1. Subcon'nental-­‐scale
transects
for
assessing
and
monitoring
ecological
change:
the
Australian
Transect
Network
Alan
Andersen,
Nikki
Thurgate
and
Stefan
Caddie-­‐Retalic

2. Australian
Transect
Network
NATT
North
Australian
Tropical
Transect
SWATT
South
West
Australian
Transi>onal
Transect
BATS
Biodiversity
and
Adapta>on
TREND
Transect
Sydney
TRansect
for
ENvironmental
monitoring
and
Decision
making

3. Australian
Transect
Network
ATN
as
powerful
ecological
infrastructure
for:
•
Scaling-­‐up
from
local,
plot-­‐based
studies
•
Developing,
calibra>ng
and
valida>ng
ecological
models
and
remote
sensing
products
•
Iden>fying
sensi>ve
zones
in
rela>on
to
stress
and
disturbance

4. Australian
Transect
Network
Focal
ques'ons:
•
How
do
species
abundances,
composi>on,
richness
and
ecological
func>on
change
along
large-­‐scale
environmental
gradients?
•
Is
there
predictable
varia>on
in
ecosystem
resilience
in
rela>on
to
rainfall,
temperature
and
soil
type?
•
How
might
ecosystems
respond
to
climate
change?

5. Northern
Australian
Tropical
Transect
IGBP
–
GCTE
global
network
of
transects
Overarching
research
framework
of
responses
of
ecosystems
to
stress
(PAM,
AN)
and
disturbance
(fire,
grazing)

6. Australia’s
savanna
biome
• Ecologically
intact,
but
under
threat
• High
biodiversity
values
• 30%
terrestrial
carbon
stocks
• 3%
na'onal
GHG
emissions

7. Northern
Australian
Tropical
Transect
Mean
daily
rainfall
1500
mm
(mm)
DARWIN
10
Darwin
9
Katherine
8
Larimah
7
1250
mm
EllioQ
6
Tennant
1000
mm
5
4
3
750
mm
2
1
0
0
100
200
300
400
500
mm
Time
(d)
TENNANT
CREEK

8. Northern
Australian
Tropical
Transect
1500
mm
DARWIN
1250
mm
1000
mm
750
mm
500
mm
TENNANT
CREEK
Photos
by
Adam
Liedloff

9. Northern
Australian
Tropical
Transect
DARWIN
OzFlux
Towers
Super
Sites
0
TENNANT
CREEK

10. NATT
Focal
Areas
1.
Tree
dynamics
DARWIN
Overview
of
tree
growth
•
a
site
every
100
km
•
12
eucalypts
tagged
per
site
•
ini>al
measurements
2000
•
re-­‐measured
2012
TENNANT
CREEK

11. Tree
growth
along
NATT
Height
(for
tree
with
25
cm
dbh)
DBH
0.5
0.25
Height
increment
(m/yr)
DBH
increment
(cm/yr)
0.4
0.2
0.3
0.15
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.05
0
0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
Median
annual
rainfall
(mm)
G.
D.
Cook,
unpublished

12. NATT
Focal
Areas
1.
Tree
dynamics
18
1-­‐ha
plots
TWP
fire
experiment
•
2,200
trees
tagged
DARWIN
A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
A6
B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
B6
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
TENNANT
CREEK
C6

13. NATT
Focal
Areas
1.
Tree
dynamics
TWP
fire
experiment
•
2,200
trees
tagged
DARWIN
Kidman
Springs
•
500
trees
to
be
tagged
Henbury
•
500
trees
to
be
tagged
TENNANT
CREEK

14. NATT
Focal
Areas
2.
Carbon
stocks
and
fluxes
Tree
cover
1.2
1
0.8
Sand
0.6
Loam
0.4
0.2
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Tree
carbon
stocks
–
above
ground
Tree
carbon
stocks
–
below
ground
5
8
log Biomass (kg)
4
6
log root biomass (kg/m2)
3
4
2
2 1
0
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
0 1 2 3 4 5
-1
log DBH (cm) log tree DBH (cm)

15. NATT
Focal
Areas
2.
Carbon
stocks
and
fluxes
•
LiDAR
•
Integra>on
with
flux-­‐tower
measurements
Collabora'ng
ins'tu'ons:
•
CDU
(Hutley
and
Maier)
•
Max
Planck
(Levick)

16. Spider
abundance
along
NATT
NATT
Focal
Areas
3.
Biodiversity
Clay Loam Sand
50
40
30 Lycosidae
20
10
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
50
40
30 Zodariidae
20
10
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Rainfall

17. Compara>ve
focal
taxon
for
ith
increasing
tudies
Ants
as
a
ant
richness
w biodiversity
s aridity
Plot
(1
ha)
richness
120
100
80
No. species
Sand
60
Loam
40
20
0
1500 1250 1000 750 500
Annual rainfall (mm)
Arid
Tropical

18. Ant
biogeographic
discon>nui>es
Plot
richness
120
100
80
No. species
Sand
60
Loam
40
20
0
1500 1250 1000 750 500
Annual rainfall (mm)
Mesic
Semi-­‐arid
Arid

19. Ant
species
distribu'on
modelling
in
rela'on
to
climate
change
U.S.
Fulbright
PhD
scholar
Israel
Del
Toro,
University
of
Amherst

21. Detec>ng
ecosystem
changes
over
>me:
implica>ons
for
the
future
Hop
Bush
Orchids
leaves
flowering
20
narrowing
days
earlier
than
over
>me
20
years
ago

22. Current
and
predicted
future
species
distribu>ons
Climate
resilient
and
sensi>ve
Now
communi>es
2050

23. Policy
outcome:
Weighted
benefit
maps
for
policy
and
land
management
decision
makers

24. Connec>ng
the
public
to
research
is
a
TREND
priority.
This
should
be
a
two-­‐way
dialogue.

25. Trans-­‐Australian
Transect
NATT
TREND

26. Distribu'on
of
dominant
eucalypts
in
rela'on
to
rainfall
120
Summer-­‐dominant
rain
100
80
60
Rainfall
seasonality
40
20
0
100
1000
-­‐20
-­‐40
-­‐60
-­‐80
Winter-­‐dominant
rain
-­‐100
Rainfall
(mm:
log
scale)
Cook
and
Liedloff,
unpublished

27. Australian
Transect
Network
Ecological
infrastructure
•
Data
•
Regression
models
•
Long-­‐term
monitoring
for
enhanced
ecosystem
understanding
and
management