This research will assess the effect of smoke from bushfires and prescribed burning on aspects of physiology of agriculturally important and native Australian plants. This will involve measurement of immediate and short-term effects using leaf-level physiology and longer-term effects using whole-plant responses. A selection of experimental species, fuel types and exposure times will be used in controlled laboratory and glasshouse experiments. Field-based experiments will be conducted to estimate immediate and short-term plant responses to prescribed burning and to scale to a landscape level. landholders and fire practitioners will be interviewed to determine if perceptions of smoke are influenced by increased knowledge of the effects of smoke on plants.
