Mature tall wet Eucalyptus forests resist the spread of severe regrowth forest fires under moderate fire weather conditions

Using pre- and post-wildfire data of forest structure, surface fuel loads and understory temperature we investigated fire severity patterns in areas of mature and logged tall wet Eucalyptus forests in southeastern Tasmania that burned under moderate fire weather conditions. We found all regrowth forest patches in the study area were burned, at significantly higher severely than mature forests that comprised 98% of the fire perimeter. Regrowth forests were more flammable that mature forests with high consumption of live fuels, especially in the lower half of the 30 m regrowth profile, compared to the more modest effects across the burned and unburned mature forest 40 to 60 m profiles. Two years after the fire, fine fuel loads of regrowth and mature forest had returned to pre-fire levels, and resprouting enabled rapid recovery of vegetation structure. This archive contains code and source data for the statistical models of structure, fuels and microclimate associated with this study.