A Floristic Comparison of Vascular Species in Tasmanian Oldgrowth Mixed Forest With Regeneration Resulting From Logging and Wildfire

1994 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 383 ◽  
Author(s):  
JE Hickey
Keyword(s):  
Life Span ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Mixed Forest ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Disturbed Areas ◽  
Fern Species ◽  
Eucalypt Forests ◽  
Or Fires ◽  
Epiphytic Fern

About 20% of Tasmania's wet eucalypt forest is mixed forest, i.e. having a rainforest understorey and a eucalypt overstorey. While one-third of the mixed forest is formally reserved, much of the remainder is subject to logging on an 80-100 year rotation which is insufficient for the redevelopment of mature mixed forest. The routine silvicultural regeneration treatment for wet eucalypt forests is to clearfell, burn and sow with eucalypt seed. A comparison of the Vascular floristics of 20-30-year-old silvicultural and wildfire regeneration with oldgrowth mixed forest showed that most species common in oldgrowth mixed forest were represented in approximately similar frequencies in silvicultural regeneration and wildfire regeneration. The major floristic difference between the two regeneration types was the much lower frequency of oldgrowth epiphytic fern species in silvicultural regeneration and a higher frequency of a sedge species often associated with disturbed areas. However, after a single logging treatment, the vascular plant floristics of silvicultural regeneration were sufficiently similar to wildfire regeneration to assume that, in the absence of further logging or fires, the silvicultural regeneration could become mature mixed forest and eventually rainforest. Further work is required to determine whether regrowth mixed forest can be logged at 80-100 years and still retain sufficient rainforest elements to eventually return to mixed forest within the life span of the dominant eucalypts. The critical factor in the silvicultural perpetuation of mixed forest may be rotation length rather than regeneration treatment.

scholarly journals Carbon in Trees in Tasmanian State Forest

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. T. Moroni ◽  
T. H. Kelley ◽  
M. L. McLarin
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Forest ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Crown Cover ◽  
Standing Trees ◽  
Eucalypt Forests ◽  
Landscape Level

The mass of carbon (C) in standing trees on 1.5 M ha of Tasmanian State forest was 163 Tg C, with 139 Tg in eucalypt forest. The highest C densities occurred in the tallest, highest crown cover, mature, wet eucalypt forest, representing 0.2% by area containing only 1.3 Tg C. Shorter mature forests with lower crown cover contained 21–68% of this C density. Rainforests and forests containing regrowth or silvicultural regeneration components also contained lower C densities. Landscape-level C saturation of Tasmanian State forest could only be achieved when all forest was simultaneously mature eucalypt forest. This would sequester an additional 93 Tg C into trees, but would require fire to convert existing mixed forest and rainforest to eucalypt forest, and subsequent estate wildfire prevention while eucalypt forests mature and the prevention of eucalypt forests progressing to less C-dense rainforest. Theoretical C saturation at the landscape level is therefore ecologically impossible.

Native vegetation of coastal floodplains ? a diagnosis of the major plant communities in New South Wales

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 81 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Keith ◽  
Judith Scott
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Mixed Forest ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Spatial Arrangement ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Weed Invasion ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Acid Sulphate Soils ◽  
Hunter Region

Coastal floodplains are among the most modified landscapes in southeastern Australia. We used available vegetation survey data for coastal alluvium and other unconsolidated Quarternary sediments to construct a diagnosis of the major plant communities and document their flora. We used soil landscape maps and historical portion plans to gain an understanding of the distribution and environmental relationships of the communities. The flora of coastal floodplains includes more than 1 000 native vascular plant taxa and more than 200 introduced taxa. The introduced flora is likely to be considerably larger, given that sampling was biased toward the least disturbed sites. Six major plant communities were diagnosed including a rainforest found north from the Shoalhaven floodplain, a mixed forest of eucalypts and melaleucas found north from Jervis Bay, a casuarina forest (sometimes with melaleuca) found throughout the coast, one open eucalypt forest found principally south from the Hunter region, another open eucalypt forest found north of the Hunter region and a complex of treeless wetland assemblages scattered throughout the coast. The extent and spatial arrangement of these communities varies between floodplains, with landform, rainfall, water regime and soil properties including moisture, fertility and salinity thought to be important factors mediating their distribution patterns. All six assemblages are listed as Endangered Ecological Communities under Threatened Species legislation. The coastal floodplain communities continue to be threatened by land clearing and crop conversion, fragmentation, changes to water flows, flooding and drainage, input of polluted runoff, weed invasion, activation of acid sulphate soils, climate change and degradation through rubbish dumping and other physical disturbances.

