Robinson & Spencer: Coppice treatment of mallee eucalypt 
Table 1 
Attributes of stems removed from a coppiced E. phylacis ramet. 
Stem # 
Diameter (mm) at: 
Base 1.3 m 
Bark thickness (mm) at: 
Base 1.3 m 
Age 
(years) 
1 
98 
66 
_ 
- 
Dead 
2 
171.5 
103.5 
15.5 
15 
20 
3 
102 
71 
16 
11 
16 
4 
75.5 
58 
13 
9.5 
13 
5 
85 
53.8 
12 
9 
20 
6 
62 
54.5 
- 
- 
Dead 
7 
185 
137 
15 
15.5 
20 
Methods 
Coppice treatment 
In June 2001, a single ramet of E. phylacis was selected 
(on the basis of it being the one most severely affected by 
bark cankers) for coppice treatment. This involved 
severing all the stems at 25 mm above the lignotuber 
with a chainsaw. The selected ramet had seven stems, 
two of which were dead and five were severely affected 
by canker. All equipment was sterilised, and Steri-Prune 
wound sealant (Balchan International, Mulgrave, NSW), 
a bitumen-based product, was applied to the surface of 
all cut stems. Sections, 30 mm thick, were cut from the 
base of each stem and used to estimate the age of each 
stem by ring counts and to measure bark thickness. The 
remainder of the removed material was taken away and 
burnt and the ash then returned to the site and spread 
around the stump. The stump was protected from 
browsing animals with a wire cage. 
Fire history 
The date of the last fire was estimated using local 
Shire records, site inspection, aerial photos and the 
estimated ages of the removed E. phylacis stems. Each 
ramet was also inspected for signs of past fire damage 
in the form of burnt stem stumps and evidence of 
charcoal on the bark at the base of existing stems. Hakea 
trifurcata was the dominant shrub species present, and 
three H. trifurcata stems from within or immediately 
adjacent to the £. phylacis population were also removed 
and their ages estimated by ring counts. H. trifurcata is a 
species that regenerates from seed following fire, and 
their age is likely to indicate the time of the last fire. 
Ring counts were obtained using air-dried discs cut 
from the base of each stem. The surface of each disc was 
Table 2 
Diameter (at 25mm above ground) and height of new coppice 
growth 24 months after cutting treatment to a ramet of E. 
phylacis. 
Stem 
Diameter (mm) 
Height (cm) 
1 
10 
110 
2 
45 
250 
3 
40 
230 
4 
30 
250 
5 
20 
180 
6 
45 
230 
7 
40 
210 
smoothed with a plane and sandpaper and two 
diameters were pencilled at right angles on each 
surface. Rings were counted visually or with assistance 
of a stereomicroscope using 6x or lOx magnification 
(Mucha 1979). Moistening the surface with water also 
made the rings appear clearer. 
Results 
Stem age and bark thickness of E. phylacis 
The estimated ages of the removed stems ranged from 
13-20 years with diameters at breast height from 55-185 
mm. The rhytidome (outer bark) was thin and flaky, 
about 1-2 mm thick, while the living inner bark was 
quite thick, ranging from 10-14 mm at the base and 6-14 
mm at 1.3m height (Table 1). 
Fire 
Shire records indicate that a wildfire occurred 
immediately adjacent to and down slope from the E. 
phylacis population in 1985, 16 years previous to the 
study. Evidence of charcoal and burnt stem stumps on 
70% of the E. phylacis ramets and standing dead stems 
with fire scars present on both E. phylacis and C. calophylla 
suggest that the 1985 fire entered the population and 
burnt the majority of the ramets. Ring counts estimated 
that the ages of the removed H. trifurcata plants were 12, 
12 and 14 years. Comparing aerial photos from 1980 and 
1992 did not show conclusive evidence or the boundary 
of the fire reported in 1985. 
Coppice development 
Three months after treatment, four new shoots were 
emerging from two of the stumps of main stems. Two 
months later, the resulting coppice had grown to about 
30 cm in height (Fig. 2a). Fifteen months after treatment 
the coppice from the lignotuber was about 2 m tall and 
consisted of 10 vigorous stems (Fig. 2b) and 24 months 
after treatment 6 stems, 20-45 mm in diameter, had 
grown to 3 m or more in height and dominated the 
development (Table 2, Fig. 2c). Four of the stumps from 
the original stems produced new coppice while two 
stems of the new coppice arose from the surface of the 
lignotuber. 
Discussion 
Clonal development in lignotuber-forming mallee 
eucalypts appears to be more common in situations that 
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