Eucalypt bark type distributions across New South Wales

These maps were generated using existing environmental data and species occurrence data from BioNet. Species were categorised into bark types using existing publications, databases and grey literature. Random forest models were created for each category, with bark type occurrence as the binary response variable. The models were then used to generate predictions of occurrence probability for each bark type across the state of New South Wales. Eucalypts make up a large component of forests in New South Wales, and eucalypt barks are notorious for affecting fire behaviour through the production of firebrands and by increasing vertical fuel continuity. Furthermore, bark traits are known in other species groups as being indicators investment in either bark photosynthesis or fire protection. The goal of this work, then, was to provide more fine-scale information on eucalypt bark type distributions for use in fire behaviour modeling, bark photosynthesis research and assessing eucalypt species sensitivity to fire. This work was funded by the Bushfire Risk Management Research Hub and Western Sydney University.