Andrew C Edwards (Ph.D)

PositionResearch Fellow – Bushfires

Dr Andrew Edwards started with the Bushfire Research team in 1998, undertaking fire and vegetation mapping for the west Arnhem Land project. Andrew has since worked on many such mapping projects across north Australia. Andrew was also part of the team including colleagues from the CSIRO, NT government, and many Indigenous Rangers and Groups who collected the information and developed the methods for the very successful Savanna Burning programs.

Andrew has been involved in the ongoing development of the North Australia Fire Information (NAFI) web portal, the Greenhouse Gas emissions calculator (SavBAT), and the Savanna Monitoring & Evaluation Reporting Framework (SMERF). Andrew has been working on improving fire severity mapping for the tropical savannas, and in recent years has been involved in projects to develop capacity in Indigenous Rangers to work in Emergency Management.

Contact Information:

+61 427 270 835

andrew.edwards@cdu.edu.au

Publications

Books, Book chapters & Special issues

Archer R, Russell-Smith J, Kerins S, Costanza R, Edwards A, Sangha K (2019) Change and continuity: the North Australia cultural landscape. In: Sustainable Land Sector Development in Northern Australia: Indigenous rights, aspirations, and cultural responsibilities. Russell-Smith J, James G, Pedersen H, Sangha K (Eds), pp. 9-34. CRC Press, Boca Raton USA. 

Edwards AC, Russell-Smith J, Maier SW (2015) Measuring and mapping fire in the tropical savannas. In: Carbon accounting and savanna fire management. Murphy BP, Edwards AC, Meyer CP, Russell-Smith J (eds), pp. 169-184. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. 

Edwards, A. C. (2009). Fire Severity Categories for the Tropical Savanna Woodlands of northern Australia. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre. 

Edwards, A. C. and J. Russell-Smith (2009). Chapter 9. Ecological thresholds and the status of fire sensitive vegetation in western Arnhem Land, northern Australia: implications for management. Culture, ecology and economy of Fire Management in north Australian savannas: rekindling the WURRK tradition. J. Russell-Smith, P. Whitehead and P. Cooke. Collingwood, CSIRO Publishing. 

Fisher, R. and A. C. Edwards (2015). Chapter 3. Fire extent mapping: procedures, validation and website application. Carbon Accounting and Savanna Fire Management. B. Murphy, A. Edwards, C. P. Meyer and J. Russell-Smith. Melbourne, CSIRO Publishing. 

Lynch D, Cuff N, Russell-Smith J (2015) Vegetation fuel type classification for lower rainfall savanna burning abatement projects. In: Carbon accounting and savanna fire management. Murphy BP, Edwards AC, Meyer CP, Russell-Smith J (eds), pp. 73-96. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Russell-Smith J, Bristow M, Brocklehurst P, Cook GD, Cuff N, Edwards AC, Fisher R, Hutley LB, Jacklyn P, James G, Legge S, Liedloff AC, Lynch D, Maier S, Meyer CP, Monagle C, Murphy BP, Oliveira S, Whitehead PJ, Yates CP (2015) Where to from here? In: Carbon accounting and savanna fire management. Murphy BP, Edwards AC, Meyer CP, Russell-Smith J (eds), pp. 329-346. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. 

Russell-Smith J, Sangha KK, Costanza R, Kubiszewski I, Edwards A (2019) Towards a sustainable diversified land sector economy for North Australia. In: Sustainable Land Sector Development in Northern Australia: Indigenous rights, aspirations, and cultural responsibilities. Russell-Smith J, James G, Pedersen H, Sangha K (Eds). pp. 85-132. CRC Press, Boca Raton USA. 

Russell-Smith J, Whitehead P (2015) Reimagining fire management in fire-prone north Australia. In: Carbon accounting and savanna fire management. Murphy BP, Edwards AC, Meyer CP, Russell-Smith J (eds), pp. 1-22. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. 

