School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemArctic marine forest distribution models showcase potentially severe habitat losses for cryophilic species under climate change(WILEY, 2022-03-08)The Arctic is among the fastest-warming areas of the globe. Understanding the impact of climate change on foundational Arctic marine species is needed to provide insight on ecological resilience at high latitudes. Marine forests, the underwater seascapes formed by seaweeds, are predicted to expand their ranges further north in the Arctic in a warmer climate. Here, we investigated whether northern habitat gains will compensate for losses at the southern range edge by modelling marine forest distributions according to three distribution categories: cryophilic (species restricted to the Arctic environment), cryotolerant (species with broad environmental preferences inclusive but not limited to the Arctic environment), and cryophobic (species restricted to temperate conditions) marine forests. Using stacked MaxEnt models, we predicted the current extent of suitable habitat for contemporary and future marine forests under Representative Concentration Pathway Scenarios of increasing emissions (2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5). Our analyses indicate that cryophilic marine forests are already ubiquitous in the north, and thus cannot expand their range under climate change, resulting in an overall loss of habitat due to severe southern range contractions. The extent of marine forests within the Arctic basin, however, is predicted to remain largely stable under climate change with notable exceptions in some areas, particularly in the Canadian Archipelago. Succession may occur where cryophilic and cryotolerant species are extirpated at their southern range edge, resulting in ecosystem shifts towards temperate regimes at mid to high latitudes, though many aspects of these shifts, such as total biomass and depth range, remain to be field validated. Our results provide the first global synthesis of predicted changes to pan-Arctic coastal marine forest ecosystems under climate change and suggest ecosystem transitions are unavoidable now for some areas.
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ItemJoint effects of climate, tree size, and year on annual tree growth derived from tree-ring records of ten globally distributed forests(WILEY, 2021-10-30)Tree rings provide an invaluable long-term record for understanding how climate and other drivers shape tree growth and forest productivity. However, conventional tree-ring analysis methods were not designed to simultaneously test effects of climate, tree size, and other drivers on individual growth. This has limited the potential to test ecologically relevant hypotheses on tree growth sensitivity to environmental drivers and their interactions with tree size. Here, we develop and apply a new method to simultaneously model nonlinear effects of primary climate drivers, reconstructed tree diameter at breast height (DBH), and calendar year in generalized least squares models that account for the temporal autocorrelation inherent to each individual tree's growth. We analyze data from 3811 trees representing 40 species at 10 globally distributed sites, showing that precipitation, temperature, DBH, and calendar year have additively, and often interactively, influenced annual growth over the past 120 years. Growth responses were predominantly positive to precipitation (usually over ≥3-month seasonal windows) and negative to temperature (usually maximum temperature, over ≤3-month seasonal windows), with concave-down responses in 63% of relationships. Climate sensitivity commonly varied with DBH (45% of cases tested), with larger trees usually more sensitive. Trends in ring width at small DBH were linked to the light environment under which trees established, but basal area or biomass increments consistently reached maxima at intermediate DBH. Accounting for climate and DBH, growth rate declined over time for 92% of species in secondary or disturbed stands, whereas growth trends were mixed in older forests. These trends were largely attributable to stand dynamics as cohorts and stands age, which remain challenging to disentangle from global change drivers. By providing a parsimonious approach for characterizing multiple interacting drivers of tree growth, our method reveals a more complete picture of the factors influencing growth than has previously been possible.
