sdm-oldgrowthforests

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Old Growth Forests

in AustraliaCONS ERVATION STATUS ANDSIGNIFICANCE FOR TIMBER PRODUCTION

Rodney J Keenan and Michael F Ryan

Science or Decision Makers

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S C I E N C E for D E C I S I O N M A K E R S

Ke

yPoints

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Management and use o old growth

orests is a matter o continuing public

debate. This paper describes the

conservation status and contribution to

wood supply o old growth in Australia.

The 1992 National Forest Policy

Statement dened old growth asorest that is ecologically mature and

subjected to negligible unnatural

disturbance such as logging, roading

and clearing.

Old growth orests contain relatively

large, old trees and more habitat

eatures such as hollows, dead standing

trees and logs than other growth stages.

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Although well surveyed in regions

where Comprehensive Regional

Assessments (CRAs) were conducted

or Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs),

there has been no comprehensive

survey o old growth orests across

Australia. Surveys undertaken or RFAs

identied over 5.2 million hectares o oldgrowth orests in those regions.

As a result o the RFAs and other

processes, 3.7 million hectares o old

growth orest are now in conservation

reserves, 71 per cent o the total area o

old growth in CRA/RFA regions.

Old growth orests constitute about

20 per cent o the public native orest

area available or wood supply in timber

producing regions in Tasmania and up

to 15 per cent in parts o Victoria and

New South Wales. Their contribution to

short-term high quality sawlog supply

is considerably higher than this level in

those regions.

R E V I S E D E D I T I O N

M A R C H 2 0 0 4


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SCI EN CEforDECISION MAKERS Old Growth Forests in Australia: Conservation Status and Signifcance or Timber Production

IntroductionThis paper reviews denitions, current

conservation status and the contribution to

wood supply o old growth orests in Australia

to inorm debate on uture management o

these orests.

Australia has nearly 165 million hectares o

native orests (Figure 1). Native orests vary

rom dense, tall orests dominated by eucalypt

or rainorest species to open short woodland

and mallee ormations. These orests provide a

wide range o values, benets and services to

the Australian community such as habitat or

many kinds o plants and animals, clean water,

soil protection, spiritual, recreation, aestheticand wilderness values. Commercial uses

o native orests include timber production,

grazing, honey production, tourism, seed and

oliage collection and mining.

Some native orests are described as old

growth. Management and use o old growth

orests is a matter o continuing public debate

in Australia and in other parts o the world.

Old growth orests are considered signicant

because they have habitat, nature conservation

and aesthetic values that are not ound in otherorest areas. They also provide an important

resource or the timber industry in some parts

o Australia.

What are OldGrowth Forests?Forests are dynamic and go through stages o

development ollowing disturbances such asre, storms or timber harvesting. The term old

growth has been used in orest management

or some time. It became more widely used to

describe Douglas r (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

dominated orests in northwestern USA that

had reached later stages o development

(Franklin et al. 1981).

Old growth orests have a layered structure

with large overstorey trees, a well-developed

understorey o other tree species, shrubs and

ecological eatures such as dead standingtrees and large logs on the orest foor.

A number o wildlie species are reliant on

these types o orest because o the range

o nesting hollows and greater structural

complexity they have in comparison with

orests in earlier stages o development.

Other growth stages, such as regrowth

(when the orest is younger and the trees are

actively growing) are also important or habitat

and conservation. Some wildlie species in

Australia, such as the Leadbeaters Possum,

require more than one growth stage or their

survival: one or nesting and another or

FIGURE 1 Forest Cover In Australia By Dominant Genera.

Source: National Forest Inventory

Acacia forest

Callitris forest

Casuarina forest

Eucalypt mallee forest

Eucalypt woodland forest

Eucalypt open forest

Eucalypt closed forestMangrove forest

Melaleuca forest

Rainforest

Other forests

Plantation

1000Kilometres

5000


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developed understorey o shrubs, herbs and

grasses. This includes trees in an over mature

or senescent growth phase that are no longer

actively growing or that may be reducing in size

due to crown dieback and branch shedding.

