Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Recent Australian wildfires made worse by logging and associated forest management

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 4, pages898–900(2020)Cite this article

Subjects

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.

Access options

Rent or Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

from$8.99

Rent or Buy

All prices are NET prices.

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. 1.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. 2.

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

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. 3.

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

  4. 4.

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

  5. 5.

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

  6. 6.

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

  7. 7.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. 8.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. 9.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. 10.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. 11.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. 12.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. 13.

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

  14. 14.

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

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  15. 15.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. 16.

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

    Google Scholar 

  17. 17.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. 18.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. 19.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. 20.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. 21.

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

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

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

Further reading

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing