15/04/2010 – Aerial flowering assessments completed for 2009-10

The aerial flowering assessments which begun 8 months ago have now been completed for 2009/10. Five commercial eucalypt species in Eastern Victoria have been assessed and the geographic location of flowering crops mapped using GPS technology. VicForests and the Department of Sustainability and Environment funded the program and will use the data to locate future seedcrops in the Victorian Alps. These seedcrops could be collected and used to assist forest recovery and rehabilitation operations.

Forest Solutions will also use the data for its next annual flower and seed forecast - due in mid-2010. Forest Solutions can forecast seedcrops up to 3 years in advance, proving to be an invaluable management tool for forest management. Flowering of high elevation Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) is now also recognised as a potential indicator for the impacts of climate change on forests.