32 – Difficulties in fitting an adaptive management approach^401before, and then for several years after, the implementation of the logging
treatments. It took 8 years to fully implement the experiment and the results of the
work for small mammals and birds were reported in papers in the international
scientific literature (Lindenmayer et al. 2010a, 2015a). Studies of both groups
highlighted the potential conservation contribution of the variable retention
harvest system compared with clearfelling, although surprisingly neither fauna
group (nor individual species within those groups) responded to the size of islands
retained within the cutblocks. Insights from the work also were used to more
Fig. 32.2. (a) Clearfelled mountain ash forest coupe; (b) Mountain ash logging coupe subject to variable
retention harvesting. Photos by D. Blair.