File:Neanurinae sp. (13534435684).jpg

Original description on Flickr:

(...) This shot was from last week when I was in the Tarkine, which is a very politicised name for an area of NE Tasmania near the Pieman river. This is the place that was given world heritage status after years of anti-logging protests, before the Australian government repealed it this year. An unprecedented move.

Something I discovered from my discussions with Bob, the millipede expert is that due to factors such as regular fires that course through the rain forests of Tasmania, and indeed, the mainland, species have adapted to cope with it. This means that bush recovers incredibly quickly, as too does the invertebrate populations. The interesting thing is that the same goes for logging. As long as the soil hasn't been washed away or excess acidification has occurred, a rainforest can recover back to former glory in fifty to a hundred years. Even conifer planting doesn't make much difference to the invertebrate leaf litter species. So I was finding giant springtails in new plantings, 'old' forest and clear logged and recovered bush. And not just them. Many different species big and small, rare millipedes, woodlice, amphipods, the whole lot.

I spent a few hours in what looked like a classic, ancient, mossy woodland. Plenty of massive trees (though only myrtle and eucalypts), tree ferns everywhere, dark and wonderful and also mercilessly logged in the last thirty years. You just couldn't tell. Very good news for environmentalists everywhere.