Native Forest Silviculture in Victoria
Silvics is the term used for the characteristics that define the life history, growth, behavior and ecology of a tree species. It is often linked with silviculture, which is the application of silvics to the management of trees in order to enhance the reproduction, survival or growth of a specific tree species." (Reference)
or
Silvics is the term used to describe (silvical) characteristics of a particular tree species within a forest; defines their life history: reproduction, growth habits, behaviour and ecological place in the natural forest environment.
Silviculture is the term used to describe the practice of forest management that ensures the conservation of the forest throughout its natural life cycle, then regeneration. (BDD)
This article is being developed
There are six broad forest types in Victoria, and each of them have distinct silvics which in turn mean that their silviculture is different. Mountain Ash, Alpine Ash and Red Gum generally occur in pure stands. Low Elevation Mixed Species (LEMS) is the most diverse type in terms of numbers of species and distribution. It combines both foothill and coastal mixed species types. High Elevation Mixed Species (HEMS) occurs generally above elevations of 700m, meaning the climate and species mix is different to LEMS, although of course there is an overlapping area where one type grades into the other. Box-Ironbark forests are those which include a number of distinctive eucalypt species in varying proportions, with the common names of "Box" and "Ironbark" predominating.
- Coastal Mixed Species (CMS);
- Foothill Mixed Species (FMS);
- Mountain Mixed Species (MMS); and
- Alpine Mixed Species (AMS)
All these types have been the subject of significant research over the last approximately 60 years, and each contributes significantly to economic, social and ecological values, including:
- the provision of timber and other forest products on a sustainable basis
- the protection of landscape, archaeological and historic values
- the protection of water catchments and water quality, and
- the provision of recreational and educational opportunities.
Between 2007 and 2015, Manuals which summarise the silvicultural knowledge base for four of these forest types have been prepared. They are available via the links below, and in the gallery beneath the Manuals you will find maps of the distribution of each type extracted from each Manual.
- Mountain Ash in Victoria's State Forests - Flint A & Fagg P (2007).
- High Elevation Mixed Species in Victoria's State Forests - Sebire I & Fagg P (2009)
- Low Elevation Mixed Species in Victoria's State Forests - Murphy S, Hateley R & Fagg P (2013)
- Box-Ironbark in Victoria's State Forests - Fagg P & Bassett O (2015) (Manual is completed and will be linked when received)
Open the gallery above to see Forest Type Distributions
Simple table of areas of each type
Perhaps gallery of photos of forest types in here.
Alpine Ash
This section is being developed
There is as yet no Manual that summarises the silviculture of this forest type, but other works can be linked here.
The slide show presented below was developed by Brian Fry. It gives a good overview of the regeneration processes for areas that have been logged.
Alpine Ash |
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Eucalyptus delegatensis Photo: Neil Blair Copyright 2019 Royal Botanic Gardens Board Creative Commons Licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 |