Session B4: Markets
Resource protection
Mitigating natural plantation risks
David Geddes
Geddes Management Pty Ltd
PO Box 663, Mount Gambier, SA, 5290
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0419 801 061
Biography
David Geddes is a professional forester, consulting in
plantation silviculture, plantation risk management, site
selection, plantation valuations and general management
including quality assurance and environmental
compliance. He has more than 38 years of pine and
hardwood plantation experience. David is a past President
of Australian Forest Growers and a past long term AFG
Board Member.
Geddes consulting business takes him to most plantation
regions in Australia and he has also undertaken projects in
New Zealand and South America. Part of his work
involves insurance claim investigations of plantation fire
and other losses. He has inspected most of the larger
plantation losses that have occurred in Australia in the last
decade. Prior to establishing his consulting company in the
early 1990’s, Geddes worked in plantation management,
forestry research, harvesting contracting and sawmill
management.
period soon after first thinning or in young trees
where foliage growth has exceeded root anchoring
on wet soils. Losses of up to 1000 ha can be
expected in extreme events. Cyclone damage is
limited to the northern coastline while snow
damage is restricted to mountains in NSW, Victoria
and Tasmania.
The paper provides risk mitigation methods that can
be adopted including insurance.
Background
Over the last 15 years, expansion of the Australian
plantation estate has been more rapid than at any
other time our history, driven mainly by the
Managed Investment Funds sector. Current area of
plantations is 2.02 million ha, made up of 0.99
million ha of hardwood plantations, mostly
Tasmanian blue gum, and 1.02 million ha of
softwood, mostly Radiata pine (National
Plantations Inventory 2010).
Abstract
The Australian plantation estate now exceeds 2.02 million
ha; approximately half softwood and half hardwood.
Identified are types of damage that can be expected in
plantations when subjected to fire, hail, wind, floods,
cyclones or snow.
Each year about 900 ha of plantations are damaged by
wildfire, mostly in southern Australia. Some species are
extremely vulnerable to fire while others are able to
survive or recover from moderate fires. There is potential
for large scale fire losses during catastrophic conditions;
up to 20,000 ha in a single event. Hail damage is mainly
restricted to east coast NSW and Queensland where
weather conditions are conducive to formation of large
hail stones. About 150 ha is damaged each year with
potential for single event losses of up to 2,000 ha in
extreme events. Wind damage is mainly restricted to the
While the total area of plantations has increased by
51% in the last 10 years, this expansion was slowed
in 2009 by Global Financial Crisis and other factors
which severely damaged MIS reputations,
particularly after the failure of Timbercorp and
Great Southern, as well as several smaller MIS
companies. NPI data showed that lower areas of
hardwood plantations were established in 2008 and
2009 (and the author estimated even lower areas in
2010). There are some risks that the MIS sector
may be permanently damaged. This may provide
opportunities for other models, particular with
corporate investors engaging with superannuation
funds. There is discussion on possible alternative
forestry investment models at this conference by
David Thompson (2010).
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Whatever happens with plantation expansion in the future,
there is a large area of plantations in Australia now.
Plantations are valuable assets, and like other valuable
assets they can be insured.
This paper explores risks of natural impacts on plantations
including fire, wind, snow, flooding and hail, but does not
include risks to plantations from pests, diseases and weed
competition.
Rainfall deficiencies – forest/plantation fire danger
is more severe after long periods of drought.
Extended dry periods can result in short, trampled
and often discontinuous grass fuels, which may
reduce potential grassfire severity.
Relative humidity – the lower the humidity, the
drier the fuel.
Temperature – hot temperatures dry the fuel and
increase the level of fire danger.