Features such as hollows in which auna can

nest are usually also more prominent.

Forest composition and structure vary

considerably across Australia and thereore

dierent states adopted dierent denitions

or assessment o old growth orest values.

No denitions were developed or assessments

undertaken in the Australian Capital Territory,

South Australia or the Northern Territory.

Denitions adopted or Comprehensive

Regional Assessments (CRAs) were:

Tasmania

The JANIS denition was adopted. For the

purposes o mapping old growth orests a

detailed rule set was developed or dierent

orest types involving crown senescence

characteristics and levels o disturbance.

For details reer to Tasmanian Public Land Use

Commission 1996. Tasmanian-Commonwealth

Regional Forest Agreement, Environment and

Heritage Report, Vol. I, Background Report,Part C.

Victoria

Forest which contains signicant amounts

o its oldest growth stage in the upper

stratumusually senescing treesand has

been subjected to any disturbance, the eect o

which is now negligible. A maximum regrowth

crown cover o 10 per cent applied. Areas with

regrowth crown cover o more than 10 per cent

are almost always associated with signicantunnatural disturbance.

New South Wales

JANIS (1997) denition was adopted but a

maximum regrowth crown cover o 30 per cent

was used to dene senescing orests.

Western Australia

Forest that is ecologically mature and

which has been subjected to negligible

past disturbance.

eeding. Thus, it is important that a mosaic o

growth stages is present in the landscape to

ensure the maintenance o many species.

In Australia, eucalypt orests with similar

canopy structures to old growth conierous

orests in northwest USA can be ound in

cooler, wetter parts o the country where

disturbances such as re are relatively

inrequent. Applying the concept o old growth

in drier regions where re is requent is more

dicult. Older orests in these areas are oten

less diverse, with a canopy o older trees (oten

with hollows), a sparse understorey and ground

cover o native grasses. Overstorey species

generally do not develop the same crown

characteristics ound in tall eucalypt orests inwetter areas.

It has been argued that recent occurrence o

disturbances such as re does not preclude

orests rom having values associated with old

growth (Burgman 1996). Multi-aged eucalypt

orests and the presence o old hollow bearing

trees that provide habitat or many wildlie

species can be a consequence o

re disturbance.

Defning Old Growth Forests

In Australia, the 1992 National Forest Policy

Statement (NFPS) made specic provision or

the protection o old growth orests. The NFPS

initiated a process or undertaking assessments

o orests or conservation values, including old

growth values. A working group o state and

Australian Government agencies took the NFPS

denition into consideration in developing a

denition that was accepted by all governments

(JANIS 1997).

Further development o this

denition enabled consistent

application across dierent

orest types (Pitman

et al. 1996). Ecologically mature

orests, as identied within

the denition, are dened by

the characteristics o older

growth stages. This includes the presence o

trees in a condition that would be expected

in such a orest type where there have beenno disturbances or a long period and a well-

Old growth orest is

ecologically mature orest

where the eects o

disturbances are

now negligible.


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Attributes o OldGrowth ForestsThe ollowing attributes can generally be used

to describe old growth orests in Australia.

Structure and Composition Properties

n An overstorey dominated by relatively

large trees

n An overstorey dominated by relatively oldtrees with hollows and other characteristics

o late mature, over-mature or senescent

trees (Figure 2).

n A well-developed understorey o trees,

shrubs and herbs.

n Large allen logs and woody debris.

n Low rates o change in composition and

structure.

Functional Properties

n Low average tree growth rates, with

growth in young trees balanced by death

o older trees.

n High level o biomass in live trees, dead

trees, logs and orest foor.

n Lower water transpiration, higher water fow

to streams and higher soil moisture than

younger growth stages.

Other Properties

n Absence o recent large-scale disturbance

such as re, logging, grazing etc.

n Aesthetic values.

n Sucient size o orest stand that is likely

to remain intact in the long-term.

