Adj. A/Prof. Philip Zylstra
@philzyl.bsky.social
Fire scientist and forest ecologist learning how to cooperate with country.
My work, thoughts and funding are independent, but I'm associated with Curtin University and ANU.
My work, thoughts and funding are independent, but I'm associated with Curtin University and ANU.
Pinned
Mechanisms by which growth and succession limit the impact of fire in a south‐western Australian forested ecosystem
Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Our work shows how forests have naturally reduced fire risk over millions of years, and how we can work with them to counter the impacts of climate change.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Our new paper in PNAS summarises why the push to 'salvage' log dead trees won't reduce the risk of fast wildfires as has been claimed.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
November 24, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Our new paper in PNAS summarises why the push to 'salvage' log dead trees won't reduce the risk of fast wildfires as has been claimed.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
A top 10 cited article in the journal Functional Ecology! Our work on ecological control theory shows how forests can suppress fire if left undisturbed.
April 8, 2025 at 10:14 AM
A top 10 cited article in the journal Functional Ecology! Our work on ecological control theory shows how forests can suppress fire if left undisturbed.
Reposted by Adj. A/Prof. Philip Zylstra
CARTOON OF THE DAY
March 23, 2025 at 11:19 PM
CARTOON OF THE DAY
If you're on the NSW north coast and care about forests, come join us in Bellingen this Sunday.
March 21, 2025 at 12:57 AM
If you're on the NSW north coast and care about forests, come join us in Bellingen this Sunday.
Trump telling Zelenski "you're gambling with WWIII" is about the clearest threat we could have asked for. Look what you're going to do if you don't give me what I want.
February 28, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Trump telling Zelenski "you're gambling with WWIII" is about the clearest threat we could have asked for. Look what you're going to do if you don't give me what I want.
Will Australia distance itself from the convicted felon proposing ethnic cleansing to turn their land into a "Riviera"?
edition.cnn.com/2025/02/04/p...
edition.cnn.com/2025/02/04/p...
Trump says US will ‘take over’ Gaza Strip and doesn’t rule out using American troops | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the United States “will take over” the Gaza Strip — possibly with the help of American troops — while the Palestinians who live there should leave, a stunning pr...
edition.cnn.com
February 5, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Will Australia distance itself from the convicted felon proposing ethnic cleansing to turn their land into a "Riviera"?
edition.cnn.com/2025/02/04/p...
edition.cnn.com/2025/02/04/p...
Trump's proposal for ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
US president has suggested Palestinians should leave Gaza for neighbouring countries to ‘just clean out’ whole strip
Trump’s Gaza proposal rejected by allies and condemned as ethnic cleansing plan
US president has suggested Palestinians should leave Gaza for neighbouring countries to ‘just clean out’ whole strip
buff.ly
January 27, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Trump's proposal for ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
Reposted by Adj. A/Prof. Philip Zylstra
"Elon Musk could throw a nazi salute in the white house and media outlets would still try to rationalise it as an accident" feels like something I would tweet in 2019 and 30 guys named Andrew would tell me off for being hyperbolic
January 25, 2025 at 11:36 AM
"Elon Musk could throw a nazi salute in the white house and media outlets would still try to rationalise it as an accident" feels like something I would tweet in 2019 and 30 guys named Andrew would tell me off for being hyperbolic
If you own shares in a company but work for the Government, is it ok to get the Government to buy up shares of that company so that the value of your shares goes through the roof? 🤔
They’re planning a heist in plain sight.
“This is an enormous heist. They’re just backing the truck up to the government in front of all of us. A massive bailout to the crypto world,” says @chrislhayes.bsky.social on the GOP crypto bill.
January 8, 2025 at 4:29 AM
If you own shares in a company but work for the Government, is it ok to get the Government to buy up shares of that company so that the value of your shares goes through the roof? 🤔
Reposted by Adj. A/Prof. Philip Zylstra
Australians all let us rejoice
For we are young and free...
For we are young and free...
