Harvesting large amounts of timber after a major fire or flood can threaten an ecosystem, according to Australian, Canadian and US researchers.
Decaying trees help create important biological environments said the researchers, who claim natural disturbances are important processes that should be left alone to help improve an ecosytem’s chance of recovery.
Calling for the practice of recouping economic losses by harvesting large volumes of timber to be re-examined, the researchers said catastrophes could help recreate some of the conditions lost through previous intense management of natural resources.
