New growth in the ash forests of Victoria. Photo: David Blair
Logging in Victoria's mountain ash forests is increasing the risk of catastrophic wildfires, according to an expert from The Australian National University. In a study published in the journal PNAS last week, Professor David Lindenmayer from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society, and a team of world-renowned ecologists, analysed Victoria's mountain ash forests after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires as well as decades of ecological data. Professor Lindenmayer said that he and the research team found that in the past century large areas of mountain ash forests have been subject to timber and pulpwood harvesting. This has created an area dominated by young fire-prone trees and increases the risk of "mega fires". "Before European settlement, the fire regime was dominated by an infrequent severe wildfire that occurred in late summer," explained Professor Lindenmayer. "Young seedlings germinate from seed released from the crowns of burned mature trees to produce a new even-aged stand. "What we are now realising is the combination of wildfire and logging is creating a previously unrecognised landscape trap in which the behaviour of the ash forest landscapes is markedly different from that which would have occurred before European settlement.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
