Lead Investigator: Dr Hannah Carle (WSU)

Co-Investigators: Associate Professor Paul Rymer (WSU), PhD Candidate Chaminda Alahakoon (WSU), Laura White (DCCEEW)

Project Summary: Restoration practitioners increasingly advocate for climate-adjusted provenancing to support climate resilience of local restoration plantings, by co-mixing or sourcing seed from warmer-drier locations. However, this approach is yet to be tested in a field setting.

RECLIM brings together 20 diverse groundcover species found in Cumberland Plain Woodlands, for direct seeding into restoration-style, mixed species plots. Seeds were collected locally (from the Cumberland Plain) and, for a subset of 8 grass species, also from the Hunter (warmer) and Kerrabee (warmer, drier) IBRA subregions of the Sydney Basin. Our seed collections capture much of the climatic variation found in the Sydney Basin, as well as capturing an array of plant functional diversity and species climate niches.

These 24 plots will be subjected to fully factorial climate manipulations: ambient versus +3-5°C warming (2090 business-as-usual emissions scenario) and well-watered versus water-limited (moderate chronic drought) treatment, with six replicates each.

Phase 1 of the experiment will focus on seedling emergence and fecundity (PhD Chaminda Alahakoon).

Phase 2 of the experiment will focus on canopy greenness (automated image capture using phenocams) and plant physiological measures of water and temperature stress (Dr Hannah Carle).

Phase 3 of the experiment will be supported by an incumbent PhD student and may follow community composition dynamics through time. Soil carbon and microbial responses will also be characterized in response to the climate treatments.

This experiment enables us to extend questions about the predictors of species sensitivity to climate change drivers (heat and drought) and provides an explicit test of whether climate-adjusted provenancing works.