School of Plant Biology

We study the nutritional and hydrological processes that determine the productivity and ecological sustainability of natural ecosystems and their response to disturbance and environmental change.

General areas of study

• biogeochemical cycling at multiple scales - rhizosphere to landscape
• net primary production (NPP) above and below ground
• water and nutrient acquisition and use by trees
• root-soil interactions including many aspects of biochemical and biological processes in the rhizosphere
• fire ecology and fire behaviour of semi-arid and forest ecosystems
• ecophysiology and functioning of mulga woodlands
• climate-growth relationships of Callitris and other tree species, including their potential for climate reconstruction
• organic matter fluxes in and around semi-arid streams

Ecosystems of current research interest

• open Eucalypt forest
• Callitris woodlands
• near coastal catchments
• semi-arid rangelands
• riparian zones

ERGo is part of the Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Initiative.