Logging in Victorias 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 Victorias 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