Fire
Fire is the most obvious natural plantation risk. In the last
decade, we have seen serious impacts of mega fires on
plantations in southern Australia, most notably after the
Victorian Black Saturday losses in February 2009 (with
about 4,900 ha of hardwood plantations and 14,800 ha of
softwood plantations destroyed), but also the Canberra
fires in 2003 (about 10,350 ha of softwood forest
destroyed) and the Billo Road fire near Tumut in NSW in
2006 where 9,530 ha of pine plantations were burnt (Cruz
and Plucinski 2007). Earlier, the 1983 Ash Wednesday
fires in South Australia saw the destruction of about
22,000 ha of pine plantations, mainly in SE South
Australia.
Factors affecting area of plantation burnt include weather,
fuel loadings, fire readiness & fire fighting capability and
contiguous nature of plantation properties. It is recognised
there is a higher risk with large groupings of plantations,
particularly if they are older plantations of similar ages. So
some regions are more vulnerable than others.
Severe potential fire conditions occur when a number of
factors occur coincidentally in time and space. Factors that
influence the severity of fire weather conditions include:
Fuel moisture – the drier the fuel, the greater the fire
hazard.
Fuel quantity - all other factors being equal, fire intensity
will increase in direct proportion to the quantity of
available fuel.
Fuel characteristics and distribution - as grass cures, its
fire hazard increases, but later in the fire season as grass
level is reduced by grazing stock and general breakdown
of the organic material, its hazard reduces. Forest fuel
includes leaf litter and branches on the forest floor and
held aerially in the tree by branches. Crown fires are less
likely to develop in plantations where there is separation of
the ground fuel and the aerial fuel. This separation is
achieved after thinning and also by pruning the lower
branches. There is generally more fuel separation in
eucalypt plantations than in pines.
Wind strength – except in low and very high
speeds, the rate of spread of a fire varies
approximately as the square of the wind speed. In a
grassfire rate of spread increases by four times
when the wind increases from 15 to 30 km/hour.
Generally wind speeds are lower within plantations
because of the protection effect of the trees,
resulting in lower forward fire speeds.
Atmospheric stability – unstable atmospheric
conditions favour development of large convective
columns above a forest/plantation/scrub fire, which
may increase fire intensity, through increased
ventilation of the fire, increased wind flow in
towards the fire, greater vertical wind currents and
therefore more spotting and greater potential for
crowning.
Variation of wind with height – if upper
atmosphere winds are strong (winds at 600-1500
metres and above), there is more potential for
forward spotting. Strong winds at these levels can
be brought down to the surface in short bursts,
resulting in more erratic fire behaviour.
Radiata pine trees are quite vulnerable to wildfire.
Even mild fires will damage the cambium and will
eventually cause the tree to die. Fuel loads can be
significant under pine plantations, depending on
plantation type. Ryan (2009) describes the varying
fuel types in pine plantations in six distinct stages:
Young pines (0-3 years); where surface fuels are
largely absent due to site preparation techniques
and early weed control. There are no ladder fuels,
so crown fire potential is very low.
3 years of age to canopy closure; where surface
fuels in terms of needle litter and grasses are
generally low, ladder fuels are mostly absent but
crown fire potential increases with age because of
partial ground to crown fuels.
Unthinned, canopy closure to 13 years; there is
little grassy understory but a build up of loose dry
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needles, and there is complete crown closure with
significant ladder fuels (dry branches and hanging dry
needles). Potential for crown fires is very high.
parallel to fire direction. Where rows are in the
same direction as the fire, grassy fuel between the
rows may enable a fire to carry for short distances.
Unthinned, 13-20 years; no grassy fuels but needle litter
layer is continuous and increasing in depth, and there are
significant ladder fuels and high potential for crown fires.
In older plantations, fuel loads increase with age,
with high fuel load accumulations occurring at an
earlier age in higher growth rate plantations.
Thinned plantations to clear fell stage; there is a
continuous litter layer, but a break between ground fuel
and crown fuels leads to less chance of crown fires.
Evidence from previous eucalypt plantation fires
suggests that 2-6 year old age groups have the
ability to slow a wildfire on Extreme FFD days.
