SuperSites

Robson Creek Rainforest SuperSite

TERN’s Robson Creek Rainforest SuperSite is on the Atherton Tablelands, in Danbulla National Park, within the Wet Tropics World Heritage area. With a tropical monsoon climate the rainfall is seasonal with approximately 60% falling between January and March. The landform is moderately inclined with a low relief. The plot is situated at approximately 720m above sea level and immediately to the north of the site the Lamb Range rises sharply to 1276 m. The vegetation is classified as a mix of complex mesophyll, and simple notophyll vine rainforest on granite and meta-sediment with a mean canopy height of 25-30 m. The traditional owners in this area are the Tableland Yidinji People.

Explore the Robson Creek Rainforest SuperSite with our interactive Walkthrough here.

Site Infrastructure & Characteristics

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SuperSite Research Infrastructure
  • Eddy-covariance flux tower
  • 1 ha core plot
  • 25 ha forest dynamics plot
  • Weather station
  • Acoustic sensors (5)
  • Phenocams (3 above canopy)
  • Sap flow system
  • Soil water content, soil water potential, soil temperature sensors
  • COSMOS soil moisture sensor
  • Airborne LiDAR and hyperspectral datasets calibrated using SLATS star transects, leaf sampling, tree structure and LAI measurements
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SuperSite Details
  • Vegetation type: Simple Notophyll Vine Forest
  • Elevation: ~700 m
  • Rainfall: ~2236 mm/yr
  • Mean Temperature: ~19.4°C
  • Soils: Acidic, dystrophic, brown dermosol, developed in alluvium

Site Research

Research using the Robson Creek Rainforest SuperSite aims to answer these key questions:

The Robson Creek Rainforest SuperSite’s 25 ha vegetation survey plot has been set up for inclusion in the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Center for Tropical Forest Science – Forest Global Earth Observatory (CTFS-ForestGEO) global network of forest research plots. This network is dedicated to the study of tropical and temperate forest function and diversity.

Featured Dataset

This dataset consists of measurements of the exchange of energy and mass between the surface and the atmospheric boundary-layer in tropical forest using eddy covariance techniques.

More Datasets

Site Partners

Research Publications

Since its inception, TERN’s infrastructure has enabled the publication of more than 1600 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles or books.