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Bushfires can have positive and negative effects on the environment.

Some plants require fire to spread their seeds. This is the case with the banksia in Australia. Some species like this actually require the heat and the smoke to release their seeds. Without bushfires, these plants could not reproduce. Similarly, fire can generate new growth in existent plants. Eucalypts, for example, often sprout new growth after a fire.

However, for every positive effect, there's a negative effect as well. Bushfires release huge amounts of smoke and ash which, apart from creating pollution (provoking Asthma and causing other health problems), also cause weather changes in the immediate area. Heat pushes up the air, creating cumulus clouds which, if met by air of a different temperature, can result in storms.

Animals such as Leadbeater's possum, which is unique to certain forestry areas in Victoria, can be severely threatened by bushfire. For fifty years, the Leadbeater's possum was believed to be extinct, largely as a result of the devastating Black Friday bushfires in 1939. The Leadbeater's possum is found only in the tall eucalypt and mountain ash forests in the central highlands of central Victoria. It nests in the hollows of old trees, preferring trees which are over 150-200 years old. Bushfires can wipe out these habitats in a single season, so many species of animal can be very vulnerable to the effects of bushfires.

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