Forests, trees and shrubs
Research opportunities
Conservation, regeneration and adaptation.
Forest regeneration for environmental values
Project size (& length): 25 or 50
With a move to phase out commercial timber harvesting by 2030, there is an opportunity to focus on alternative objectives to forest regeneration, including environmental values and climate resilient regeneration.
Fire has been traditionally used in regeneration for timber production, in the context of clear-fell, burn, and sow operations. With a move to variable retention harvesting practices, a reduction in windows of opportunity for conducting burning operations, public concerns with smoke hazards, release of greenhouse gases, and risks associated with fire escapes and loss of retained elements, there is increasing focus on the application of regeneration techniques that are independent of fire.
In turn, mechanical disturbance and associated soil compaction and turnover, has its own challenges – say loss of resprouting species due to damage and desiccation of in situ lignotubers and rhizomes.
This project will consider the pros and cons of mechanical disturbance (over fire) in the regeneration of Ash and Mixed species forests in the Central Highlands of Victoria.
Work will involve a field component and analysis of a database held by industry partners.
A/Prof Sabine Kasel, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
skasel@unimelb.edu.au
Population dynamics of Tree Geebung (Persoonia arborea) - a species of significant conservation status
Project size (& length): 25 or 50
Tree Geebung (Proteaceae) is a small tree endemic to Victoria and located in wet eucalypt forests across the Central Highlands east of Melbourne. The species occupies a broad elevation range (~300 to 1100 m), is locally abundant, but highly endemic. Tree Geebung is a threatened species, originally classified as ‘rare’ with this conservation status recently upgraded to endangered.
Tree Geebung flowers in summer/autumn with mature fruit ready for dispersal in spring/summer. Fruiting quality and quantity appears to be highly variable and may be related to self-incompatibility, with most species of Persoonia appearing to be at least partially self-incompatible. Fruit is thought to be parasitised by microwasps and eaten by rodents. The species is killed by high severity fire but can regenerate prolifically from the soil seed store. We have evidence that Persoonia arborea can flower at a relatively young age (~ 3 years), however the subsequent likelihood in production of viable seed is unknown.
Associated research topics include, but are not limited to:
- Influence of tree size on fruit production
- Effects of forest management practices on regeneration and survival
- Pollination ecology, seed predation and dispersal dynamics
- Size of the residual seed store following disturbance
A/Prof Sabine Kasel, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
skasel@unimelb.edu.au
Seed dispersal across an ecotone from wet forest – cool temperate mixed forest (CTMF) – cool temperate rainforest (CTRF)
Project size (& length): 50
CTMFs support elements of both wet eucalypt forests and understory species associated with CTRF. Our understanding of how mixed forest transitions to rainforest is limited and this has significant implications for forest management practices. This project will establish a plant dispersal study to determine the rates and composition of seed and spore rain from adjacent rainforest into mixed forest areas to better understand the recruitment processes at the ecotone. Work includes a combination of field study and glasshouse germination trials (at Burnley).
A/Prof Sabine Kasel, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
skasel@unimelb.edu.au
Functional trait diversity in oaks
Project size (& length): 12.5, 25 or 50
The Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne are home to 72 different oak species, one of the largest oak arboreta in the world. These oaks originate from vastly different climates, and all grow in the same environment. What are the functional differences between these oak species and how important is climate at shaping the expression of functional traits in oaks?
Professor Stefan Arndt, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
sarndt@unimelb.edu.au
Elm decline in Melbourne
Project size (& length): 12.5, 25 or 50
This project will investigate key hypotheses what may lead to elm decline in Melbourne. We will compare key physiological functions of declined and healthy elms in Melbourne and test if elm decline is related to carbohydrate supply, xylem function and drought stress.
Professor Stefan Arndt, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
sarndt@unimelb.edu.au
Intraspecific trait variation in grey box and yellow box
Project size (& length): 12.5, 25 or 50
Are there differences in the way that trees adapt to the environment even within a species? The questions will be answered by investigating the intraspecific variation of functional traits in grey box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) and yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora). The study will investigate if there are differences in the drought adaptation within these two species. Does it matter which provenance is selected for a revegetation success?
Professor Stefan Arndt, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
sarndt@unimelb.edu.au
Future Urban Forest Arboretum
Project size (& length): 12.5, 25 or 50
Trees are important elements of cities and most councils in cities in Australia have targets to increase their urban tree canopy cover. But which species are the “right” trees in a changing climate? By carefully monitoring the functional characteristics of novel tree species in two new arboreta in Melbourne and Sydney we aim to identify novel concepts of selecting suitable future urban tree species that are based on plant traits.
Professor Stefan Arndt, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
sarndt@unimelb.edu.au
Fire tolerant shrubs as woody meadows
Project size (& length): 12.5, 25 or 50
Shrubs are important elements of a novel urban planting: woody meadows. These meadows are highly biodiverse but low maintenance urban plantings of fire tolerant native shrubs. The Woody Meadow Project (https://woodymeadow.unimelb.edu.au/) has established around 20 different planting sites all over Melbourne in collaboration with a range of industry partners. Which shrub species are doing well? Which ones are failing at certain sites? Is success or failure related to soil or climatic conditions? What are the physiological reasons why some shrubs are growing better than others and is success based on plasticity, tolerance or vigour?
Professor Stefan Arndt, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
sarndt@unimelb.edu.au
Functional trait diversity in alpine ash
Project size (& length): 12.5, 25 or 50
Alpine ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis) is one of the iconic Australian tree species that grows in the high altitude, high rainfall regions of the Australian Alps. This project will investigate if reforestation of alpine ash needs to consider provenance – or where the seeds originate from.
Professor Stefan Arndt, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
sarndt@unimelb.edu.au
Impact of severe wind disturbance on tree competition and seasonal stem growth
Project size (& length): 50
An unprecedented severe windstorm caused widespread damage and tree fall across the Wombat State Forest in June 2021. Preceding long-term monitoring of tree stem growth rates has shown varying influence of local weather, inter-tree competition and fire history. This project provides an opportunity for field work in the Wombat State Forest and involves field-based re-assessment of inter-tree competition, use of existing weather data and stem growth data post disturbance to investigate what impact this wind disturbance event has had on these relationships.
Dr Nina Hinko-Najera and A/Prof Lauren Bennett, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
n.hinkonajera@unimelb.edu.au
Impact of severe wind disturbance on aboveground forest carbon stocks
Project size (& length): 25 or 50
An unprecedented severe windstorm caused widespread damage and tree fall across the Wombat State Forest in June 2021. With large tree stems being the predominant carbon pool in temperate eucalypt forests such disturbance can have a significant impact on their carbon sequestration potential. This project aims to determine this impact on aboveground carbon stocks and will involve field-based assessment of live and dead carbon pools and quantification of changes in these pools with existing data from previous assessments.
Dr Nina Hinko-Najera and A/Prof Lauren Bennett, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
n.hinkonajera@unimelb.edu.au