Tasmania’s tall eucalypt forests are globally significant because of their exceptional growth rates, tree height and the quantity of carbon they store. These values were recognised in the listing of the Minor Extension to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in 2013. Recent discoveries from monitoring of tall forest within the TWWHA, found the forest to be very vulnerable to climate change. Monitoring data from the Warra SuperSite – a member site of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network – shows the forest switches from being a carbon sink to become a carbon source during heatwaves. This response to heatwaves has profound consequences for the many values provided by tall eucalypt forests, both within the TWWHA, and Tasmania more generally. There is a pressing need to develop effective adaptation responses that will help ensure future generations of tall eucalypt forests will be better suited to the new climate
Citation: Wardlaw, T.J. (2024) Giants under threat. The vulnerability of Tasmania’s tall eucalypt forests to a warming climate. Technical Report, Climate Futures, University of Tasmania, and Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network.
