Publications
Regeneration of seedlings around fragmented forests or along treelines can be slow. Once shelter is removed, there can be dramatic changes in microclimate over small scales. For snowgums (Eucalyptus pauciflora Sieb. ex Spreng) regenerating in sub alpine areas, there is an asymmetric pattern of regeneration (Ball et al 1991). This pattern correlated with an avoidance of early morning light and...
A number of species of frogs are confined to the Australian Alps. These include notably two species of Corroboree frog (Pseudophryne corroboree and P. pengilleyi), the Alpine Tree Frog (Litoria verreauxii) and the Baw Baw Frog (Philoria frosti). Three species, the Southern Corroboree Frog, Northern Corroboree Frog and the Baw Baw frog are found only in particularly wet and cool parts of the Alps...
It has been noted that a main problem faced is that actions taken are above people's heads, without asking the people: for example, when well-wishing foreigners create their own NGOs for the 'protection' of a country's people and valleys... These outsiders just involve a few people in their projects, so the rest of the people stay away. They just say: "There is an NGO at work, so why should...
Variation that took place at the terminus of some Karakorum glaciers (particularly the Baltoro glacier and the Liligo glacier) during the present century has been reconstructed using several methodologies. The two glaciers studied have shown different behaviors at the termini, at least regarding the rate of displacement. The Baltoro is one of the longest glaciers on the Earth, excluding Artic and...
The possible effects of enhanced greenhouse climate change have been wide debated in the general and scientific community. The current distribution of alpine and high country flora and fauna species, their current predicted climatic envelope determined using BIOCLIM and several scenarios of regional climate change developed by the CSIRO were utilized to develop scenarios for the alpine...
Some of the highest rates of global warming are occurring in high southern latitudes (ca. 0.25?C per decade, Jones 1988). The effect of this warming on the terrestrial vegetation is not yet fully understood. Using an altitudinal temperature gradient as an analogy to temperature change a study has been initiated with the aim of predicting the effects of climate warming on subantarctic Macquarie...
The high mountainous regions of the Western United States as well as the principal Alpine region of Southeastern Australia have provided snow-forming conditions which have been studied by many atmospheric scientists for more than four decades. The mesoscale condition under which snow is formed and is precipitated to the surface, are now well understood, as are the specific cold cloud conditions...
Climate change impacts on the spatial extent of snow cover in the Australian Alps are examined using the Galloway snow model and the latest Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) climate change scenarios. These scenarios take into account a range of quantifiable uncertainties associated with projecting climate change and thus allow for a range of possible future...
High-elevation ecosystems are predicted to be some of the terrestrial habitats most sensitive to climatic changes. However, the ecological consequences of changes in alpine environmental conditions, especially in alpine soils, are still unclear especially in Australia where little or no research has as yet been carried out. These ecosystems are composed of slow growing plants and soils which are...
A skier survey was undertaken in three ski resorts in New South Wales and possible response strategies of the Australian ski industry to climate change were investigated. The skier survey showed that climate change would have significant implications for the Australian snow resorts in terms of visitor numbers. It was shown that Australian ski resorts would lose 44 per cent of their skiers if...