18/01/2010 – 2009 forecast for eucalypt flower and seed

"A decline in flowering and seed production" until 2013 - that is the trend for flowering and seed production in the two mountain eucalypt species, Alpine Ash and Mountain Ash in the Central Highlands. Forest Solutions has used 14 years of continuous flowering data, collected since 1995 and up until the 2008/09 season. This forecast supports the need for long term storage of larger quantities of seed for forest recovery following bushfires.

Forest Solutions has also demonstrated a link between drought and the absence of flowering in high elevation mountain ash - although the cumulative annual affects of the 1997-2009 drought is considered to affect flowering in Alpine Ash as well. Mountain populations could provide a strong vulnerability indicator for climate change via their flowering periodicity. Detailed time series and regression analysis of floral component data were used in conjunction with wide-spread aerial assessments of flowering distributions. Contact our Director, Owen Bassett, for more details.