00:00If you're observant while walking along this fire trail at Black Mountain in Canberra,
00:06you might notice that some of the trees have unusual spots on their trunks.
00:13While not unheard of, the extent and pattern of these spots is unusual, especially as they only
00:21appear on the southern side of the trunks. So what caused it? A disease? No,
00:28it's actually permanent damage left by the destructive hailstorm
00:33that wreaked havoc in this area back in January 2020.
00:45As these trees, brittle gums, shed their bark every year, the presence of these scars over six years
00:52later means the force of the hailstones hitting the trees was sufficient to damage
00:59the cambial layer below the bark, causing permanent scarring.
01:05And there's no prizes for guessing which way the storm blew in.
01:09Here on the northern side of the trunk are just normal spots, not the severe bruising
01:17that occurred on the southern side of the trunk where the hailstones smashed the tree.
01:27At least these trees have recovered. Unlike the many atlas cedars in the Kingston and Acton area,
01:35the branches of which were extensively stripped of foliage by the hail. While these trees can survive
01:42some foliage loss, they generally do not produce new growth from old wood, meaning that heavily
01:49defoliated branches often remain bare. Due to the reduced photosynthesis, some individuals have since
01:57died. Of course, limited access to moisture and poor growing conditions like soil compaction
02:04are also contributing factors and limit the ability of trees to recover.
02:09However, when we hear the words hail damage, most of us immediately think of damage to cars
02:15or other man-made objects like pergolas and buildings. However, a severe destructive hailstorm
02:24like the one that ripped through here at Black Mountain back in January 2020 can also have long-lasting effects
02:32effects on Mother Nature.
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