Relationships between eucalypt dieback, land, and land use in southern New England, New South Wales

Summary

Although eucalypt dieback was recorded in New England over one hundred years ago, sustained efforts to understand the problem have begun only recently. The relationships between dieback and factors of the land and land use are now examined for 192 sites in southern New England. Data were collected from aerial photographs taken in 1970 and 1975, and from field surveys and other sources for 1980 and 1986. Changes in dieback over time are documented and discussed, and relationships are examined by testing for associations with other variables. The overall results indicate that dieback is associated with soil type, geology, and some characteristics of the woodland, but the strengths of the associations vary over time. The results fail to indicate that dieback is lessened by species diversity, or that it is increased by application of superphosphate or the presence of mistletoe.