Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Rapid characterisation of vegetation structure to predict refugia and climate change impacts across a global biodiversity hotspot

    199123_101087_journal.pone.0082778.pdf (3.865Mb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Schut, Tom
    Wardell-Johnson, Grant
    Yates, C.
    Keppel, Gunnar
    Baran, I.
    Franklin, S.
    Hopper, S.
    Van Niel, K.
    Mucina, L.
    Byrne, M.
    Date
    2014
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Schut, T. and Wardell-Johnson, G. and Yates, C. and Keppel, G. and Baran, I. and Franklin, S. and Hopper, S. et al. 2014. Rapid characterisation of vegetation structure to predict refugia and climate change impacts across a global biodiversity hotspot. PLoS ONE. 9 (1): pp. e82778-1 - e82778-15.
    Source Title
    PLoS ONE
    DOI
    10.1371/journal.pone.0082778
    ISSN
    19326203
    Remarks

    This article is published under the Open Access publishing model and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Please refer to the licence to obtain terms for any further reuse or distribution of this work.

    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/40704
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Identification of refugia is an increasingly important adaptation strategy in conservation planning under rapid anthropogenic climate change. Granite outcrops (GOs) provide extraordinary diversity, including a wide range of taxa, vegetation types and habitats in the Southwest Australian Floristic Region (SWAFR). However, poor characterization of GOs limits the capacity of conservation planning for refugia under climate change. A novel means for the rapid identification of potential refugia is presented, based on the assessment of local-scale environment and vegetation structure in a wider region. This approach was tested on GOs across the SWAFR. Airborne discrete return Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data and Red Green and Blue (RGB) imagery were acquired. Vertical vegetation profiles were used to derive 54 structural classes. Structural vegetation types were described in three areas for supervised classification of a further 13 GOs across the region.Habitat descriptions based on 494 vegetation plots on and around these GOs were used to quantify relationships between environmental variables, ground cover and canopy height. The vegetation surrounding GOs is strongly related to structural vegetation types (Kappa = 0.8) and to its spatial context. Water gaining sites around GOs are characterized by taller and denser vegetation in all areas. The strong relationship between rainfall, soil-depth, and vegetation structure (R2 of 0.8–0.9) allowed comparisons of vegetation structure between current and future climate. Significant shifts in vegetation structural types were predicted and mapped for future climates. Water gaining areas below granite outcrops were identified as important putative refugia. A reduction in rainfall may be offset by the occurrence of deeper soil elsewhere on the outcrop. However, climate change interactions with fire and water table declines may render our conclusions conservative. The LiDAR-based mapping approach presented enables the integration of site-based biotic assessment with structural vegetation types for the rapid delineation and prioritization of key refugia.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Refugia: identifying and understanding safe havens for biodiversity under climate change
      Keppel, Gunnar; Van Niel, K.; Wardell-Johnson, Grant; Yates, C.; Byrne, M.; Mucina, Ladislav; Schut, Antonius; Hopper, S.; Franklin, S. (2011)
      Identifying and protecting refugia is a priority for conservation under projected anthropogenic climate change, because of their demonstrated ability to facilitate the survival of biota under adverse conditions. Refugia ...
    • Canopy profiling for vegetation mapping in South-Western Australian forested ecosystems
      Schut, Tom; Wardell-Johnson, Grant; Baran, I. (2012)
      Anthropogenic climate change is already impacting native vegetation world-wide. Thus accurate mapping of current vegetation condition is necessary for benchmarking and conservation planning. We examine the potential for ...
    • Assessing long-term change in rangeland ecological health using the Western Australian rangeland monitoring system
      Russell, Peter John (2007)
      The rangelands or semi-arid and arid regions of Western Australia occupy about 87 percent of the land area. Pastoral grazing of managed livestock, mainly sheep and cattle, occurs over much of this area, with an increasing ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.