Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Pacific Conservation Biology Pacific Conservation Biology Society
A journal dedicated to conservation and wildlife management in the Pacific region.
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > PC > PC23010
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 30(1)

The case for listing Mountain Ash forests in the Central Highlands of Victoria as a Threatened Ecological Community

David Lindenmayer https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4766-4088 A * , Chris Taylor A , Elle Bowd A and Kita Ashman B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

B World Wide Fund for Nature, Level 9, 276 Flinders Street, Melbourne Vic., Australia.

* Correspondence to: david.lindenmayer@anu.edu.au

Handling Editor: Mike Calver

Pacific Conservation Biology 30, PC23010 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC23010
Submitted: 22 February 2023  Accepted: 4 August 2023  Published: 21 September 2023

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context

Thousands of species have been recognised as being at risk of extinction in formal listing processes such as those under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Less common is the recognition that some ecological communities are also at risk and for them to be formally listed. Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) in Australia ~100 communities have been recognised as threatened. This number is likely an underestimate as many ecological communities lack available robust long-term data to facilitate assessment.

Aims and methods

Using insights from a range of research studies and long-term monitoring in the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria, we examine evidence for its listing as a Threatened Ecological Community.

Key results

The structure and composition of the Mountain Ash ecological community and the key ecological processes that underpin its integrity have been radically altered in the past century. The community is extensively degraded, heavily fragmented, and suffering substantial biodiversity loss. It should be listed as a Threatened Ecological Community under the EPBC Act.

Conclusions and implications

Insights from long-term ecological monitoring and other studies provide a strong case for listing the Mountain Ash forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria as a Threatened Ecological Community. The community meets four of the six criteria for listing as a threatened ecological community. Under those four criteria, the Mountain Ash forest community should be listed as either Endangered or Critically Endangered.

Keywords: biodiversity, clearcutting, ecological processes, EPBC Act, formal listing processes, Leadbeater’s Possum, logging, south-eastern Australia, tall wet forests, wildfire.

References

ABARES (2011) Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Canberra, Australia.

ABARES (2018) Australia’s state of the forests report 2018. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, Australia.

ABARES (2020) Catchment scale land use of Australia – update December 2020. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Canberra, Australia.

Ashton D (1962) Some aspects of root competition in E. regnans. In ‘Proceedings of the Third general conference institute of foresters of Australia’, Melbourne. (Institute of Foresters of Australia)

Ashton DH (1975a) The seasonal growth of Eucalyptus regnans F. Muell. Australian Journal of Botany 23, 239-252.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Ashton DH (1975b) Studies of litter in Eucalyptus regnans forests. Australian Journal of Botany 23, 413-433.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Ashton DH (1981) Fire in tall open forests (wet sclerophyll forests). In ‘Fire and the Australian Biota’. (Eds AM Gill, RH Groves, IR Noble) pp. 339–366. (Australian Academy of Science: Canberra)

Baker PJ, Spring D, Nitschke C, Trouvé R (2017) Fibre and wood supply report. Consultants’ report, Appendix A. University of Melbourne, East Melbourne.

Banks JC (1993) Tree-ring analysis of two Mountain Ash trees Eucalyptus regnans F.Muell from the Watts and O’Shannassy Catchments, Central Highlands, Victoria. A Report to the Central Highlands Old Growth Forest Project. August 1993. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources: Melbourne, Australia.

