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As for the fire, to this extent, it is no longer fuel-driven, but weather-driven.

Commercial logging will exacerbate the fire

The primary goal of commercial felling is big trees. Adult trees themselves are difficult to burn, and many have survived earlier fires, and the flammable parts have been burned. After

cut down trees, originally covered open woodland, grow trees, fire resistance will not do much, more flammable. Moreover, the remaining stump of the big tree will become flammable if it is dried.

Picture | Pixabay

On the surface, commercial deforestation has cut down what can be burned, reduced biomass, and seems to be good for fire prevention. But because of these factors, it actually increases flammability. There is a lot of research in this area, and I randomly found an open access paper for reference [1].

Even if the dead tree is cut off after a wildfire, unexpectedly it will hinder forest regeneration and increase the risk of fire [2]. The common sense and intuition of the forest ecosystem is often useless.

Primary forest clearing type logging

In Australia, logging companies often use so-called clearfell logging, which means that all vegetation in an area is cut off, then cleaned with fire + pesticides, and planted with saplings. Such felling methods can basically completely destroy the original fire resistance of a forest.

Why use such extreme tricks? This is of course the most profitable. Logging in Australia is largely virgin forest. Primary forests are rarely disturbed by humans, and a variety of vegetation grows naturally. The biodiversity is very high, but it is extremely difficult for forestry companies to manage. It is far better to replace them with uniform plantations.

Primary forests have taken root in Australia for a long time and have strong fire resistance. In contrast, planted forests are not only singular in vegetation, poor in diversity, and difficult for natural circulation of dead branches, but also because trees are the most efficient in cutting wood produced during adolescence, so it is difficult to have real big trees.

Conflict between forest management and commercial logging

It is reasonable to say that many forests in Australia have natural mountain fires. It’s okay to just let go and let it burn occasionally. But these forests have long been affected-fragmentation caused by deforestation, surrounded by flammable plantations, climate change, the spread of wasteland fires, various factors have changed, and the world is no longer what they were when they evolved Looks like it. Therefore, environmental organizations andScientists support the management of forests.

management requirements but young or too old to cut the dead trees, the trees could not produce valuable timber, forestry meaningless, also arrived, but I’m afraid to cut labor costs. Therefore, commercial logging in pursuit of profit stands on the opposite side of fire prevention. In recent years, due to the increase in funding for national parks, this part of the work has actually improved, but the overall effect is still not as good as deforestation.

Fire and Firemen in New South Wales | Helitak430 / Wikimedia Commons

Climate-led fires

Of course, this time the fire has burned to the present level, the fuel problem has fallen to the second line. Australia has a MacArthur Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) that reflects the effects of climatic conditions such as rainfall, humidity, temperature and wind. When it exceeds 50, the amount of fuel is gradually overwhelmed by the weather. Now that Australia is experiencing high temperatures and local droughts, FFDI in many areas is unprecedentedly high, and it can already be regarded as a extreme climate event .