Substantial areas of coastal eucalypt forests are declining in
health as evidenced by crown deterioration and dieback, and in the
longer term, mortality. A range of factors have been implicated as
either inciting or exacerbating this decline – nutrient
enrichment as a result of reduced incidence of low intensity fires
is one, others include insect outbreaks and the presence of Bell
Miner bird colonies.
This PhD is investigating the proposal that these factors all
contribute to forest decline, however the underlying problem is one
of reduced incidence of fire which leads to nutrient enrichment and
release of insect populations from nutrient controlled population
limits.
Specific components of this research include: a study of litterfall
in declining and healthy forest; soil nutrient pools and fluxes in
healthy and declining forest; the development of a physiological
measure of tree decline using foliar stress chemicals; estimation
of recent fire regime from soil charcoal; and questioning whether
human-altered fire regimes have affected soil nutrient cycling
processes and lead to forest decline.
Project Link: B 4.1 Synthesis and
integration
Project Link: B 7 Eucalypt decline in
the absence of fire
