Development of silviculture in the native State forests of Victoria

Lutze, M.; Campbell, Robert G.; Fagg, P. C.

doi:10.1080/00049158.1999.10674788

Cited by 56 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…2). In the past 40 y, the traditional method of logging has been clear-cutting, in which all merchantable trees within a 15-to 40-ha area are cut in a single operation (25). Following clear-cutting, logging debris is burned to create a bed of ashes in which the regeneration of a new eucalypt stand takes place, often by artificial reseeding.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Newly discovered landscape traps produce regime shifts in wet forests

Lindenmayer

Hobbs

Likens

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

256

301

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We describe the "landscape trap" concept, whereby entire landscapes are shifted into, and then maintained (trapped) in, a highly compromised structural and functional state as the result of multiple temporal and spatial feedbacks between human and natural disturbance regimes. The landscape trap concept builds on ideas like stable alternative states and other relevant concepts, but it substantively expands the conceptual thinking in a number of unique ways. In this paper, we (i) review the literature to develop the concept of landscape traps, including their general features; (ii) provide a case study as an example of a landscape trap from the mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests of southeastern Australia; (iii) suggest how landscape traps can be detected before they are irrevocably established; and (iv) present evidence of the generality of landscape traps in different ecosystems worldwide.altered ecosystem processes | old growth I n many environments worldwide, key drivers of ecosystem change interact and reinforce one another to trigger cascades of ecosystem modification that are difficult or impossible to reverse (1-3). These cascades are often referred to as regime shifts (4-6). Examples of significant regime shifts include overfishing and trophic cascades in marine predator-prey systems (7) and human disturbance-driven losses of detritivore populations and subsequent changes in the decomposition of organic matter (8). Regime shifts are almost always identified in retrospect, making it difficult to know how to avoid them in advance and problematic to reverse their effects. Therefore, understanding of the mechanistic processes by which regime shifts occur may provide opportunities to change resource management and avoid irreversible and undesirable ecological changes.In this paper, we describe the "landscape trap" concept, of which the outcome is a regime shift triggered by a series of feedback processes resulting from interacting natural and anthropogenic disturbances. We define a landscape trap as that wherein entire landscapes are shifted into a state in which major functional and ecological attributes are compromised. These shifts in a landscape lead to feedback processes that either maintain an ecosystem in a compromised state or push it into a further regime shift in which an entirely new type of vegetation cover develops. Landscape traps are large-scale ecological phenomena that arise through a combination of altered spatial characteristics of a landscape coupled with synergistic interactions among multiple human and natural disturbances. Thus, changes in the frequency and spatial contagion of large-scale disturbances are the key interacting factors driving entire landscapes into an undesirable and potentially irreversible state (i.e., landscape trap). We demonstrate the concept with examples involving spatial and temporal feedback between logging and fire in forest ecosystems and also provide examples of landscape traps in other environments.Like other kinds of ecological traps, the landscape tra...

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Newly discovered landscape traps produce regime shifts in wet forests

Lindenmayer

Hobbs

Likens

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

256

301

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Logging systems.-Clearcutting and slash burning is the logging system commonly applied in montane ash forests in Victoria (Lutze et al 1999, DSE 2007a). The rotation length for clearcutting is prescribed as 50 years (DPI 2009) where even-aged 1939 regrowth is being logged, but has often been shorter.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing temperate forests for carbon storage: impacts of logging versus forest protection on carbon stocks

Keith¹,

Lindenmayer²,

Mackey³

et al. 2014

Ecosphere

132

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Management of native forests offers opportunities to store more carbon in the land sector through two main activities. Emissions to the atmosphere can be avoided by ceasing logging. Removals of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere can be increased by allowing forests to continue growing. However, the relative benefits for carbon storage of managing native forests for wood production versus protection are contested. Additionally, the potential for carbon storage is impacted upon by disturbance events, such as wildfire, that alter the amount and longevity of carbon stocks.Using a case study of montane ash forests in southeastern Australia, we demonstrated that the total biomass carbon stock in logged forest was 55% of the stock in old growth forest. Total biomass included above-and belowground, living and dead. Biomass carbon stock was calculated spatially as an average across the landscape, accounting for variation in environmental conditions and forest age distribution. Reduction in carbon stock in logged forest was due to 66% of the initial biomass being made into products with short lifetimes (,3 years), and to the lower average age of logged forest (,50 years compared with .100 years in old growth forest). Only 4% of the initial carbon stock in the native forest was converted to sawn timber products with lifetimes of 30-90 years.Carbon stocks are depleted in a harvested forest system compared with an old growth forest, even when storage in wood products and landfill are included. We estimated that continued logging under current plans represented a loss of 5.56 Tg C over 5 years in the area logged (824 km 2 ), compared with a potential gain of 5.18-6.05 TgC over 5 years by allowing continued growth across the montane ash forest region (2326 km 2 ). Avoiding emissions by not logging native forests and allowing them to continue growing is therefore an important form of carbon sequestration. The mitigation value of forest management options of protection versus logging should be assessed in terms of the amount, longevity and resilience of the carbon stored in the forest, rather than the annual rate of carbon uptake.

show abstract

“…Past and present logging is a major driver of decline. Clearfelling is the predominant form of logging in Mountain Ash forests (Lutze et al 1999;Lindenmayer et al 2015) and large old trees are generally not cut down in these operations. However, many hundreds of large old trees are destroyed annually by the high-intensity burns lit to regenerate logged forests after clearfelling .…”

Section: Threats To Populations Of Large Old Trees In the Central Higmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of managing and conserving large old trees: a case study from Victorian Mountain Ash forests

Lindenmayer¹

2016

Proc. R. Soc. Vic.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Large old trees are critical structures in the Mountain Ash forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria. They perform many critical ecological and other roles. Populations of these trees are also in serious decline. A range of key management strategies is needed to arrest the decline of existing populations of large old trees and instigate population recovery. In particular all existing large old trees need to be properly protected with adequate buffers of uncut forest. In addition, all stands of oldgrowth forest, irrespective of their size, need to be protected to ensure they are not logged. The size of the old-growth estate also must be expanded so that it encompasses at least 30%-50% of the distribution of Mountain Ash. Finally, the recruitment of new cohorts of large old trees is critically important to replace existing trees when they are lost. To achieve this, large areas of existing regrowth forest that regenerated after the 1939 fires need to be excluded from logging and grown through to an oldgrowth stage. Implementation of altered management in Mountain Ash forests is urgent, as delays in policies will exacerbate the decline of this significant population of large old trees in south-eastern Australia.

show abstract

Development of silviculture in the native State forests of Victoria

Cited by 56 publications

References 4 publications

Newly discovered landscape traps produce regime shifts in wet forests

Newly discovered landscape traps produce regime shifts in wet forests

Managing temperate forests for carbon storage: impacts of logging versus forest protection on carbon stocks

The importance of managing and conserving large old trees: a case study from Victorian Mountain Ash forests

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About