Final answer:
Controlled burns promoted plant growth, reduced competition from other herbivores, and enhanced soil fertility, all of which improved the food supply for Aboriginal peoples through firestick farming.
Step-by-step explanation:
Firestick farming refers to the practice of indigenous Australians who deliberately set controlled fires to manage land. These controlled burns promoted plant growth, by clearing out old and dead vegetation, thus allowing for new plants to sprout, which in turn attracted and sustained larger populations of prey like kangaroos. Reducing the field to ashes also reduced competition from other herbivores that fed on the same vegetation, concentrating the food supply for human hunters. Furthermore, the practice of controlled burning enhanced soil fertility through the deposition of ash, which recycled nutrients back into the soil.
There is evidence that this technique maintained stable vegetation patterns and enhanced the productivity of the environment for Aboriginal peoples before European colonization.