Seedling regeneration of celery-top pine (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius) after harvesting of rainforest in north-western Tasmania

Seedling regeneration of celery-top pine (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius) was monitored following harvesting on three sites in north-western Tasmania. A different silvicultural system was trialled at each site: light selective harvesting with no burning, clearfelling followed by a high-intensity burn, and patchfelling followed by a low-intensity burn.

Regeneration on all three sites reached rainforest regeneration stocking standards, with many plots containing seedlings of myrtle (Nothofagus cunninghamii) and leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida) as well as celery-top pine. Celery-top pine regeneration was stimulated by both harvesting disturbance and burning, but was sparse or absent wherever the disturbance removed the organic soils and exposed the underlying gravels. Burning damaged or killed many of the retained trees, so wherever possible regeneration should be established with harvesting as the only disturbance.

Early growth rates for celery-top pine were very slow, with average height growth of around 10 cm per year. The growth rings measured on stumps at two sites suggested that 300-400 years is required to produce a celery-top pine log of 50-60 cm diameter.