Benyon RG, Inbar A, Sheridan GJ, Lyell CS, Lane PNJ (2023) Variable self-thinning explains hydrological responses to stand replacement in even-aged forests. Journal of Hydrology 618, 129157.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bergstrom DM, Wienecke BC, van den Hoff J, Hughes L, Lindenmayer DB, Ainsworth TD, Baker CM, Bland L, Bowman DMJS, Brooks ST, Canadell JG, Constable AJ, Dafforn KA, Depledge MH, Dickson CR, Duke NC, Helmstedt KJ, Holz A, Johnson CR, McGeoch MA, Melbourne-Thomas J, Morgain R, Nicholson E, Prober SM, Raymond B, Ritchie EG, Robinson SA, Ruthrof KX, Setterfield SA, Sgrò CM, Stark JS, Travers T, Trebilco R, Ward DFL, Wardle GM, Williams KJ, Zylstra PJ, Shaw JD (2021) Combating ecosystem collapse from the tropics to the Antarctic. Global Change Biology 27(9), 1692-1703.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Blair DP, McBurney LM, Blanchard W, Banks SC, Lindenmayer DB (2016) Disturbance gradient shows logging affects plant functional groups more than fire. Ecological Applications 26, 2280-2301.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Blair DP, Blanchard W, Banks SC, Lindenmayer DB (2017) Non-linear growth in tree ferns, Dicksonia antarctica and Cyathea australis. PLoS ONE 12, e0176908.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Boland DJ, Brooker MIH, Chippendale GM, Hall N, Hyland BPM, Johnson RD, Kleinig DA, McDonald MW, Turner JD (2006) ‘Forest trees of Australia.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Bowd EJ, Lindenmayer DB, Banks SC, Blair DP (2018) Logging and fire regimes alter plant communities. Ecological Applications 28, 826-841.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Bowd EJ, Banks SC, Strong CL, Lindenmayer DB (2019) Long-term impacts of wildfire and logging on forest soils. Nature Geoscience 12, 113-118.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bowd EJ, Banks SC, Bissett A, May TW, Lindenmayer DB (2021a) Direct and indirect disturbance impacts in forests. Ecology Letters 24, 1225-1236.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Bowd EJ, Blair DP, Lindenmayer DB (2021b) Prior disturbance legacy effects on plant recovery post-high-severity wildfire. Ecosphere 12, e03480.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bowd EJ, McBurney L, Lindenmayer DB (2023) The characteristics of regeneration failure and their potential to shift wet temperate forests into alternate stable states. Forest Ecology and Management 529, 120673.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bowman DMJS, Murphy BP, Neyland DLJ, Williamson GJ, Prior LD (2014) Abrupt fire regime change may cause landscape-wide loss of mature obligate seeder forests. Global Change Biology 20, 1008-1015.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Brereton R, Bennett S, Mansergh I (1995) Enhanced greenhouse climate change and its potential effect on selected fauna of south-eastern Australia: a trend analysis. Biological Conservation 72, 339-354.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Burns EL, Lindenmayer DB, Stein J, Blanchard W, McBurney L, Blair D, Banks SC (2015) Ecosystem assessment of mountain ash forest in the Central Highlands of Victoria, south-eastern Australia. Austral Ecology 40(4), 386-399.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Canadell JG, Meyer CP, Cook GD, Dowdy A, Briggs PR, Knauer J, Pepler A, Haverd V (2021) Multi-decadal increase of forest burned area in Australia is linked to climate change. Nature Communications 12, 6921.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Cary GJ, Bradstock RA, Gill AM, Williams RJ (2012) Global change and fire regimes in Australia. In ‘Flammable Australia: fire regimes, biodiversity and ecosystems in a changing world.’ (Eds RA Bradstock, AM Gill, RJ Williams) pp. 149–169. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Cary GJ, Blanchard W, Foster CN, Lindenmayer DB (2021) Effects of altered fire intervals on critical timber production and conservation values. International Journal of Wildland Fire 30, 322-328.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Cawson JG, Duff TJ, Swan MH, Penman TD (2018) Wildfire in wet sclerophyll forests: the interplay between disturbances and fuel dynamics. Ecosphere 9, e02211.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Collins L, Clarke H, Clarke MF, McColl Gausden SC, Nolan RH, Penman T, Bradstock R (2022) Warmer and drier conditions have increased the potential for large and severe fire seasons across south-eastern Australia. Global Ecology and Biogeography 31, 1933-1948.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Crooks KR, Burdett CL, Theobald DM, King SRB, Di Marco M, Rondinini C, Boitani L (2017) Quantification of habitat fragmentation reveals extinction risk in terrestrial mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, 7635-7640.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Cunningham TM (1960) ‘The natural regeneration of Eucalyptus regnans.’ Bulletin no. 1. pp. 1–158. (School of Forestry, University of Melbourne)

Cunningham RB, Lindenmayer DB (2017) Approaches to landscape scale inference and study design. Current Landscape Ecology Reports 2, 42-50.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

DCCEEW (2022) About threatened ecological communities. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Canberra, Australia.

