Trees

The increasing density of shrubs and trees across a landscape

Woody thickening is a global phenomenon whereby the density of trees and woody shrubs is increasing in the landscape. Although most commonly seen in arid and semi-arid landscapes, it also occurs in other environments. This process has a number of impacts on landscape function. Woody thickening can be a naturally occurring phenomenon but is being enhanced by climate change, changes in fire regimes and other human land use activity. Woody thickening influences carbon storage and (more)...

Carbon Uptake and Water Use of Vegetation Under Climate Change

Accumulation and storage of carbon in trees is one method of sequestration which may help offset increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, for every molecule of CO2 absorbed by a leaf, up to a thousand molecules of water are released as transpiration, water that has moved out of the soil into the atmosphere. Therefore, simply planting more trees to absorb more CO2 is not as risk-free as may originally be thought, (more)...

A Landscape Approach to Determine the Ecological Value of Paddock Trees

This project aimed to assess the ecological value of scattered paddock trees at a landscape scale, using two approaches. This first was to undertake an intensive mapping program for two study areas in South Australia, equating to an area of 378,000 hectares, and the second to undertake a field study to assess how birds use paddock trees at various levels of tree cover.

More than just the odd tree