Dr Pauline Grierson - Senior Lecturer

School of Plant Biology (M090)
University of Western Australia
35 Stirling Highway
Crawley WA 6009
AUSTRALIA

telephone +61 8 6488 7926
fax +61 8 6488 1001
email pfgblue@cyllene.uwa.edu.au

BSc Hons (Univ. of Melbourne) 1984
PhD (Univ. of Melbourne) 1991

Teaching

ENVT2250: Introduction to Ecology
ENVT3305: Ecosystem Biogeochemistry
PLNT3306: Australian Vegetation

Research Interests

Current projects focus on integrating models of root architecture with water and nutrient use by trees and woody shrubs, nutrient supply and acquisition by cluster-rooted species (e.g. Banksia), the use of stable isotopes (¹⁵N and ¹³C) as a tool for understanding carbon and nutrient fluxes in forest and arid ecosystems, assessing patterns and processes at multiple scales, especially in rangelands and forests, woody roots (EU COST 38), and impacts of fire on ecosystem processes.

Current projects

(i) Carbon assimilation & water use by trees and shrubs with environmental change

• Dynamics of woody vegetation and water in the central Pilbara – understanding and managing for environmental change. ARC-LP0776626, Rio Tinto, BHP -Billiton and WA Dept of Environment & Conservation: Grierson PF, Adams MA, Madden S, White S, van Leeuwen S and Evans, L. 2007-2011.

• Root architecture of trees.  ARC-LP0776626, Rio Tinto, BHP-Billiton : Grierson PF, Adams MA et al. 2007-2010.

• Mulga ecosystems in the Pilbara. Rio Tinto: Grierson PF, Page G, Cullen LE. 2005-2008.

• Hydraulic conductivity and functional redundancy in woody shrubs. Andrew Mellon Foundation & California State University. Grierson, Schenk. 2007-2008.

• Dendroclimatology studies of Callitris. Hermon Slade Foundation. Cullen, Grierson. 2006-2008.

• Monsoonal climates and dendrochronlogy records.  CERF – Dept of Environment & Heritage. Bowman, Grierson, Hua, Dodson, McCaw. 2008-2010.

• Host-truffle relationships – dependency on host tree roots. Hazel Hill, Manjimup Wine & Truffle Company. Grierson, Bougoure, Malajczuk. 2007-2008.

• The role of mycorrhizal fungi in nutrient supply and habitat specificity of the rare underground orchid (Rhizanthella gardneri). ARC LP0454276, WA Dept of Environment & Conservation: Grierson PF, Brundrett M, Brown A, Sivasithamparam K. 2005-2007.

(ii) Dynamics of organic matter and nutrients in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems

• Impacts of environmental change on organic matter and nutrient dynamics in near - coast catchments. CSIRO  Flagship Collaborative Research Fund. Grierson, Petrone, Barron. 2007-2009.

• Understanding coastal biodiversity: the impact of marine production subsidies upon arid coastal environments. ARC- DP0557569 Walker DA, Duarte CM, Robertson AI, Grierson PF. 2005-2007.

(iii) Fire & ecosystem behaviour

• Fire management of complex rehabilitated forests – quantifying and understanding spatial variability of forest structure and fuels. ARC-LP0882579, Worsley Alumina, WA Dept of Environment & Conservation: Grierson, Macfarlane, Vlahos, McCaw, Boer. 2008-2010.

• Productivity of the southern jarrah forest in relation to fire.  Australian Greenhouse Office: Grierson, Pekin, Macfarlane, Boer. 2007-2010.

• Multi-scale analysis of patterns in ecological processes in relation to fire regimes. Bushfire CRC Project B 4.2: Grierson PF, Boer MM. 2005-2010.

Visual representation of the root crown of a Melaleuca argentea sapling from Medawandy Waters, Pannawonica.  Similarity between the photograph (A) and the images (B-C) is apparent. Once the 3-D image was captured by the Polhemus FASTRAK digitizer, branching orders could be analyzed visually (B) or numerically (C) using AMAPmod, where colour coding of the branching orders highlights the complexity of root growth (C).

