Pushing the envelope: does range size limit eucalypt tolerance to warming? This project aims to characterise the biogeographic constraints on the physiological flexibility of eucalypts to accommodate climate warming. Do temperature tolerances of diverse taxa vary predictably with native geographic range sizes and climate of origin? In addressing this question, the project expects to generate new knowledge on the comparative physiological responses of diverse eucalypt taxa to warming and heat wav ....Pushing the envelope: does range size limit eucalypt tolerance to warming? This project aims to characterise the biogeographic constraints on the physiological flexibility of eucalypts to accommodate climate warming. Do temperature tolerances of diverse taxa vary predictably with native geographic range sizes and climate of origin? In addressing this question, the project expects to generate new knowledge on the comparative physiological responses of diverse eucalypt taxa to warming and heat waves using controlled-environment studies and a unique facility at Western Sydney University for heat wave studies of large trees. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capacity to predict carbon exchange and growth responses of native trees to climate warming over large geographic scales.Read moreRead less
The future of forests under climatic stress. This project aims to measure the vulnerability of forest trees to more extreme drought as global temperatures inevitably rise. Australian forests face the immediate threat of increased mortality associated with intensifying drought stress in the future. Understanding the magnitude of this threat is of the utmost urgency. This project aims to predict future mortality of forest communities in Australia and worldwide using recent breakthroughs enabling t ....The future of forests under climatic stress. This project aims to measure the vulnerability of forest trees to more extreme drought as global temperatures inevitably rise. Australian forests face the immediate threat of increased mortality associated with intensifying drought stress in the future. Understanding the magnitude of this threat is of the utmost urgency. This project aims to predict future mortality of forest communities in Australia and worldwide using recent breakthroughs enabling the rapid quantification of lethal stress in trees. This new understanding will provide a basis upon which to make far-reaching decisions about land management, conservation and restoration.Read moreRead less