Logging of native forests increases the risk and severity of fire and likely had a profound effect on the recent, catastrophic Australian bushfires, according to new research.
In the wake of the country’s worst forest fires in recorded history, University of Queensland researchers have been part of an international collaboration, investigating Australia’s historical and contemporary land-use.
UQ Professor and Wildlife Conservation Society Director James Watson said logging regimes have made many forests more fire prone for a host of reasons.
“Logging causes a rise in fuel loads, increases potential drying of wet forests and causes a decrease in forest height,” Professor Watson said.
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Image via University of Queensland
