Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Recent Australian wildfires made worse by logging and associated forest management

  • Comment
  • Published:

From Nature Ecology & Evolution

View current issue Submit your manuscript

The recent fires in southern Australia were unprecedented in scale and severity. Much commentary has rightly focused on the role of climate change in exacerbating the risk of fire. Here, we contend that policy makers must recognize that historical and contemporary logging of forests has had profound effects on these fires’ severity and frequency.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: Fires within logged areas of native forests.

images 1–3 by C. Taylor; image 4 by R. M. Kooyman

Fig. 2: Fires within East Gippsland.

map by C. Taylor

References

  1. Boer, M. M., Resco de Dios, V. & Bradstock, R. A. Nat. Clim. Change 10, 171–172 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Phillips, N. & Nogrady, B. Nature 577, 610–612 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Jones, M. W. et al. Climate Change Increases Risk of Wildfires (ScienceBrief Review, 2020).

  4. Using Fire and Machines to Better Fire-Proof Our Country Towns (Australian Forest Products Association, 2020).

  5. Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001 (Commonwealth of Australia, 2001).

  6. Department of Agriculture and Water Resources Australia’s State of the Forests Report 2018 (Commonwealth of Australia, 2018).

  7. Kearney, S. G. et al. Pac. Conserv. Biol. 14, 231–244 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Walsh, J. C. et al. Oryx 47, 134–143 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Watson, J. E. et al. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2, 599–610 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Taylor, C. & Lindenmayer, D. B. Austral Ecol. 45, 340–354 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Taylor, C., McCarthy, M. A. & Lindenmayer, D. B. Conserv. Lett. 7, 355–370 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Zylstra, P. Austral Ecol. 43, 578–591 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Raison, J. & Squire, R. O. Forest Management in Australia: Implications for Carbon Budgets (Australian Greenhouse Office, 2008).

  14. Lindenmayer, D. B. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 15887–15891 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Kooyman, R. M. et al. Am. J. Bot. 101, 2121–2135 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Turner, J. Aust. Forestry 47, 79–83 (1984).

    Google Scholar 

  17. McCarthy, M. A., Gill, A. M. & Lindenmayer, D. B. Forest Ecol. Manage. 124, 193–203 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Fairman, T. A., Bennett, L. T. & Nitschke, C. R. J. Environ. Manage. 231, 59–65 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Berry, L. et al. Aust. Mammal 37, 39–45 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Lindenmayer, D. B. et al. Forest Ecol. Manage. 454, 117656 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Betts, M. G. et al. Divers. Distrib. 24, 439–447 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    David B. Lindenmayer & Chris Taylor

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Robert M. Kooyman

  3. Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Michelle Ward & James E. M. Watson

  4. Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Conservation Program, New York, NY, USA

    James E. M. Watson

Authors
  1. David B. Lindenmayer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert M. Kooyman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Chris Taylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michelle Ward
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. James E. M. Watson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

D.B.L., R.M.K., C.T., M.W. and J.E.M.W. contributed equally to the preparation of this paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David B. Lindenmayer.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lindenmayer, D.B., Kooyman, R.M., Taylor, C. et al. Recent Australian wildfires made worse by logging and associated forest management. Nat Ecol Evol 4, 898–900 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1195-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1195-5

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Search

Navigation