Labor and Liberal governments have passed 49 anti-protest laws across the country over the last two decades.
It is damning (& history will judge us harshly) but no surprise that 🇦🇺 leads the world on climate protest arrests.
www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...
It is damning (& history will judge us harshly) but no surprise that 🇦🇺 leads the world on climate protest arrests.
www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...
Australia leads the world in arresting climate and environment protesters
A new study shows more than 20 per cent of climate and environment protests in Australia lead to arrests, more than in the UK, Norway, and the United States.
www.abc.net.au
December 16, 2024 at 7:12 PM
Australians all let us rejoice
For we are young and free...
For we are young and free...
I met one of the guardians of the last unburnt snow gums.
December 14, 2024 at 6:52 AM
I met one of the guardians of the last unburnt snow gums.
Happy to be giving a keynote at ESA this year. 'Forests of refuge' explores the ways that Forests have built safe places since Gondwana, how we can side with them to rebuild, and how First Nations knew this long before us.
esa2024.org.au/keynote-spea...
esa2024.org.au/keynote-spea...
Keynote Speakers – ESA 2024
esa2024.org.au
December 8, 2024 at 8:40 PM
Happy to be giving a keynote at ESA this year. 'Forests of refuge' explores the ways that Forests have built safe places since Gondwana, how we can side with them to rebuild, and how First Nations knew this long before us.
esa2024.org.au/keynote-spea...
esa2024.org.au/keynote-spea...
Reposted by Adj. A/Prof. Philip Zylstra
Collective punishment directed at Jewish-Australian places of worship, leading to the destruction of a building, is fundamentally wrong.
Israel collectively punishing the people of Palestine, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, including thousands of children, is also wrong.
Israel collectively punishing the people of Palestine, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, including thousands of children, is also wrong.
PM and senior minister say Melbourne synagogue firebombing appears to be terrorism
Anthony Albanese and Murray Watt made the comments in the wake of the attack on Adass Israel but security agencies are yet to determine the motive
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2024 at 8:00 AM
Collective punishment directed at Jewish-Australian places of worship, leading to the destruction of a building, is fundamentally wrong.
Israel collectively punishing the people of Palestine, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, including thousands of children, is also wrong.
Israel collectively punishing the people of Palestine, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, including thousands of children, is also wrong.
This is Takayna, one of the last remnants of Gondwana, hidden in the northwest of Lutruwita (Tasmania). Sustainable Forests Tasmania are clearing parts of it to replace the thousand year old Nothofagus with these eucalypts.
December 3, 2024 at 12:31 PM
This is Takayna, one of the last remnants of Gondwana, hidden in the northwest of Lutruwita (Tasmania). Sustainable Forests Tasmania are clearing parts of it to replace the thousand year old Nothofagus with these eucalypts.
Reposted by Adj. A/Prof. Philip Zylstra
Every single one should be charged with assisting a terrorist organisation. I’d strip citizenship as well.
You chose who to fight for.
You chose who to fight for.
"The Israeli war machine is in hyperdrive". Inside the IDF's recruitment program for young Australians.
Yaakov Aharon reports
#lonesoldiers
#auspol
michaelwest.com.au/lone-soldier...
Yaakov Aharon reports
#lonesoldiers
#auspol
michaelwest.com.au/lone-soldier...
Lone Soldiers. New Australian IDF recruits due to arrive in Israel in January - Michael West
Despite it being illegal to recruit soldiers for foreign armies, recruiters are hard at work enticing young Australians to join the IDF.
michaelwest.com.au
November 29, 2024 at 10:58 PM
Every single one should be charged with assisting a terrorist organisation. I’d strip citizenship as well.
You chose who to fight for.
You chose who to fight for.
