This is a unique problem for Eucalyptus forests. The oil in the leaf litter inhibits the soil biota from breaking it down. In response, some bacteria and fungus has specialised (at least in Australian soil) in overcoming this, but the leaf litter needs to be in direct contact with the soil for this to work.
The forest used to be full of marsupials, birds and reptiles that kept the leaf litter turned over and in touch with the soil until the foxes and feral cats arrived. Now that the forest has lost so many of these animals it’s the main reason for all the hot fires. Feral cats often roam up to 10km per night so if your domestic cat is fertile and you live within 10km of bushland and don’t lock up your cat at night then you are adding to the problem.
Please don’t get me wrong this is not a vendetta against cats but an example of how everything is related and changing one thing can have dramatic consequences. This is exactly what is happening with chemical farming. When the second world war ended there was a huge excess of nitropill (explosive). As it has a high concentration of nitrogen they thought to get rid of it by spreading it out on soil and noticed an improved growth rate. It was the start of a whole new way of farming but… everything is interconnected. Apart from not understanding soil chemistry (nitrate based fertilisers reduce the PH in soils) it changed what was a stable ecosystem which we now call the soil food web. It encourages the equivalent of cats and foxes in the soil which then consume a whole lot of beneficial soil biota which allows the pathogens to roam freely like a wildfire.
It is such a joy for me to see the resurgence of organic styled farming practices being adopted with the result of redeveloping the diversity in our soils. I feel we, as humans, need to think more on complex systems and unintended consequences.
Regards
Tom
PS We have 2 cats on the farm, they were both walk ins and one was feral. They are de-sexed, well fed and loved. The bush rats on the other hand love the grain I use in cover cropping so the cats keep them in check.