Without management interventions, endemic wet-sclerophyll forest is transitioning to rainforest in World Heritage listed K'gari (Fraser Island), Australia.

Wet-sclerophyll forests are unique ecosystems that can transition to dry-sclerophyll forests or to rainforests. Understanding of the dynamics of these forests for conservation is limited. We evaluated the long-term succession of wet-sclerophyll forest on World Heritage listed K'gari (Fraser Island)-the world's largest sand island. We recorded the presence and growth of tree species in three 0.4 hectare plots that had been subjected to selective logging, fire, and cyclone disturbance over 65 years, from 1952 to 2017. Irrespective of disturbance regimes, which varied between plots, rainforest trees recruited at much faster rates than the dominant wet-sclerophyll forest trees, narrowly endemic species