However there will be some plantation losses,
depending on the intensity of the fire entering the
plantation. In a large plantation it is reasonable to
assume that the compartments on the leading edge
of a fire entry could be burnt. For example in the
Valley View fire near Mt Barker (WA) about 25%
of the plantation area was burnt (Braun 2000).
Post clear felling slash; heavy continuous woody fuel and
litter on the ground, but no aerial fuels. While there will be
no crown fire, wild fire intensity will be very high because
of woody fuels.
Conclusions drawn from (short rotation pulpwood)
eucalypt plantation fires that have occurred since 1994 and
from discussions with fire fighters who observed actual
fire behaviour in plantations in Very High and Extreme
FFD conditions in various fires in WA, Kangaroo Island,
the Green Triangle, Central Victoria, Gippsland and
Queensland have been described by Geddes (2006) and
suggest:
Eucalypt pulpwood plantation fire behaviour is different to
that in grassland, pine plantations and native vegetation.
In order to cause severe damage, fires require a
combination of high fuel loads and wind to drive the fire.
It is apparent that the fuel loads in well managed young
plantations (ie with good weed control and an absence of
woody debris on the forest floor) are lower than open
pastures and significantly lower than native forests.
Further, the fuel is often discontinuous, providing in effect
a series of mini firebreaks within the plantation.
If there is still a large amount of grassy fuel in a young
plantation, fire behaviour is likely to be more severe than
that experienced in most of the eucalypt plantation fires in
Australia to date. The McGauran Fire near Traralgon,
Gippsland in February 2003 is an example of this where
heavy grassy understorey made the fire more difficult to
extinguish resulting in a 250 ha loss. Similarly, grassy
understorey conditions in the Dunmoor Fire in a 6-yearold blue gum plantation in the Green Triangle in April
2005 resulted in a loss of about 350 ha (Crowe 2005).
There may be a difference in the fire spread into a young
eucalypt plantation, depending on row direction relative to
the fire spread. It is likely rows perpendicular to the fire
direction provide a better barrier to fire spread than rows
Litter build up in older plantation fires is such to
allow a fire to be maintained in the plantation. It
may be a hot fire, and could even be a crown fire
and may only cause short distance spotting. High
levels of ribbon streamer bark will increase spotting
potential.
Many trees burnt on a severe FFD day will be
killed. In mild fire conditions, there is a higher
chance of tree survival from a wildfire.
Fire behaviour in open areas (such as swamps or
dead patches of trees) within plantations may be
similar to grass fire rates of spread due to increased
grassy fuel and increased wind.
It is clear fire behaviour in eucalypt plantations is
less extreme than fire behaviour in grassland, native
forests and pine plantations, but caution must be
taken in comparing past fires. Most large blue gum
fires have been in plantations where the grassy
understorey is almost non existent. As
demonstrated by the McGauran fire (in Gippsland,
Victoria), if dry grass or woody shrubs are present
under plantations, it is quite likely fire behaviour
will be more severe. In catastrophic fire conditions,
such as experienced on Black Saturday in February
2009, there were extensive blue gum plantation
losses where under milder circumstances, the trees
may have survived. Second rotation plantations also
have a higher potential rate of fire spread because
of the higher quantity of wood debris.
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develop cooperative relationships with other fire
fighting authorities.
In summary
In summary, plantation fire risk factors include fuel
loading, separation of ground and aerial fuels and
suppression difficulties at different plantation stages.
Fortunately, plantation insurance is available as a
risk reduction measure.
Eucalypt plantations
Hail
Eucalypts have a remarkable ability to recover from fire
scorch. Observations from eucalypt plantation fires in the
last few years suggest the following:
Hail occurs over a wide geographical range in
Australia and is a major cause of damage in
agriculture, particularly in fruit crops. Hail stones
can also adversely impact timber plantations. Trees
are affected in several ways; both in damaging
leaves (particularly in hardwoods) and damaging
stems (in both hardwoods and softwoods). Stem
damage can affect the cambium layer resulting in
future dead patches in the wood, but the main form
of damage is opening up puncture wounds that
allows entry of diseases, particularly in pines.