DCCEEW (2023) EPBC act list of threatened ecological communities. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Canberra, Australia.

DEECA (2023a) Native Vegetation - Modelled 1750 Ecological Vegetation Classes. Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Melbourne, Victoria.

DEECA (2023b) Native vegetation – Modelled 2005 ecological vegetation classes (with Bioregional Conservation Status). Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Melbourne, Victoria.

DEECA (2023c) Native vegetation – Modelled 1750 ecological vegetation classes. Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Melbourne, Victoria.

DELWP (2018) Structural vegetation (1995). Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Melbourne, Victoria.

DELWP (2019) Bioregions and EVC benchmarks. Victorian Government Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Melbourne. Available at https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/biodiversity/bioregions-and-evc-benchmarks. [accessed 20 May 2019]

DJAARA and Wartaka (2022) Galk-galk Dhelkunya – forest gardening strategy 2022–2034. Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, Melbourne, Australia.

DNRET (2020) TASVEG – The digital vegetation map of Tasmania. Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Hobart, Australia.

Enright NJ, Fontaine JB, Bowman DMJS, Bradstock RA, Williams RJ (2015) Interval squeeze: altered fire regimes and demographic responses interact to threaten woody species persistence as climate changes. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 13, 265-272.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Environmental Systems Research Institute (2019) ArcGIS Pro. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California.

Fagg P, Lutze M, Slijkerman C, Ryan M, Bassett O (2013) Silvicultural recovery in ash forests following three recent large bushfires in Victoria. Australian Forestry 76, 140-155.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Fedrigo M, Kasel S, Bennett LT, Roxburgh SH, Nitschke CR (2014) Carbon stocks in temperate forests of south-eastern Australia reflect large tree distribution and edaphic conditions. Forest Ecology and Management 334, 129-143.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Fedrigo M, Stewart SB, Kasel S, Levchenko V, Trouvé R, Nitschke CR (2019) Radiocarbon dating informs tree fern population dynamics and disturbance history of temperate forests in southeast Australia. Radiocarbon 61, 445-460.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Fischer J, Lindenmayer DB, Fazey I (2004) Appreciating ecological complexity: habitat contours as a conceptual landscape model. Conservation Biology 18(5), 1245-1253.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Flint A, Fagg P (2007) ‘Mountain Ash in Victoria’s state forests.’ (Department of Sustainability and Environment: Melbourne)

Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (Vic).

Folke C, Carpenter S, Walker B, Scheffer M, Elmqvist T, Gunderson L, Holling CS (2004) Regime shifts, resilience, and biodiversity in ecosystem management. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 35, 557-581.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Furlaud JM, Prior LD, Williamson GJ, Bowman DMJS (2021) Fire risk and severity decline with stand development in Tasmanian giant Eucalyptus forest. Forest Ecology and Management 502, 119724.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Gibson R, Danaher T, Hehir W, Collins L (2020) A remote sensing approach to mapping fire severity in south-eastern Australia using sentinel 2 and random forest. Remote Sensing of Environment 240, 111702.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Gratkowski HJ (1956) Windthrow around staggered settings in old-growth Douglas-fir. Forest Science 2, 60-74.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Gumbs R, Gray CL, Böhm M, Burfield IJ, Couchman OR, Faith DP, Forest F, Hoffmann M, Isaac NJB, Jetz W, Mace GM, Mooers AO, Safi K, Scott O, Steel M, Tucker CM, Pearse WD, Owen NR, Rosindell J (2023) The EDGE2 protocol: advancing the prioritisation of evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species for practical conservation action. PLOS Biology 21(2), e3001991.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

IUCN (2022) The IUCN red list of threatened species. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland.