Conservation Status

o Old Growth ForestsProtection o old growth orest was identied

as a priority in the 1992 NFPS. Following a

process o consultation between state and

ederal governments the ollowing reservation

targets were agreed:

1. For those orest types where old growth

orest is rare or depleted (dened as less

than 10 per cent o the current distribution o

its orest type), all viable examples should be

protected (100 per cent target)

2. For other orest types, 60 per cent o old

growth orest should be protected, with

appropriate fexibility in the target applied

to ensure:

n old growth orest representation is rom

across its range;

n high quality habitat areas are included;

n

reserve design is appropriate (i.e. can bemanaged practically);

FIGURE Tree Growth Stages or Eucalypts on High Quality Sites

(e.g. Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus Regnans)in Australia.

Source: Jacobs (1955)

Regeneration Regrowth Mature(younger)

Mature(older)

Senscing

OLD GROWTH STAGES


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n largest and least ragmented areas

are protected; and

n community needs or recreation and

tourism are met.

These criteria, along with targets to ensure

all orest communities are appropriately

represented in reserves and that high quality

wilderness areas are protected, were applied in

developing Regional Forest Agreements.

As a result o recent state government policies,

all old growth on public land is in ormal or

inormal reserves in South-East Queensland

and Western Australia.

Consequently, 3.7 million hectares o old growth

orest are now in ormal and inormal reserves

(Table 1, Figure 3). This constitutes 71 per cent

o the total o the 5.2 million hectares o old

growth orest in CRA/RFA regionsan increase

o 1.2 million hectares since 1995.

The percentage o old growth in conservation

reserves varies across regions, rom 57 per cent

in North East Victoria and the Upper North East

o NSW to over 85 per cent in the West and

Central Highlands regions in Victoria.

Old Growth Forests andRegional Native Forest

Wood Supply

This reserve status represents a signicantincrease in the conservation status o old

growth orests in Australia. Old growth orests

also make a signicant contribution to regional

wood supply rom native orest or industry. As

a result o conversion o timber supply rom old

growth to regrowth and increasing production

potential rom younger regrowth orests this

contribution will decline over time.

Except or Tasmania, there is little publicly

available inormation providing precise

estimates o the area o old growth in orests

scheduled or timber harvesting.

TABLE 1 Area o Old Growth Forest in CRA/RFA Regions by Ownership and Conservation Status1.

Total area Area o Area o Old Area o Old Growtho Region (ha) Forest (ha) Growth Forest Forest in Reserves

On Private or On % old

Unresolved Public Total Formal Inormal Total GrowthCRA/RFA Region Tenure2 (ha) Land (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) Reserved

South-East QLD 6,180,000 3,230,000 74,000 196,000 270,000 196,000 73%

South-West WA 4,257,000 2,121,000 N/A 331,000 331,000 308,000 23,000 331,000 100%

VICTORIA

East Gippsland 1,214,000 1,075,000 N/A 225,000 225,000 121,000 32,000 153,000 68%

Central Highlands 1,125,000 709,000 N/A 26,000 26,000 14,000 8,000 22,000 85%

North East 2,318,000 1,326,000 N/A 259,000 259,000 99,000 48,000 147,000 57%

Gippsland 2,652,000 1,510,000 N/A 209,000 209,000 89,000 50,000 139,000 67%

West 5,776,000 1,124,000 N/A 122,000 122,000 77,000 33,000 110,000 90%

Vic Sub-total 13,085,000 5,744,000 N/A 841,000 841,000 400,000 171,000 571,000 68%

NSWEden 813,000 724,000 17,000 81,000 98,000 66,000 4,000 70,000 71%

Upper North East 3,907,000 2,312,000 234,000 421,000 655,000 237,000 134,000 371,000 57%

Lower North East 5,800,000 3,288,000 253,000 777,000 1,030,000 646,000 93,000 739,000 72%

Southern 4,510,000 2,665,000 140,000 613,000 753,000 525,000 37,000 562,000 75%

NSW Sub-total 15,030,000 8,989,000 644,000 1,892,000 2,536,000 1,474,000 268,000 1,742,000 69%

TASMANIA3 6,800,000 3,169,000 115,000 1,124,000 1,239,000 777,000 72,000 851,000 69%

TOTAL 45,352,000 23,253,000 833,000 4,384,000 5,217,000 3,691,000 71%

1From National Forest Inventory 2003, WA Forest Management

2Private orests not assessed or old growth in WA or Victoria

3Areas or Tasmania are based on 2001 data and do not include changes resulting rom the 2005 Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement.


