Miscellaneous
Read MoreI came across this forest that had recently been backburned ready for the hot summer ahead. Nature is amazing in how it allows the trees to regenerate. Adaptations for survival Whether mature trees are killed or only have their leaves burnt, fire disturbance lets in light and creates spaces for new growth. Fires usually occur in late summer, so seeds take advantage of warm soils and Tasmania’s seasonal pattern of autumn and winter rains, to germinate well and get a good growth start. Adaptations for survival in individual eucalypts, especially those of drier forests such as the peppermints and white gums, relate to features that allow them to live through fire. These include: • lignotubers - swellings that develop at ground level in young eucalypts and where food is stored, allowing new growth to sprout if the tree is damaged. This can be seen even in young seedlings. Lignotubers contain a mass of hidden buds. When the seedling, sapling or tree is damaged by fire or grazing, new shoots rapidly grow from the lignotubers enabling the plant to survive. • an extensive root system which is made even more efficient by mycorrhizal associations, a partnership between tree roots and a fungus, which enhances the tree’s absorption of water and nutrients, especially phosphorus. • epicormic buds on the tree’s branches and trunk which sprout when triggered by stress, such as wildfire, which can severely damage the crown. These buds, in the outer sapwood, are protected from fire damage by the tree’s bark. They quickly sprout if a eucalypt looses its crown. The new shoots (epicormic shoots) produce green foliage that enables the tree to survive. • Hard woody capsules that protect seeds high in the canopy where heat may be intense but lasts for a very short time as the oil-rich leaves burn rapidly. http://www.forest-education.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/eucalypt_adaptations.pdf
I came across this forest that had recently been backburned ready for the hot summer ahead. Nature is amazing in how it allows the trees to regenerate. Adaptations for survival Whether mature trees are killed or only have their leaves burnt, fire disturbance lets in light and creates spaces for new growth. Fires usually occur in late summer, so seeds take advantage of warm soils and Tasmania’s seasonal pattern of autumn and winter rains, to germinate well and get a good growth start. Adaptations for survival in individual eucalypts, especially those of drier forests such as the peppermints and white gums, relate to features that allow them to live through fire. These include: • lignotubers - swellings that develop at ground level in young eucalypts and where food is stored, allowing new growth to sprout if the tree is damaged. This can be seen even in young seedlings. Lignotubers contain a mass of hidden buds. When the seedling, sapling or tree is damaged by fire or grazing, new shoots rapidly grow from the lignotubers enabling the plant to survive. • an extensive root system which is made even more efficient by mycorrhizal associations, a partnership between tree roots and a fungus, which enhances the tree’s absorption of water and nutrients, especially phosphorus. • epicormic buds on the tree’s branches and trunk which sprout when triggered by stress, such as wildfire, which can severely damage the crown. These buds, in the outer sapwood, are protected from fire damage by the tree’s bark. They quickly sprout if a eucalypt looses its crown. The new shoots (epicormic shoots) produce green foliage that enables the tree to survive. • Hard woody capsules that protect seeds high in the canopy where heat may be intense but lasts for a very short time as the oil-rich leaves burn rapidly. http://www.forest-education.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/eucalypt_adaptations.pdf