scholarly journals Can Carbon Sequestration in Tasmanian “Wet” Eucalypt Forests Be Used to Mitigate Climate Change? Forest Succession, the Buffering Effects of Soils, and Landscape Processes Must Be Taken into Account

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Peter D. McIntosh ◽  
James L. Hardcastle ◽  
Tobias Klöffel ◽  
Martin Moroni ◽  
Talitha C. Santini
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Forest Succession ◽  
Mixed Forest ◽  
Mixed Forests ◽  
Soil C ◽  
C Stocks ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
Eucalypt Forests

Small areas of the wetter parts of southeast Australia including Tasmania support high-biomass “wet” eucalypt forests, including “mixed” forests consisting of mature eucalypts up to 100 m high with a rainforest understorey. In Tasmania, mixed forests transition to lower biomass rainforests over time. In the scientific and public debate on ways to mitigate climate change, these forests have received attention for their ability to store large amounts of carbon (C), but the contribution of soil C stocks to the total C in these two ecosystems has not been systematically researched, and consequently, the potential of wet eucalypt forests to serve as long-term C sinks is uncertain. This study compared soil C stocks to 1 m depth at paired sites under rainforest and mixed forests and found that there was no detectable difference of mean total soil C between the two forest types, and on average, both contained about 200 Mg·ha−1 of C. Some C in subsoil under rainforests is 3000 years old and retains a chemical signature of pyrogenic C, detectable in NMR spectra, indicating that soil C stocks are buffered against the effects of forest succession. The mean loss of C in biomass as mixed forests transition to rainforests is estimated to be about 260 Mg·ha−1 over a c. 400-year period, so the mature mixed forest ecosystem emits about 0.65 Mg·ha−1·yr−1 of C during its transition to rainforest. For this reason and because of the risk of forest fires, setting aside large areas of wet eucalypt forests as reserves in order to increase landscape C storage is not a sound strategy for long-term climate change mitigation. Maintaining a mosaic of managed native forests, including regenerating eucalypts, mixed forests, rainforests, and reserves, is likely to be the best strategy for maintaining landscape C stocks.

Project Vesta: Fire in Dry Eucalypt Forest

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
JS Gould ◽  
WL McCaw ◽  
NP Cheney ◽  
PF Ellis ◽  
IK Knight ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Fire Behaviour ◽  
Understorey Vegetation ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Vegetation Structures ◽  
Eucalypt Forests ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
New Algorithms

Project Vesta was a comprehensive research project to investigate the behaviour and spread of high-intensity bushfires in dry eucalypt forests with different fuel ages and understorey vegetation structures. The project was designed to quantify age-related changes in fuel attributes and fire behaviour in dry eucalypt forests typical of southern Australia. The four main scientific aims of Project Vesta were: To quantify the changes in the behaviour of fire in dry eucalypt forest as fuel develops with age (i.e. time since fire); To characterise wind speed profiles in forest with different overstorey and understorey vegetation structure in relation to fire behaviour; To develop new algorithms describing the relationship between fire spread and wind speed, and fire spread and fuel characteristics including load, structure and height; and to develop a National Fire Behaviour Prediction System for dry eucalypt forests. These aims have been addressed through a program of experimental burning and associated studies at two sites in the south-west of Western Australia.

