Fields of Research

Global change biology
Plant physiology
Terrestrial ecology
Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation
Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology)
Carbon sequestration science
Forestry management and environment
Agronomy
Tree nutrition and physiology
Ecosystem function
Genetics
Ecological physiology
Soil biology
Plant biology
Sustainable agricultural development
Crop and pasture biochemistry and physiology
Evolutionary biology
Palaeoecology
Biological oceanography
Horticultural crop growth and development
Plant and fungus systematics and taxonomy
Other environmental sciences
Fish pests and diseases
Phycology (incl. marine grasses)
Ecological applications
Landscape ecology
Conservation and biodiversity
Palaeoclimatology
Agro-ecosystem function and prediction
Crop and pasture nutrition
Environmental rehabilitation and restoration
Biogeography and phylogeography
Farm management, rural management and agribusiness
Architectural science and technology
Environmental law
Agricultural land management
Microbial ecology
Environment and resource economics
Crop and pasture biomass and bioproducts
Agricultural systems analysis and modelling
Evolutionary impacts of climate change
Surface water hydrology
Soil chemistry and soil carbon sequestration (excl. carbon sequestration science)
Palaeontology (incl. palynology)
Forest biodiversity
Greenhouse gas inventories and fluxes

Research Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences
Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences
Ecosystem adaptation to climate change
Climate change adaptation measures (excl. ecosystem)
Terrestrial biodiversity
Social impacts of climate change and variability
Native forests
Pasture, browse and fodder crops
Sown pastures (excl. lucerne)
Hardwood plantations
Rehabilitation or conservation of terrestrial environments
Global effects of climate change (excl. Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and the South Pacific) (excl. social impacts)
Evaluation, allocation, and impacts of land use
Other environmental management
Soils
Climate change mitigation strategies
Effects of climate change on Australia (excl. social impacts)
Assessment and management of freshwater ecosystems
Other plant production and plant primary products
Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems
Assessment and management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems
Atmospheric composition (incl. greenhouse gas inventory)
Control of pests, diseases and exotic species in marine environments
Wheat
Fisheries - aquaculture
Pome fruit, pip fruit
Understanding climate change
Management of greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing activities
Environmentally sustainable plant production
Environmentally sustainable animal production
Integration of farm and forestry
Management of greenhouse gas emissions from animal production
Energy services and utilities
Control of pests, diseases and exotic species in terrestrial environments
Expanding knowledge in the agricultural, food and veterinary sciences
Marine biodiversity
Air quality
Management of greenhouse gas emissions from plant production
Terrestrial systems and management
Management of gaseous waste from animal production (excl. greenhouse gases)
Native and residual pastures
Climate variability (excl. social impacts)

Career Best Publications

Globally consistent influences of seasonal precipitation limit grassland biomass response to elevated CO₂; Nature Plants
Partitioning direct and indirect effects reveals the response of water-limited ecosystems to elevated CO₂; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Predicting soil carbon loss with warming; Nature
Seasonal not annual rainfall determines grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide; Nature
Selective grazing modifies previously anticipated responses of plant community composition to elevated CO₂ in a temperate grassland; Global Change Biology
Simple additive effects are rare: a quantitative review of plant biomass and soil process responses to combined manipulations of CO₂ and temperature; Global Change Biology
The impacts of rising CO₂ concentrations on Australian terrestrial species and ecosystems; Austral Ecology
Warming and free-air CO₂ enrichment alter demographics in four co-occurring grassland species; New Phytologist
Warming has a larger and more persistent effect than elevated CO₂ on growing season soil nitrogen availability in a species-rich grassland; Plant and Soil
Warming prevents the elevated CO₂-induced reduction in available soil nitrogen in a temperate, perennial grassland; Global Change Biology