Joppa LN, Loarie SR, Pimm SL (2008) On the protection of “protected areas”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105, 6673-6678.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Kasel S, Bennett LT, Aponte C, Fedrigo M, Nitschke CR (2017) Environmental heterogeneity promotes floristic turnover in temperate forests of south-eastern Australia more than dispersal limitation and disturbance. Landscape Ecology 32, 1613-1629.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Keeley JE, Neéman G, Fotheringham CJ (1999) Immaturity risk in a fire-dependent pine. Journal of Mediterranean Ecology 1, 41-48.
| Google Scholar |

Keenan RJ, Nitschke C (2016) Forest management options for adaptation to climate change: a case study of tall, wet eucalypt forests in Victoria’s Central Highlands region. Australian Forestry 79, 96-107.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Keith H, Mackey BG, Lindenmayer DB (2009) Re-evaluation of forest biomass carbon stocks and lessons from the world’s most carbon-dense forests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(28), 11635-11640.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Keith H, Lindenmayer DB, Mackey BG, Blair D, Carter L, McBurney L, Okada S, Konishi-Nagano T (2014) Accounting for biomass carbon stock change due to wildfire in temperate forest landscapes in Australia. PLoS ONE 9, e107126.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Keith H, Vardon M, Stein JA, Stein JL, Lindenmayer D (2017) Ecosystem accounts define explicit and spatial trade-offs for managing natural resources. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1, 1683-1692.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Keith DA, Ferrer-Paris JR, Nicholson E, Bishop MJ, Polidoro BA, Ramirez-Llodra E, Tozer MG, Nel JL, Mac Nally R, Gregr EJ, Watermeyer KE, Essl F, Faber-Langendoen D, Franklin J, Lehmann CER, Etter A, Roux DJ, Stark JS, Rowland JA, Brummitt NA, Fernandez-Arcaya UC, Suthers IM, Wiser SK, Donohue I, Jackson LJ, Pennington RT, Iliffe TM, Gerovasileiou V, Giller P, Robson BJ, Pettorelli N, Andrade A, Lindgaard A, Tahvanainen T, Terauds A, Chadwick MA, Murray NJ, Moat J, Pliscoff P, Zager I, Kingsford RT (2022) A function-based typology for Earth’s ecosystems. Nature 610(7932), 513-518.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Kinglake Friends of the Forest v VicForests (2020) S ECI 04058

