Slash-burning in the regeneration of dry eucalypt forests

Summary Dry forests on the east coast of Tasmania are currently regenerated after clearfelling by slash burning, whereas in similar forests at Eden, in New South Wales, slash burning is not employed. Tasmanian foresters believe that high intensity burns are useful for both seedbed preparation and the reduction of wildfire risks. Slash burning in Tasmania has determined the large (c. 400 ha) size of the logging coupes. The absence of burning at Eden allows the development of small coupes (c. 12 ha), the retention of seed in heads and advanced regrowth. Trial slash burning experiments at Eden showed that slash burning increased the risk of wild fire damage rather than the reverse. A review of the literature reveals a number of potentially serious consequences associated with slash burning: fire escapes, loss of nutrients, structural changes in soil. There seems to be no published evaluation of the relative rates of stocking. Research is required to develop: methods of mechanised soil disturbance, planting machinery to operate in unburnt slash and greater utilisation of small limbwood, low quality logs and short sections of logs. An account of the recent (1980) wildfire at Eden is given. There is no indication that a policy of slash burning would have changed the nature or the consequences of the fire or the risk of it starting.