Mat of cluster roots of Banksia integrifolia
proliferating through leaf litter

            Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest in
            Western Australia

Graduate students

• Jeremy Bougoure
• Gimara Duncan
• Justine Edwards
• Doug Ford
• Rebecca McIntyre
• Elizabeth McLean
• Bill Moulden
• Jaymie Norris
• Gerald Page
• Alison O'Donnell
• Burak Pekin

Honours and 4th Year Project students 2008

• Rachel Butler
• Jordan Reid
• Anthony Robinson

Selected publications

(i) Journal articles

Abe, H., Katayama, A., Sah, B.P., Toriu, T., Samy, S., Pheach, P., Adams, M.A. and Grierson, P.F. 2007 Potential for rural electrification based on biomass gasification in Cambodia. Biomass and Bioenergy 31, 656-664

Cookson, W.R., O’Donnell, A.J., Grant, C.D., Grierson, P.F. and Murphy, D.V. 2007 Impact of ecosystem management on microbial community level physiological profiles of postmining forest rehabilitation. Microbial Ecology DOI 10.1007/s00248-007-9278-2

Cullen, L.E.  and Grierson P.F. 2007 A stable oxygen, but not carbon, isotope chronology of Callitris columellaris reflects recent climate change in north-western Australia Climatic Change 85, 213-222

Ford, D.J., Cookson, W.R., Adams, M.A. and Grierson, P.F.  2007 Role of soil drying in nitrogen mineralization and microbial community function in semi-arid grasslands of north-west Australia Soil Biology and Biochemistry 39 (7) 1557-1569

Livesley, S.J., Adams, M.A. and Grierson, P.F. 2007 Soil water nitrate and ammonium dynamics under an effluent irrigated eucalypt plantation. Journal of Environmental Quality 36, 1883-1894.

Cookson, W.R., Muller, C., O’Brien, P.A., Murphy, D.V. and Grierson, P.F. 2006 Nitrogen dynamics in an Australian semiearid grassland soil. Ecology 87 (8) 2047-2057

Cullen, L.E. and Grierson P.F. (2006) Is cellulose extraction necessary for developing stable carbon and oxygen isotopes chronologies from Callitirs glaucophylla? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 236, 206-216.

Hokmabadi H, Arzani K and Grierson P.F. 2005. Growth, chemical composition and carbon isotope discrimination of pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) rootstock seedlings under salinity. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56, 135-144. PDF (307kb)

Marschner P, Grierson P.F. and Rengel Z. 2005. Microbial community composition and functioning in the rhizosphere of three Banksia species in native woodland in Western Australia. Applied Soil Ecology 28, 191-201. PDF (174kb)

Radersma S and Grierson P.F. 2004. Phosphorus mobilization in agroforestry: Organic anions, phosphatase activity and phosphorus fractions in the rhizosphere. Plant and Soil. 259, 209-219. PDF (169kb)

Schneider, K., Turrion, M.B., Grierson P.F. and Gallardo, J.F. 2001. Phosphatase activity, microbial phosphorus, and fine root growth in forest soils in the Sierra de Gata, western central Spain. Biology and Fertility of Soils. 34, 151-155. PDF (95kb)

Adams, M.A. and Grierson P.F. 2001. Stable isotopes at natural abundance in terrestrial plant ecology and ecophysiology: an update. Plant Biology. 3, 299-310.

Grierson, P.F. and Adams, M.A. 2000. Plant species affect acid phosphatase, ergosterol and microbial P in a Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata Donn ex Sm.) forest in south-western Australia. Soil Biology And Biochemistry. 32, 1817-1827. PDF (309kb)

Todd, M.C.L., Adams, M.A. and Grierson, P.F. 2000. Mineralisation of nitrogen in a chronosequence of rehabilitated bauxite mines. Australian Journal of Soil Research. 38, 435-451. PDF (266kb)

Todd, M.C.L., Grierson, P.F. and Adams, M.A. 2000. Litter cover as an index of nitrogen availability in rehabilitated mine sites. Australian Journal of Soil Research. 38, 423-433. PDF (245kb)

Grierson, P.F. and Comerford, N.B. 2000. Non-destructive measurement of acid phosphatase activity in the rhizosphere using nitrocellulose membranes and image analysis. Plant and Soil. 218, 49-57. PDF (324kb)

Adams, M.A. and Grierson, P.F. 1999. A commentary on methodology for quantifying bioavailable phosphorus in agroforestry systems. Agroforestry Forum. 9(4), 49-53.