Research Publications

A meta-analysis of 1,119 manipulative experiments on terrestrial carbon-cycling responses to global change; Nature Ecology & Evolution
A water availability gradient reveals the deficit level required to affect traits in potted juvenile Eucalyptus globulus; Annals of Botany
Altitude of origin influences stomatal conductance and therefore maximum assimilation rate in Southern Beech, Nothofagus cunninghamii; Australian Journal of Plant Physiology
Ambient changes exceed treatment effects on plant species abundance in global change experiments; Global Change Biology
Aridity drives coordinated trait shifts but not decreased trait variance across the geographic range of eight Australian trees; New Phytologist
Carbon dioxide and climate change: impacts upon Australian grasslands
Changes in the microbial community structure of bacteria, archaea and fungi in response to elevated CO₂ and warming in an Australian native grassland soil; Environmental Microbiology
Climate change impacts on Australian grazing systems addendum: whole farm systems analysis and tools for the Australian and New Zealand grazing industries project report
Climate change impacts on Australian grazing systems: whole farm systems analysis and tools for the Australian and New Zealand grazing industries project report
Co-occurring grass species differ in their associated microbial community composition in a temperate native grassland; Plant and Soil
Cold hardening reduces photoinhibition of Eucalypts nitens and E. pauciflora at frost temperatures; Oecologia
Cold induced photoinhibition and xanthophyll-cycle conversion during establishment of Eucalyptus nitens seedlings: A possible role for non-xanthophyll cycle-mediated energy quenching?; 12th Congress of the Federation of European Societies of Plant Physiology
Cold-induced photoinhibition and foliar pigment dynamics of Eucalyptus nitens seedlings during establishment; Aust. J. Plant Physiol
Decomposition and nitrogen transformation rates in a temperate grassland vary among co-occurring plant species; Plant and Soil: International Journal on Plant-Soil Relationships
Density and assemblage influence the nature of the species richness–productivity relationship in Australian dry sclerophyll forest species; Austral Ecology
Determinants of community compositional change are equally affected by global change; Ecology Letters
Distinguishing between Acclimation and Adaptation; Agroecosystems in a Changing Climate
Ecophysiology of Antarctic Lichens
Effect of limited water availability on foliar plant secondary metabolites of two Eucalyptus species; Environmental and Experimental Botany
Effects of a rapid, unseasonal rewetting event on mineral location in Antarctic lichens; New Phytologist
Effects of forest management practices on a localised Tasmanian endemic plant, the trailing riceflower Pimelea filiformis Hook.f. (Thymelaeaceae); Australian Forestry
Elevated CO₂ and warming alter the soil microbial community's ability to decompose litter; ESA 2011: Ecology in Changing Landscapes
Elevated CO₂ and warming effects on grassland plant mortality are determined by the timing of rainfall; Annals of Botany
Elevated CO₂ and warming impacts on flowering phenology in a southern Australian grassland are related to flowering time but not growth form, origin or longevity; Australian Journal of Botany
Elevated CO₂ causes large changes to morphology of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne); Crop and Pasture Science
Elevated CO₂ causes large changes to morphology of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne); Crop and Pasture Science
Elevated CO₂ does not stimulate carbon sink in a semi-arid grassland; Ecology Letters
Evaluating carbon storage in restoration plantings in the Tasmanian Midlands, a highly modified agricultural landscape; The Rangeland Journal
Exposure and nutrients as delimiters of lichen communities in continental Antarctica; Lichenologist
Flowering phenology in a species-rich temperate grassland is sensitive to warming but not elevated CO2; New Phytologist