Russell-Smith J, Yates CP, Evans J, Meyer CP, Edwards AC (2015) Application of a lower rainfall savanna burning emissions abatement methodology. In: Carbon accounting and savanna fire management. Murphy BP, Edwards AC, Meyer CP, Russell-Smith J (eds), pp. 219-234. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Russell-Smith, J., A. C. Edwards, J. C. Z. Woinarski, J. McCartney, S. Kerin, S. Winderlich, B. P. Murphy and F. Watt (2009). An assessment of the first ten years of the three parks (Kakadu, Litchfield, Nitmiluk) fire regime and biodiversity monitoring. Culture, ecology and economy of Fire Management in north Australian savannas: rekindling the WURRK tradition. J. Russell-Smith, P. Whitehead and P. Cooke. Melbourne, CSIRO Publishing. 

Russell-Smith, J., A. C. Edwards, J. C. Z. Woinarski, J. McCartney, S. Kerin, S. Winderlich, B. P. Murphy and F. A. Watt (2009). Chapter 10. Fire and biodiversity monitoring for conservation managers: a 10 year assessment of the ‘Three Parks’ (Kakadu, Litchfield, Nitmiluk) program. Culture, ecology and economy of Fire Management in north Australian savannas: rekindling the WURRK tradition. J. Russell-Smith, P. Whitehead and P. Cooke. Collingwood, CSIRO Publishing. 

Russell-Smith, J., A. Edwards, J. Woinarski, A. Fisher, B. Murphy, M. Lawes, B. Crase and N. Thurgate (2014). North Australian tropical savannas: The three parks savanna fire-effects plot network. Biodiversity and Environmental Change: Monitoring, Challenges and Direction. D. Lindenmayer, E. Burns, N. Thurgate and A. Lowe. Melbourne, CSIRO Publishing: 335-378. 

Journal Articles

Eames T, Russell-Smith J, Yates C, Edwards A, Vernooij R, van derWerf GR, Ribeiro N, Steinbruch F (2020) Instantaneous pre-fire biomass and fuel load measurements from multi-spectral UAV mapping in southern African savannas. Fire, in review.

Edwards AC, Archer R, De Bruyn P, Evans J, Lewis B, Vigilante T, Whyte S, Yibarbuk D, Russell-Smith J (2020) Fire regimes in transition: incentivising fire management in fire-prone Australian savannas. Journal of Environmental Management, submitted.

Edwards AC, Russell-Smith J, Maier S (2018) Assessing the impacts of severe fires in north Australian savannas. Remote Sensing of Environment 206: 287-299.

Edwards AC, Russell-Smith J, Meyer CP (2015) Contemporary fire regime risks to key ecological assets and processes in north Australian savannas. International Journal of Wildland Fire

Edwards, A. C. and J. Russell-Smith (2009). “Ecological thresholds and the status of fire-sensitive vegetation in western Arnhem Land, northern Australia: implications for management.” International Journal of Wildland Fire 18(2): 127-146.

Edwards, A. C., S. W. Maier, L. B. Hutley, R. J. Williams and J. Russell-Smith (2013). “Spectral analysis of fire severity in north Australian tropical savannas.” Remote Sensing of Environment 136(0): 56-65.

Edwards, A., P. Hauser, M. Anderson, J. McCartney, M. Armstrong, R. Thackway, G. Allan, C. Hempel and J. Russell-Smith (2001). “A tale of two parks: contemporary fire regimes of Litchfield and Nitmiluk National Parks, monsoonal northern Australia.” International Journal of Wildland Fire 10: 79 – 89

Edwards, A., P. Jacklyn, R. Fisher, A. Joseph, J. Russell-Smith, D. Lynch, C. Yates, J. Evans and K. K. Sangha (in press). “An assessment of the evidence that payments for ecosystem services are improving fire regimes in north Australia.”

Edwards, A., R. Kennett, O. Price, J. Russell-Smith, G. Spiers and J. Woinarski (2003). “Monitoring the impacts of fire regimes on vegetation in northern Australia: an example from Kakadu National Park.” International Journal of Wildland Fire 12(3-4): 427-440.

Freeman J, Edwards AC, Russell-Smith J (2017) Fire-driven decline of endemic Allosyncarpia monsoon forests in northern Australia. Forests 8, 481

Gardener, M. R., B. T. Lynch, P. K. Latz, D. E. Albrecht, I. D. Cowie, K. Brennan, C. Nano, A. C. Edwards, A. W. Duguid, C. Brock and J. Russell-Smith (2007). “A landscape scale assessment of the distribution of the fire-sensitive flora of the Northern Territory, Australia.” Journal of Biogeography.

