Drought damage in a Tasmanian forest on limestone.

Widespread but patchily distributed drought death of forest trees occurred in early 1988 on a limestone ridge at Mole Creek in Tasmania. A close juxtaposition of damaged and undamaged vegetation probably reflects differences in the speed of soil moisture decline down the length of individual soil-filled solution tubes in which the trees are rooted. Possible palaeoecological, geomorphological and silvicultural implications are briefly reviewed.