Impact of distance to mature forest on the recolonisation of bryophytes in a regenerating Tasmanian wet eucalypt forest

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (8) ◽  
pp. 633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Baker ◽  
Gregory J. Jordan ◽  
Patrick J. Dalton ◽  
Susan C. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Edge Effect ◽  
Dispersal Distance ◽  
Mature Forest ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Native Forests ◽  
Disturbed Areas ◽  
Disturbed Forest ◽  
Microclimate Conditions ◽  
Ideal Group

Forest influence is a type of edge effect that occurs when mature forests affect the recolonisation of adjacent disturbed areas. This can be driven by changes in microclimate conditions near the edge or by an increase in establishment ability with proximity to a propagule source. Bryophyte recolonisation is sensitive to both microclimate and dispersal distance, therefore they are an ideal group to examine how strong forest influence is and over what distance it operates. Responses to forest influence are known to be highly species dependent; therefore, we tested whether distance affects the recolonisation ability of a range of bryophytes. As well as examining a range of species, we tested whether forest influence operated differently on two types of substrate used by bryophytes (logs and ground). For most of the species examined, establishment rates in disturbed forest diminished further away from the mature edge. The influence of unlogged mature forest on bryophyte establishment in harvested forest occurred up to 50 m. Species varied in their response to distance, and the relationships with distance were stronger on the ground compared with log substrates. These results support the concept of forest influence, with areas closer to mature forest experiencing more substantial re-establishment. These findings are relevant to conservation of bryophytes in managed native forests.

Does adjacent land use affect predation of artificial shrub-nests near eucalypt forest edges?

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Piper ◽  
C. P. Catterall ◽  
M. F. Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Nest Predation ◽  
Forest Edges ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Edge Type ◽  
Site Type ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Forest Remnants ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Eucalypt Forests

Edge-related increases in nest-predation levels were tested using artificial nests placed within eucalypt forest remnants at distances of 0, 60, and 235 m from edges adjacent to areas of urban, pasture, and Pinus plantation. There were eight replicate sites of each edge type, scattered widely across a 30 000-km2 study region. Open-cup nests containing one quail egg and two plasticine eggs were placed in shrubs and exposed for 6 days. When predation of the quail egg was used to calculate predation levels, predation varied significantly with edge type but not distance to the edge, due to relatively low levels within sites bordering Pinus plantations. When predation of any egg was used to calculate predation levels, predation was not significantly affected by edge type or distance to the edge. Predation levels within eight independent forest interior transects distributed across the study region, and located 500-800 m from the nearest edge, were similar to those within transects 0 m from edges. Birds were the most important class of predator within all combinations of site type and distance to edge, and accounted for 92% of identified predation overall. These results do not support the existence of edge-related increases in predation of shrub nests within subtropical eucalypt forests.

Too much, too soon? A review of the effects of increasing wildfire frequency on tree mortality and regeneration in temperate eucalypt forests

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Fairman ◽  
Craig R. Nitschke ◽  
Lauren T. Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Stable State ◽  
Alternative Stable State ◽  
Juvenile Period ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
State Changes ◽  
State Models ◽  
Eucalypt Forests ◽  
In Fire

In temperate Australia, wildfires are predicted to be more frequent and severe under climate change. This could lead to marked changes in tree mortality and regeneration in the region’s predominant eucalypt forests, which have been burned repeatedly by extensive wildfires in the period 2003–14. Recent studies have applied alternative stable state models to select ‘fire sensitive’ forest types, but comparable models have not been rigorously examined in relation to the more extensive ‘fire tolerant’ forests in the region. We review the effects of increasing wildfire frequency on tree mortality and regeneration in temperate forests of Victoria, south-eastern Australia, based on the functional traits of the dominant eucalypts: those that are typically killed by wildfire to regenerate from seed (‘obligate seeders’) and those that mostly survive to resprout (‘resprouters’). In Victoria, over 4.3 million ha of eucalypt forest has been burned by wildfire in the last decade (2003–14), roughly equivalent to the cumulative area burned in the previous 50 years (1952–2002; 4.4 million ha). This increased wildfire activity has occurred regardless of several advancements in fire management, and has resulted in over 350 000 ha of eucalypt forest being burned twice or more by wildfire at short (≤11 year) intervals. Historical and recent evidence indicates that recurrent wildfires threaten the persistence of the ‘fire sensitive’ obligate seeder eucalypt forests, which can facilitate a shift to non-forest states if successive fires occur within the trees’ primary juvenile period (1–20 years). Our review also highlights potential for structural and state changes in the ‘fire tolerant’ resprouter forests, particularly if recurrent severe wildfires kill seedlings and increase tree mortality. We present conceptual models of state changes in temperate eucalypt forests with increasing wildfire frequency, and highlight knowledge gaps relating to the development and persistence of alternative states driven by changes in fire regimes.

