GlobalWarming & ClimateChange News Desk – The study shows how trees “survive and thrive” in different climates. Researchers looked at more than 300 tree species between Gladstone and Ballina.

University of Queensland researchers say that the study could show how rainforests will react to climate change

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What’s next?

Researchers say the study can be used to make future predictions about what rainforests will look like in a warmer future.

A study of 25,000 trees could show how rainforests will respond to a warming climate, researchers say.

University of Queensland PhD. Candidate Julian Radford-Smith has spent the past two years studying the wood density, leaf size, k other “traits” of more than 300 tree species between Ballina and Gladstone.

He said these traits illustrated how the trees “use light and water” to “survive and thrive” in subtropical rainforests depending on climate. 

His PhD. 9supervisor, Associate Professor John Dwyer, said the research told us why trees grow where they do.

“It can inform what might happen to these species under climate change,”

Dr. Dwyer said.I

“We can go — if the climate is going to change, where do we expect these species to grow? Not just based on some association that dry things grow in dry places and wet things grow in wet places.”

More than 45 plots were used during the four-year study.  (Supplied: Julian Radford-Smith)normal

Covering new ground

At night, Mr Radford-Smith would pour over topographical maps of Queensland and northern New South Wales looking for the perfect site.

“Even if it meant hiking for a day to get to these sites, it didn’t matter,” he said.

Julian Radford-Smith tried to find places other botanists have not surveyed. (Supplied: Julian Radford-Smith)normal

In some cases, there were no tracks, with Mr Radford-Smith scrapping through dense bush or scrambling up rocky inclines.

They kept a light load, bringing just tapes to measure out the plots and large callipers to measure the diameter of trunks.

Julian Radford-Smith measured the width of tree trunks growing in the plots.  (Supplied: Julian Radford-Smith)normal

Once on site, they laid out multiple 25 x 25-metre plots in more than 45 locations, painstakingly identifying trees, measuring their size, and placing branch and leaf samples in a solar powered fridge.

Researchers used binoculars to identify trees.  (Supplied: Julian Radford-Smith)normal

It was tough but rewarding work, Mr Radford-Smith said, often starting at dawn and finishing once light was too low to identify species.

On trips he was joined by Dr Dwyer or an assistant, collecting samples of wood density and leafs to bring back to a lab in Brisbane.

The study involved collecting samples in the field to bring back to the lab.  (Supplied: Julian Radford-Smith )normal

On one trip to Mount Coulson, about 60 kilometres south of Gladstone, Dr Radford-Smith noticed a tree with smooth, “salmon-tinged” bark and bright pink new growth.

The tree — a Backhousia, the same genus as lemon myrtle — has been confirmed by the Queensland Herbarium as an “undescribed species.”

A new species of Backhousia was discovered during the study. 

He said going to areas where few people, let alone botanists, had been over the past century was a unique experience.

“It was almost a treasure hunt for me to go to these unknown locations and set up my plots,” he said.

Under appreciated forests at risk

Dr Dwyer said while there was public understanding and appreciation of some of the region’s wetter rainforests, lesser known but equally important forests are at risk.

He said dry rainforests — called “the Australian oxymoron” — have been heavily affected by logging, invasive weeds, kland cattle grazing. 

However, some remain in excellent condition such-and-such in as in Nangur National Park, north of Goomeri.

These underappreciated parks really are “very special places that very few people are even aware of,” he said.

8Dr John Dwyer said some rainforests are more at risk than others from climate change.  (Supplied: Julian Radford-Smith)normal

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Dr. Dwyer said the research was vital as it gave scientists a better understanding of “how trees earn a living in their respective environments,” no matter how much public interest was in the area.

“We can link the strategies of trees to where they have occurred,” Dr Dwyer said.

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