Post-fire recruitment and resprouting of a threatened montane eucalypt
Heidi Zimmer
A B G , Jan Allen C , Rob Smith C , Rebecca Gibson D and Tony Auld A E F
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Science, Economics and Insights Division, NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, 4 Parramatta Square, Parramatta, NSW 2150, Australia.
B Forest Research Centre, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia.
C Wollemi Consultancy Services, Blackheath, NSW 2785, Australia.
D Remote Sensing and Landscape Science, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Alstonville, NSW 2477, Australia.
E School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
F Centre for Ecosystem Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
G Corresponding author. Email: heidi.zimmer@gmail.com
Australian Journal of Botany - https://doi.org/10.1071/BT20116
Submitted: 8 September 2020 Accepted: 30 November 2020 Published online: 21 January 2021
Abstract
Changing climate is predicted to result in increased frequency and size of wildfires in south-eastern Australia. With increasing area burnt there is increased potential for entire species distributions to be burnt in a single fire event. This is particularly the case for range-restricted threatened species. Eucalyptus canobolensis (L.A.S.Johnson & K.D.Hill) J.T.Hunter is restricted to Mount Canobolas, New South Wales, Australia. In 2018, the majority of the E. canobolensis population was burnt by wildfire. One-year post-fire, we measured recruitment, resprouting and mortality of E. canobolensis. At higher fire severities, smaller trees were more likely to resprout from their bases only, as their stems were killed (i.e. ‘top kill’). Seedling regeneration only occurred in burnt plots. Our study demonstrates that E. canobolensis has a fire response typical of many eucalypts, characterised by seedling recruitment and larger trees resprouting epicormically, even after high-severity fire. Nevertheless, E. canobolensis response to repeat and short-interval fire remains unknown, and smaller trees appear to be vulnerable to top kill. Although much of Australia’s flora can respond to fire, this response is likely to be challenged as fire extents increase, especially if this is combined with increasing fire severity and/or frequency. These changes to the fire regime are a particular threat to species with restricted distributions.
Keywords: climate change, endangered, Eucalyptus canobolensis, regeneration, seedlings, sprouting, wildfire.
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