David Lindenmayer: Disturbance-stimulated flammability – links between logging, previous fire and wildfire risk
Australia is the most fire-prone continent on earth. However, in more recent years there has been a significant increase in the frequency, severity, extent and homogeneity of wildfires in this country. Climate change is a key driver of these changes. But so too is the way forests are managed.
In this webinar, David will outline the evidence for changes in fire regimes associated with forest management, including logging, thinning and even (in some cases) past prescribed burning.
He will discuss how altered fire regimes mean that ongoing logging operations in native forests are unsustainable – in terms of wood supplies, threats to the safety of rural communities of people, and losses of biodiversity.
He will also highlight how populist narratives about widespread past First Nations burning in tall, wet forests are incorrect and could actually be quite counter-productive. The webinar will conclude with commentary on solutions to the major fire problems that are currently characterizing Australian landscapes.
This webinar was recorded on May 1st, 2025, as a part of the Victorian Forest Alliance webinar series.
See some of Prof. Lindenmayer's referenced work through the links below:
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Lindenmayer & Taylor, Extensive recent wildfires demand more stringent protection of critical old growth forest, 2020
- Lindenmayer, Zylstra & Yebra, Adaptive wildfire mitigation approaches, 2022
- Lindenmayer et al, Logging elevated the probability of high-severity fire in the 2019–20 Australian forest fires, 2022
- Lindenmayer, Taylor, Bowd & Zylstra, What did it used to look like? A case study from tall, wet mainland Mountain Ash forests prior to British invasion, 2024
- Lindenmayer et al, When Active Management of high conservation value forests may erode biodiversity and damage ecosystems, 2025
- Lindenmayer, Zylstra & Taylor, Can we really fight fire with fire? Why pre-burning is no silver bullet , 2025
About the speaker
David Lindenmayer is a Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Conservation Biology at the Australian National University's Fenner School of Environment and Society, AO, FAA. His research focuses on the adoption of nature conservation practices in agricultural production areas, developing ways to improve integration of native forest harvesting and biodiversity conservation, new approaches to enhance biodiversity conservation in plantations, and improved fire management practices in Australia.
His areas of expertise include environmental management, forestry management and environment, terrestrial ecology, wildlife and habitat management, environmental monitoring, forestry fire management, natural resource management, zoology and forestry sciences, with a particular focus on the critically endangered Leadbeater's possum. His work on wildlife conservation and biodiversity has, for many years, led world research in this area. Lindenmayer's conservation and biodiversity research has been recognised through numerous awards, including the Eureka Science Prize, and the Australian Natural History Medallion by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia "for distinguished service to conservation and the environment in the field of landscape ecology, to tertiary education, and to professional organisations".