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TABLE Approximate Area o Native Forest Available or Timber Production on Public Land by Growth Stage.

CRA/RFA Estimated Sawlog Approximate % Old Growth % Mature and % Regrowth % Uneven

Region Yields m3

/yr Area Available in Area Overmature Aged andor Timber Available1 (inc Old Growth Other

Production (ha) where Applicable)

VICTORIA2

East Gippsland 143,000 211,000


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n Old growth and regrowth orests are oten

intimately mixed. Access to these regrowth

areas is dependent on harvesting associated

old growth.

n Thus, area gures alone cannot be used orassessing the impact on wood production

o ceasing timber harvesting in old growth

orests. Old growth orests generally contain

higher timber volumes than younger growth

stages. Consequently, those old growth

orests planned or harvesting contribute a

higher proportion to regional native orest

wood supplies or industry in the short-term

than indicated by their areas.

n For example, in Western Australia, State

Government policy is to cease timber

harvesting in old growth orests. Impacts o

this policy have lead to a reduction in supply

o rst and second grade jarrah and karri

sawlogs to the timber industry rom

544,000 m3 to 185,000 m3.

CONCLUSIONS

Old growth orests have been subject to

considerable research and investigation over the

last ten years since the signing o the National

Forest Policy Statement.

Seventy-one per cent o identied old growth

orests in areas covered by Regional Forest

Agreements (including the state based agreement

in South-East Queensland) are now

in conservation reserves.

Old growth orests continue to make a substantial

contribution to wood supplies in the short to

medium term in a number o important timber

production regions around Australia.


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REFERENCES

Burgmann, M.A. 1996. Characterisation

and delineation o the eucalypt old growth

orest estate in Australia: a review. Forest

Ecology and Management 83:149-161.

Franklin, J. F., K. Cromack, W. Denison,

A. McKee, C. Maser, J. Sedell, J.

Swanson, and G. Juday. 1981. Ecological

characteristics o old-growth Douglas fr

orests. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-118, USDA,

For. Serv. Pacic Northwest Forest and

Range Exp. Stat., Portland, Oregon.

Jacobs, M.R. 1955. Growth Habits o the

Eucalypts. Forestry and Timber Bureau,

Canberra.

JANIS 1997. Nationally Agreed Criteria or

the Establishment o a Comprehensive,

Adequate and Representative Reserve

System or Forests in Australia. A report

by the Joint ANZECC / MCFFA National

Forest Policy Statement Implementation

Sub-Committee.

National Forest Inventory 2003. Australias

State o the Forests Report. Bureau o Rural

Sciences, Canberra.

Pitman, M., Ferguson, I., Burgman, M.,

Bradshaw, J., Noble, I. and Raison, J. 1996.

Report on the Victorian Oldgrowth Joint

Scientifc Advisory Group. In: Commonwealth

and Victorian Regional Forest Agreement

Steering Committee Comprehensive Regional

Assessment East Gippsland Environment

and Heritage Report Appendix l, pI1-I29.

Commonwealth and Victorian Regional Forest

Agreement Steering Committee, Canberra.

Woodgate, P.W., Peel, W.D., Ritman, K.T.,

Coram. J.E., Brady, A., Rule, A.J. and Banks,J.C.G., 1994. A study o old growth orests in

East Gippsland. Department o Conservation

and Natural Resources, Melbourne.

Commonwealth of Australia 2006

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