Appropriate fire management strategies are needed to protect forests and large old ecologically and culturally significant trees in natural landscapes. The aim of this study was to determine the age of large old and relic trees of cultural significance that included Cypress Pine (Callitris columellaris F. Muell.), a species that is sensitive to crown scorching fires in a fire-prone landscape, and to calibrate a tree-growth-rate method for estimating tree age. Twelve large trees were dated using radiocarbon ( 14 C) dating. The trees are located on North Stradbroke Island (Indigenous name: Minjerribah), southeast Queensland (Australia) in a fire-prone landscape where recent wildfires have destroyed many large trees. The median tree ages ranged from 155 to 369 years. These results suggest an important role of past Indigenous land management practices in protecting Cypress Pine from crown scorching fires. The tree-growth-rate-based method for estimating tree age generally overestimated the age derived from radiocarbon dating. Bias correction factors were developed for correcting various measures of periodic growth rates. This study provides evidence that appropriate lowintensity fire strategies have the potential to contribute to the survival of forests and conserve large old trees.

Open eucalypt forests with a grassy understorey are becoming rare in the volcanic landscapes on the Queensland-New South Wales border, as woody plants thicken with the cessation of regular planned burning. Whether previous planned burning reduced the impact of the 2019 unplanned wildfires on forest condition is debated. We evaluated the role of planned burning on the condition of a subtropical eucalypt forest following a wildfire in 2019. Two years after a wildfire at Mt Lindesay, a section of forest that had been frequently burnt was in better condition than adjacent rarely burnt forest. Specifically, there was significantly greater cover of kangaroo grass and a lower density of tree saplings in frequently burnt forest. The canopy of rarely burnt forest showed more signs of dieback. The pattern of healthier eucalypt forest with frequent burning was observed at other South East Queensland sites, Mt Gillies and Spicer's Gap. These observations suggest long-term frequent burning under mild conditions with good soil moisture maintains grassy eucalypt forest that is resilient to occasional intense wildfires during drought, such as seen in late 2019.

Kangaroo grass facilitates ecologically appropriate burning under moist soil conditions.