Long-term stability of temperate Australian wet forest-moorland mosaics despite recurrent fires associated with late Holocene climate change

A stable forest-moorland mosaic has persisted in southern Tasmania's wet temperate forests for at least 2600 years, unaffected by climate change or recurrent fires. This challenges the prevailing ecological paradigm of landscape dynamics used to manage the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA). Researchers analyzed sediment sequences from a sink-hole lake and a nearby pond, reconstructing vegetation and fire histories through pollen and charcoal analysis, then compared these with palaeoclimate records. The findings suggest that localized environmental factors, such as topography and edaphic conditions, are the primary stabilizing forces behind this vegetation mosaic. This study underscores the need to refine fire management strategies in the TWWHA and calls for further palaeoecological research to understand the persistence of treeless vegetation in world forest biomes.

Adeleye, M. A., Haberle, S. G., & Bowman, D. M. J. S. (2023). Long-term stability of temperate Australian wet forest-moorland mosaics despite recurrent fires associated with late Holocene climate change. Landscape Ecology, 38(10), 2675–2685. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-023-01738-3