The Effects of Forestry Practices on Wildlife in Australia: A Review

Abstract

SUMMARY Two prerequisites for multiple-use management of Australian forests are an increased knowledge of the biology of the forest fauna and of the effects of various forestry practices on their populations. Road construction, stand improvement operations and selective logging, clear-felling for woodchips or establishment of indigenous or exotic plantations, and prescribed (control) burning all affect wildlife according to the degree that each species depends on the forest as habitat and the degree to which the forest is changed, particularly in plant species diversity and structure. Their general effect, however, is to initiate or reset a succession of different plant communities and associated wildlife populations in which the types and numbers of animals present depend upon the age and size of the forest and the diversity of vegetation (especially the type and density of understorey) present. Because each species varies in its dependence on the forest as habitat it is clearly impossible to satisfy all their requirements by a single management plan. The setting aside of a representative series of large reserves and National Parks, establishment of individual or groups of species as the objectives of management programmes in some areas and modification of existing forestry practices, however, should allow both commercial timber production and conservation of wildlife in Australian forests.