Losts plots found

It was a eureka moment for Dr John Herbohn and his colleagues when they located site data for several historic forestry monitoring plots throughout the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area that had been missing for over 20 years.

Dr Herbohn is a Professor of Tropical Forestry in the Forest Industries Research Centre of the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Some of the 250 plots were first established and measured in the 1940s, providing a valuable resource for land managers in the Wet Tropics.

The data associated with these long established plots will provide detailed historical information on the dynamics and growth of rainforest species and the effects of disturbances on growth. Individual stems within the plot network were all identified, mapped, measured and tagged and represent a great example of the environments found in the Wet Tropics.

Dr Herbohn is in discussions with the custodians of the forestry data sets to determine how to best extract the data from the existing databases. Two of Dr Herbohn’s collaborators visited the Wet Tropics in early July and were successful in relocating several of the old sites. They intend to revisit the Area in the near future to relocate further sites and to begin to remeasure and remap each of the relocated plots. 

Published: 05th Aug 2014