Surface temperatures during hot fires may reach 850°C (1560°F), and the top 5cm of soil can reach around 150°C (300°F,) lethal for microbes. Below 30cm the soil is usually unaffected, as most microbial biomass and organic matter reside in the top 15cm, making them highly vulnerable.
Bacteria
Bacteria help form microaggregates, the very small particles in soil. After hot fires, bacteria proliferate, leading to what is known as "slake soils." These soils have very fine aggregates, surface crusting, poor structure, and limited water or air movement. As a result, they become nutrient limited, compacted and dry. This bacterial dominance acts as a "germination signal" for early colonizing plants like Capeweed, various thistles (like Spear thistle), flatweed, sorrel, and onion grass—quick-growing species that protect the soil surface but are not always desirable for long-term recovery.
Predators like nematodes and protozoa, which graze on bacteria, are also impacted but may recover depending on fire intensity and soil conditions.
Fungi
Microbiologically, fires reduce biodiversity, in particular the sensitive fungi whose abundance may decline in half, depending on the fire's intensity. This loss of microbial life significantly impacts soil health and recovery potential.
Fungi play a crucial role in soil health by suppressing diseases and moving water from deeper through the soil profile. Fungi act as "nature's miners," releasing acids to unlock bound nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, and trace elements. As decomposers, fungi are particularly effective at breaking down woody materials.
Fungi are also responsible for forming macroaggregates, the larger crumb structures in soil. Their long strands and glues bind soil particles together, creating a stable structure. Fungi are often invisible, but their impact is immense, without them soil structure deteriorates, erosion increases, plant nutrition decreases and water cycling declines.
(Image - Camilla Rutherford)
In Australia there are many pyrophilous fungi (“fire loving”) that rely on fire to complete their reproductive cycle or feed on the carbon rich, more alkaline soil. Among the first to emerge, often within a few days, are the unique, hard, mushroom-like fungi called native bread (Laccocephalum mylittae), a traditional food source for Aboriginal people that may weigh up to 20 kilograms.
Fungi are integral to rebuilding soil health after fire. Their ability to hold water, bind soil, and release nutrients makes them essential for restoring soil structure and preventing erosion. Fostering biodiverse soils, which have a balance of bacteria and fungi, promote better aggregate formation, allowing for improved water and air movement.
Flooding
A 2024 global study on compound drought-extreme precipitation events (CDEP), showed a 40% chance of extreme flooding when droughts finally break. The reality is we are not farming and growing in the same context as our ancestors. Regeneration of water cycles is central to building resilience and ensuring future food production. With water quickly becoming one of the key resource issues of the 21st century, effective management of our underground workforce cannot continue to be overlooked.
What can farmers do to enhance ecosystem recovery?
After Flooding:
Quickly restoring soils after an event is crucial to prevent compaction, soil collapse, weeds, hydrophobic conditions, poor quality, disease, pests, and costly production losses. The cost of inaction can be significant. Practical assessments of damage can be part of the neighbor walk suggested by Meagan Lannan in the accompanying article.
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Examine for waterlogging, silt buildup, and erosion
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Inspect roots for suffocation or fungal diseases like downy mildew
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Test soils for nutrient loss or contamination
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Assess infrastructure, including drainage systems and trellises in vines
If soils have been submerged for over three weeks and start to emit odors, applying a broad action biological such as Effective Microorganisms (EM) can accelerate recovery and transition soils from anaerobic to aerobic conditions. Applying any organic materials, hay, mulch, compost, wood chip, manures etc, can protect and cover soil and support plant and microbial recoveries.
Fire Recovery
There are many critical tasks after a fire, from infrastructure to livestock feeding that probably make the idea of tackling your soil and pasture recovery fairly low on the list. The ideas here can be low time investments or can be done as strip trials, throw on a bucket of water with soil amendments so you can build confidence that an investment into soil pasture recovery was worth the energy.
In our tool kit of amendments post fire, we include products that contain calcium to help to disrupt waxy water repellent coatings. Combining calcium with fish and molasses to feed a wide range of soil organisms is a must. Vermicast extracts are also a vital fire recovery tool as they contain biology and signals to kick start the soil building processes as well as containing microbes which eat waxy water repellent coatings.
Establishing a diverse mix of plants when the rain comes will also kick-start the soil-building process, help maximize water infiltration and reduce weed pressure. Coat seeds with biostimulants such as vermicast extracts to set them up for success as they won’t always have their microbial partners in the burnt soil.
