NEWS FROM THE DAINTREE RAINFOREST

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NEWS FROM THE DAINTREERAINFOREST
Dr Mike Liddell Chemistry Department James
Cook University
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TWO STATION APPROACH

• Station 1 Cape Tribulation Based at the
  Australian Canopy Crane this station has been
  operating since 2001. Due to risk management
  decisions at JCU the station has been idle since
  June 2007 when tower access was removed for all
  JCU employees.In principle the Cape Trib station
  will restart later in February (or May!).

• Station 2 Cow BayBased at the Daintree
  Discovery Centre this station is currently under
  construction and is due to go operational in
  March 2008.

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THE LOCATIONS
Satellite ImageryCape Tribulation LANDSAT80m
resolution
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THE FOREST

• Pristine lowland rainforest at both
  stations.
• Complex Type 1A mesophyll vine forest
• Canopy height 25-35m dependant on
  topography/soils.
• Leaf area index Station 1 ? 4 (Amazon 8-10)

• High species diversity Station 1 88 tree
  spp. in 1 Ha.
• Moderate stand density Station 1 680
  stems gt10cm dbh in 1 Ha
• Significant species overlap between the
  two stations both in flora and fauna.

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TOPOGRAPHY

• Fetch both stations have relatively flat
  topographic features for around 1-2 km in the
  prevailing wind direction at each site.
• Behind both stations is an elevated Tablelands
  region which creates drainage flow at night.

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THE SITES

• The key question that we are looking for an
  answer for in this study Is there a measureable
  change in carbon, water or sensible heat fluxes
  that can be attributed to climate change
  perturbing the rainforest?
• Both sites are in complex terrain.
• Only daytime flux data will be used for
  long term analyses.

• Microclimate T essentially identicalStation 1
  wetter and less solar (pyran.)Station 2 drier
  and lower RH
• Soils Station 1 fertile clay-loam /
  colluvial gravels Station 2 deep basalt
  derived soils

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SOIL CHARACTERISTICS

• Cape Trib station water availability is likely
  to bea key driver of productivity in these
  seasonally dryrainforests. A sensor pit was dug
  initially by hand!

• Rock Soil ratio around 40

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FOREST PRODUCTIVITY

• Cape Trib station above ground
  productivity
• Dendrometry 171 trees have been banded.
• Litter 25 traps have been monitored fortnightly.

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ALLOMETRY

• Species specific allometric equations
  have been
  developed along with general species
  equations allowing
  calculation of site biomass 270
  t ha-1

• Detailed measurements of crown dimensions
  allows theforest architecture to be monitored
  quanititatively.

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PHENOLOGY

• Aim is to look for early warning signs of the
  Daintree rainforest being influenced by climate
  change by studying forest phenology.
• Long term project 10 years
• Select species will be chosen that have a
  sensitivity to extinction, along with pioneer
  species, iconic species and species of cultural
  significance (Kuku Yalanji).
• Around 700 900 trees will be monitored on
  amonthly basis using binoculars and traps.
• Site and species selection is currently underway
  using existing detailed soil and species maps.

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DISCOVERY CENTRE TOWER

• Daintree Discovery Centre located near Cow
  Bay pub, welcomed its 1 millionth visitor in
  2007.

• Tower 23m walk-up tower
  (3 abreast!)

• Mast 10m above the top platform

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RAINFALL
Annual average rainfall approx. 3900m.
Strongly seasonal 70 falls between December
and April.
The low rainfall in 2002 has happened only once
in the last 40 years - lt2500mm.- 2003 was a
repeat event! 2006 was 5944mm
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CARBON FLUXES
Station 1 Cape Tribulation Average values
of daytime carbon flux. (mmol/m2/s-1)
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CONCLUSIONS

• The carbon flux data indicates that this
  ecosystem is acting as a sink for carbon in
  years with normal wet and dry seasons.Where one
  of these periods has reduced precipitation the
  forest shifts to become a source of carbon.
• The Daintree region is predicted to have
  significantly longer and dryerdry seasons
  (CSIRO) indicating potential problems for the
  viability of this type of rainforest.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Prof. Steve Turton (ATFI)Dr Peter Franks
(JCU Botany)Dr Paul Nelson (JCU Earth
Sciences)Cassandra Nichols (JCU ACCRF)David
Blake (UQ)Nicolas Nieullet (ENGREF,
FRANCE)Otavio Campoe (UNESP, BRAZIL
) Australian Crane Research FacilityDick Cooper
(late), R. Rader, K. Goodall. Research
Assistants T. Shmueli, C. Fairweather,
T. Fischer Funding MTSRF, ARC (RIEF),
CRC-TREM State Government Premiers Dept. JCU
(Program, MRG) , Discovery Centre.