TERN’s Wombat Stringybark Eucalypt SuperSite is in the Wombat State Forest, near Ballarat, Victoria. The site’s 35 m tall flux tower was installed in 2010 with the overarching aim of investigating the impacts of climate change and disturbances, such as fire and drought, on the dry sclerophyll eucalypt forests in southeast Australia.
In addition to a core flux tower there are three satellite sites within a one km radius of the tower. The satellite sites have additional infrastructure that reduces rainfall at them by 40% to simulate drought conditions and allow studies of ecosystem responses. The Dja Dja Wurrung peoples are the traditional owners at Wombat.
Soils: Acidic-mottled, Dystrophic, Yellow Dermosol
Experimental plots at the Wombat SuperSite with rainfall reduction treatments are being used to study the effect of rainfall reduction and drought on the carbon and greenhouse gas cycles. These experimental approaches will allow a better understanding of the processes that control the carbon and greenhouse gas balance in the dry eucalypt forest systems in Australia. Therefore, researchers will be able to make a prediction of how changes in our climate will influence the carbon exchange processes in forests, and the vulnerabilities of these forests with regard to their carbon balance.
Since its inception, TERN’s infrastructure has enabled the publication of more than 1600 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles or books.
Physical & Mail Address
The University of Queensland
Long Pocket Precinct
Level 5, Foxtail Building #1019
80 Meiers Road
Indooroopilly QLD 4068 Australia
TERN is supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, NCRIS.
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We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations.
We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
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