Populations of Four Small Mammals in Radiata Pine Plantations and Eucalypt Forests of North-Eastern Victoria.

1978 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 305 ◽  
Author(s):  
GC Suckling ◽  
A Heislers
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Radiata Pine ◽  
Pine Plantations ◽  
Native Vegetation ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii ◽  
Rattus Fuscipes ◽  
Eucalypt Forests

[See also FA 39, 2088] A 2-yr trapping study was made on (a) Rattus fuscipes, (b) Antechinus stuartii, (c) Mus musculus and (d) A. swainsonii in mature eucalypt forest, a narrow stream-side strip of eucalypt forest, and in 3 pine plantations, 8, 22 and 42 yr old. In each area (a) and (d) were largely and (c) always confined to dense native vegetation along streams, whilst (b) was more frequent along streams than on slopes. More animals were found away from streams in young pine plantations than in other forest types.

scholarly journals Using online databases to produce comprehensive accounts of the vascular plants from the Brazilian protected areas: The Parque Nacional do Itatiaia as a case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Moreira ◽  
Tatiana Carrijo ◽  
Anderson Alves-Araújo ◽  
André Amorim ◽  
Alessandro Rapini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Individual Plant ◽  
Online Databases ◽  
Parque Nacional Do Itatiaia ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Fern Species ◽  
Data Deficient

Brazil is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, with about 37,000 species of land plants. Part of this biodiversity is within protected areas. The development of online databases in the last years greatly improved the available biodiversity data. However, the existing databases do not provide information about the protected areas in which individual plant species occur. The lack of such information is a crucial gap for conservation actions. This study aimed to show how the information captured from online databases, cleaned by a protocol and verified by taxonomists allowed us to obtain a comprehensive list of the vascular plant species from the "Parque Nacional do Itatiaia", the first national park founded in Brazil. All existing records in the online database JABOT (15,100 vouchers) were downloaded, resulting in 11,783 vouchers identified at the species level. Overall, we documented 2,316 species belonging to 176 families and 837 genera of vascular plants in the "Parque Nacional do Itatiaia". Considering the whole vascular flora, 2,238 species are native and 78 are non-native. The "Parque Nacional do Itatiaia" houses 13% of the angiosperm and 37% of the fern species known from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Amongst these species, 82 have been cited as threatened, following IUCN categories (CR, EN or VU), seven are data deficient (DD) and 15 have been classified as a conservation priority, because they are only known from a single specimen collected before 1969.

scholarly journals Propensities of Old Growth, Mature and Regrowth Wet Eucalypt Forest, and Eucalyptus nitens Plantation, to Burn During Wildfire and Suffer Fire-Induced Crown Death

Fire ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suyanti Winoto-Lewin ◽  
Jennifer Sanger ◽  
James Kirkpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Fire Severity ◽  
Eucalyptus Nitens ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Plantation Forest ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Eucalypt Forests ◽  
Fire Incidence ◽  
Topographic Variation

There are conflicting conclusions on how the flammability of wet eucalypt forests changes in the time after disturbances such as logging or wildfire. Some conclude that forests are most flammable in the decades following disturbance, while others conclude that disturbance has no effect on flammability. The comparative flammability of Eucalyptus nitens plantations in the same environment as wet eucalypt forest is not known. We determined fire incidence and fire severity in regrowth, mature and old growth wet eucalypt forest, and E. nitens plantation, in the Huon Valley, Tasmania after the January–February 2019 wildfire. To control for topographic variation and fire weather, we randomly selected sites within the fire footprint, then randomly located a paired site for each in different forest types in the same topographic environment within 3 km. Each pair of sites was burned on the same day. Old growth forest and plantations were the least likely to burn. Old growth and mature forest exhibited scorched eucalypt crowns to a much lesser degree than regrowth forests. In a comparison of paired sites, plantation forest was less likely to burn than combined mature and old growth forests, but in all cases of detected ignition the canopy of plantation was scorched. The lower flammability of older forests, and their importance as an increasing store of carbon, suggests that a cessation of logging outside plantations might have considerable benefits.

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