Mature forests have structural habitat features that can take hundreds of years to develop, and large reserves alone are unlikely to ensure conservation of the species that rely on these features. This paper outlines a proposed new approach to managing mature forest features, the ‘mature habitat management approach’, in areas outside of reserves. The objective was to maintain a network of current and future mature forest habitat distributed across the landscape. The approach is designed to complement the existing reserve network and management actions and is tenure-blind. Spatial information on the availability of mature forest habitat at the local (1-km radius) and landscape (5-km radius) scales is used for decisions on retention within a 1-km radius of a harvest area, to reach the minimum target of 20% and 30% retention of mature forest at the local and landscape spatial scales, respectively. We believe this approach could contribute to meeting the conservation needs of many species that require mature forest features for refuge and breeding in Tasmania and elsewhere.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	biodiversity; conservation planning; management approach; mature forest habitat; tree cavities; tree hollows
Research Division:	Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences
Research Group:	Forestry sciences
Research Field:	Forestry management and environment
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Terrestrial systems and management
Objective Field:	Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems
UTAS Author:	Koch, AJ (Ms Amelia Koch)
UTAS Author:	Munks, SA (Dr Sarah Munks)
ID Code:	151643
Year Published:	2018
Web of Science® Times Cited:	4
Deposited By:	Plant Science
Deposited On:	2022-08-02
Last Modified:	2022-09-30
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