3 Melbourne School of Land and Environment Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science

Paul has a research background in plantation hydrology and salinity, having examined the processes of tree growth and water use by plantation trees in shallow, saline groundwater areas. He also manages a project investigating the relationships between climate, soil and the growth of farm forestry tree species in Victoria . Paul has also contributed to work on soil amelioration of the soil under radiata pine plantations irrigated with paper mill effluent, and still conducts research on the effects of salinity on the growth of field grown plantation trees. More recently, Paul has undertaken modelling studies to quantify the impacts of the 2003 bushfires on water quality in fire-affected catchments of eastern Victoria . He is currently modelling the changes in evapotransipiration and streamflow of forested catchments following bushfire, and due to climate change. Paul is also using a process based model (3PG/CAT) to investigate the impacts of plantations and reafforestation on catchment water balances.

PhD ( Monash University )

Master of Science (Hydrogeology & Environmental Science) (The University of Melbourne)

Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Hons) (The University of Melbourne )

Current and recent research interests

• Examining the effects of climate and soil on the growth of Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens for farm forestry - field studies and modelling
  
• Quantifying the effects of soil salinity on the growth and development of field-grown plantation trees
  
• Modelling the impact of the bushfires on sediment and nutrient loads in catchment
  
• Quantifying and modelling changes in catchment water balance following disturbance (logging and fire) and climate change in forested catchments
  
• Process-based modelling of the impacts of plantations and reafforestation on catchment water balances

Forests and Water Research Group Webpage

Selected recent publications:

Miehle, P., Battaglia, M., Sands, P., Forrester, D., Feikema, P., Livesley, S., Morris, J. and Arndt, S.  2009. A comparison of four process-based models and a statistical regression model to predict growth of Eucalyptus globulus plantations . Ecological Modelling 220: 734-746.

Feikema P., Beverly, C., Morris, J., Collopy, J. Baker, T. and Lane P.N.J. 2008. Predicting and managing the impacts of commercial plantations on catchment water balances. Forest and Wood Products Australia. Project number: PN04.4009. pp 64. ISBN: 978-1-920883-38-6. http://www.fwpa.com.au/Resources/RD/Reports/PN04_4009_impact_of_comm_plantations.pdf

Feikema, P.M., Beverly, C.R., Morris, J.D., Collopy, J.J., Baker, T.G. and Lane, P.N.J. 2007. Predicting the impacts of plantations on catchment water balances using the 3PG forest growth model. In Oxley, L. and Kulasiri, D. (eds) MODSIM 2007 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation. Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, December 2007, Chrischurch, NZ. pp. 2237-2243. ISBN : 978-0-9758400-4-7.
http://www.mssanz.org.au/modsim07/papers/41_s34/PredictingTheImpact_s34_Feikema_.pdf

Lane, P.N.J., Feikema, P.M., Sherwin, C.B., Peel, M.C. and Freebairn, A. 2007. Physically-based prediction of water yield from disturbed forested water supply catchments. In Oxley, L. and Kulasiri, D. (eds) MODSIM 2007 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation. Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, December 2007, Chrischurch, NZ. pp. 2953-2959. ISBN : 978-0-9758400-4-7.
http://www.mssanz.org.au/MODSIM07/papers/53_s52/Physically-baseds52_Lane_.pdf

Grant, D.A., Feikema, P.M., Beverly, C.R., Baker, T.G. and Laffan, M.D. 2007. Plant Available Water in the 3-PG Forest Growth Model. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Forest Soils and Ecosystem Health, Xu,Z., Johnson, C.E., Chen, C. and Blumfield, T.J. (eds), Noosa, Australia. August 19-23, 2007. pp 39-41. ISBN 978-1-921291-16-6.

Feikema P.M., Lane P.N.J. and Sherwin C.B. 2007. Hydrological studies into the impact of timber harvesting on water yield in state forests supplying water to Melbourne – Part 2 of Hydrological Studies (Climate change and Bushfire).  eWater report to Department of Sustainability and Environment. pp 61.

