Factors affecting the abundance of hollows in logs in jarrah forest of south-western Australia

Examination of 1272 fallen logs at ten 1-ha sites in the Western Australian jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest located 206 hollows suitable for use by ground-dwelling mammals. Poisson regression analysis identified several factors positively associated with the number of hollows in logs: larger logs, logs bearing evidence of low to moderate fire damage, logs in intermediate stages of decomposition and logs that had been subject to termite attack typically had the greatest number of hollows. Of these factors, fire has the greatest potential as a tool for managing the resource of hollows in the jarrah forest. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.