Current plant ecology research

Our research is conducted in a diverse range of ecosystems. We focus our attention on native grassland and woodland ecosystems in western Victoria (Grampians National Park, Langi Ghiran State Park, western volcanic plains, Wimmera Plains, riverine plains of northern Victoria, urban-rural interface), on alpine ecosystems in north-eastern Victoria (Mt Hotham, Mt Howitt, Mt Bogong, Bogong High Plains), on montane peatlands in the Central Highlands, and Mallee Shrublands (in the semi-arid areas north of Mildura). These allow us to test ideas about the factors that govern diversity, as well as how communities recover after disturbance and persist in the face of environmental change.

Mountain ecosystems

How does disturbance affect the diversity and function of high altitude environments?

How will climate change affect species already confined to mountain tops?

Montane peatlands

Peatlands are characterized by having a watertable at or near the surface of the soil.Very specialized plant communities develop as a result of this. Importantly, peatlands play an important hydrological role and store vast quantities of carbon.

Mallee shrublands

Mallee shrublands are being investigated at a landscape scale, encompassing the Mallee region of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. We are looking at vegetation community changes at the structural and species richness levels with respect to time-since-fire and climatic drivers.

The Western Woodlands

The Western Woodlands are some of the most species-rich ecosystems in Australia. Over 100 plant species per 0.1 hectare have been recorded.

What allows all of these species to coexist in these small areas?

How will this diversity respond to climate change?

We are also currently investigating:

The effects of disturbance regimes on grassland and woodland plant biodiversity
Linkages between resource availability and community productivity
Mechanisms of community assembly and the restoration of ground-layer vegetation
The effects of habitat fragmentation on long-term plant persistence
Competition, facilitation and the distribution of plants across environmental gradients
Causes and consequences of non-native invasions
Land-use legacies and successional processes in degraded native vegetation
Long-term vegetation dynamics in mountain summit habitats

Students in the Lab

Seraphina Cutler (PhD) - Recovery of disturbed high mountain vegetation after anthropogenic disturbance
Nathan Wong (PhD) - Management and restoration of native grasslands for biodiversity
James Shannon (PhD) - Understanding the ecology of shrubs in peatland dynamics
Sally Kenny (PhD) - Ecology of fire in mallee landscapes
Andrew Scott (PhD) - Oldfield succession after cultivation in semi-arid grasslands

Past students

Jodi Price (PhD 2007) - Vegetation dynamics in herb-rich woodlands with an emphasis on the shrub-grass cycle
Susanna Venn (PhD 2007) - Patterns and ecological process in regeneration of alpine plants across an altitudinal gradient
Lynise Wearne (PhD 2005) - Effects of invasion by English Broom on subalpine vegetation: floristic and ecosystem responses
Peter Curtis (PhD 2003) - Ecology of the Austral Grass Tree - a long-term demographic study with special reference to fire response
Julia Franco (Hons 2005) - Long-term vegetation changes in a grassy woodland landscape
Catherine Nield (Hons 2005) - Fire intensity affects vegetation recovery in coastal vegetation
Bryan Roberts (Hons 2006) - Effect of timing of rainfall on composition of semi-arid grasslands
Nick Schultz (Hons 2007) - Controls on biomass in temperate grassy ecosystems in Victoria
Fiona Sutton (Hons 2007) - Determinants of local extinction in grassy woodland remnants
Amber Briggs (Hons 2007) - Biological soil crust ecology and functioning is semi-arid woodland/grassland communities