Australia's beloved snow gums are being affected by drought, fire and disease, and those who know the high plains of the Australian Alps can see parts of the landscape changing before their eyes.
Even though fire takes out the crowns of snow gums, established trees can resprout from an underground lignotuber that stores carbohydrates.
But, he says, as the frequency and intensity of fires roaring up from the foothills increases, older more iconic trees are less likely to survive. "I've had colleagues that have been working up there for the best part of 50 years and they were like 'I'll never see it as it was again'". "I've been on sites that have burnt more than three times, and they are barren with erosion," he says.To complete the trifecta, the trees face another threat in the form of a small, native beetle.The Phoracantha beetle has infested large tracts of snow gums living in high elevations above 1,600 metres, right across the Alps from Victoria to the ACT.
The cycle of death, resprouting, and death continues, but eventually the tree's carbohydrate reserve dries up.