Goldbergs, G., S. R. Levick, M. Lawes and A. Edwards (2018). “Hierarchical integration of individual tree and area-based approaches for savanna biomass uncertainty estimation from airborne LiDAR.” Remote Sensing of Environment 205: 141-150.

Goldbergs, G., S. W. Maier, S. R. Levick and A. Edwards (2018). “Efficiency of individual tree detection approaches based on light-weight and low-cost UAS imagery in Australian Savannas.” Remote Sensing 10(2): 161.

Goldbergs, G., S. W. Maier, S. R. Levick and A. Edwards (2019). “Limitations of high resolution satellite stereo imagery for estimating canopy height in Australian tropical savannas.” International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 75: 83-95.

Lawes MJ, Murphy BP, Fisher A, Woinarski JCZ, Edwards AC, Russell-Smith J (2015)  Small mammals decline with increasing fire extent in northern Australia: evidence from long-term monitoring in Kakadu National Park. International Journal of Wildland Fire. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 24: 712-722.

Lynch D, Russell-Smith J, Evans J, Yates CP, Edwards AC (2018) Incentivising fire management in Pindan (Acacia shrubland): a proposed vegetation fuel type for Australia’s savanna burning greenhouse gas emissions abatement methodology. Ecological Management & Restoration 19:230-238.

Maier, S. W., J. Russell-Smith, A. C. Edwards and C. Yates (2013). “Sensitivity of the MODIS fire detection algorithm (MOD14) in the savanna region of the Northern Territory, Australia.” ISPRS journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 76: 11-16.

Oliveira S, Campagnolo M, Price OP, Edwards AC, Russell-Smith J, Pereira JMOC. 2015. Ecological implications of fine-scale fire patchiness and severity in tropical savannas of northern Australia. Fire Ecology, 11

Palmer, C., R. W. Baird, D. L. Webster, A. C. Edwards, R. Patterson, A. Withers, E. Withers, R. Groom and J. C. Woinarski (2017). “A preliminary study of the movement patterns of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) in coastal and pelagic waters of the Northern Territory, Australia.” Marine and Freshwater Research 68(9): 1726-1733.

Price, O. F., A. C. Edwards and J. Russell-Smith (2007). “Efficacy of permanent firebreaks and aerial prescribed burning in western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.” International Journal of Wildland Fire 16(3): 295-307.

Price, O., A. Edwards, G. Connors, J. Woinarski, G. Ryan, A. Turner and J. Russell-Smith (2005). “Fire heterogeneity in Kakadu National Park, 1980-2000.” Wildlife Research 32(5): 425-433.

Price, O., J. Russell-Smith and A. C. Edwards (2003). “Fine-scale patchiness of different fire intensities in sandstone heath vegetation in northern Australia.” International Journal of Wildland Fire 12(2): 227-236.

Russell-Smith J, Edwards AC, Sangha K, Yates CP, Gardener M (2020) Challenges for prescribed fire management in Australia’s fire-prone rangelands – the example of the Northern Territory. International Journal of Wildland Fire 29: 339-353.

Russell-Smith J, Evans J, Edwards AC, Simms A (2017) Assessing ecological performance thresholds in fire-prone Kakadu National Park, northern Australia. Ecosphere 7

Russell-Smith J, Evans J, MacDermott H, Brocklehurst P, Schatz J, Lynch D, Yates C, Edwards A (2019) Tree recruitment dynamics in fire-prone eucalypt savanna. Ecosphere 10(3):1-21, e02649.

Russell-Smith J, Yates C, Vernooij R, Eames T, van der Werf G, Edwards A, Beatty, Lekoko O, Mafoko J, Monagle C, Johnston S (2020) Opportunities and challenges for savanna burning emissions reduction in southern Africa. Global Environmental Change, submitted.

