Fire history of the tall wet eucalypt forests of the Warra ecological research site, Tamania

Abstract

Summary Fire history since 1850 was reconstructed by analysing tall wet eucalypt forest stands in the Warra long-term ecological research (LTER) site in southern Tasmania. Major fires occurred in 1898, 1906, 1914 and 1934. Fifty-seven percent of the forest has remained unburnt since 1850. Sixty percent of the forest burnt since 1850 occurs as mixed age stands, while 40 percent is pure regrowth. Ring counts of stumps of three veteran eucalypt trees indicated that the mature and oldgrowth forests of the Warra site represent a number of pre-1850 fires. One extant oldgrowth eucalypt stand was estimated to be over 450 years old. The common occurrence of multi-aged wet eucalypt stands has silvicultural implications where a management objective is to emulate pre-existing stand structures. While the fire history reported here is limited mainly to the period since 1850, it provides a good basis for understanding the current stand structures of the tall wet eucalypt forests of the Warra site. Such an understanding is essential to interpret results from current and planned ecological studies associated with the LTER program at Warra.