Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Resilience of trees and the vulnerability of grasslands to climate change in temperate Australian wetlands

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Landscape Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

Observations from wetlands across the globe suggest a consistent pattern of woody encroachment into wetland grasslands, altering habitat structure and ecological function. The extent to which hydrological changes have contributed to woody invasion of wetland grasslands is unclear. Our objective was to compare rates of woody encroachment in Australian floodplain wetlands between wet and dry hydrological phases. We test the hypothesis that contraction of non-woody wetland vegetation (grasses and rushes) would be concentrated in dry phases, co-incident with recruitment of the River Red Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis lower in the floodplain.

Methods

We conduct the first detailed mapping of habitat change in two of the largest forested wetlands in inland Australia, comparing wet and dry hydrological phases. Detailed photogrammetry, supported by extensive ground survey, allowed the interpretation of high resolution aerial photography to vegetation community level.

Results

We found a consistent pattern of decline in non-woody vegetation, particularly amongst grasses utilising the C4 photosynthetic pathway. The C4 grasses Pseudoraphis spinescens and Paspalum distichum showed steep declines in the Barmah Millewa and Macquarie Marshes respectively, being replaced by River Red Gum E. camaldulensis. C3 sedges proved more resilient in both systems.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that a pattern of tree expansion into non-woody wetland vegetation, characteristic of wetlands across the globe, is a major habitat structural change in the Australian floodplain wetlands studied. Projected hydrological impacts of climate change are likely to further restrict wetland grass foraging habitat in these semi-arid floodplain wetlands.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arieira J, Padovani CR, Schuchmann KL, Landeiro VL, Santos SA (2018) Modeling climatic and hydrological suitability for an encroaching tree species in a Neotropical flooded savanna. For Ecol Manag 429:244–255

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbosa da Silva FH, Arieira J, Parolin P, Nunes da Cunha C, Junk WJ (2016) Shrub encroachment influences herbaceous communities in flooded grasslands of a neotropical savanna wetland. Appl Veg Sci 19:391–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Bart D, Davenport T, Yantes A (2016) Environmental predictors of woody plant encroachment in calcareous fens are modified by biotic and abiotic land-use legacies. J Appl Ecol 53:541–549

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg EE, Hillman KM, Dial R, DeRuwe A (2009) Recent woody invasion of wetlands on the Kenai Peninsula Lowlands, south-central Alaska: a major regime shift after 18,000 years of wet Sphagnum–sedge peat recruitment. Can J Forest Res 39:2033–2046

    Google Scholar 

  • Bino G, Sisson SA, Kingsford RT, Thomas RF, Bowen S (2015) Developing state and transition models of floodplain vegetation dynamics as a tool for conservation decision-making: a case study of the Macquarie Marshes Ramsar wetland. J Appl Ecol 52:654–664

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowen S, Powell M, Cox SJ, Simpson SL, Childs P (2011) Riverina red gum reserves mapping program: stage 1. NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowen S, Simpson SL (2008) Changes in extent and condition of the vegetation communities of the Macquarie Marshes floodplain 1991–2008. Report for the NSW Wetland Recovery Program. NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, Sydney

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowman DMJS (1998) The impact of Aboriginal landscape burning on the Australian biota. New Phytol 140:385–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowman DMJS, Riley JE, Boggs GS, Lehmann CER, Prior LD (2008) Do feral buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) explain the increase of woody cover in savannas of Kakadu National Park, Australia? J Biogeogr 35:1976–1988

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowman DMJS, Wood SW, Neyland D, Sanders GJ, Prior LD (2013) Contracting Tasmanian montane grasslands within a forest matrix is consistent with cessation of aboriginal fire management. Aust Ecol 38:627–638