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ItemQ(c) threshold departs from theoretical Q(c) in urban watersheds: The role of streambed mobility data in managing the urban disturbance regime(UNIV CHICAGO PRESS, 2022-09-01)The threshold discharge (Qc) for streambed mobilization is both biologically and geomorphically relevant to stream ecosystems. Excess streambed mobilization can disturb benthic organisms and initiate cycles of channel instability. The mechanistic relevance of Qc gives it great utility for aquatic ecosystem studies, stormwater management, and stream restoration design. However, field and laboratory data document considerable variability in Qc across hydrogeomorphic settings, underscoring the importance of using field data to calibrate the Qc estimate for a given stream or region. This paper shows how both high-and low-tech monitoring protocols can be used to constrain a Qc estimate, depending on monitoring program goals and budgets. Data from 3 hydrogeomorphically distinct settings in the USA and Australia show that the departure of Qc from theoretical estimates increases with watershed imperviousness. Although Qc estimates derived from conventional critical Shields stress values tend to be a reasonable and conservative starting point for stormwater management in streams that lack site-specific or regional data, streambed mobility monitoring is recommended to calibrate and validate Qc estimates for a stream or region prior to making large investments in stormwater interventions aimed at mitigating the urban streambed disturbance regime.
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ItemManaging urban riverscapes: An assessment framework to integrate social-ecological values and physical processes.(Elsevier BV, 2022-08-29)The services that rivers provide and how they affect the landscape plays a dominate role in urban planning and development. Urban riverscapes, which consist of stream channels, their floodplains, biotic communities, and manmade features, are complex social-ecological and hydrogeomorphic systems. Yet, despite recognition of their place and value, rivers are often degraded in urban settings. Successfully managing urban riverscapes requires improved methods to assess them and to more effectively link stressors to values, and to incorporate these considerations in planning. Assessment of urban riverscapes' physical condition and function-a hydrogeomorphic assessment-is necessary to make these links, and inform more appropriate management strategies for sustainable and valued riverscape systems. The framework and methods used for such an assessment should be appropriate to the urban context, insofar as they are applicable to a range of streams from lightly degraded to highly utilized or constructed. Above all, the framework must prioritize the connection of human communities to riverscapes. In this article, we outline a framework for urban riverscape assessment which considers four facets of urban riverscapes: human values, hydrology, geomorphology, and ecology. The four facets, assessed across multiple nested scales, provide a flexible basis for context-driven hydrogeomorphic assessment, which is vital to informing better planning and management of urban riverscapes. The framework can be integrated with other facets (e.g. geochemical, aquatic ecology) depending on the scope of the assessment. By linking intrinsic, relational, and use-based values to physical conditions, watershed managers can select relevant and measurable indicators that directly inform interventions in the riverscape, catchment, or urban zones to improve riverscape function and urban vitality through planning mechanisms. This assessment framework facilitates dialogue between managers, practitioners, scientists, and the community; enabling technical and non-technical inputs to the development of assessment criteria, and a shared vision to inform targets and goals.
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Item‘Rethinking the way we practice our professions’: social-ecological resilience for built environment professionals(Informa UK Limited, 2022-01-01)Urbanisation and industrialisation have contributed to significant and detrimental changes in the earth’s natural environments. The concept of social-ecological resilience can assist this problem, by integrating the consideration of human and ecological systems in decision-making. An implication is that built environment professionals must be competent in social-ecological resilience knowledge and skills to ensure cities are well adapted to current environmental challenges, and do not further contribute to them. Yet the capabilities of built environment professionals to incorporate resilience thinking (theory and knowledge) into their work (skills and practice), is not well understood and is not well addressed in education theory. This paper contributes to this gap by: exploring the social-ecological resilience knowledge, skills, and practical experience of Australian built environment professionals, thereby identifying gaps to address in further and higher education. Results indicate that built environment professionals’ know about social-ecological resilience, but they identify their practical experience is low. Additionally, respondents are more confident with their abilities, compared to colleagues, and their profession at large. The results indicate that further and higher education offerings (e.g. university education, continuing professional education, and practice) must assist built environment professionals to further develop social-ecological skills. As one respondent stated–it will require ‘rethinking the way we practice our professions’.