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Neumann M, Eastaugh CS, Adams MA. Recruitment, mortality and growth in semi-arid conifer-eucalypt forest: Small trees insure against fire and drought. JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY 2023; 50:291-301. [PMID: 37082564 PMCID: PMC10107837 DOI: 10.1111/jbi.14522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Revised: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Aim Well-managed semi-arid forests help offset global change by storing significant amounts of carbon above- and belowground and maintaining hydrological cycles. Larger trees have been the focus of many studies due to their carbon storage and habitat quality, yet recruitment and small trees are important components of ecosystem resilience and recovery. Here, we study the impacts of disturbances (including harvesting) on recruitment, mortality and growth for a mixed conifer-broadleaf semi-arid forest type using long-term data. Location Pilliga Forest in New South Wales, inland eastern Australia. Taxon Callitris-Eucalyptus forests. Methods We used data from permanent sample plots (PSPs) spanning 55 years, calculated stand structure, gains and losses and determined reasons for tree death (harvesting, fire, wind, drought and other effects). We extracted climate and fire data for the PSP locations using spatial analysis. Results Stocking of studied forests remained stable (modest increase in basal area and stem density), despite harvesting and wildfires over 6 decades. Compared to stands in the 1940s and prior to European settlement, current forests are composed of more trees per unit area, and these trees have smaller diameters. Recruitment and sustained presence of small trees have buffered impacts of recurring drought, fire and harvesting. Fires are a common feature of the studied ecosystems and fire impacts have increased in the past 20 years, especially in unmanaged stands, where fires have reduced tree carbon by >50%. Main conclusions Recruitment and growth of small trees are critical to offset carbon losses due to fire, drought and harvesting. All size classes have important ecological values in semi-arid forests and must be included in long-term monitoring programmes. Long-term data offer unique insights into combined effects of climate change, management and disturbances, especially for fire-prone ecosystems, where small trees are often susceptible to fire.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Neumann
- Faculty of Science, Engineering and TechnologySwinburne University of TechnologyMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
- Institute of SilvicultureUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | | | - Mark A. Adams
- Faculty of Science, Engineering and TechnologySwinburne University of TechnologyMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
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Bowman DMJS, Williamson GJ, Johnston FH, Bowman CJW, Murphy BP, Roos CI, Trauernicht C, Rostron J, Prior LD. Population collapse of a Gondwanan conifer follows the loss of Indigenous fire regimes in a northern Australian savanna. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9081. [PMID: 35641570 PMCID: PMC9156674 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12946-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Colonialism has disrupted Indigenous socioecological systems around the globe, including those supported by intentional landscape burning. Because most disruptions happened centuries ago, our understanding of Indigenous fire management is largely inferential and open to debate. Here, we investigate the ecological consequences of the loss of traditional Aboriginal fire management on fire-exposed savannas on the Arnhem Plateau, northern Australia, using the fire-sensitive conifer Callitris intratropica as a bio-indicator. We contrast Kakadu National Park, where traditional Aboriginal fire management was severely disrupted during the early twentieth century following Aboriginal relocation to surrounding settlements, and an adjacent Aboriginal estate where traditional Aboriginal fire management endures. Since 2006, traditional Aboriginal fire management at this site has been overlaid by a program of broad-scale institutionalized burning in the early dry season, designed to reduce greenhouse emissions. Using remote sensing, field survey, and dendrochronology, we show that on the Aboriginal estate, C. intratropica populations depend on the creation of a shifting patch mosaic of long unburned areas necessary for the recruitment of C. intratropica. However, the imposition of broad-scale fire management is disrupting this population patch dynamic. In Kakadu, there have been extreme declines of C. intratropica associated with widespread fires since the mid twentieth century and consequent proliferation of grass fuels. Fire management in Kakadu since 2007, designed to increase the size and abundance of patches of unburned vegetation, has not been able to reverse the population collapse of C. intratropica. Our study demonstrates that colonial processes including relocation of Indigenous people and institutional fire management can have deleterious consequences that are nearly irreversible because of hysteresis in C. intratropica population dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M J S Bowman
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Private Bag 55, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia.
