Since the 1950s, the Atherton Tablelands in tropical North Queensland has experienced mass clearing of biodiverse, tropical rainforest to make way for agriculture and pastureland. Much of this pastureland has since been abandoned, giving the rainforest the possibility to regenerate through the process of succession to secondary forest. Secondary forests have great conservation potential – they can serve as a repository for tropical biodiversity, connect fragmented forest patches and sequester carbon. Investigating the influence of historic management practices on succession allows us to inform current management practices and gain a deeper understanding on successional processes. Over two months, I measured 41 plots of twenty-five metres by twenty-five metres squared in which this natural regeneration is taking place. This included various environmental measurements such as tree growth and soil, as well as interviewing land owners to better understand the history of the plot locations. I aim to evaluate the relationship between former land use intensity and current community composition by developing a land use intensity index and exploring the relationship between soil, exotic and native species abundance and diversity. The research is under the EU-funded PANTROP framework and provides access to previous years data, allowing the monitoring of differing successional stages which occur over time.