    Google Scholar 

  • Braithwaite LW, Frith HJ (1969) Waterfowl in an inland swamp in New South Wales. 1. Habitat. CSIRO Wildlife Res 14:1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs JM, Knapp AK, Blair JM, Heisler JL, Hoch GA, Lett MS, Mccarron JK (2005) An ecosystem in transition: causes and consequences of the conversion of mesic grassland to shrubland. BioSciences 55:243–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Carol Adair E, Reich PB, Trost JJ, Hobbie SE (2011) Elevated CO2 stimulates grassland soil respiration by increasing carbon inputs rather than by enhancing soil moisture. Global Change Biol 17:3546–3563

    Google Scholar 

  • Catelotti K, Kingsford RT, Bino G, Bacon P (2015) Inundation requirements for persistence and recovery of river red gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) in semi-arid Australia. Biol Cons 184:346–356

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiew FHS, Young WJ, Cai W, Teng J (2011) Current drought and future hydroclimate projections in southeast Australia and implications for water resources management. Stoch Environ Res Risk A 25:601–612

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesterfield EA (1986) Changes in the vegetation of the river red gum forest at Barmah, Victoria. Aust For 49(1):4–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Colloff MJ, Ward KA, Roberts J (2014) Ecology and conservation of grassy wetlands dominated by spiny mud grass Pseudoraphis spinescens in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. Aquat Conserv 24:238–255

    Google Scholar 

  • CSIRO (2008) Water availability in the Murray-Darling Basin. A report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project. CSIRO, Canberra, p 67

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham SC, Thomson JR, Mac Nally R, Read J, Baker PJ (2011) Groundwater change forecasts widespread forest dieback across an extensive floodplain system. Freshw Biol 56(8):1494–1508

    Google Scholar 

  • Doody TM, Colloff MJ, Davies M, Koul V, Benyon RG, Nagler PL (2015) Quantifying water requirements of riparian river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia: implications for environmental water allocations. Ecohydrology 8:1471–1487

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorado-Rodrigues TF, Layme VMG, Silva FHB, Nunes da Cunha C, Strüssmann C (2015) Effects of shrub encroachment on the anuran community in periodically flooded grasslands of the largest Neotropical wetland. Aust Ecol 40:547–557

    Google Scholar 

  • Eamus D, Palmer AR (2008) Is climate change a possible explanation for woody thickening in arid and semi-arid regions? Int J Ecol. https://doi.org/10.1155/2007/37364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Favreau M, Pellerin S, Poulin M (2019) Tree encroachment induces biotic differentiation in Sphagnum-dominated bogs. Wetlands 39:841–852

    Google Scholar 

  • Fazey I, Proust K, Newell B, Johnson B, Fazey JA (2006) Eliciting the implicit knowledge and perceptions of on-ground conservation managers of the Macquarie Marshes. Ecol Soc 11:25

    Google Scholar 

  • Fensham RJ, Fairfax RJ, Archer SR (2005) Rainfall, land use and woody vegetation cover change in semi-arid Australian savanna. J Ecol 93:596–606

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamandawana H, Chanda R (2010) Natural and human dimensions of environmental change in the proximal reaches of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Geog J 176:58–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris RMB, Beaumont LJ, Vance TR, Tozer CR, Remenyi TA, Perkins-Kirkpatrick SE, Mitchell PJ, Nicotra AB, McGregor S, Andrew NR, Letnic M (2018) Biological responses to the press and pulse of climate trends and extreme events. Nat Clim Change 8:579

    Google Scholar 

  • Horner GJ, Baker PJ, Mac Nally R, Cunningham SC, Thomson JR, Hamilton F (2009) Mortality of developing floodplain forests subjected to a drying climate and water extraction. Global Change Biol 15:2176–2186

    Google Scholar 

  • Idso S (1992) Shrubland expansion in the American Southwest. Clim Change 22:85–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Iles J, Kelleway J, Kobayashi T, Mazumder D, Knowles L, Priddel D, Saintilan N (2010) Grazing kangaroos act as local recyclers of energy on semiarid floodplains. Aust J Zool 58:145–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson W, Wilson B, Robb J (1992) Vegetation survey of the Macquarie marshes. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Coonabarabran

