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Project summary:
This is the vascular-plant-monitoring component of the FT “icon” project: Mount Weld Altitudinal Transect Ecotonal and Baseline Altitudinal Monitoring Plots (BAMPs), which is itself a long term ecological research program monitoring distributional change in vegetation and fauna along an altitudinal gradient on Mount Weld.
Most vascular plant species are at the limit of their distribution within this zone, which is co-incident with the frequent presence of the cloud base. Any rise in the cloud base associated with global warming is likely to considerably alter environmental conditions, potentially impacting on species at their altitudinal limits in this zone. The vegetation is strongly associated with altitude and fire history. Change in vegetation is not continuous along the altitudinal gradient, and is most dramatic between 700m and the treeline at about 1000-1100m.
These baseline data will be available for comparison with data collected in future decades and as such may provide interesting information in the advent of significant climate change, particularly its effects on the higher altitude zones.
Methodology: Not available
Datasets: None available.
Publications: Doran, N.E., Balmer, J., Driessen, M., Bashford, R., Grove, S., Richardson, A.M.M., Griggs, J. & Ziegeler, D. (2003). Moving with the times: baseline data to gauge future shifts in vegetation and invertebrate altitudinal assemblages due to environmental change. Organisms, Diversity and Evolution 3(2): 127-149.
Grove, S.J. (2004). Warra – Mount Weld altitudinal transect ecotonal and baseline altitudinal monitoring plots (BAMPs): establishment report. Technical Report no 17/2004. Forestry Tasmania, Hobart.
Powledge, F. (2002). A look back at the International Biodiversity Observation Year. BioScience 52: 1070-1079.
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