News

For the residents of Richmond in Sydney’s western suburbs, the peculiar sight of cranes and other structures rising from their local woodland has become normal. But while the EucFACE experiment under way at TERN’s Cumberland Plains Supersite may be the norm for locals, it continues to draw attention from around the world with more and more people wanting to learn about the cutting-edge work occurring at the site.

The latest visitors to EucFACE were a BBC crew who are filming a documentary series about Australia. Ably guided by site spokesperson Professor David Ellsworth, the crew were given a comprehensive introduction to the EucFACE infrastructure and research at the site. They were even able to ‘get their hands dirty’, taking a ride in a canopy crane to assist David with leaf photosynthesis measurements in the forest canopy.

EucFACE, the Eucalyptus Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment experiment, is the work of a DIISRTE-funded consortium hosted by the Hawkesbury Institute of the Environment at the University of Western Sydney. The experimental installations allow researchers to enrich levels of carbon dioxide within plots in the eucalypt forest, thus enabling them to observe the impact of altered carbon dioxide levels on a range of ecosystem components. Currently, more than 40 researchers are involved in research projects at the EucFACE site.

The forthcoming three-part series from the BBC covers Australia’s social, political and environmental landscape. EucFACE will feature in coverage of Australia’s unique ecosystems and our approaches to managing them.

David will present preliminary findings from the EucFACE experiment at the TERN science symposium in February.

Published in TERN e-Newsletter January 2013