Lakmali S, Benyon RG, Sheridan GJ, Lane PNJ (2023) Increasing fire frequency may trigger eco-hydrologic divergence. Hydrological Processes 37, e14858.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lefoe M, Rendall AR, McKinnon F, Whisson DA (2022) Logging and wildfire limit the distribution of a vulnerable arboreal mammal. Forest Ecology and Management 503, 119773.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer D (2009) ‘Forest pattern and ecological process: a synthesis of 25 years of research.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Lindenmayer DB (2017) Save Australia’s ecological research. Science 357, 557.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Lindenmayer DB (2018) Flawed forest policy: flawed regional forest agreements. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management 25(3), 258-266.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB (2019) Integrating forest biodiversity conservation and restoration ecology principles to recover natural forest ecosystems. New Forests 50, 169-181.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer D, Bowd E (2022a) Critical ecological roles, structural attributes and conservation of old growth forest: lessons from a case study of Australian Mountain Ash forests. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 5, 878570.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer D, Bowd E (2022b) Cultural burning, cultural misappropriation, over-simplification of land management complexity, and ecological illiteracy. Ecological Management & Restoration 23, 205-208.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer D, Burnett P (2022) Biodiversity in court: will the regional forest agreements (RFAs) make the EPBC Act irrelevant? Pacific Conservation Biology 28, 393-397.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Sato C (2018) Hidden collapse is driven by fire and logging in a socioecological forest ecosystem. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, 5181-5186.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer D, Taylor C (2020) Extensive recent wildfires demand more stringent protection of critical old growth forest. Pacific Conservation Biology 26, 384-394.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Taylor C (2023) How well do Immediate Protection Areas conserve biodiversity in Victorian forests? Pacific Conservation Biology (in press) https://doi.org/10.1071/PC22029.
| Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Nix HA, McMahon JP, Hutchinson MF, Tanton MT (1991a) The conservation of Leadbeater’s Possum, Gymnobelideus leadbeateri (McCoy): a case study of the use of bioclimatic modelling. Journal of Biogeography 18, 371-383.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Cunningham RB, Nix HA, Tanton MT, Smith AP (1991b) Predicting the abundance of hollow-bearing trees in montane forests of southeastern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 16, 91-98.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Cunningham RB, Donnelly CF, Tanton MT, Nix HA (1993) The abundance and development of cavities in Eucalyptus trees: a case study in the montane forests of Victoria, southeastern Australia. Forest Ecology and Management 60(1–2), 77-104.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Mackey BG, Nix HA (1996) The bioclimatic domains of four species of commercially important eucalypts from south-eastern Australia. Australian Forestry 59(2), 74-89.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Cunningham RB, Donnelly CF (1997) Decay and collapse of trees with hollows in eastern Australian forests: impacts on arboreal marsupials. Ecological Applications 7(2), 625-641.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Cunningham RB, McCarthy MA (1999) The conservation of arboreal marsupials in the montane ash forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria, south-eastern Australia. VIII. Landscape analysis of the occurrence of arboreal marsupials. Biological Conservation 89(1), 83-92.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Cunningham RB, Donnelly CF, Franklin JF (2000) Structural features of old-growth Australian montane ash forests. Forest Ecology and Management 134(1–3), 189-204.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Burton PJ, Franklin JF (2008) ‘Salvage logging and its ecological consequences.’ (Island Press: Washington DC)

Lindenmayer DB, Hobbs RJ, Likens GE, Krebs CJ, Banks SC (2011) Newly discovered landscape traps produce regime shifts in wet forests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, 15887-15891.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Blanchard W, McBurney L, Blair D, Banks SC, Driscoll D, Smith AL, Gill AM (2013) Fire severity and landscape context effects on arboreal marsupials. Biological Conservation 167, 137-148.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Wood J, McBurney L, Blair D, Banks SC (2015) Single large versus several small: the SLOSS debate in the context of bird responses to a variable retention logging experiment. Forest Ecology and Management 339, 1-10.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Blanchard W, Blair D, McBurney L, Banks SC (2016a) Environmental and human drivers influencing large old tree abundance in Australian wet forests. Forest Ecology and Management 372, 226-235.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer D, Messier C, Sato C (2016b) Avoiding ecosystem collapse in managed forest ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 14, 561-568.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Blanchard W, Blair D, McBurney L, Banks SC (2017) Relationships between tree size and occupancy by cavity-dependent arboreal marsupials. Forest Ecology and Management 391, 221-229.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, McBurney L, Blair D, Wood J, Banks SC (2018a) From unburnt to salvage logged: quantifying bird responses to different levels of disturbance severity. Journal of Applied Ecology 55, 1626-1636.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Blanchard W, Blair D, McBurney L (2018b) The road to oblivion – quantifying pathways in the decline of large old trees. Forest Ecology and Management 430, 259-264.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Blanchard W, Blair D, McBurney L, Stein J, Banks SC (2018c) Empirical relationships between tree fall and landscape-level amounts of logging and fire. PLoS ONE 13(2), e0193132.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Lindenmayer D, Blair D, McBurney L (2019a) Variable retention harvesting in Victoria’s Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests (southeastern Australia). Ecological Processes 8, 2.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Blanchard W, Blair D, Westgate MJ, Scheele BC (2019b) Spatiotemporal effects of logging and fire on tall, wet temperate eucalypt forest birds. Ecological Applications 29, e01999.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Lindenmayer DB, Westgate MJ, Scheele BC, Foster CN, Blair DP (2019c) Key perspectives on early successional forests subject to stand-replacing disturbances. Forest Ecology and Management 454, 117656.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Blanchard W, Blair D, McBurney L, Taylor C, Scheele BC, Westgate MJ, Robinson N, Foster C (2021a) The response of arboreal marsupials to long-term changes in forest disturbance. Animal Conservation 24, 246-258.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer D, Blanchard W, McBurney L, Ashman K, Bowd E, Blair D (2021b) What factors influence the occurrence and abundance of midstorey Acacia in Mountain Ash forests? Austral Ecology 46, 532-544.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, McBurney L, Blanchard W, Marsh K, Bowd E, Watchorn D, Taylor C, Youngentob K (2022a) Elevation, disturbance, and forest type drive the occurrence of a specialist arboreal folivore. PLoS ONE 17, e0265963 (in press).
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Blanchard W, Bowd E, Scheele BC, Foster C, Lavery T, McBurney L, Blair D (2022b) Rapid bird species recovery following high-severity wildfire but in the absence of early successional specialists. Diversity and Distributions 28, 2110-2123.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer D, Bowd E, Taylor C, Likens GE (2022c) Interacting fire, logging, and climate change has sprung a landscape trap in Victoria’s Montane Ash forests. Plant Ecology 223, 733-749.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Zylstra P, Kooyman R, Taylor C, Ward M, Watson JEM (2022d) Logging elevated the probability of high-severity fire in the 2019–20 Australian forest fires. Nature Ecology & Evolution 6, 533-535.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Lindenmayer DB, Woinarski J, Legge S, Maron M, Garnett ST, Lavery T, Dielenberg J, Wintle BA (2022e) Eight things you should never do in a monitoring program: an Australian perspective. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 194, 701.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer D, McBurney L, Blanchard W (2023a) Drivers of collapse of fire-killed trees. Austral Ecology 48, 134-142.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindenmayer DB, Taylor C, Blanchard W, Zylstra P, Evans MJ (2023b) What environmental and climatic factors influence multi-decadal fire frequency? Ecosphere (in press).
| Google Scholar |

