Biophysical response of a coastal woodland to extreme water deficit during a year of record-breaking heat

Global terrestrial and ocean surface temperatures continue to reach record levels, resulting in heat waves, drought, and prolonged heat stress experienced by vegetation in many regions. In 2023–2024, coastal terrestrial ecosystems in Western Australia were particularly affected, experiencing their driest and hottest summer since observations began in the early 1900s. Banksia woodlands are a threatened ecological community in this region that are endangered by the cumulative impacts of climate change, clearing and changing groundwater regimes, the last of which is strongly influenced by the dual use of groundwater resources by the ecosystem and by the ∼2 million people in the city of Perth. Within the banksia woodlands is a Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) long-term ecological observatory that has been measuring ecosystem phenology, groundwater levels and carbon, water and energy fluxes since 2011. The 11-year site records confirm 2023 rainfall was the lowest in the record. Groundwater monitoring showed an ∼1 m drop in 2023–2024 alone, in addition to a long-term reduction of ∼4 m in water table depth since observations began in 1977. The resulting extreme water deficits manifested in reduced ecosystem evapotranspiration and altered carbon flux dynamics. Phenocam imagery revealed the consequences of this water deficit at the site level through visible canopy dieback and shifts in vegetation greenness indices. Vegetation indices from remote sensing products showed widespread vegetation stress across the ecosystem range. Continued monitoring at local and regional scales with these combined methodologies will determine (a) how well the Banksia ecosystems are able to recover from this extreme climate event and (b) the ramifications for the carbon and water cycle of the region. This ecosystem is a sentinel of climate change, providing early insight into how ecosystem-climate interactions are altering globally

Biology · Climate change · Climatology · Heat wave · Woodland · Climate change and permafrost · Environmental Science · Ecology · Geology · Oceanography

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