    Google Scholar 

  • Junk WJ, Da Cunha CN (2012) Pasture clearing from invasive woody plants in the Pantanal: a tool for sustainable management or environmental destruction? Wetl Ecol Manag 20:111–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Mac Nally R, Cunningham SC, Baker PJ, Horner GJ, Thomson JR (2011) Dynamics of Murray-darling floodplain forests under multiple stressors: the past, present, and future of an Australian icon. Water Resour Res. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011WR010383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maestre FT, Bowker MA, Puche MD, Belén Hinojosa M, Martínez I, García-Palacios P, Castillo AP, Soliveres S, Luzuriaga AL, Sánchez AM, Carreira JA (2009) Shrub encroachment can reverse desertification in semi-arid Mediterranean grasslands. Ecol Lett 12:930–941

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maguire O, Armstrong RC, Benson JS, Streeter R, Paterson C, McDonald P, Salter N, East M, Webster M, Sheahan M, Young D (2012) Using high resolution digital aerial imagery interpreted in a 3-D digital GIS environment to map predefined plant communities in central-southern New South Wales. Cunninghamia 12(4):247–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin MR, Tipping PW, Sickman JO (2009) Invasion by an exotic tree alters above and belowground ecosystem components. Biol Invas 11:1883–1894

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayence CE, Marshall DJ, Godfree RC (2010) Hydrologic and mechanical control for an invasive wetland plant, Juncus ingens, and implications for rehabilitating and managing Murray River floodplain wetlands, Australia. Wetl Ecol Manag 18:717–730

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton BA, Holsten B, van Diggelen R (2006) Biodiversity management of fens and fen meadows by grazing, cutting and burning. Appl Veg Sci 9:307–316

    Google Scholar 

  • Misra R (1983) Indian savannas. In: Bourliere F (ed) Ecosystems of the world. Elsevier, New York, pp 151–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Nunes da Cunha C, Junk WJ (2004) Year-to-year changes in water level drive the invasion of Vochysia divergens in Pantanal grasslands. Appl Veg Sci 7:103–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of Environment and Heritage (2017) Vegetation information system: classification. http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/research/Visclassification.htm. Accessed 15 Oct 2017

  • Pellerin S, Lavoie M, Boucheny A, Larocque M, Garneau M (2016) Recent vegetation dynamics and hydrological changes in bogs located in an agricultural landsc. Wetlands 36:159–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Peng HY, Li XY, Li GY, Zhang ZH, Zhang SY, Li L, Chao GQ, Jiang ZY, Ma YJ (2013) Shrub encroachment with increasing anthropogenic disturbance in the semiarid Inner Mongolian grasslands of China. CATENA 109:39–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Polley HW, Mayeux HS, Johnson HB, Tischler CR (1997) Viewpoint: atmospheric CO2, soil water, and shrub/grass ratios on rangelands. J Range Manag 50:278–284

    Google Scholar 

  • Puckridge JT, Sheldon F, Walker KF, Boulton AJ (1998) Flow variability and the ecology of large rivers. Mar Freshw Res 49:55–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Quintana-Ascencio PF, Fauth JE, Castro Morales LM, Ponzio KJ, Hall D, Snyder K (2013) Taming the beast: managing hydrology to control Carolina Willow (Salix caroliniana) seedlings and cuttings. Rest Ecol 21:639–647

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers K, Wilton KM, Saintilan N (2006) Vegetation change and surface elevation dynamics in estuarine wetlands of southeast Australia. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 66:559–569

    Google Scholar 

  • Saintilan N, Rogers K (2015) Woody plant encroachment of grasslands: a comparison of terrestrial and wetland settings. New Phytol 205:1062–1070