Young trees (6-18 months old) will be killed by even mild
fires if the trees are scorched.
Older trees can recover from fire scorch unless the damage
is severe, such as in a crown fire. Even a low intensity fire
will result in leaf scorch and subsequent leaf drop. But
many eucalypt species are able to quickly grown new
leaves, providing there is some soil moisture to keep the
tree alive.
If most of the leaves are lost as a result of fire and the trees
recover, there will be a setback in growth potential of the
plantation, possibly up to the equivalent of one year of
growth loss over the rotation.
The key to an economic recovery in older trees is absence
of charcoal left in the tree such as from burnt branch stubs
or from cracks in the stem. Because most trees are being
grown for the high quality paper market, customer
tolerance of char is very low. Trees in the 250-hectare 9.5year-old McGauran plantation fire in Gippsland were not
severely burnt apart from a few hectares of crown fire, but
the entire plantation was written off after the fire because
the customer (the Paperlinx Maryvale pulp mill) was not
prepared to accept burnt branch stubs in the wood.
There have been sufficient wild fires affecting Acacia
plantations on the Tiwi Islands to recognise tropical
conditions are different than in temperate regions. High
grassy fuel loads allow fires to burn in even mild weather
conditions. Acacia trees affected by even mild fires do not
seem to recover.
Excluding mega fires, each year about 900 ha of
plantations are lost to fire in Australia. But as has been
observed in February 2009 in Victoria, there is potential
for losses up to 20,000 ha in extreme fire events. Risk
mitigation strategies include upgrading of firebreaks prior
to each fire season, reduce fuel loads in surrounding native
vegetation, maintain crew training and fire equipment,
ensure there are detection systems that promptly notify
plantation owners of the presence of fire (recognising that
small fires are easier to control than fires that have been
burning longer before suppression efforts begin) and
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Severe hail storms can smash tree tops.
Damage levels depend on three main factors; size
of hail stones (larger stones causing more damage),
severity of winds at the time of the storm (high
wind speeds cause more intense hail stone impact)
and topography (trees on lee slopes are less
affected).
It is known that pines have varying abilities to
survive hail damage. Personal observations of
damage 9-12 year old pine plantations, both soon
after severe hail events and then 18 months later,
and then again 10 years later suggests that most
pine trees can survive hail damage. This evidence is
backed up by data gathered by Kurt Cremer
(1984a) from outcomes of 20 severe hail storms
investigated in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Cremer
identified that stressed pine trees (such as those in
the few years just prior to first thinning) are more
susceptible to damage from Diplodia fungus, but
unless there is severe dieback, most trees will
survive. Cremer also suggested that younger trees
that are not drought stressed are more likely to
make a full or partial recovery from hail damage.
Personal observations of a number of hail damaged
plantations suggest that trees with strong sap flow
(ie young healthy trees) are less likely to suffer
from Diplodia infestations. Generally trees due for
first thinning in the next 2-4 years are more likely
to be suffering from drought stress (and have
poorer sap flow), and therefore are more vulnerable
to Diplodia caused dieback. While many trees
likely to survive, large numbers will be dieback
affected.
Australian Forest Growers Conference 2010
George Minko (1979) and Tony Grayburn (1957) found
that many trees can recover from hail damage but there is
potential future sawlog downgrade, particularly from hail
damage in mid rotation pine stands. Kurt Cremer (1984b)
identified that tree maturity has an impact on future sawlog
potential.
