Research in this area takes two approaches. The first is the experimental simulation of climate change to elucidate the mechanisms whereby climate change is altering ecosystem structure and function. Our main research project involves the TasFACE climate change impacts facility at Pontville, in which the impacts of elevated CO2 concentration and global warming on a native grassland are being investigated. This is the only such experiment in any Australian ecosystem and one of only a few in the world. The second approach is by using a fossil record stretching back 65 million years to determine how ecosystems have responded to past changes in climate.
Contact: Mark.Hovenden@utas.edu.au