"High up in an ancient conifer rainforest, at what was once the largest Indigenous gathering place in eastern Australia, there is sunlight where there shouldn't be. Among the eponymous pine trees of the Bunya Mountains, in south-east Queensland, a deadly disease has taken root. Walking through the forest, Adrian Bauwens, a Wakka Wakka man, says pockets of sunlight have replaced what is usually quite a dense canopy where's it's quite heavily shaded."
"The culprit is Phytophthora, a type of water mould that spreads through soil and attaches itself to the roots of trees, cutting off nutrient and water supply. Feral pigs are causing bunya pines to die off. Photograph: Auscape/Universal Images Group/Getty Images Bunya dieback has been an issue over the past decade, but its spread is being worsened by a porcine threat. Feral pigs are running quite wild, Bauwens says; trotting around in dieback areas spreading it through the mountain by digging it up."
Ancient bunya pines in the Bunya Mountains of south-east Queensland suffer dieback caused by the water mould Phytophthora, which invades soil and attacks roots, cutting off nutrient and water supply. Trees are becoming skeletal, dropping leaves and limbs and opening sunlight gaps in the normally dense canopy. Dieback has existed for a decade, but feral pigs are worsening spread by digging infected soil and transporting the pathogen. Pigs are drawn to the pines' large nut-filled cones and travel along walking tracks and bike trails to reach fruiting trees, striking many during mast events. The loss threatens both ecological and Indigenous cultural values.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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