Russell-Smith J, Yates CP, Edwards AC, Murphy BP, Whitehead PJ, Lawes MJ. 2015. Deriving multiple benefits from carbon market-based savanna burning projects: an Australian example. PLoS ONE 10(12): e0143426Russell-Smith, J. and A. C. Edwards (2006). “Seasonality and fire severity in savanna landscapes of monsoonal northern Australia.” International Journal of Wildland Fire 15(4): 541-550.

Russell-Smith, J. and A. Edwards (2015). “Savanna Fire Management Project: 2014-15 Annual Report to the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre.” Occasional Paper Series DCBR 2015/09.

Russell-Smith, J., A. C. Edwards and G. D. Cook (2003). “Reliability of biomass burning estimates from savanna fires: Biomass burning in northern Australia during the 1999 Biomass Burning and Lightning Experiment B field campaign.” Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres 108(D3): 9-1 – 9-12.

Russell-Smith, J., A. C. Edwards and O. F. Price (2012). “Simplifying the savanna: the trajectory of fire-sensitive vegetation mosaics in northern Australia.” Journal of Biogeography 39: 1303-1317.

Russell-Smith, J., B. P. Murphy, C. P. Meyer, G. D. Cook, S. Maier, A. C. Edwards, J. Schatz and P. Brocklehurst (2009). “Improving estimates of savanna burning emissions for greenhouse accounting in northern Australia: limitations, challenges, applications.” International Journal of Wildland Fire 18(1): 1-18.

Russell-Smith, J., C. Yates, A. Edwards, G. E. Allan, G. D. Cook, P. Cooke, R. Craig, B. Heath and R. Smith (2003). “Contemporary fire regimes of northern Australia, 1997-2001: change since Aboriginal occupancy, challenges for sustainable management.” International Journal of Wildland Fire 12(3-4): 283-297.

Russell-Smith, J., G. D. Cook, P. M. Cooke, A. C. Edwards, M. Lendrum, C. P. Meyer and P. J. Whitehead (2013). “Managing fire regimes in north Australian savannas: applying Aboriginal approaches to contemporary global problems.” Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 11(s1): e55-e63.

Russell-Smith, J., P. J. Stanton, A. C. Edwards and P. J. Whitehead (2004). “Rain forest invasion of eucalypt-dominated woodland savanna, Iron Range, north-eastern Australia: II. Rates of landscape change.” Journal of Biogeography 31(8): 1305-1316.

Russell‐Smith, J., J. Evans, A. C. Edwards and A. Simms (2017). “Assessing ecological performance thresholds in fire‐prone Kakadu National Park, northern Australia.” Ecosphere 8(7).

Russell‐Smith, J., P. J. Stanton, P. J. Whitehead and A. Edwards (2004). “Rain forest invasion of eucalypt‐dominated woodland savanna, Iron Range, north‐eastern Australia: I. Successional processes.” Journal of Biogeography 31(8): 1293-1303.

Sangha KK, Edwards AC, Russell-Smith J (2019) Long-term solutions to improve emergency management services in remote communities in northern Australia. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 34: 62-71.

Sangha KK, Evans J, Edwards A, Russell-Smith J (2019) Measuring environmental losses from natural disasters: a case study of costing bushfires in the Northern Territory. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 34: 31-39.

Sangha KK, Evans J, Edwards AC, Fisher R, Yates CP, Russell-Smith J, Costanza R (2020) Assessing the value of ecosystem services from prescribed fire management in Australian tropical savannas. Ecosystem Services, submitted

Sangha KK, Russell-Smith J, Evans J, Edwards AC (2020) Methodological approaches and challenges to assess environmental losses from natural disasters. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 101619 

Sangha KK, Russell-Smith J, Evans J, Edwards AC, Surjan A (2020) Assessing the real costs of natural hazard -induced disasters. Natural Hazards, submitted

Sangha KK, Russell-Smith J, Morrison SC, Costanza R, Edwards AC (2017) Challenges for valuing ecosystem services from an Indigenous estate in northern Australia. Ecosystem Services 25: 167-178.

Sangha, K. K., B. Sithole, H. Hunter-Xenie, C. Daniels, D. Yibarbuk, G. James, C. Michael, J. G. A. C. Edwards and J. Russell-Smith (2017). “Empowering Remote Indigenous Communities in Natural Disaster Prone Northern Australia.” International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 35(3): 137-153.

