Establishing a climate‐ready revegetation trial in central Victoria – A case study. (17th August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McDonald, Garrick; Appleby, Matthew W.; Sime, Hayley; Radford, Julie; Hoffmann, Ary A.
• Is Part Of: Ecological management & restoration. Volume 22:Number 3(2021)
• Page Start: 256
• Page End: 265
• Publication Date: 2021-08-17
• Subjects: adaptation -- climate‐related dieback -- Eucalyptus melliodora -- Eucalyptus microcarpa -- Nardoo Hills reserve -- provenancing strategy -- restoration -- translocation; Ecosystem management -- Periodicals; Restoration ecology -- Periodicals; 577.05
• DOI: 10.1111/emr.12497
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1442-7001

Abstract

Summary: A promising approach in dealing with the detrimental effects of climate change on vegetation is to introduce pre‐adapted genotypes into restoration programmes. Bush Heritage's Victorian reserves have experienced eucalypt dieback probably due to intense drought and heat shock linked to climate change. Planned revegetation on the Nardoo Hills reserve provided an opportunity to establish and test the potential for new climate‐matched genotypes to expand the adaptive capacity of the plantings. As NRM practitioners, here we document our experiences in implementing this approach. Using the Climate Analogues tool and the Australasian Virtual Herbarium, we selected provenances from four climate analogue regions where remnants of our focal species, Grey Box ( Eucalyptus microcarpa ) and Yellow Box ( E. melliodora ), were located. Replicated plots were established covering five provenances for Grey Box and 5 provenances for Yellow Box with up to 10 'families' (mother trees) per provenance. Numerous challenges were encountered including locating suitable provenances, the design and scientific compromises associated with the experimental layout, sourcing of adequate seed from remote regions (especially drought affected) and high mortality during seedling establishment. Monitoring nine months after planting revealed not only high overall mortality (around 70%, probably due to drought conditions during establishment) but also significant differences in height between provenances and in mortality and height among families in both species. Despite the initial mortality, the nested design and level of replication applied in these plots appear adequate to test hypotheses about the value of climate matching and will continue to be monitored in the future.