For properties with livestock, destocking after a fire or flood is a priority - just as it is in drought. Leaving stock on burnt country worsens soil and landscape degradation. Wherever possible, ideally exclude livestock from affected areas until pastures recover.
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Short-Term Recovery:
In areas with low-intensity fires or where grasses burned, recovery can begin within weeks or months as plants regrow and microbial communities rebound. These areas may only require a break from grazing to allow groundcover to flourish and establish deep rot systems again. -
Long-Term Recovery:
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Cover soil: Using carbon based materials to protect soil surfaces has a multitude of benefits.
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Reintroduce plants: If you’re feeding hay bales, these materials come full of free pasture seeds. Bale grazing, or putting small amounts of hard coated seeds into cattle mineral is a low stress method to add more diversity. If reseeding perennials, ensure they are bioprimed with a diverse microbial coating, such as vermicast, or high-fungal compost.
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Jumpstart with biological foods. For fire recovery, calcium, vermicast/compost extracts, fish hydrolysate, commercial enzymes (or make your own by sprouting barley!). Following spring and summer burns in tussock grassland in Otago, NZ, researchers trialed applications with Fish hydrolysate, 15 ltr liquid lime and 1 ltr of molasses. They found after application there was a 5% plant yield recovery in control compared to 74% in treatment. Now that's worth finding the time to invest in the future.
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Water Repellency: Soil amendments such as lime contain calcium that can help to disrupt waxy water repellent coatings. Vermicast extracts are also a vital fire recovery tool as they contain biology and signals to kick start the soil building processes as well as containing microbes which eat waxy water repellent coatings.
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Contaminated Sites:
If man-made materials burned, recovery is further delayed by the need to address soil contamination. This often requires specialized remediation techniques, such as introducing oyster mushrooms in bales or cardboard to break down toxins or physically removing contaminated soil.
(Image - Nicole Masters: Post fire stabilisation with hay bales)
Recovering from fire and flood is a challenging journey, but it’s also an opportunity to rebuild stronger, healthier ecosystems. Remember too that people are the greatest asset—how can we support and work to empower each other? What are other ways you collaborate in sharing what works well in rebooting ecosystem health?
Neighbour Walk: Fire Recovery Infrastructure Triage by Meagan Lannan, Rancher, Ex wildland firefighter, facilitator and Integrity Soils COO.
As an Australian farmer, you know fire. You know how to run your operation - sometimes, all it takes is a simple, coordinated way to organise the work to make everything move more smoothly. In the days after a fire, what helps isn’t more advice - it’s an action plan. It’s neighbours coming together, bringing clarity to the workload so effort goes where it matters most, and those hit hardest aren’t carrying it alone. Whether you’re preparing to rebuild independently or prepping for outside resource assistance, coordinated action makes the difference.
Decision-making can feel like an emotional rollercoaster, even for farmers experienced in recovery. After a fire, your head’s in overdrive tracking everything and working to fit it all into a plan moving forward. That’s why patience and check-ins with your neighbours, to break recovery work into manageable chunks helps keep you moving forward.
While this example focuses on infrastructure such as fences, gates, sheds, water tanks, machinery, etc. you can apply it to other recovery areas. Walk the property with your neighbours and begin categorising infrastructure in simple colour groups, total loss, repairable, serviceable, and mark with paint, tape, or a tag. Document with a photo as well. Sorting these visible categories provides a marker on what’s workable now, what needs resources, and where extra hands will create the most value. Additionally, the photos set the scene for support organisations or contractors to come in later - they can immediately see priorities and slot into defined tasks.
The first step is to walk the property with neighbours. Teaming up with others allows you to ensure nothing urgent is missed and seeing everything clearly. Begin by identifying the most critical hazards or complete losses 🔴: infrastructure completely burned through or beyond repair.
Next, focus on what can be repaired soon 🟡: partially damaged infrastructure that can be cleaned and tested. These repairable items are important, but they don’t require the same urgent attention as the items flagged red.
Finally, note what is serviceable 🟢: infrastructure that is intact or only needs minimal maintenance.
By the end of the walk, you will have a map of priorities, a shared understanding of the workload, and a plan for next steps. This triage cuts through the chaos and keeps the work moving. Asking for a hand, bringing more people into the plan, and coordinating effort makes short work of what can feel overwhelming. Energy is focused where it counts, momentum builds steadily, and the community moves forward together, one triaged step at a time.