Sangha, K.K., Russell-Smith, J., Evans, J., Edwards, A., 2020. Methodological approaches and challenges to assess the environmental losses from natural disasters. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 49, 101619.

Shirai, T., D. R. Blake, S. Meinardi, F. S. Rowland, J. Russell-Smith, A. Edwards, Y. Kondo, M. Koike, K. Kita, T. Machida, N. Takegawa, N. Nishi, S. Kawakami and T. Ogawa (2003). “Emission estimates of selected volatile organic compounds from tropical savanna burning in northern Australia.” Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres 108(D3): BIB 10-11 – BIB 10-14.

Whitehead PJ, Murphy BP, Evans J, Lynch D, Yates CP, Edwards AC, MacDermott H, Watt F, Russell-Smith J (2020) Turnover of standing and fallen dead trees in north Australian savannas: issues for fire management. Ecosphere, submitted.

Whitehead PJ, Murphy BP, Evans J, Yates CP, Edwards AC, MacDermott HJ, Lynch DC, Russell-Smith J (2020) Recruitment, growth and mortality of trees in Australian savannas: predicting effects of fire management on tree biomass. Ecological Monographs, in revision

Williams, R. J., L. B. Hutley, G. D. Cook, J. Russell-Smith, A. Edwards and X. Y. Chen (2004). “Assessing the carbon sequestration potential of mesic savannas in the Northern Territory, Australia: approaches, uncertainties and potential impacts of fire.” Functional Plant Biology 31(5): 415-422.

Yates CP, MacDermott H, Evans J, Murphy BP, Russell-Smith J (2020) Seasonal fine fuel and coarse woody debris dynamics in north Australian savannas. International Journal of Wildland Fire, in press.

Yates, C. P., A. C. Edwards and J. Russell-Smith (2008). “Big fires and their ecological impacts in Australian savannas: size and frequency matters.” International Journal of Wildland Fire 17: 768-781. 

Yin, C., B. He, M. Yebra, X. Quan, A. C. Edwards, X. Liu and Z. Liao (2020). “Improving burn severity retrieval by integrating tree canopy cover into radiative transfer model simulation.” Remote Sensing of Environment 236: 111454.

Reports

Edwards AC, Russell-Smith J. (2014-2016) Fire Monitoring: Annual Report to Kakadu National Park. Darwin Centre for Bushfire Research, Charles Darwin University.

Edwards, A., Russell-Smith, J., Sangha, K., Yates, C., 2015. Culturally appropriate mapping tools for informing two-way fire management planning in remote indigenous North Australian communities. In: Rumsewicz, M. (Ed.), Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC & AFAC Annual Conference Proceedings. Adelaide, SA, 1-3 September 2015, pp. 13-22.

Russell-Smith, J., Edwards, A., Sangha, K.K., 2019. Savanna fire management and bushfire and natural hazard scenario planning for north Australia. Bushfire & Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNH CRC), a report, pp 57.

Russell-Smith, J., James, G., Sithole, B., Sangha, K.K., Edwards, A.C., 2019. Building emergency management capacity in remote north Australian communities—status report, November 2019, Published by the Darwin Centre for Bushfire Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, and BNH CRC, Melbourne, VIC, pp. 16.

Russell-Smith, J., Sangha, K.K., Edwards, A.C., 2018. Scoping scenario planning for remote community risk management in northern Australia. Bushfire & Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNH CRC), Annual Report 2017-18, pp.15.

Sangha, Kamaljit, K., Jeremy Russell-Smith, Andrew Edwards, Cameron Yates, Jackie Gould, Christine Michael, Glenn James and ARPNet (2015). Developing enterprise opportunities and resilience in remote north Australian communities. Research proceedings from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC & AFAC conference 2015, Adelaide, 1-3 September 2015, pp. 256-264.

Thackway, R., Auricht, C., Edwards, A., Lynch, D. and Cuff, N., (2014). A vegetation fuel type map for Australia’s northern savannas. Unpublished report prepared for the Department of the Environment, Canberra. Auricht Projects, Adelaide, South Australia. Pp 42.