Old-growth as a term in forest ecology developed in the Douglas-fir forests of the Pacific Northwest of the USA. The term has been used by foresters in some parts of Australia for many years but this was usually to describe forests that were putting on little timber increment, a much narrower concept than that developed in the Pacific Northwest. The term became part of the official forest policy vernacular in Australia when it was used in the National Forest Policy Statement. However, it is my belief that this was done without much thought to how the concept applied in eucalypt forests particularly those that are subject to low to moderate levels of disturbance (mostly fire) at relatively frequent intervals (which is the majority of the area of eucalypt forest). Because it wan't precisely defined the term was fairly readily accepted by both sides of the debate, industry and environmental groups because they were really talking about different things. Industry wree thinking about forests with lots of old trees (of which there are relatively few) and environmental groups about forests that have been relatively little disturbed by humans with chainsaws (of which there is still a considerable area). As the group working on Ross Peacock's study found, however, it is very difficult to identify cut of points in structural and compositional condition to defien old-growth forests in forests disturbed on 20-200 year intervals. This is a problem that has also been encountered in trying to apply the old-growth concept in many other forest types from Eastern Oregon and Washington to the boreal forests of Canada. In relation to the application of the term in tropical forests. The term does not appear to have had much application in the tropics, although this may change as the term is being used more extensively in many situations, for which it may or may not have valid application. I disagree with the two posts that suggests 'virgin' forest as an alternative. Virgin forests are those undisturbed by humans, and may not necessarily be old-growth. The most analagous term in wide usage in the tropics would be 'primary' rainforest, as opposed to secondary forest which has developed after a large-scale disturbance. Cheers Dr. Rod Keenan Officer-in-Charge, Tropical Forestry, Queensland Forest Research Institute, DPI-Forestry, P.O. Box 210, Atherton, Q. 4883 Australia TEL: 61 (0) 70 911844 FAX: 61 (0) 70 913281 keenanr@planet.mh.dpi.qld.gov.au
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