Reposted by Adj. A/Prof. Philip Zylstra
Reposted by Adj. A/Prof. Philip Zylstra
Just horrendous. Between them, Trump and Netanyahu seem determined to wipe the Palestinians off the face of the Earth. It was terrible under Biden. It'll be even worse now. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
Rightwing settlers in Israel welcome ‘dream team’ of Trump and his hardline appointments
Palestinian groups shocked by US president-elect’s favouring of outspoken supporters of far-right activists in the region
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2024 at 9:29 AM
Just horrendous. Between them, Trump and Netanyahu seem determined to wipe the Palestinians off the face of the Earth. It was terrible under Biden. It'll be even worse now. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
Reposted by Adj. A/Prof. Philip Zylstra
Labour Minister Questioned About Historical Trump Tweets
YouTube video by Michael Spicer
www.youtube.com
November 14, 2024 at 3:38 AM
Today's new publication led by @dadriscoll.bsky.social lays out the hard facts. Losses were 87–93% larger where fire has been frequent, regardless of the severity. Poor science led to frequent fire and caused massive mortality.
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
Prescribed burns are used to reduce bushfire risk. A new study suggests it has the opposite effect
Areas that had multiple fires prior to 2019–20 had greater biodiversity losses when Black Summer fires hit compared to areas that had burnt once or not at all beforehand.
www.abc.net.au
November 14, 2024 at 4:08 AM
Today's new publication led by @dadriscoll.bsky.social lays out the hard facts. Losses were 87–93% larger where fire has been frequent, regardless of the severity. Poor science led to frequent fire and caused massive mortality.
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
Government records in SW Western Australia show that the safest forests from wildfire are the ones they haven't burned for hazard reduction for decades. Government said our work was flawed, we addressed their criticisms, it made our case stronger.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
iopscience.iop.org
November 9, 2024 at 7:27 AM
Government records in SW Western Australia show that the safest forests from wildfire are the ones they haven't burned for hazard reduction for decades. Government said our work was flawed, we addressed their criticisms, it made our case stronger.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
A low intensity prescribed burn nearly annihilated a population of a critically endangered species. I analysed what happened to find out why, and how bad science can lead to exactly the worst decisions in fire management.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Quantifying the direct fire threat to a critically endangered arboreal marsupial using biophysical, mechanistic modelling
Traditional metrics such as fuel load and fire intensity are poor predictors of direct bushfire impacts on fauna. This study presents a comprehensive mechanistic approach to model fire effects on fau....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 9, 2024 at 7:21 AM
A low intensity prescribed burn nearly annihilated a population of a critically endangered species. I analysed what happened to find out why, and how bad science can lead to exactly the worst decisions in fire management.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Our work shows how forests have naturally reduced fire risk over millions of years, and how we can work with them to counter the impacts of climate change.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Mechanisms by which growth and succession limit the impact of fire in a south‐western Australian forested ecosystem
Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 9, 2024 at 7:05 AM
Our work shows how forests have naturally reduced fire risk over millions of years, and how we can work with them to counter the impacts of climate change.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Our review early this year shows that forests very often naturally limit fire unless they are disturbed, such as by logging or fire.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Identifying and managing disturbance‐stimulated flammability in woody ecosystems
Many forest types globally have been subject to an increase in the frequency of, and area burnt by, high-severity wildfire. Here we explore the role that previous disturbance has played in increasing...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 9, 2024 at 7:03 AM
Our review early this year shows that forests very often naturally limit fire unless they are disturbed, such as by logging or fire.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Adj. A/Prof. Philip Zylstra
Eighteen members of same family killed in Israeli strike on Gaza
Eighteen members of same family killed in Israeli strike on Gaza
Dead included 11 siblings aged between two and 22, hospital says, as well as their parents and grandmother
An Israel airstrike in Gaza has killed at least 18 people from the same family, even as mediators expressed optimism for an imminent ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas after 10 months of war.
The airstrike on Saturday hit a house and adjacent warehouse sheltering displaced people at the entrance to the town of Zawaida, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, to where casualties were taken. An Associated Press reporter there counted the dead.
Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
August 18, 2024 at 11:04 AM
Eighteen members of same family killed in Israeli strike on Gaza