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableWillingness to Pay for Conservation of the Asian Elephant in Nakai Nam Theun National Protected Area in Laos(Scientific Research Publishing, Inc., 2022)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableCarbon footprints, informed consumer decisions and shifts towards responsible agriculture, forestry, and other land uses?(OAE Publishing Inc., 2022-01-01)The urgent global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions depends on political commitments to common but differentiated responsibility. Carbon footprints as a metric of attributable emissions reflect individually determined contributions within, and aggregated national contributions between, countries. Footprints per unit product (e.g., of food, feed, fuel, or fiber) require a lifecycle analysis and support individual decisions on consumption and lifestyles. This perspective presents a framework for analysis that connects the various operationalizations and their use in informing consumer and policy decisions. Footprints show geographical variation and are changing as part of political-economic and social-ecological systems. Articulation of footprints may trigger further change. Carbon footprints partially correlate with water and biodiversity footprints as related ecological footprint concepts. The multifunctionality of land use, as a solution pathway, can be reflected in aggregated footprint metrics. Credible footprint metrics can contribute to change but only if political commitments and social-cultural values and responsibilities align.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableINCREASING RICE PRODUCTIVITY IN DEGRADED PEATLANDS USING IMPROVED PLANTING METHODS AND RICE VARIETIES(Biology Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Sriwijaya University, 2022-03-13)Sonor farming practical has become a habit for local community of South Sumatra. In fact, this agricultural practice still results in low production. This research was conducted to determine the comparison of planting methods by farmers with improving planting methods with 2 new high yielding varieties. This research was conducted in Perigi Village, Pangkalan Lampam District, Ogan Komering Ilir Regency, South Sumatra Province from December 2019 to April 2020. The research method used was a Split Plot Design with two factors, namely factor 1 was rice varieties and factor 2 was planting method, where the main plot was planting method including: T1: Broadcasting 25 kg/ha, T2: Broadcasting 75 kg/ha, T3: Legowo 2: 1 (20x40x10 cm), and T4: transplanting (20x20 cm) and the sub plot rice varieties, V1: Inpari 30 and V2: Inpara 3. There are 8 treatment combinations with 3 replications. The results showed that the improvement of planting methods showed an increasing in yield in terms of total tiller number, productive tiller number, grain number per panicles, grain weight panicles, grain weight per m2, and plant biomass. The Legowo method had higher productivity than otherplanting method with rice productivity 3.7 tonnes per ha. The Inpara 3 showed better growth and production on degraded peatlands.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableWood-based solutions for forests and people: An editorial to this Special Issue(Elsevier BV, 2022-06-01)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableCoupled insights from the palaeoenvironmental, historical and archaeological archives to support social-ecological resilience and the sustainable development goals(IOP Publishing, 2022-01-01)Abstract Many governments and organisations are currently aligning many aspects of their policies and practices to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Achieving the SDGs should increase social-ecological resilience to shocks like climate change and its impacts. Here, we consider the relationship amongst the three elements—the SDGs, social-ecological resilience and climate change—as a positive feedback loop. We argue that long-term memory encoded in historical, archaeological and related ‘palaeo-data’ is central to understanding each of these elements of the feedback loop, especially when long-term fluctuations are inherent in social-ecological systems and their responses to abrupt change. Yet, there is scant reference to the valuable contribution that can be made by these data from the past in the SDGs or their targets and indicators. The historical and archaeological records emphasise the importance of some key themes running through the SDGs including how diversity, inclusion, learning and innovation can reduce vulnerability to abrupt change, and the role of connectivity. Using paleo-data, we demonstrate how changes in the extent of water-related ecosystems as measured by indicator 6.6.1 may simply be related to natural hydroclimate variability, rather than reflecting actual progress towards Target 6.6. This highlights issues associated with using SDG indicator baselines predicated on short-term and very recent data only. Within the context of the contributions from long-term data to inform the positive feedback loop, we ask whether our current inability to substantively combat anthropogenic climate change threatens achieving both the SDGS and enhanced resilience to climate change itself. We argue that long-term records are central to understanding how and what will improve resilience and enhance our ability to both mitigate and adapt to climate change. However, for uptake of these data to occur, improved understanding of their quality and potential by policymakers and managers is required.