Regulated timber harvesting does not reduce koala density in north-east forests of New South Wales
Law, Brad, Gonsalves, Leroy, Burgar, Joanna, Brassil, Traecey, Kerr, Isobel, O’Loughlin, Chris, Eichinski, Phil, and Roe, Paul (2022) Regulated timber harvesting does not reduce koala density in north-east forests of New South Wales. Scientific Reports, 12 (1). 3968.
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Abstract
The compatibility of forestry and koala conservation is a controversial issue. We used a BACIPS design to assess change in koala density after selective harvesting with regulations to protect environmental values. We also assessed additional sites heavily harvested 5–10 years previously, now dominated by young regeneration. We used replicate arrays of acoustic sensors and spatial count modelling of male bellowing to estimate male koala density over 3600 ha. Paired sites in nearby National Parks served as controls. Naïve occupancy was close to 100% before and after harvesting, indicating koalas were widespread across all arrays. Average density was higher than expected for forests in NSW, varying between arrays from 0.03–0.08 males ha<sup>−1</sup>. There was no significant effect of selective harvesting on density and little change evident between years. Density 5–10 years after previous heavy harvesting was equivalent to controls, with one harvested array supporting the second highest density in the study. Within arrays, density was similar between areas mapped as selectively harvested or excluded from harvest. Density was also high in young regeneration 5–10 years after heavy harvesting. We conclude that native forestry regulations provided sufficient habitat for koalas to maintain their density, both immediately after selective harvesting and 5–10 years after heavy harvesting.
| Item ID: | 87098 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 2045-2322 |
| Copyright Information: | Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Sep 2025 03:27 |
| FoR Codes: | 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410406 Natural resource management @ 50% 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410407 Wildlife and habitat management @ 50% |
| SEO Codes: | 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1806 Terrestrial systems and management > 180601 Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems @ 100% |
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