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Saintilan N, Wilson NC, Rogers K, Rajkaran A, Krauss KW (2014) Mangrove expansion and salt marsh decline at mangrove poleward limits. Global Change Biol 20:147–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandi SG, Saco PM, Saintilan N, Wen L, Riccardi G, Kuczera G, Rodríguez JF (2019) Detecting inundation thresholds for dryland wetland vulnerability. Adv Water Resour 128:168–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Song XP, Hansen MC, Stehman SV, Potapov PV, Tyukavina A, Vermote EF, Townshend JR (2018) Global land change from 1982 to 2016. Nature 560:639

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Stine MB, Resler LM, Campbell JB (2011) Ecotone characteristics of a southern Appalachian Mountain wetland. CATENA 86:57–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Ummenhofer CC, England MH, McIntosh PC, Meyers GA, Pook MJ, Risbey JS, Gupta AS, Taschetto AS (2009) What causes southeast Australia’s worst droughts? Geophys Res Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL036801

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Auken OW (2009) Causes and consequences of woody plant encroachment into western North American grasslands. J Environ Manag 90:2931–2942

    Google Scholar 

  • van Dijk AI, Beck HE, Crosbie RS, de Jeu RA, Liu YY, Podger GM, Timbal B, Viney NR (2013) The millennium drought in southeast Australia (2001–2009): natural and human causes and implications for water resources, ecosystems, economy, and society. Water Resour Res 49:1040–1057

    Google Scholar 

  • Verdon DC, Wyatt AM, Kiem AS, Franks SW (2004) Multidecadal variability of rainfall and streamflow: eastern Australia. Water Resour Res 40:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Vivian LM, Godfree RC, Colloff MJ, Mayence CE, Marshall DJ (2014) Wetland plant growth under contrasting water regimes associated with river regulation and drought: implications for environmental water management. Plant Ecol 215:997–1011

    Google Scholar 

  • Wassens S, Ning N, Hardwick L, Bino G, Maguire J (2017) Long-term changes in freshwater aquatic plant communities following extreme drought. Hydrobiologia 799:233–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Watterson IG, Whetton PH (2011) Distributions of decadal means of temperature and precipitation change under global warming. J Geophys Res. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010jd014502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wen L, Saintilan N (2015) Climate phase drives canopy condition in a large semi-arid floodplain forest. J Environ Manag 159:279–287

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitaker K, Rogers K, Saintilan N, Mazumder D, Wen L, Morrison RJ (2015) Vegetation persistence and carbon storage: implications for environmental water management for Phragmites australis. Wat Resour Res 51:5284–5300

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson R (1992) Vegetation map of the Macquarie Marshes. Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW, Sydney

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Sara Karimi was supported by a Macquarie University research training fellowship. Mapping was funded by the NSW Wetland Recovery Plan and the NSW Rivers Environmental Restoration Program. Shannon Simpson contributed to aerial photograph interpretation for the Macquarie Marshes. Figure 1 was developed with the aid of the IAN Image and Video Library made available through the University of Maryland.

Funding

The funding was supported by Department of the Environment, Australian Government.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Neil Saintilan & Sara S. Karimi

  2. Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, New South Wales Government, Sydney, NSW, 2150, Australia

    Sharon Bowen, Li Wen & Megan Powell

  3. GreenCollar, 3 Hickson Rd, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Owen Maguire

  4. Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Matthew J. Colloff

  5. School of Engineering and Centre for Water Security and Environmental Sustainability, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia

    S. Sandi, P. Saco & J. Rodriguez

Authors
  1. Neil Saintilan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sharon Bowen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Owen Maguire
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sara S. Karimi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Li Wen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Megan Powell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Matthew J. Colloff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. S. Sandi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. P. Saco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. J. Rodriguez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Neil Saintilan.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 2061 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Saintilan, N., Bowen, S., Maguire, O. et al. Resilience of trees and the vulnerability of grasslands to climate change in temperate Australian wetlands. Landscape Ecol 36, 803–814 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01176-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01176-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation