Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 4.3:
The Varied Sittella - a native bird which depends on large branches that occur on very large
trees. (Photo by Suzi Bond)
Squirrel Glider.
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Of course, dead standing trees eventually collapse, but as we
discuss in the following section, fallen timber is also a critically important kind of
habitat for many native plants and animals on farms.
Threats to paddock trees and threat management
The urgency of the problem
There is a range of threats to the ongoing persistence of good populations of
scattered paddock trees in Australian rural landscapes. There is limited, if any,
regeneration of paddock trees in many areas.
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This, combined with land clearing
and the high rate of mortality among paddock trees from spray drift, stock camps
and ageing of existing old trees (see Box 4.3), means there is a high risk of large
areas being devoid of paddock trees within the next century. This major problem
needs to be addressed urgently. This is because it takes several hundred years for
paddock trees to develop to a size where they provide certain ecological functions
or habitat resources; for example, tree hollows. Therefore, a delay in tree
