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Fieldwork
photos
S.H. Roxburgh
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A selection
of snaps from some of my current and past field-research activities
Subalpine Australia
The focus of my current research |
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Happy Jacks Plain, New South
Wales |
Snow gum woodland, Snowy High
Plains, NSW. |
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Grazing cattle, Snowy High
Plains, NSW |
Vegetation sampling, Snowy High
Plains, NSW |
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Woodland study site before
experimental burn. Dominant shrub is Bossiaea foliosa |
Woodland study site one week after
experimental burn. |
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Low-intensity grassland fire |
Alpine wolf spider with young (a
Wolfmother?). |
[Top]
Subtropical woodlands/open forests
(Injune, Queensland)
As part of the
Injune Landscape Study we have been measuring and modelling
carbon sequestration and loss within a landscape mosaic of diverse
open forest and woodland communities, subject to a range of
agricultural and forestry management practices [goto
ref]. Major dominants include Poplar box (Eucalyptus populnea),
white cypress pine (Callitris glaucophylla), and
Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla). |
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Poplar box woodland. |
White cypress pine open forest. |
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Soil-surface litter sampling |
Soil sampling |
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Poplar box - death by chaining |
Poplar box - death by herbicide |
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SE Australia temperate forests
(Kioloa & region)
This study was undertaken to examine the carbon
sequestration potential of tall temeprate forests in SE Australia,
that had been subject to prior logging [goto
ref] |
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Spotted gum (Corymbia maculata) forest regenerating
from prior logging |
Typical spotted gum (Corymbia
maculata)/rainforest mix, coastal NSW. |
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Spotted gum bark |
One of the locals |
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Forest floor vegetation dynamics (Namadgi National Park, ACT)
In this study we are exploring the
role of environmental fluctuations on plant species coexistence and
biodiversity maintenance using an herbaceous forest understory
community as a model system. The forest canopy is dominated by E.
viminalis and E.fastigata, but our study concentrates on
the species occupying the forest floor. |
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The forest understorey
community. |
The forest orchid
Chiloglottis gunnii. |
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A view of the forest community
before the 2003 bushfires... |
A view of the forest community
after the 2003 bushfires... |
Majura Field Firing Range, Canberra
Tony Winters conducted his honours research on the functional
responses of grassland species to combined disturbances of drought
and fire. This was one of our more exciting field sites... |
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 |
 |
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Who would have thought ecology could be
so dangerous... |
A view of the grassland |
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Blue Devil (Eryngium
rostratum) |
Australian Bindweed (Convolvulus erubescens) |
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The Otago University Botany Dept. Lawn, Dunedin, NZ.
Well, this is not the most exotic location to
do ecological research, but it has proven to be a useful model
system for exploring various aspects of plant community structure,
and is the community on which my PhD research was based [goto refs
1,
2, see also
Bastow Wilson's website]. I
include it here to show that we don't always have to travel into the
untamed wilderness to do our ecological research ... |
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The undisturbed lawn. The idea was to examine the stability of the
community by direct perturbation, and then compare its behaviour
with model predictions.
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Lawn following the application
of perturbation treatments. The shade treatment and the plots where
all plants were mechanically removed are visible |
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High alpine tundra succession (Old
Man Range, New Zealand)
As an undergraduate I contributed to an ongoing study, initiated
by Prof. Alan Mark at the Otago University Botany Dept, on
succession in high-alpine tundra vegetation on the Old Man Range in
Central Otago, New Zealand. In the 1970's a vehicle access road for
a television transmitter was built through the vegetation, however
the bulldozer driver was a bit keen, and made a runway instead, thus
providing the opportunity to study the recovery of the vegetation [goto
ref]. Since then regular monitoring has continued, and the
latest instalment has recently been published (Stewart Brown et
al. 2006. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 38: 325-334) |
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Old man Ra. summit soon after road excavations in 1974 |
Recovery of the vegetation as at
1986, with prominent re-growth of the tussock Poa
colensoi |
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