Flowering, seed production and seed mass in a species-rich temperate grassland exposed to FACE and warming; Australian Journal of Botany
Forensic carbon accounting: assessing the role of seaweeds for carbon sequestration; Journal of Phycology
Foreword to 'Ecophysiology of Australasian Plants and Ecosystems'; Functional Plant Biology
Foreword to Ecophysiology of Australasian Plants and Ecosystems; ECOFIZZ
Genotypic differences in growth and stomatal morphology of Southern Beech, Nothofagus cunninghamii, exposed to depleted CO2 concentrations; Australian Journal of Plant Physiol
Global change effects on plant communities are magnified by time and the number of global change factors imposed; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Globally consistent influences of seasonal precipitation limit grassland biomass response to elevated CO₂; Nature Plants
Growth and photosynthetic responses to elevated [CO₂] in grasses from Tasmanian native pasture; Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
Importance of the local environment on nutrient cycling and litter decomposition in a tall eucalypt forest; Forests
Increasing soil carbon storage in extensive grazing systems in temperate regions; 5th Joint Australian and New Zealand Soil Science Conference
Influence of warming on soil water potential controls seedling mortality in perennial but not annual species in a temperate grassland; New Phytologist
Interactive effects of nitrogen and irradiance on sustained xanthophyll cycle engagement in Eucalyptus nitens leaves during winter; Oecologia
Interactive effects of nitrogen and irradiance on sustained xanthophyll cycle engagement, foliar tannin, and anthocyanin dynamics in evergreen leaves during winter; ComBio 2001
Light as a key driver of freshwater biofouling surface roughness in an experimental hydrocanal pipe rig; Biofouling
Modelled effects of rising CO₂ concentration and climate change on native perennial grass and sown grass - legume pastures; Climate Research
Nature vs nurture in the leaf morphology of Southern beech, Nothofagus cunninghamii (Nothofagaceae); New Phytologist
Nitrogen and phosphorus constrain the CO₂ fertilization of global plant biomass; Nature Climate Change
Occurrence and distribution of native and introduced C-4 grasses in Tasmania; Australian Journal of Botany
Offspring of plants exposed to elevated or ambient CO₂ differ in their impacts on soil nitrification in a common garden experiment; Soil Biology and Biochemistry
Partitioning direct and indirect effects reveals the response of water-limited ecosystems to elevated CO₂; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Photochemistry, energy dissipation and cold-hardening in Eucalyptus nitens and E. pauciflora; Australian Journal of Plant Physiology
Photosynthesis does influence superoxide production in the ichthyotoxic alga Chattonella marina (Raphidophyceae); Journal of Plankton Research
Photosynthesis of coppicing poplar clones in a free-air CO₂ enrichment (FACE) experiment in a short-rotation forest; Functional Plant Biology
Plant communities, populations and individuals have distinct responses to short-term warming and neighbour biomass removal in two montane grasslands; Applied Vegetation Science
Plant responses to CO2 are a question of time; Science
Predicting soil carbon loss with warming; Nature
Relative humidity has dramatic impacts on leaf morphology but little effect on stomatal index or density in Nothofagus cunninghamii (Nothofagaceae); Australian Journal of Botany
Responses to mild water deficit and rewatering differ among secondary metabolites but are similar among provenances within Eucalyptus species; Tree Physiology
Seasonal not annual rainfall determines grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide; Nature
Seasonal Trends in Nitrogen Status of Antarctic Lichens; Annals of Botany
Seedling survivorship of temperate grassland perennials is remarkably resistant to projected changes in rainfall; Australian Journal of Botany
