September Monthly Meeting – Speaker: Jaylen Nicholson ‘Understanding the impacts of climate change on plants at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park’

After widespread plant mortality at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in 2019 associated with a record-breaking drought and heatwave, Anangu (Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara People) were concerned and wanted to know why plants were being impacted. Over the last three years of Jay’s PhD, he has been working with Anangu researching why ecologically and culturally significant plants are dying during extreme heatwaves and drought. They conducted a range of field-based studies and glasshouse experiments to untangle the physiological drivers of plant death. Some of the plants they’ve worked on include the iconic mulga (Acacia aneura), desert oak (Allocasuarina decaisneana), and spinifex (Triodia pungens).

Come along for a summary of all the work they’ve done together during Jay’s PhD and learn about the interesting strategies these plants have to overcome the complex and extreme environment that is the Australian desert.

“After working as a botanist in Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land, I wanted more of a scientific challenge. So, I decided to take on a PhD based at the  ANU (Research School of Biology), working with Anangu and Parks Australia on desert plants. I’m really excited to share both the scientific and personal journeys I have been on in the last 3.5 years and give a summary of all the cool work we’ve been up to.”

Jay is a Principal Investigator in the research project “Climate Change Impacts on Plants in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park”. This project examines drivers of dieback impact and has demonstrate that there is significant variability in dieback impact between species, within species, between habitats, within habitats, across the landscape, as well as interactions between these components. Furthermore, the influence of complex interactions between spatial and temporal components of resource availability and disturbance are unknown. From this research, some critical knowledge gaps remain in order to understand the spatial and temporal variability in physiological responses to drought and heatwave events in UKTNP. This collaborative project is conducted in partnership with colleagues in Parks Australia and at Uluru.

This project aims to:

1. Investigate the spatial and temporal variability in the traits and ecophysiological mechanisms that may underpin the variation in responses to dieback in the flora within UKTNP.
2. Quantify physiological tolerance thresholds in culturally important species by conducting heatwave and drought experiments on seedlings under controlled conditions.
3. Using a culturally and ecologically important keystone tree species in UKTNP as a case study, determine the variability in ecophysiological strategy, and therefore the vulnerability, of different life stages to increased heatwaves and drought events and how that vulnerability may also differ spatially and seasonally.
4. Understand the temporal variation in resources in UKTNP as a function of habitat type and landscape position in order to further understand spatial patterning of dieback.

Refreshments available from 7pm. Mugs or keep-cups encouraged. Non-members welcomed.

Meeting starts at 7:30pm.