Regeneration
The survival of plants and animals in the Australian Alps is remarkable. Combine the harsh winter climate with bushfires in the summer months and survival must be very difficult indeed.
Bushfires cause vast damage to these rugged alpine areas, but the Eucalypts always seem to fight back.
As can be seen here, most Eucalypts re-sprout from the trunk after fire. Others, like the mountain ash, produce vast amounts of seeds, which crack open once burnt and sprout in the nutrient-rich ash bed.
Hollows burnt out by fire become shelter for birds and animals once the bushfire – and danger – has passed.
