Keith Horton, Regrowth after fire (ANIMAL & NATURE 2023)

These photos were taken shortly after a fire this year in Stanwell Tops, New South Wales. The trees photographed are responding by putting out new shoots, which grow from buds lying underneath the bark. The new leaves are an essential part of the trees’ survival strategies, as they may have lost all of their old leaves in the fire. The bright colours in the new leaves are due to anthocyanin, a pigment that protects them from insect predation and from sun damage. The blackened trees in the foreground of Regrowth after fire 2 are Red bloodwoods (Corymbia gummifera). The larger, paler tree with the outstretched branches in the background of that photo is a Scribbly-gum (Eucalyptus haemastoma), and so are all the trees in the other photos. The 'scribbles' on the bark of these trees are made by the larvae of tiny moths, which burrow under the bark to feed on the sapwood. Like many Eucalypts, Scribbly-gums shed their old bark each year, and when they do so the trails of the larvae can be seen as ‘scribbles’ on the new bark.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.