Lutze MT, Campbell RG, Fagg PC (1999) Development of silviculture in the native State forests of Victoria. Australian Forestry 62, 236-244.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

McCarthy MA, Lindenmayer DB (1998) Multi-aged mountain ash forest, wildlife conservation and timber harvesting. Forest Ecology and Management 104(1-3), 43-56.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

McCarthy MA, Malcolm Gill A, Lindenmayer DB (1999) Fire regimes in mountain ash forest: evidence from forest age structure, extinction models and wildlife habitat. Forest Ecology and Management 124(2–3), 193-203.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

McColl-Gausden SC, Penman TD (2019) Pathways of change: predicting the effects of fire on flammability. Journal of Environmental Management 232, 243-253.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

McKimm RJ, Flinn DW (1979) Eucalypt species, site preparation and fertiliser requirements for reforestation of the Toorongo Plateau in central Victoria. Australian Forestry 42, 117-124.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Mok H-F, Arndt SK, Nitschke CR (2012) Modelling the potential impact of climate variability and change on species regeneration potential in the temperate forests of South-Eastern Australia. Global Change Biology 18, 1053-1072.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Mueck SG (1990) The floristic composition of mountain ash and alpine ash forests in victoria: silvicultural systems project No.4. Department of Conservation and Environment, Victoria.

Nitschke CR, Trouvé R, Lumsden LF, Bennett LT, Fedrigo M, Robinson AP, Baker PJ (2020) Spatial and temporal dynamics of habitat availability and stability for a critically endangered arboreal marsupial: implications for conservation planning in a fire-prone landscape. Landscape Ecology 35, 1553-1570.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Noble WS (1977) ‘Ordeal by fire. The week a state burned up.’ (Hawthorn Press: Melbourne)