Young trees: When the trees are small, there is a
reasonable chance of recovery due to occluding around the
hail wound, particularly since hail damage is only on one
side of the tree. Any damage in a future sawlog from trees
hail damaged when they are young results in minor
degrade in the “heart-in” material. Sawmillers avoid
“heart-in” timber in sawn boards, with the heart-in
material normally cut as lower quality products such as
palings, where partial defects (eg from hail damage) can
be more acceptable. Therefore a small diameter stem
defect in a tree that can survive a hail storm has little
impact on future sawlog quality.
Mid rotation aged trees: These are the most problematic
for future sawlog because the damage is often hidden in
the tree until it is cut open at the sawmill or as identified
above, the stem is kinked or there are multiple leaders.
However, Cremer found that most stands affected by past
hail storms did not have seriously distorted leaders unless
there had been dieback of the tree crown.
Older trees: If trees are hail affected when they are closer
to maturity, any damage to tree crowns has little impact on
sawlog quality, because the majority of sawlog volume has
already developed below the point of damage.
It is important for forest owners to promptly assess
damage and determine an action plan. For trees close to
first thinning age, this may include bringing forward
harvest planning to remove damaged trees (for pulpwood)
and allow those undamaged trees more room to grow
future sawlog. For older trees is may mean early clear
felling.
Each year about 100 ha of plantations (mainly pines) are
damaged by hail in Australia, but there is potential in
severe events for single losses of up to 1000 ha. Younger
hail damaged pine trees are highly likely to be able to
produce intended future sawlog. Natural repair by
occluding around the hail wound with any future degrade
being limited to normal low grade heart-in material. For
pre-first thinning stage pine trees, it is likely that trees with
dieback will have future sawlog production adversely
affected.
Several companies offer hail insurance cover for
plantations.
Wind – young trees and after thinning
There are no cyclone risks in temperate Australia,
but plantations are vulnerable wind damage in two
main circumstances:
On wet sites where fast growing trees have a
canopy outgrowing the root system, leading to
potential toppling in wet and windy weather
because of insufficient anchorage.
In the 3-6 month period immediately after first
thinning when remaining trees are suddenly
exposed. Risks are higher during in wet and windy
weather when tree crowns become heavier with
retained rain drops.
Each year there are wind losses of about 150 ha,
mainly due to toppling after first thinning. But there
is potential for losses exceeding 1000 ha in some
years.
Unless there is widespread damage, it is not
normally necessary to salvage after post first
thinning wind damage. Salvage can open up the
plantation to more wind exposure giving rise to
further toppling.
Mitigation measures to reduce wind damage can
include avoiding waterlogged sites, or in those sites
that can become wet, constructing higher mounds
during establishment and constructing drainage
systems to avoid water gathering. Post first thinning
wind damage can be mitigated by thinning early
before there is too large an imbalance between tree
height and tree diameter. Also, avoid clear felling
compartments adjacent to any areas recently first
thinned, in order to eliminate excessive wind during
a vulnerable period.
Several companies offer windstorm insurance cover
for plantations.
Flooding
Flooding is not a high risk to plantations, and site
selection (avoid selecting low lying poorly drained
areas) and land preparation (providing water run off
systems) can reduce risks. But there are known
examples of severe flooding damage, particularly in
the sub-tropics and tropics when very large
amounts of rain can fall in a relatively short time. In
early 2009, during the Queensland floods, a number
of plantations were damaged. In some cases trees
were toppled and in other cases areas of trees died
from severe waterlogging. There were some
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extreme instances where trees were covered with up to 6 m
depth of water for several weeks.
Insurance is not available for flood damage.
Snow
Generally, snow presents only a very minor risk in
Australian plantations, with normally less than 30 ha of
damage each year. Snow storms are generally restricted to
the higher altitudes in Victoria, New South Wales and
Tasmania. Typical snow damage in alpine areas includes
minor toppling, smashed tops and branches broken off. In
most cases in the past, damage has been restricted to small
areas, with relatively low economic losses. A potential risk
when snow breaks off pine branches is an entry point for
Diplodia and subsequent dieback.
