Potential Student Projects - Steve Livesley
The following projects may be used to fulfil the requirements of the Master of Forest Ecosystem Science Forest Research Project or an Honours project. Contact Steve directly to find out more about these projects.The Carbon Cost or Benefit of Australian Street Trees
Background
Street trees provide various important ecosystem services to the urban environment: i) shading and cooling of walkways, amenity areas and buildings, ii) carbon sequestration, iii) mental health and well-being, iv) biodiversity and habitat provision. A wide variety of tree species are grown in Australian streetscapes; from the smaller Australian melaleuca, European birch and cherry, to larger European plane, elm and Australian eucalypt and grevillea species. Depending upon the growth environment (climate, soil type, rooting volume) different tree species will require different nursery preparation, establishment support and ongoing maintenance to persist through the summer droughts and high temperatures of an urban streetscape. The different modes of establishment and maintenance carry different associated carbon costs according to the materials and chemicals used and the transport and activities required. Furthermore, different tree species will have different rates of physical carbon sequestration according to growth rate, size, wood density, deciduous / evergreen and tree physiology (net respiration / photosynthesis balance).Approach
This project proposes to: 1) establish total carbon sequestered within urban street trees in one local government authority (LGA) of Melbourne, and 2) rank street tree species in that LGA according to their net C benefit from both their biophysical characteristics and maintenance requirements.
Most LGA in Melbourne have detailed location (GIS), age, maintenance and inventory information for their urban street trees. We will work collaboratively with Boroondarra, Yarra, Stonnington or Melbourne City LGA.
The research student will:
• establish street tree numbers, age and location from the LGA, and
• research street tree allometry from the scientific literature,
• perform additional street tree inventory measurements where necessary,
From this desktop study and further inventory measurement the research student will be able to accurately estimate the C sequestration benefit of urban street trees within that LGA.
LGA workers and nursery staff will be interviewed to determine the establishment and maintenance requirements of key street tree species. A simple cost-benefit analysis will be then performed to rank key urban street tree species according to their net carbon benefit (50 year) and to identify at what age a certain tree species becomes a net carbon benefit.
Greenhouse gas benefits and ecosystem function of remnant woodlands in an agricultural landscape bordering Western Port Bay
Background
Bordering Western Port Bay are remnant patches of the natural woodland transition (Melaleuca ericifolia woodland > saltmarsh > mangrove woodland) that: i) protect the bay from agricultural nutrient inputs, ii) have adapted to the tidal saltwater environment, and iii) are likely to have a small greenhouse gas footprint as compared to adjacent agriculture. Similarly, the remnant patches of taller eucalypt forest (E. radiata, E. obilqua, E. viminalis) along the Mornington Peninsula ridge are likely to have tighter nutrient cycling and less greenhouse gas emissions than the horticulture and viticulture land-uses they have been cleared for that receive intensive nutrient management. Both these upper and lower remnant woodlands are under continued pressure from agriculture and horticulture and from urban and industrial development.Approach
The project proposed is to seasonally measure (x4) the contrasting soil conditions (pH, EC, redox, NO3, NH4, C, N, water content), nutrient cycling (net nitrification, net ammonification, litter decomposition) and the non-CO2 greenhouse gas flux (N2O and CH4) along a catena transect from the tall eucalypt forests to the mangrove woodlands. The replicated catena transect will measure in six of the major ecosystems of the Mornington peninsula: i) the tall eucalypt forest, ii) vineyards, iii) cattle grazed land iv) Melaleuca ericifolia woodland, v) salt-marsh, and vi) mangrove.• Understanding how these contrasting soils function will assist in their protective and restorative management now and under a changing climate of warmer temperatures and rising sea levels.
• Understanding the emissions and uptake of these potent greenhouse gases (N2O and CH4) will assist in identifying land-uses that require monitoring and better management, and assist in the development of region-wide greenhouse gas inventories.