Setting the benchmark: Patterns of forest structure after wildfire in temperate, montane forests across a multi-century chronosequence

Many forest types are shaped by wildfire, which can reset ecological succession and modify species trajectories. Novel fire regimes are increasing globally, posing a major threat to forests. Understanding the successional dynamics of forests after wildfire is critical to develop evidence-based ‘benchmarks’ of forest structure to inform appropriate ecological management and restoration. However, this understanding is limited in intact forests over long periods, including those where old growth forest is sometimes used as a reference state. Several large, high-severity wildfires burned significant areas of the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests in south-eastern Australia ≤1900, and in 1926/1939 and 2009. Here, we take advantage of this fire history to implement a natural experiment to better understand the patterns and environmental drivers of variation in forest structure at 84 sites across a multi-century chronosequence. We explored inter-specific differences across major plant l..., , # Setting the benchmark: Patterns of forest structure after wildfire in temperate, montane forests across a multi-century chronosequence

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.63xsj3vfp](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.63xsj3vfp)

## Description of the data and file structure

Data underpinning: **\
\
Setting the benchmark: Patterns of forest structure after wildfire in temperate, montane forests across a multi-century chronosequence**

Elle Bowd~1~, David Lindenmayer~1~

~1~Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601

### Files and variables

#### File: Stem_density_Oct25_Dryad.RData.xlsx

1. Sheet name: Stemsize_count

| Sheet name: Stemsize\_count | <br /> |
| :-------------------------- | :---------------------------------- |
| **Variables** | **Description** |
| SiteCode | Site name |
| Standage | Sta...,