In New South Wales there are known instances of
significant snow damage, particularly in the Tumbarumba
area in winter 2000. In that storm, damage to pine
plantations included smashed tops, toppled trees (such that
most tracks into the area were blocked for some time) and
broken branches. In extreme circumstances, it is possible
that snow caused losses of more than 2000 ha can occur in
a single season.
Some insurance companies offer snow cover.
Cyclones
Tropical cyclones normally occur along the northern
Australian coastline between November and May each
year. They develop from a region of low atmospheric
pressure over warm tropical oceans where temperature of
the water is greater than 26.5˚C. As the pressure in the
centre decreases, wind speeds around the system increase.
When the average wind speed around the centre reaches a
constant 63 km/hour, the system is called a tropical
cyclone and is given a name. Winds can increase further,
where extreme wind gusts can reach up to 300 km/hour.
Tropical cyclones are rated on a scale from Category 1 for
a weak system to Category 5 for the strongest (based on
average wind speed around the centre and central
pressure):
Category 1 – average wind speed 63-90 km per hour with
wind gusts up to 125 km per hour. Central pressure is
normally greater than 985 hPa. Winds not normally strong
enough to cause damage to houses.
Category 2 – average wind speed 90-120 km per hour
with wind gusts up to 170 km per hour. Central pressure is
970- 985 hPa. Winds strong enough to cause minor
damage to houses.
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Category 3 – average wind speed 120-160 km per
hour with wind gusts up to 225 km per hour.
Central pressure is 945-970 hPa. Winds can cause
structural damage to houses.
Category 4 – average wind speed 160-200 km per
hour with wind gusts up to 280 km per hour.
Central pressure is 920-945 hPa. Winds strong
enough to cause serious structural damage.
Category 5 – average wind speed more than 200
km per hour with wind gusts more than 280 km per
hour. Central pressure is normally below 920 hPa.
Extremely dangerous with widespread destruction.
Plantation risks from tropical cyclones are
restricted to coastal areas in the tropics. Information
about the destructive nature of cyclones on
plantations has been gathered from three recent
cyclone events; Tropical Cyclones Ingrid, Larry
and Monica.
Tropical Cyclone Ingrid
Cyclone Ingrid caused significant impact on the
northern Australian coast in March 2005 including
damage in Queensland, the Northern Territory and
Western Australia. But in particular, it crossed over
Melville Island as a Category 3 (bordering on
Category 4) cyclone and destroyed most of the
Acacia plantations that were growing there at the
time. Cyclone Ingrid took more than 12 hours to
cross Melville Island and had wind speeds of about
205 km per hour at the destructive central core.
Damage in the older acacia plantations included
trees twisted and snapped off and trees blown over.
The only trees that survived in the 3-year or older
plantations were sub-dominants or areas of poor
growth. Generally the newly planted acacia trees
(2-3 months old) and the previous year age group
(14-15 months old) survived. Interestingly, most of
the pine plantations on Melville Island survived
Cyclone Ingrid with only minor toppling. This may
be because many needles were blown off the trees,
reducing the “sail” effect of the trees. On the other
hand, the acacia trees held on to their (large) leaves,
creating a large “sail” which resulted in significant
damage.
Tropical Cyclone Larry
Cyclone Larry crossed the tropical north
Queensland coast near Innisfail during the morning
of 20 March, 2006. Apart from Cyclone Ingrid,
Larry was the first severe tropical cyclone to cross
the Queensland east coast since Rona in 1999
(which crossed near the Daintree River north of
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Cairns). Cyclone Larry caused severe damage to many
plantations in its path, with most plantations near Innisfail
being totally destroyed. It passed over a small 4-year-old
teak plantation that was about 70 km south of the core and
broke the tops out of most of the trees. Other one and two
and three-year-old teak plantations in the same locality
were less severely damaged, probably because the trees
were small enough to withstand the wind forces. A number
of Eucalyptus pellita (Red mahogany) plantations were
damaged. It was observed that the Australian provenances
of Red mahogany were less damaged than provenances
from Papua New Guinea. Cyclones do not normally occur
in PNG. This suggests that over thousands of years, trees
in Australian cyclone prone areas have adapted to
surviving cyclones. Plantation trees grown from Australian
seed sources that were less damaged seemed to readily
lose their leaves (leaving less “sail”), while the PNG seed
sourced trees seemed to have held their leaves, making
them more likely to suffer wind damage. Many local
provenance hoop pine trees survived the cyclone, again
suggesting natural selection to survive cyclones.