Selective grazing modifies previously anticipated responses of plant community composition to elevated CO₂ in a temperate grassland; Global Change Biology
Short-term effects of firebreaks on seedling growth, nutrient concentrations and soil strength in southern Australian wet eucalypt forests; Forest Ecology and Management
Simple additive effects are rare: a quantitative review of plant biomass and soil process responses to combined manipulations of CO₂ and temperature; Global Change Biology
Soil carbon sequestration in cool temperate dryland pastures: mechanisms and management options; Soil Research
Soil carbon storage under simulated climate change is mediated by plant functional type; Global Change Biology
Soil nitrogen cycle unresponsive to decadal long climate change in a Tasmanian grassland; Biogeochemistry
Soil water potential does not affect leaf morphology or cuticular characters important for palaeo-environmental reconstructions in southern beech, Nothofagus cunninghamii (Nothofagaceae); Australian Journal of Botany
Stability of plant defensive traits among populations in two Eucalyptus species under elevated carbon dioxide; Journal of Chemical Ecology
Strategies of light energy utilisation, dissipation and attenuation in six co-occurring alpine heath species in Tasmania; Functional Plant Biology
Testing the impact of community composition on the productivity of a cool temperate eucalypt forest: The Australian Forest Evenness Experiment (AFEX); Australian Journal of Botany
The effects of mechanical disturbance and burn intensity on the floristic composition of two-year old aggregated retention coupes in Tasmanian wet eucalypt forests; Forest Ecology and Management
The impact of introduced ship rats (Rattus rattus) on seedling recruitment and distribution of a subantarctic megaherb (Pleurophyllum hookeri); Austral Ecology
The impacts of leaf shape and arrangement on light interception and potential photosynthesis in southern beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii); Functional Plant Biology
The impacts of rising CO₂ concentrations on Australian terrestrial species and ecosystems; Austral Ecology
The influence of temperature and genotype on the growth and stomatal morphology of southern beech, Nothofagus cunninghamii (Nothofagaceae); Australian Journal of Botany
The photosynthetic response to rising CO₂ as an ecological strategy; ESA 2011: Ecology in Changing Landscapes
The potential impacts of elevated CO₂ on Australia's native biodiversity
The response of leaf morphology to irradiance depends on altitude of origin in Nothofagus cunninghamii; New Phytologist
The TasFACE climate-change impacts experiment: design and performance of combined elevated CO2 and temperature enhancement in a native Tasmanian grassland; Australian Journal of Botany
Variability in precipitation seasonality limits grassland biomass responses to rising CO₂: historical and projected climate analyses; Climatic Change
Variable-retention harvesting in Tasmania: regeneration success?; Australian Forestry
Vegetation of Tasmania; Australian Biological Resources Study
Vegetation of Tasmania; ABRS
Warming and elevated CO₂ affect the relationship between seed mass, germinability and seedling growth in Austrodanthonia caespitosa, a dominant Australian grass; Global Change Biology
Warming and elevated CO₂ combine to increase microbial mineralisation of soil organic matter; Soil Biology and Biochemistry
Warming and free-air CO₂ enrichment alter demographics in four co-occurring grassland species; New Phytologist
Warming has a larger and more persistent effect than elevated CO₂ on growing season soil nitrogen availability in a species-rich grassland; Plant and Soil
Warming increases soil respiration in a carbon-rich soil without changing microbial respiratory potential; Biogeosciences
Warming prevents the elevated CO₂-induced reduction in available soil nitrogen in a temperate, perennial grassland; Global Change Biology