Pharo EJ, Meagher DA, Lindenmayer DB (2013) Bryophyte persistence following major fire in eucalypt forest of southern Australia. Forest Ecology and Management 296, 24-32.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Rawluk A, Neale T, Smith W, Doherty T, Ritchie E, Pascoe J, Murray M, Carter R, Bourke M, Falconer S, Nimmo D, Price J, White M, Bates P, Wong N, Nelson T, Atkinson A, Webster D (2023) Tomorrow’s Country: practice-oriented principles for Indigenous cultural fire research in south-east Australia. Geographical Research 61(3), 1-16.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Sato CF, Lindenmayer DB (2018) Meeting the global ecosystem collapse challenge. Conservation Letters 11, e12348.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Scheffer M, Bascompte J, Brock WA, Brovkin V, Carpenter SR, Dakos V, Held H, van Nes EH, Rietkerk M, Sugihara G (2009) Early-warning signals for critical transitions. Nature 461, 53-59.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Schwartz NB, Uriarte M, DeFries R, Bedka KM, Fernandes K, Gutierrez-Velez V, Pinedo-Vasquez MA (2017) Fragmentation increases wind disturbance impacts on forest structure and carbon stocks in a western Amazonian landscape. Ecological Applications 27, 1901-1915.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Serong M, Lill A (2008) The timing and nature of floristic and structural changes during secondary succession in wet forests. Australian Journal of Botany 56, 220-231.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Singh A, Baker PJ, Kasel S, Trouvé R, Stewart SB, Nitschke CR (2021) The role of climatic variability on Eucalyptus regeneration in southeastern Australia. Global Ecology and Conservation 32, e01929.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Smith AL, Blanchard W, Blair DP, McBurney L, Banks SC, Driscoll DA, Lindenmayer DB (2016) The dynamic regeneration niche of a forest following a rare disturbance event. Diversity and Distributions 22, 457-467.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Sotorra S, Blair D, Blanchard W, Lindenmayer D (2021) Modelling the factors influencing Sambar Deer (Rusa unicolor) occurrence in the wet eucalypt forests of south-eastern Australia. Australian Zoologist 41(2), 241-253.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Squire RO, Campbell RG, Wareing KJ, Featherston GR (1991) The mountain ash forests of Victoria: ecology, silviculture and management for wood production. In ‘Forest management in Australia’. (Eds FH McKinnell, ER Hopkins, JED Fox) pp. 38–57. (Surrey Beatty and Sons: Chipping Norton)

Taylor C, Lindenmayer DB (2019) The adequacy of Victoria’s protected areas for conserving its forest-dependent fauna. Austral Ecology 44, 1076-1091.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Taylor C, Lindenmayer DB (2020) Temporal fragmentation of a critically endangered forest ecosystem. Austral Ecology 45, 340-354.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Taylor C, McCarthy MA, Lindenmayer DB (2014) Nonlinear effects of stand age on fire severity. Conservation Letters 7, 355-370.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Taylor C, Cadenhead N, Lindenmayer DB, Wintle BA (2017) Improving the design of a conservation reserve for a critically endangered species. PLoS ONE 12(1), e0169629.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Taylor C, Blair D, Keith H, Lindenmayer D (2019) Modelling water yields in response to logging and representative climate futures. Science of The Total Environment 688, 890-902.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Taylor C, Blanchard W, Lindenmayer DB (2021) Does forest thinning reduce fire severity in Australian eucalypt forests? Conservation Letters 14(2), e12766.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Todd CR, Lindenmayer DB, Stamation K, Acevedo-Cattaneo S, Smith S, Lumsden LF (2016) Assessing reserve effectiveness: application to a threatened species in a dynamic fire prone forest landscape. Ecological Modelling 338, 90-100.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Trouvé R, Nitschke CR, Andrieux L, Willersdorf T, Robinson AP, Baker PJ (2019) Competition drives the decline of a dominant midstorey tree species. Habitat implications for an endangered marsupial. Forest Ecology and Management 447, 26-34.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Trouvé R, Sherriff RM, Holt LM, Baker PJ (2021) Differing regeneration patterns after catastrophic fire and clearfelling: implications for future stand dynamics and forest management. Forest Ecology and Management 498, 119555.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

TSSC (2019) Approved conservation advice Gymnobelideus leadbeateri Leadbeater’s possum. Threatened Species Scientific Committee. PlDepartment of the Environment, Canberra. Available at https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/273-conservation-advice-22062019.pdf

VAGO (2022) Regulating Victoria’s native forests. Victorian Auditor General’s Office, Melbourne, Australia.

