Tasmania’s giant eucalypts: discovery, documentation, macroecology and conservation status of the world’s largest angiosperms

Brett Mifsud; Lynda D. Prior; Grant J. Williamson; Jan Corigliano; Carl Hansen; Robert Van Pelt; Steven Pearce; Thomas Greenwood; David M. J. S. Bowman

doi:10.1071/BT23088

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Next Contents Vol 73(1)

Tasmania’s giant eucalypts: discovery, documentation, macroecology and conservation status of the world’s largest angiosperms

Brett Mifsud

^A ^* , Lynda D. Prior

^A , Grant J. Williamson ^A , Jan Corigliano ^A , Carl Hansen ^A , Robert Van Pelt ^B , Steven Pearce ^A , Thomas Greenwood ^A and David M. J. S. Bowman

^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Fire Centre, School of Natural Sciences, Private Bag 55, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas 7001, Australia.

^B School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment, University of Washington, Box 352100, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

^* Correspondence to: brettbtgmifsud@gmail.com

Handling Editor: John Morgan

Australian Journal of Botany 73, BT23088 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT23088

Submitted: 20 October 2023 Accepted: 16 November 2024 Published: 30 January 2025

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Tasmania is the epicentre of the tallest and most massive angiosperms on Earth.

Aims

To survey Tasmania’s tallest and most massive (large trunk volume) trees.

Methods

LiDAR and satellite imagery identified areas with very tall trees. Field surveys recorded the geolocation, height, diameter and condition of exceptionally large individuals, and effects of recent fires.

Key results

Giant trees occur in a band between dry forests and temperate rainforests, with the largest trees in areas with 1000–1500 mm rainfall and 8–12°C mean annual temperature. We documented 18 trees taller than 90 m, and 32 trees with trunk volume of >250 m³. Trunk volume was better correlated with diameter at 10-m height than at breast height, owing to irregularities near the base of large trees. The tallest tree was measured to be 99.6 m tall (now 96 m tall), and the most massive tree had a trunk volume of 460 m³. Most of the largest and tallest trees in Tasmania were Eucalyptus regnans, but occasional individuals of Eucalyptus globulus, E. obliqua and E. tasmaniensis were also over 85 m tall or had a trunk volume of >280 m³. Post-fire surveys highlighted vulnerability of giant Eucalyptus trees to fire, with 60% of the largest known trees killed by fire since 2004.

Conclusions

The giant trees of Tasmania are of global significance, but vulnerable to a warming, drying climate and associated increase in fire activity.

Implications

We outline steps for the conservation of giant trees, a task made urgent by climate change.

Keywords: Eucalyptus globulus, Eucalyptus obliqua, Eucalyptus regnans, giant trees, old growth forest, remarkable trees, tall trees, tree height, tree size, veteran trees.

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