The Interdependence of the Eucalypts and Forest Fires in Southern Australia

Fire and The Australian Flora: A Review

“…(c) Interactions between vegetation and fire A thesis of recent years links an increasing fire frequency in forests with an increasing flammability of the community (Mount 1964, Jackson 1968a, Mutch 1970) so that the 'climax' forest is less flammable than the successional forest (Pryor 1939, Gilbert 1963). There is a need to measure flammabilitv independently of fire frequency in order to avoid circular argument.…”

Evolutionary consequences of niche construction and their implications for ecology

“…Plants change the chemical nature, the pattern of nutrient cycling, the temperature, the humidity, the fertility, the acidity, and the salinity of their soils and the patterns of light and shade in their habitats (16)(17)(18)(19). For instance, pine and chaparral species increase the likelihood of forest fires by accumulating oils or litter, with the probable evolutionary consequence of having evolved a resistance to fire and in some species a dependency on it (20)(21)(22).…”

Prescribed Burning in Australian Fire Control

“…Mount [ 4] observes that many wet sclerophyll and rainforest associations in Tasmania have a period of fuel scarcity lasting ten to twenty years which is only overcome by the gradual accumulation of lichens and mosses and humus derived from rotten leaves. He quotes the extreme case of an Atherosperma-Nothofagus rainforest where there may be insufficient fuel for combustion over a period of 100 years.…”

“…In very favourable climates such as in Tasmania, it is likely that only a small percentage of the forest area will require fuel modification for fire control purposes. Silvicultural requirements for obtaining regeneration may be somewhat more demanding [4].…”