| | - Grant J Williamson
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Private Bag 55, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia
| | - Fay H Johnston
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7000, Australia
| | - Clarence J W Bowman
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Private Bag 55, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia
| | - Brett P Murphy
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia
| | - Christopher I Roos
- Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, 75275, USA
| | - Clay Trauernicht
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA
| | - Joshua Rostron
- , Korlorbirrahda Outstation, Maningrida, NT, 0822, Australia
| | - Lynda D Prior
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Private Bag 55, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia
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O’Donnell AJ, Renton M, Allen KJ, Grierson PF. Tree growth responses to temporal variation in rainfall differ across a continental-scale climatic gradient. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0249959. [PMID: 33945548 PMCID: PMC8096069 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Globally, many biomes are being impacted by significant shifts in total annual rainfall as well as increasing variability of rainfall within and among years. Such changes can have potentially large impacts on plant productivity and growth, but remain largely unknown, particularly for much of the Southern Hemisphere. We investigate how growth of the widespread conifer, Callitris columellaris varied with inter-annual variation in the amount, intensity and frequency of rainfall events over the last century and between semi-arid (<500 mm mean annual rainfall) and tropical (>800 mm mean annual rainfall) biomes in Australia. We used linear and polynomial regression models to investigate the strength and shape of the relationships between growth (ring width) and rainfall. At semi-arid sites, growth was strongly and linearly related to rainfall amount, regardless of differences in the seasonality and intensity of rainfall. The linear shape of the relationship indicates that predicted future declines in mean rainfall will have proportional negative impacts on long-term tree growth in semi-arid biomes. In contrast, growth in the tropics showed a weak and asymmetrical ('concave-down') response to rainfall amount, where growth was less responsive to changes in rainfall amount at the higher end of the rainfall range (>1250 mm annual rainfall) than at the lower end (<1000 mm annual rainfall). The asymmetric relationship indicates that long-term growth rates of Callitris in the tropics are more sensitive to increased inter-annual variability of rainfall than to changes in the mean amount of rainfall. Our findings are consistent with observations that the responses of vegetation to changes in the mean or variability of rainfall differ between mesic and semi-arid biomes. These results highlight how contrasting growth responses of a widespread species across a hydroclimatic gradient can inform understanding of potential sensitivity of different biomes to climatic variability and change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison J. O’Donnell
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Michael Renton
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Kathryn J. Allen
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Pauline F. Grierson
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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Allen KJ, Brookhouse M, French BJ, Nichols SC, Dahl B, Norrie D, Prior LD, Palmer JG, Bowman DJMS. Two climate-sensitive tree-ring chronologies from Arnhem Land, monsoonal Australia. AUSTRAL ECOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.12699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn J. Allen
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences; University of Melbourne; 500 Yarra Boulevard Richmond Victoria 3121 Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage; University of New South Wales; Sydney New South Wales 2052 Australia
| | - Matthew Brookhouse
- School of Biology; Australian National University; Acton Australian Capital Territory Australia
| | - Ben J. French
- School of Natural Sciences; University of Tasmania; Sandy Bay Tasmania Australia
| | - Scott C. Nichols
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences; University of Melbourne; 500 Yarra Boulevard Richmond Victoria 3121 Australia
| | - Brittany Dahl
- School of Biology; Australian National University; Acton Australian Capital Territory Australia
| | - Declan Norrie
- School of Biology; Australian National University; Acton Australian Capital Territory Australia
| | - Lynda D. Prior
- School of Natural Sciences; University of Tasmania; Sandy Bay Tasmania Australia
| | - Jonathan G. Palmer
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage; University of New South Wales; Sydney New South Wales 2052 Australia
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences; University of New South Wales; Sydney New South Wales Australia
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Liu Y, Li Y, Li L, Zhu Y, Liu J, Li G, Hao L. Attenuation of Sulfur Dioxide Damage to Wheat Seedlings by Co-exposure to Nitric Oxide. BULLETIN OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND TOXICOLOGY 2017; 99:146-151. [PMID: 28497382 DOI: 10.1007/s00128-017-2103-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2016] [Accepted: 05/02/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The protective function of nitric oxide (NO) has been extensively clarified in plant responses to abiotic stresses. However, little is known about the regulation of NO in plants exposed to sulfur dioxide (SO2). In the present study, we found that co-exposure to NO significantly attenuated SO2-induced wheat seedling growth inhibition. Data showed that NO efficiently prevented SO2-triggered oxidative stress, as indicated by decreasing reactive oxygen species production, lipid peroxidation, and electrolyte leakage. This might be attributed to the regulatory role of NO in antioxidative defense, such as increasing the activities of antioxidative enzymes and the contents of non-enzymatic antioxidants. The SO2-caused declines in soluble protein and chlorophyll content were efficiently recovered by NO application. Photosynthetic parameters, such as net photosynthetic rate, maximum photochemical efficiency, and actual photochemical efficiency, were protected by NO. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that during SO2 exposure, co-application of NO can efficiently alleviate plant damage probably by regulating the antioxidative defense, and protecting plant photosynthesis-related process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Liu
- College of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, No 253, Huanghe North Street, Shenyang, 110034, China
| | - Yunfeng Li
- College of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, No 253, Huanghe North Street, Shenyang, 110034, China
| | - Lingmei Li
- College of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, No 253, Huanghe North Street, Shenyang, 110034, China
| | - Ying Zhu
- College of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, No 253, Huanghe North Street, Shenyang, 110034, China
| | - Jinyang Liu
- College of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, No 253, Huanghe North Street, Shenyang, 110034, China
| | - Guangzhe Li
- College of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, No 253, Huanghe North Street, Shenyang, 110034, China
| | - Lin Hao
- College of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, No 253, Huanghe North Street, Shenyang, 110034, China.