Bentley, D., Grierson, P.F., Bennett, L.T. and Adams, M.A. 1999. Evaluation of anion exchange membranes to estimate bioavailable phosphorus in native grasslands of semi-arid north western Australia. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 30(15 & 16), 2231-2244.

Grierson, P.F., Comerford, N.B. and Jokela, E.J. 1999. Phosphorus mineralization kinetics and response of microbial phosphorus to drying and rewetting in a Florida spodosol. Biology and Fertility of Soils. 28, 244-252. PDF (109kb)

Grierson, P.F. and Adams, M.A. 1999. Nutrient cycling and growth in forest ecosystems of south western Australia. Agroforestry Systems. 45, 215-244. PDF (117kb)

Chen, Z., Grierson, P.F. and Adams, M.A. 1998. Direct determination of phosphate in soil extracts by potentiometric flow injection using a cobalt wire electrode. Analytica Chimica Acta. 363, 191-197. PDF (133kb)

Grierson P.F. 1992. Organic acids in the rhizosphere of Banksia integrifolia L.f. Plant and Soil. 144, 259-265. PDF (538kb)

Grierson P.F., Adams MA and Attiwill PM. 1992. Biomass of Victoria's forests. Australian Journal of Botany. 40, 631-640. PDF (471kb)

Grierson P.F. and Attiwill PM. 1989. Chemical characteristics of the proteoid root mat of Banksia integrifolia L.f. Australian Journal of Botany. 37, 137-143. PDF (325kb)

(ii) Book chapters and reports

Grierson PF, Smithson P, Nziguheba G, Radersma S and Comerford NB. 2004. Phosphorus availability and P dynamics in agroforestry systems. In: Belowground Interactions in Tropical Agroecosystems: Concepts and Models with Multiple Plant Components. (Eds C Ong, M van Noordwijk and G Cadisch). CABI, UK. pp 127-143.

Adams MA, Grierson PF and Burrows C. 2003. Fires, soils and plant nutrition in West Australian forests: a focus on spatial and temporal variability. In: Fire in South-Western Australian Ecosystems: Impacts and Management of Eucalypts (Eds N Burrows and I Abbott). Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Raison J, Keith H, Barrett D, Burrows W and Grierson P. 2003. Spatial Estimates of Biomass in Mature Native Vegetation. Technical Report No. 44, Australian Greenhouse Office.

Grierson PF, Kemp M, Livesley SJ, Whyte K, Bowler K, and Adams MA. 2002. Phosphorus and nitrogen transformations under biosolid storage dumps and surrounding land uses (2) - Yerecoin, Western Australia. Final report submitted to the Water Corporation, Western Australia. Ecosystems Research Group, School of Plant Biology (Botany), University of Western Australia. 16 p.

Snowden P, Raison J, Keith H, Ritson P, Grierson P, Adams M, Montagu K, Bi H, Burrows W and Eamus D. 2002. Protocol for Sampling Tree and Stand Biomass. National Carbon Accounting System Technical Report No. 31. Australian Greenhouse Office, Canberra. 66 p.

Raison J, Keith H, Barrett D, Burrows W and Grierson P. 2002. Spatial Estimates of Biomass in Mature Native Vegetation. Prepared for the Australian Greenhouse Office - National Carbon Accounting System. CSIRO Forestry & Forest Products, Canberra. 61 p.
 
Adams, M.A., Grierson, P., Bussau, A. and Dorling, K. 2001. Biomass and carbon in vegetation of the Pilbara region, Western Australia. Final report to Hamersley Iron, BHP and Robe. Ecosystems Research Group, University of Western Australia. 126 p.

Grierson, P.F., Williams, K. and Adams, M.A.. 2000. Review of unpublished biomass-related information: Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. Tech Report No.25. Australian Greenhouse Office, Canberra. 95 p.

Adams, M.A., Coote, M., Grierson, P., Livesley, S. and Williams, K. 2000. Improved management of the Albany effluent irrigation tree farm. Final Report. Ecosystems Research Group, University of Western Australia and the Water Corporation. 243 p.

Useful Links

WABC website
Root structure and function
S-7 Forest Soils Homepage
COST 38
Australian Greenhouse Office
Global Forest
ICRAF
Register of ecological models
Internet directory for botanists