Feikema P.M., Lane P.N.J., Peel M.C., Sherwin C.B., Freebairn A., Salkin O. 2006.   Hydrological studies into the impact of timber harvesting on water yield in state forests supplying water to Melbourne – Part 1 of Hydrological Studies.  eWater report to Department of Sustainability and Environment. pp 119.

Miehle P., Livesley S.J., Feikema P.M., Li C., Arndt S.K. (2006) Assessing productivity and carbon sequestration capacity of Eucalyptus globulus plantations using the process model Forest-DNDC: Calibration and validation. Ecological Modelling 192: 83-94

Miehle P., Livesley S.J., Li C., Feikema P.M., Adams, M.A., Arndt S.K. (2006) Quantifying uncertainty from large scale model predictions of forest carbon dynamics. Global Change Biology 12: 1421-1434

Feikema, P., Sheridan, G., Argent, R. Lane, P., and Grayson, R. 2006. Modelling the impacts of the 2003 bushfires on water quality in catchments in Victoria and New South Wales. Research Report for the Bushfire Recovery Program. University of Melbourne, Coooperative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology.

Feikema, P.M., G.J. Sheridan, R.M. Argent, P.N.J. Lane and R.B. Grayson (2005) Using E2 to Model The Impacts Of Bushfires On Water Quality In South-Eastern Australia. In Zerger, A. and Argent, R.M. (eds) MODSIM 2005 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation. Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, December 2005, pp. 170-176. ISBN: 0-9758400-2-9. http://www.mssanz.org.au/modsim05/papers/feikema.pdf

Feikema, P., Sheridan, G., Lane, P., Argent, R. and Grayson, R. 2005. Modelling the impacts of bushfires on water quality in the Gippsland Lakes catchments. Research Report for the Bushfire Recovery Program. University of Melbourne, Coooperative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology.

Feikema, P.M., Baker, T.G. and Stackpole, D.J. 2005. Effects of salinity on field grown E ucalyptus camaldulensis, E. globulus and E. grandis. Proceedings of the International Salinity Forum. Managing Saline Soils and Water: Science, Technology, and Social Issues. Riverside, California, USA. 25-28 April 2005.

Marcar, N., Bird, R., Feikema, P., Taylor, P. and Dale, G. 2005. Quantifying growth responses of tree species to soil salinity in southern Australia. Proceedings of the International Salinity Forum. Managing Saline Soils and Water: Science, Technology, and Social Issues. Riverside, California, USA. 25-28 April 2005.

Feikema, P. and Morris, J. 2004. Estimating the potential carbon store of woody vegetation in saline areas. In: Proceedings of the Conference "Salinity Solutions: Working with Science and Society", 2-5 August 2004, Bendigo, Victoria, Eds: Ridley A, Feikema P, Bennet S, Rogers MJ, Wilkinson R and Hirth J, (CRC for Plant-Based Management of Dryland Salinity: Perth ) CD ROM.

Feikema, P.M., Sasse, J. and Bandara, G. 2003. Chloride Uptake and Biomass Partitioning in Hybrid Eucalypts Grown on Saline Sites. Salinity Under the Sun - investing in prevention and rehabilitation of salinity in Australia. 9 th PUR$L National Conference, 29 September-2October 2003, Yeppoon, Queensland.

Feikema, P.M., Baker, T.G., Duncan, M.J. and Morris, J. 2002. Understanding the effects of site factors on growth of Eucalyptus globulus farm plantations in north-eastern Victoria. EUCPROD 2002: International Conference on Eucalypt Productivity. 10-15 November 2002, Hobart, Tasmania, p.13.

Vertessy, R., Connell, L., Morris, J., Silberstein, R., Heuperman, A., Feikema, P., Mann, L., Komarzynski, M., Collopy, J. and Stackpole, D. 2000. RIRDC Project CSI-3A: Sustainable hardwood production in shallow watertable areas. A report for the RIRDC/LWRRDC/FWPRDC Joint Venture Agroforestry Program. RIRDC Publication No. 00/163. 105 pp. ISBN 0 642 58193