Investigating the impacts of climate change, drought and heat on forest die-off by Katinka Rithrol

The forests that occur in the South-west of WA have, over millennia, become finely adapted to our difficult climate.  But extremes can cause widespread damage – even death – and it could take the forest a long time to recover.  Extreme droughts, or extreme frosts, may kill large areas of tree canopy.  Increasingly, we are becoming aware that the climate is changing, and these extreme events are becoming more frequent and more severe.

Katinka is conducting research in DBCA and UWA to study, and try to predict, what effects climate change will have on the ecology of our forests.  Will the flora and fauna be resilient enough to survive?  Or is a massive extinction even inevitable?  Horrifying?  Come along and find out.