Research Projects

Australian Mountain Environmental Research Infrastructure Facility; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Carbon in - carbon out: can carbon inputs keep up with losses in peatland?; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Climate change and productivity in Antarctic lichens; Antarctic Science Advisory Committee (ASAC)
Climate Change Impacts on Productivity and Growth of Species in an Intact Native Grassland; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Developing a Cross-faculty Climate Change Focussed Research Centre at Utas; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Devising Ecologically Sustainable Restoration Programs for Degraded Rural Landscapes by Integrating Landscape Ecology, Conservation Genetics and Ecophysiology; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Ecological Factors Affecting Carbon Stocks of Tasmanian Native Forests; Forest & Wood Products Australia Limited (FWPA)
Ecophysiology, leaf morphology and palaeoecology of Southern Beech, Nothofagus cunninghammii.; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Ecosystem Level Impacts of Climate Change on a Temperate Grassland; Australian Research Council (ARC)
How does the Tasmanian Alpine Shrub Ozothamnus leifolius Manage to avoid Photodamage at Low Temperatures?; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
How Does Warming Prevent Soil Nitrogen Availablility from Declining in Response to Elevated Co2?; Australian Research Council (ARC)
How influential are plant neighbourhood interactions in community responses to extreme climatic events; Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (HWRE)
How influential are plant neighbourhood interactions in community responses to extreme climatic events?; Australian Flora Foundation (AFF)
Impacts of Climate Change on Productivity of Australia's Temperate Pastures; Department of the Environment and Water Resources (DEnvWR [AGO])
Impacts of Climate Change on Sustainability of Temperate Native Pasture: An Experiment; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Increasing Soil Carbon Storage in Extensive Grazing Systems in Temperate Regions; Department of Agriculture (DoA (Cwth))
Installation of Free Air CO2 Enrichment Global Climate Change Research Facility in Tasmania (FACE); University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Investigating Pollinator Syndromes in Threatened Caladenia Species; Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas)
Lags and legacies: antecedent effects on grassland biomass response to CO2; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Reversion to C3 Photosynthesis in Native and Introduced Grasses in Tasmania; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Seasonal productivity of Antarctic lichens; Antarctic Science Advisory Committee (ASAC)
Soil Organic Carbon Balances in Tasmanian Agricultural Systems; Department of Agriculture (DoA (Cwth))
Stomatal density and morphology as climatic indicators and predictors.; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Sustainable pathways to CN30; Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA)
Taking advantage of rising CO2 to maximise ecosystem productivity; Australian Research Council (ARC)
The Ecophysiological Basis of Invasiveness in the Introduced C4 Grass, Paspalum dilatatum; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
The Fate of C4 Grasses in Tasmania in Response to Climate Change; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Understanding and Manipulating Stress Physiology of Eucalypt Seedlings to Improve Survival and Growth; Australian Research Council (ARC)
Understanding Energy Flow Through Ecosystems: an Ant-centric Approach to Ecosystem Health and Productivity; University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Understanding the water relation dynamics of neighbour interactions in an experimental forest; Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (HWRE)
Warming effects on carbon cycling in a high-altitude Tasmanian grassy peatland; Australian Institute of Nuclear Science & Engineering (AINSE)
Exploring the Impacts of Elevated CO2 on Biodiversity in Australia's Natural Terrestrial Ecosystems
Research expenses associated with project by Tobias Smith

Research Candidate Supervision

'Cold-induced photoinhibition, pigment chemistry, growth and nutrition of Eucalyptus nitens and E. globulus seedlings during establishment'.
Canopy nitrogen dynamics in temperate plantation eucalypts
Ecology Factors Affecting Forest Carbon Stores in Tasmania
Ecology of the threatened herb Brunonia australis in Tasmania
Ecophysiological, Morphological and Genetic Differences between Two Southern Ocean Morphotypes of the Coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi (Lohm.) Hay and Mohler (Haptophyta)
Effects of Ploidy Level on the Reproductive Biology of Tropical Acacia Species
Effects of Variable Retention Harvesting on Productivity and Growth in Wet Eucalypt Forests
Impacts of increased water availability on photosynthesis of the continental Antarctic lichen Usnea sphacelata
Leaf functional significance within the Australian Proteaceae
Light use strategies in Tasmanian Flora.
Limits to Plant Regeneration in Alpine Vegetation on Tasmania's Central Plateau
Molecular genetics of Pseudo-nitzschia in Australia
Morphotaxonomy, Genetic Affinities and Ecology of Australian and Antarctic Populations of the Potentially Fish Killing, Heterotrophic Dinoflagellates Cryptoperidiniopsis brodyi and Pfiesteria piscicida
Stalk Formation in Fouling Diatoms
The Effect of Drought and a Changing Environment on Quantitative Traits in Eucalyptus Species and the Extended Consequences on Communities and Ecosystems
The evolution and phylogenetics of the Cunoniaceae
The Influence of Plant Species on Soil Processes in a Tasmanian Grassland
The Reproductive Ecology of Vascular Plants on Subantarctic Macquarie Island
The Survival Strategies of Microphytobenthos- Behaviour and Physiology
The Variations of Both Soil Carbon Stocks and Cycling Between Different Forest Systems in Tasmania