Alternatively, if fire, is the major disturbance agent, other
aspects are of concern to ensure long-term benefits of the retained
structures. For example, slash loads around retained trees may
need to be reduced to ensure tree survival in the event of fire (e.g.
Neyland, 2004). The need for such treatments can be minimized by
adopting aggregated retention patterns in the interior of cut
blocks. Sudden openings in the canopy layer may not lead
necessarily to instant mortality, but can lead to increased
physiological stress in retained trees. Trees of different species
or sizes may be affected by stress to different degrees (Laurance
et al., 2006). For example, dominant trees with large crowns may
be more susceptible (Laurance et al., 2000) to stress owing to
increased water demands (Bladon et al., 2005, 2007). In these
instances, tradeoffs between wind-firmness and tolerance to water
stress factor in decisions about which trees to retain.