<
https://theconversation.com/entire-hillsides-of-trees-turned-brown-this-summer-is-it-the-start-of-ecosystem-collapse-126107>
"The drought in eastern Australia was a significant driver of this
season’s unprecedented bushfires. But it also caused another, less well
known environmental calamity this summer: entire hillsides of trees
turned from green to brown.
We’ve observed extensive canopy dieback from southeast Queensland down
to Canberra. Reports of more dead and dying trees from other regions
across Australia are flowing in through the citizen science project, the
Dead Tree Detective.
A few dead trees are not an unusual sight during a drought. But in some
places, it is the first time in living memory so much canopy has died off.
Ecologists are now pondering the implications. There are warnings that
some Australian tree species could disappear from large parts of their
ranges as the climate changes. Could we be witnessing the start of
ecosystem collapse?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