Vertessy RA, Watson FGR, O’Sullivan SK (2001) Factors determining relations between stand age and catchment water balance in mountain ash forests. Forest Ecology and Management 143, 13-26.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

VicForests v Environment East Gippsland Inc & Anor (2023) VSCA 159

VicForests (2021) Approved timber release plan 2021. VicForests, Melbourne. Available at https://www.vicforests.com.au/vicforest-forest-management/ops-planning/where-vicforests-operates/timber-release-plan

von Takach Dukai B, Lindenmayer DB, Banks SC (2018) Environmental influences on growth and reproductive maturation of a keystone forest tree: implications for obligate seeder susceptibility to frequent fire. Forest Ecology and Management 411, 108-119.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Wagner B, Baker PJ, Stewart SB, Lumsden LF, Nelson JL, Cripps JK, Durkin LK, Scroggie MP, Nitschke CR (2021) Climate change drives habitat contraction of a nocturnal arboreal marsupial at its physiological limits. Ecosphere 11, e03262.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Wang G, Wang T, Kang H, Mang S, Riehl B, Seely B, Liu S, Guo F, Li Q, Innes JL (2016) Adaptation of Asia-Pacific forests to climate change. Journal of Forestry Research 27, 469-488.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Wardell-Johnson GW, Robinson TP (2022) Considerations in the protection of marsupial gliders and other mature-forest dependent fauna in areas of intensive logging in the tall forests of Victoria, Australia. Pacific Conservation Biology
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Wardell-Johnson G, Coates D (1996) Links to the past: local endemism in four species of forest eucalypts in south-western Australia. In ‘Gondwanan heritage’. (Eds SD Hopper, J Chappill, M Harvey, N Marchant) pp. 137–154. (Surrey Beatty & Sons: Chipping Norton, Sydney)

White DJ, Vesk PA (2019) Fire and legacy effects of logging on understorey assemblages in wet-sclerophyll forests. Australian Journal of Botany 67, 341-357.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Williams RJ, Bradstock RA, Cary GJ, Enright NJ, Gill AM, Liedloff AC, Lucas C, Whelan RJ, Andersen AN, Bowman DMJS, Clarke PJ, Cook GD, Hennessy KJ, York A (2009) Interactions between Climate Change, Fire Regimes and Biodiversity in Australia. A preliminary assessment. Department of Climate Change and Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra.

Williams JL, Lindenmayer D, Mifsud B (2023) The largest trees in Australia. Austral Ecology 48, 653-671.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Wilson N, Bradstock R, Bedward M (2022) Disturbance causes variation in sub-canopy fire weather conditions. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 323, 109077.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Yebra M, Barnes N, Bryant C, Cary GJ, Durrani S, Mahony R, Palethorpe E, Alvi S, Stocks M, Stocks R, Tridgell A, Zhou X, Wilson N (2022) Towards an integrated hi-tech solution to detect small fires. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 37(4), 44-47.
| Google Scholar |

Youngentob KN, Lindenmayer DB, Marsh KJ, Krockenberger AK, Foley WJ (2021) Food intake: an overlooked driver of climate change casualties. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 36, 676-678.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Zhang Z, Peterson J, Zhu X, Wright W (2007) Modelling land use and land cover change in the strzelecki ranges. In ‘MODSIM07 – land, water and environmental management: integrated systems for sustainability, proceedings’. (Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand (MSSANZ))

Zylstra P, Wardell-Johnson G, Falster D, Howe M, McQuoid N, Neville S (2023) Mechanisms by which growth and succession limit the impact of fire in a south-western Australian forested ecosystem. Functional Ecology 37, 1350-1365.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |