North Shore - Meeting & talk: Effects of topography on resilience of fire prone eucalypt communities to climate change

'I first became interested in conservation at a young age, however my passion for fire ecology only began when I spent a year on exchange in Australia at the University of Wollongong during my undergraduate degree.

At this time, I ended up finding out about the Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires (CERMB) here. I approached Ross Bradstock, former Director of the CERMB, to discuss potential research topics, soon going on to complete an Honours project with him. I was delighted to be given the opportunity to return to Australia to undertake further research in this field by doing a PhD here as well. Witnessing the devastation caused by the 2019-20 bushfire season only emphasised the importance of such research to me. My principal supervisor is now Owen Price, current Director of the CERMB (University of Wollongong). I am also co-supervised by Ross Bradstock (NSW Department of Planning and Environment), Hamish Clarke (University of Melbourne), Rachael Nolan (Western Sydney University) and Meaghan Jenkins (NSW Rural Fire Service).

Whilst the effects of climate on eucalypt distributions in south-eastern Australia and fire on eucalypt mortality are well-known, topographic differences may exacerbate their effects too. The evolution of eucalypt protective bark traits in response to climate and fire, modified by topography, is understudied. I investigated if this may alter the likelihood of mortality occurring in some eucalypt species and hence make them more vulnerable to range shifts under climate change.

Range shifts may mean that some species are no longer adapted well enough to survive where they once did due to changes in temperature, precipitation or fire regime. I examined if differences in bark thickness relative to stem diameter, bark density and proportion of fire scars related to whether eucalypt species were positioned on ridges or in gullies in Blue Mountains National Park, New South Wales. I chose to focus specifically on differences between these two topographic positions, to try to identify the largest contrasts. My talk will outline the background of this work in greater detail and the results that I found. Improving our knowledge of the spatial distribution of eucalypt bark traits at different topographic positions will enable better prediction of eucalypt responses to climate-driven increases in fire severity.'

All welcome.

7.30 for 8.00 pm start.

Plant sales and refreshments.

The NSG Botanical library is also available for members to browse and borrow items.