Fire regimes in mountain ash forest: Evidence from forest age structure, extinction models and wildlife habitat

Abstract

The mean interval between tree-killing fires in mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans F. Muell.) forest was inferred from information on the age structure of unlogged forest, the prevalence of mountain ash trees in the landscape, and on the abundance of live and dead hollow-bearing trees. The analyses were based on models of the local extinction and recolonization of forest patches by mountain ash trees and of the development of hollow-bearing trees in response to time since fire. The results of the analyses suggested that the mean interval between tree-killing fires was between ≃75 and 150 years in mountain ash forest. Data on mortality of mountain ash trees suggest that approximately half the t..