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Larter M, Pfautsch S, Domec JC, Trueba S, Nagalingum N, Delzon S. Aridity drove the evolution of extreme embolism resistance and the radiation of conifer genus Callitris. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2017; 215:97-112. [PMID: 28378882 DOI: 10.1111/nph.14545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2016] [Accepted: 02/26/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Xylem vulnerability to embolism is emerging as a major factor in drought-induced tree mortality events across the globe. However, we lack understanding of how and to what extent climate has shaped vascular properties or functions. We investigated the evolution of xylem hydraulic function and diversification patterns in Australia's most successful gymnosperm clade, Callitris, the world's most drought-resistant conifers. For all 23 species in this group, we measured embolism resistance (P50 ), xylem specific hydraulic conductivity (Ks ), wood density, and tracheary element size from natural populations. We investigated whether hydraulic traits variation linked with climate and the diversification of this clade using a time-calibrated phylogeny. Embolism resistance varied widely across the Callitris clade (P50 : -3.8 to -18.8 MPa), and was significantly related to water scarcity, as was tracheid diameter. We found no evidence of a safety-efficiency tradeoff; Ks and wood density were not related to rainfall. Callitris diversification coincides with the onset of aridity in Australia since the early Oligocene. Our results highlight the evolutionary lability of xylem traits with climate, and the leading role of aridity in the diversification of conifers. The uncoupling of safety from other xylem functions allowed Callitris to evolve extreme embolism resistance and diversify into xeric environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sebastian Pfautsch
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
| | - Jean-Christophe Domec
- Bordeaux Sciences AGRO, UMR 1391 ISPA INRA, 1 Cours du Général de Gaulle, Gradignan Cedex, 33175, France
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Santiago Trueba
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, 621 Charles E. Young Dr. South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
- IRD, UMR AMAP, BPA5, Noumea, 98800, New Caledonia
| | - Nathalie Nagalingum
- National Herbarium of New South Wales, Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Mrs Macquaries Rd, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
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Loshchinina EA, Nikitina VE. Role of the NO synthase system in response to abiotic stress factors for basidiomycetes Lentinula edodes and Grifola frondosa. Microbiology (Reading) 2016. [DOI: 10.1134/s0026261716020120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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O'Donnell AJ, Cook ER, Palmer JG, Turney CSM, Page GFM, Grierson PF. Tree Rings Show Recent High Summer-Autumn Precipitation in Northwest Australia Is Unprecedented within the Last Two Centuries. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0128533. [PMID: 26039148 PMCID: PMC4454581 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2015] [Accepted: 04/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
An understanding of past hydroclimatic variability is critical to resolving the significance of recent recorded trends in Australian precipitation and informing climate models. Our aim was to reconstruct past hydroclimatic variability in semi-arid northwest Australia to provide a longer context within which to examine a recent period of unusually high summer-autumn precipitation. We developed a 210-year ring-width chronology from Callitris columellaris, which was highly correlated with summer-autumn (Dec–May) precipitation (r = 0.81; 1910–2011; p < 0.0001) and autumn (Mar–May) self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index (scPDSI, r = 0.73; 1910–2011; p < 0.0001) across semi-arid northwest Australia. A linear regression model was used to reconstruct precipitation and explained 66% of the variance in observed summer-autumn precipitation. Our reconstruction reveals inter-annual to multi-decadal scale variation in hydroclimate of the region during the last 210 years, typically showing periods of below average precipitation extending from one to three decades and periods of above average precipitation, which were often less than a decade. Our results demonstrate that the last two decades (1995–2012) have been unusually wet (average summer-autumn precipitation of 310 mm) compared to the previous two centuries (average summer-autumn precipitation of 229 mm), coinciding with both an anomalously high frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones in northwest Australia and the dominance of the positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison J. O'Donnell
- Ecosystems Research Group, School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- * E-mail:
| | - Edward R. Cook
- Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, United States of America
| | - Jonathan G. Palmer
- Climate Change Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Chris S. M. Turney
- Climate Change Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Gerald F. M. Page
- Ecosystems Research Group, School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Pauline F. Grierson
- Ecosystems Research Group, School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
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Effects of nitric oxide on growth of Fusarium sulphureum and its virulence to potato tubers. Eur Food Res Technol 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s00217-014-2180-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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