Appropriate fire management strategies are needed to protect forests and large old ecologically and culturally significant trees in natural landscapes. The aim of this study was to determine the age of large old and relic trees of cultural significance that included Cypress Pine (Callitris columellaris F. Muell.), a species that is sensitive to crown scorching fires in a fire‐prone landscape, and to calibrate a tree‐growth‐rate method for estimating tree age. Twelve large trees were dated using radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating. The trees are located on North Stradbroke Island (Indigenous name: Minjerribah), southeast Queensland (Australia) in a fire‐prone landscape where recent wildfires have destroyed many large trees. The median tree ages ranged from 155 to 369 years. These results suggest an important role of past Indigenous land management practices in protecting Cypress Pine from crown scorching fires. The tree‐growth‐rate‐based method for estimating tree age generally overestimated the age derived from radiocarbon dating. Bias correction factors were developed for correcting various measures of periodic growth rates. This study provides evidence that appropriate low‐intensity fire strategies have the potential to contribute to the survival of forests and conserve large old trees.

中文翻译：

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在昆士兰州东南部对具有重要文化意义的文物树进行老化，以支持森林大火管理策略

需要采取适当的火灾管理策略来保护自然景观中的森林和具有生态和文化意义的大型老树。这项研究的目的是确定具有文化意义的大型古树和古树的年龄，其中包括柏树（Callitris columellaris F. Muell。），该树种对容易生火的树冠烈火敏感，并且对校准树木生长速率方法以估计树木年龄。十二棵大树用放射性碳测年（¹⁴C）约会。这些树木位于昆士兰州东南部（澳大利亚）的北斯特拉布罗克岛（原名：Minjerribah）上，容易生火，最近的野火毁坏了许多大树。树的中位年龄在155年至369年之间。这些结果表明，过去的土著土地管理实践在防止柏树遭受冠冕烈火的过程中发挥了重要作用。估计树木年龄的基于树生长率的方法通常高估了从放射性碳测年得出的年龄。偏差校正因子的开发是为了校正周期性增长率的各种度量。这项研究提供了证据，表明适当的低强度防火策略有可能有助于森林的生存并保护大型的老树。