speeds increase or as the time taken for the cyclone
to pass a particular point increases. It is thought
part of the reason for such severe damage to Acacia
plantations on Melville Island in March 2005 was
because the cyclone took 12 hours to cross the
island and the trees were battered over that entire
time.
Tropical Cyclone Monica
References
Cyclone Monica caused significant impact on the
Australian coast in April 2006. It crossed the Queensland
east coast south of Lockhart River as a Category 3, and
then moved into the Northern Territory as a Category 5. Its
destructive core passed about 150 km north of a large scale
3-year-old teak plantation located north of Cooktown in
Far North Queensland. Damage to the trees was generally
limited to snapped tops on the taller trees. It is quite likely
that had the core been closer to the teak plantation, tree
damage would have been more severe.
Braun K (2000) – Valley View Plantation Fire 28
December 2000; fire behaviour and impact
assessment. ICS Group.
When categorising wind losses, it could reasonably be
assumed that for cyclones passing directly over a
plantation:
A Category 1 cyclone would break tops out of many trees,
but whole plantations would not be destroyed.
A Category 2 cyclone would break tops out of many trees
and flatten many trees older than age 3-years.
A Category 3 cyclone would flatten many trees that are
older than 2-years of age (depending on species), but
newly planted trees and trees about a year old would
survive.
A Category 4 cyclone would flatten trees that are older
than 12 months of age.
A Category 5 cyclone would destroy all plantation trees.
The main mitigation strategy for (larger scale)
plantation owners is to ensure there is a wide
geographic spread of plantations in tropical areas to
reduce potential cyclone damage to the overall
estate.
Conclusions
There are a number of natural risks for plantations.
Most can be partially mitigated with good
management systems, but insurance cover is
available to protect growers for fire, wind and hail
damage.
Cremer KW (1984a) – Nature and impact of
damage by wind, hail and snow in Australia’s pine
plantations. Aust For 47: 28-34.
Cremer KW (1984b) – Hail damage in Australian
pine plantations – the nature and extent of damage.
Aust For 47: 103-114.
Crowe P (2005) – Dunmore Plantation Fire,
Country Fire Authority, Victoria
Cruz MG and Plucinski MP (2007) – Billo Road
Fire – report on fire behaviour phenomena and
suppression activities. Bushfire Research Group,
Ensis – CSIRO, Canberra
Geddes DJ (2006) Fire behaviour in eucalypt
plantations. In Proceedings of the Australian Forest
Growers Conference held in Launceston in October
2006
Grayburn AW (1957) – Hail damage to exotic
forests in Canterbury. NZ Journal For 7: 50-57.
Minko G (1979) – Long term effects of hail damage
on Radiata pine. Aust For 42: 168-171.
Clearly cyclonic wind events have great destructive
potential. The level of damage will increase as the wind
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National Plantation Inventory (2010) – 2010 plantation
inventory update, Australian Government, Department of
Agriculture, forestry and Fisheries, Bureau of Rural
Sciences
Thompson D (2010) – Plantation investment
models and forest policy. In Proceedings of the
Australian Forest Growers Conference held in
Mount Gambier in October 2010
Ryan, R (2009) – Plantation fuel classification.
Presentation to the Forest Owners Conference in the Green
Triangle.
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