Changes in species composition following recent shelterwood cutting in mixed eucalypt stands in the Wombat Forest, Victoria

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Abstract
Partial cutting has been practised throughout the mixed eucalypt stands of the Wombat Forest for several decades. The introduction of shelterwood management in the 1970s has resulted in the species composition changing from a predominantly messmate stringybark (Eucalyptus obliqua) overstorey (dbhob > 30 cm) to approximately equal proportions of messmate and peppermints (E. dives and E. radiata) in the regrowth and regeneration (dbhob < 30 cm) strata. The change in species composition is associated with high overwood densities, favouring the establishment and development of the more shade tolerant and persistent peppermints. Regeneration of messmate, the preferred timber species, requires lower levels of overwood competition in association with adequate seedbed and seed supply. Further study will be required of these changes in species composition to ascertain if they are temporary or maintained, and hence their effect on future wood quality and yield from the forest.