I saw that from Bentley park this arvo, I dont get why CF, isn't it supposed to be rainforest around there?

33.5c here today, heat has started to crank a bit

Yeah it is. It is probably tinder dry on the forest floor like everywhere else. Maybe it was arson?

Yes, they do this ecological burn every 3 years in the Wet Sclerophyll forest areas to stop the rainforest moving into the area. If the rainforest was allowed to grow and overtake the Wet Sclerophyll forest, the system would shink, which in turn would cause a serious affect on certain species of important animals, which solely habitats that particular forest type. Burning it keeps the balance so to speak CF.

They were using helicopters to drop fire bombs to get the forest fires going today. I was up that way working and was watching them.

Once the fire burns the required area, the rainforest will put it our by starving it of fuel and both systems will be happy and healthier.

We have many forest types that live in and around our rainforest ecosystem here in the Wet Tropics.

Interesting,I thought that Sclerophyll forest was mainly on the western fringes of the rainforest, but hey, I'm certainly no expert! Thanks HF

Yeah thanks HF. The irony of saving forest from natural progression and yet removing native species a few kilometres away in the Inlet. Not that I don't support saving habit. I certainly do.

It's hard to know what's arson and what's not around here at the moment.The ATSI camp on Lyon St was ablaze when I drove past yesterday arvo.

FTR I am sick of this dry weather. It's so freakin' dry it's not funny. Wet tropics?

It has been more humid lately in Yeppoon than Cairns lol.

Yeah that burn makes no sense to me at all. Extremely confused.

Good burn or bad burn does no one care about the wildlife living within? And don't tell me they outrun it.

Yes it can be an extremely confusing to understand BG. Here are some extracts from a study manual of mine. This is a VERY BASIC explanation on why they use fire in the Wet Tropics to maintain forest and animal diversity.

It has been estimated that rainforest, in some areas, is expanding at the rate of 1.25m per year. This sounds like good news until we look at some of the habitats it is taking over.

Wet sclerophyll forest has similar requirements to rainforest, particularly with regard to rainfall. It is generally found on the western margins of Rainforest and in isolated pockets such as hill tops but cannot exist on drier areas where dry sclerophyll forest takes over. Unlike rainforest, however, trees of the wet sclerophyll, such as flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis), need open well-lit conditions to germinate and develop. Where rainforest species are moving in and forming a dense cover, shady conditions mean that eucalypt seedlings cannot establish themselves. An area where invasion is in progress is typified by a canopy of tall eucalypts with an understorey of rainforest - but no eucalypt saplings.

So why is this happening? It is likely that the rainforest margin has, in the past, been controlled by disturbance, primarily fire. Wet sclerophyll and rainforest have very different reactions to fire. Rainforest (although it does not normally burn) cannot survive repeated fires, whereas sclerophyll plants can tolerate and even require it.

In a marginal area, therefore, fires will kill young rainforest species allowing sclerophyll species to remain. The Wet Tropics is a diverse area. While its rainforests are its most celebrated feature they are by no means the only vegetation communities. Once an area has been taken over by rainforest, however, the change is irreversible because it does not burn easily. Therefore, it seems that fire is necessary, in certain circumstances, to limit rainforest in the Wet Tropics so that forest diversity can be maintained.

Altered fire regimes: Aboriginal use of fire in land management has shaped the Australian landscape. Traditional mosaic burning, which promoted regrowth of grasses and encouraged game into the area, also helped avoid severe wildfires by preventing a build-up of fuel.

However, various areas of the Wet Tropics respond differently to fire, and careful management is needed to maintain healthy and diverse ecosystems.

The Wet Tropics Management Authority works to manage fire with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, the Rural Fire Service and Aboriginal communities. Research and monitoring programs will give us a better understanding of the complex relationship between fire and the different ecosystems of the region.

Vegetation types that require active fire management in the Wet Tropics: Map

Eucalypt forests and woodlands: These open forests need regular mild fires to survive. The seeds of some species germinate in the ash bed after fire, and rely on fire to limit the competition from shrubs and grasses. Cool fires reduce the build up of grasses, undergrowth and leaf litter that could fuel a more intense and destructive fire.

Damaging fires are most likely to occur at the hottest and driest time of year, usually from October to January, when they can threaten native plants and animals over huge areas of land.

To avoid this, the relevant authorities light smaller, controlled fires during the winter months from June to September, when there is still moisture in the grass. However, they can be done latter if required.These hazard reduction fires are usually carried out in a mosaic pattern every three to five years.

Hope this info helps you understand the process a bit better BG or confuse us all a bit more...lol

Great question and a thought that is on ALL our minds.

I suggest you have a read of this link and under the animal section- further reading, copy and paste the the information under the bolded reading (Friends, G.R etc) in your Url on your computer and this will bring huge amounts of information,helping you understand your questions and concerns:

Effects of fire on plants and animals: population level

All I can see and read is human interference not to correct a human fault but to create a human conservation 'experts' idealized concept at the expense of the natural progression of rainforest.
The area from Cairns to Port Douglas and other so called official burnoff areas may have one time been called 'where the rainforest meets the reef' - I just see it as a scrubby bush lacking native inhabitants, a just plain eyesore, and certainly it isn't fired off to prevent a more dangerous fire since it threatens no one and if that were the criteria then perhaps all of Cairns should be ringed by fires every year.
Apologies for the rant, it breaks my heart to drive it every week and know if any animals have ventured in they will eventually be burned to a crisp to satisfy someone's concept of vegetation coverage.
And that's a conservationist?

OK HF. It makes more sense now. The general line of thought is that human interference is allowing the rainforest t expand. On the face of it I would probably disagree but I don't have access to all the info so won't doubt it entirely.

Yes to disagree or to agree is my thought process as well and I am happy to leave it to the professionals who (hopefully) know what they are doing.