Potential for forest thinning to reduce risk and increase resilience to wildfire in Australian temperate Eucalyptus forests

Abstract

Unprecedented wildfires in south-eastern Australia in 2019–2020 focused attention on forest management to reduce their risks and impacts. These fires mostly burnt dry eucalypt forests. In this short review, we found evidence from international studies that thinning combined with fuel reduction can reduce wildfire risks and impacts in dry forests compared with no treatment or thinning alone. In Australia, studies so far demonstrate mixed outcomes, indicating that more landscape-scale experiments are required to better assess the use of thinning in dry Eucalyptus forests to reduce fire risks in a rapidly changing climate.