Let fallen logs lie

The April storms may be a distant memory but the log legacy will be lasting. Many trees and branches fell and were later felled, community and personal safety being paramount in the decision making. The Progress Association’s land was also affected with two trees shifting, leaning on an angle that made the Tower of Pisa look upright.  

The CPPA committee discussed the options. Multiple quotes raging from $10,000 to $2,500 were obtained, the insurance company was notified and an arborist’s report was commissioned. The report identified the sloping trees as low risk, but in the event of another storm or high winds extra precautions would be required. 

Proposed mitigation measures included notifying the neighbours, not using the hall, moving to the front of the building (away from the trees), pulling curtains and staying away from windows…standard practice in areas where high winds are frequent events. The CPPA discussions also involved the potential to retain the trees for habitat value.

It was ultimately decided to reduce the risk the trees posed if they fell but to retain the tree material on site and distribute it within the CPPA land to provide habitat value. This turned out to be quite an important decision and in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Threatened Species Last Stand project

The NSW Scientific Committee has listed removal of dead wood and dead trees as a key threatening process, something that threatens or may threaten the survival, abundance or evolutionary development of a native species or ecological community.

Logs are life, without them there’s a potential biodiversity loss that can ultimately change the very nature of the woodland or forest. The storm has created new horizontal habitat and the potential to replenish the forest floor.

Fallen logs are habitat for bugs and beetles and provide sustenance for fungi and microbes that depend on decaying wood for their survival. These animals and organisms are the great recyclers, turning the logs into nutrients that replenish the soils and stabilise the soil surfaces. 

Fallen and decaying logs also provide shelter for smaller animals in the event of fire. The Progress logs will hopefully provide additional cover for the wildlife in Stansfield Reserves when the asset protection burn eventuates.

The Scientific Committee states the removal of dead wood and dead trees is so significant that it could even cause species or populations that are not currently threatened to become threatened, such as the common Brushtail Possum. It is hard to imagine Coal Point as possum-less, but without logs there is no life.

Vertical habitat has now been transformed into horizontal habitat and as the ground dwelling bugs and critters multiply so too will the birds that feast on them. The logs that are now numerous throughout the local bushland are providing essential ecosystem services, recycling nutrients, providing a place for animals small and large to shelter and creating a food source that feeds everything from microbes to marsupials. After the storm there is a cloud with a silviculture lining. 

If you would like to install some additional habitat in form of nest boxes a Build your own Wildlife Nest Box guide has recently been released if you want to make your own, or if you want to put in an order for one as part of the Threatened Species project have a chat to Suzanne anytime or at the Greater Toronto Spring Fair.