Editing Eucalyptus (section)

===Fire hazard===
[[File:San Diego Firestorm 2007.jpg|thumb|right|''Eucalyptus'' trees bent over due to the high winds and heat of the [[October 2007 California wildfires]]. They are located in the [[San Dieguito River Park]] of San Diego County and leaning west.]]
''Eucalyptus'' oil is highly flammable and at high enough temperatures the oil expands quickening the spread of wildfires.<ref name=SantosProblems>{{cite web |url=http://www.library.csustan.edu/bsantos/section3.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910202218/http://www.library.csustan.edu/bsantos/section3.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-09-10 |title=Section Three: Problems, Cares, Economics, and Species |work=The Eucalyptus of California |first=Robert L. |last=Santos |publisher=California State University |year=1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.robertsward.com/eucmore.htm |title=Eucalytus Roulette (con't) |publisher=Robert Sward: Poet, Novelist and Workshop Leader |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070726134311/http://www.robertsward.com/eucmore.htm |archive-date=2007-07-26 }}</ref> [[Bushfires in Australia|Bushfires]] can travel easily through the oil-rich air of the tree crowns.<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Dold |first1=J.W. |last2=Weber |first2=R.O. |last3=Gill |first3=M. |date=2005 |title=Unusual phenomena in an extreme bushfire |book-title=Proceedings of the 5th Asia Pacific Conference on Combustion, ASPACC 2005 |isbn=9780975785508 |oclc=156798384 |url=https://eprints.maths.manchester.ac.uk/877/}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=C. |last=Williams |title=Ignition impossible: When wildfires set the air alight |journal=New Scientist |volume=195 |issue=2615 |pages=38–40 |date=2007 |doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(07)61969-1 }}</ref> Eucalypts obtain long-term fire survivability from their ability to regenerate from [[epicormic shoot|epicormic buds]] situated deep within their thick bark, or from [[lignotuber]]s,<ref name=Reid/> or by producing [[Serotiny|serotinous]] fruits.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/australia-wildfire-recovery|title=This is how Australia could recover from its devastating wildfires|last=Beall|first=Abigail|date=2020-01-13|magazine=Wired UK|access-date=2020-01-16|issn=1357-0978}}</ref>

In seasonally dry climates oaks are often fire-resistant, particularly in open grasslands, as a grass fire is insufficient to ignite the scattered trees. In contrast, a ''Eucalyptus'' forest tends to promote fire because of the volatile and highly combustible oils produced by the leaves, as well as the production of large amounts of [[Plant litter|litter]] high in phenolics, preventing its breakdown by [[Fungus|fungi]] and thus accumulating as large amounts of dry, combustible fuel.<ref name=Reid>Reid, J.B. & Potts, B.M. (2005). Eucalypt Biology. In: Reid ''et al.'' (eds.) Vegetation of Tasmania., pp. 198–223. Australian Government.</ref> Consequently, dense eucalypt plantings may be subject to catastrophic firestorms. In fact, almost thirty years before the [[Oakland firestorm of 1991]], a study of ''Eucalyptus'' in the area warned that the litter beneath the trees builds up very rapidly and should be regularly monitored and removed.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Eucalyptus: Fuel Dynamics and Fire Hazard in the Oakland Hills |journal=California Agriculture |date=September 1973 |url=http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/repositoryfiles/ca2709p13-64054.pdf |access-date=2011-07-07 |author1=J. K. Agee |author2=R. H. Wakimoto |author3=E. F. Darly |author4=H. H. Biswell |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927074519/http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/repositoryfiles/ca2709p13-64054.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It has been estimated that 70% of the energy released through the combustion of vegetation in the Oakland fire was due to ''Eucalyptus''.<ref name=NPS>{{cite report |title=A Transcontinental Legacy: Fire Management, Resource Protection, and the Challenges of Tasmanian Blue Gum |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |date=March 2006 |url=http://biomass.forestguild.org/casestudies/1001/Eucalyptus.pdf |access-date=2011-07-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811011531/http://biomass.forestguild.org/casestudies/1001/Eucalyptus.pdf |archive-date=2011-08-11 }}</ref> In a [[National Park Service]] study, it was found that the fuel load (in tons per acre) of non-native ''Eucalyptus'' woods is almost three times as great as native oak woodland.<ref name=NPS/>

During [[World War II]], one California town cut down their ''Eucalyptus'' trees to "about a third of their height in the vicinity of [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft guns]]" because of the known fire-fueling qualities of the trees, with the mayor telling a newspaper reporter, "If a [[Shell (projectile)|shell]] so much as hits a leaf, it's supposed to explode."<ref>Treanor, Tom, "The Home Front," ''Los Angeles Times'', 1942-01-27, p. A. </ref>