Plantations & Health
The Plantations & Health group undertakes research into the growth and management of plantations for wood products and environmental services, and into the health and protection of plantations and (native) forests.
Australia 's plantation area has increased rapidly since the mid 1990s to a total of 1.7 million hectares. Of this total approximately 1 million hectares are softwood species, with the balance where the most rapid increase has occurred, hardwoods. The expansion has been mostly onto former agricultural land, presenting new silvicultural challenges and raising environmental issues. The productive and sustainable management of plantations, both as a long-term crop for wood production, and as a catchment- or landscape-scale land-use (with potential benefits and dis-benefits), requires knowledge of the interactions of the growth of trees with their immediate environment in terms of resource availability, resource capture and resource use efficiency, that can then be scaled-up to the wider environment. Both empirical and biophysical process-based research contributes to this knowledge, which can then be incorporated into models and decision support systems for practical application by plantation managers and land-use planners.
![[Photo: Eucalypt plantation development in Victoria]](../../creswick_images/pictures/general_images/eucalypt_planthealth.JPG) |
| Eucalypt plantation development in Victoria |
Native and exotic insect pests and tree pathogens pose a significant threat to the commercial viability of plantations, to the productivity and biodiversity of native forests, and to amenity trees. Because impacts of pests and pathogens are determined by an interaction between the agent, its host and the environment, Health research combines elements of entomology, pathology, taxonomy, silviculture, genetics, plant physiology, soil science and plant nutrition, hydrology, and meteorology. Surveillance systems to detect insect pests and tree pathogens enable effective management and early intervention in the case of exotic incursions.
The Plantations research can be described under three themes, aiming at general outcomes:
• Species and Sites: Proven growth and yield of species and varieties to match sites and products.
• Silviculture: Optimised silvicultural management for high-value wood production.
• Plantations in the Landscape: Sustainable management of catchments containing plantations.
Plantations &Forest Health research includes:
• General monitoring, and routine surveys of specific insect pests and tree pathogens, to provide baseline data and enable early detection of problems.
• Population dynamics of insect pests and tree pathogens, and assessment of risk, to aid in the development of control procedures and their need for implementation.
• Methodologies for remote sensing of tree health.
The Plantations & Health group undertakes research in collaboration with Primary Industries Research Victoria, CRC Forestry , CRC Dryland Salinity , and plantation companies. Project funding sources include: Department of Primary Industries (Victoria), Department of Sustainability and Environment (Victoria), Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation / Joint Venture Agroforestry Program, and direct industry sponsorship. Collaborative research is also conducted with scientists from the Forests and Water, and the Forests, Climate Change and Greenhouse groups.
The Plantations & Health group also provides policy, technical, analytical and advisory services to industry, and to federal, state and local government agencies, variously in the areas of plantation silviculture, plantation growth and yield modelling, and plantation, forest and amenity tree health.
Contact: Tom Baker
Plantations & Health researchers
Selected Plantations & Health research projects
Selected Plantations & Health publications
Plantations & Health Postgraduate, Honours and Industry and postgraduate project opportunities
Download: Eucalypt Plantations Growth Models Workbook 2006.1 (Microsoft Excel 651KB)
For more information about the Growth Models see: Wang, Y and Baker, T. (2007) A regionalised growth model for Eucalyptus globulus plantations in south-eastern Australia. Australian Forestry, 70(2) 93-107. (pdf 307KB)