Establishment, suppression and growth of Eucalyptus delegatensis R.T. Baker in multi-aged forests. I. The effects of fire on mortality and seedling establishment

Abstract

In the dry uneven-aged eucalypt forests of central Tasmania the establishment of seedlings of Eucalyptus delegatensis requires a mitigation of the competition provided by the understorey, regeneration being observed to follow both fire and cultivation. Most of the adult trees of E. delegatensis survive even severe fires, although there can be considerable later mortality associated with mechanical failure of the base of the trunk. E. delegatensis dry forest usually has a distinctive sapling layer. Fire kills most of these saplings, the mortality rate being inversely related to their height and bark thickness.