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Simin Rahmani

Candidature

PhD Candidate

Thesis title

Tree mortality and forest recovery following unprecedented drought and bushfires

Research project

Simin RahmaniClimate change is already influencing fire seasons around the world. Wildfire seasons are extending as the number of dry and hot days increases. A longer fire season is expected to result in more frequent and severe fires. Australia’s bushfire season 2019/20 (Black Summer hereafter) appears to have supported these conclusions in terms of the ecological consequences and impacts on human populations. Black Summer occurred during a period of record-breaking temperatures and extremely low rainfall. By March 2020 Black Summer fires burnt almost 19 million hectares (overall area). A number of mega-fires occurred in NSW resulting in more burned area than in any fire season during the last 20 years. Based on preliminary data, it will take many years to restore the economy and infrastructure in impacted areas, and to recover animal and vegetation biodiversity.

To understand the devastating synergistic effects of drought stress and wildfire in forests, I propose to study tree mortality, recovery and recruitment in areas that wildfire meets extreme drought in south-eastern of Australia. In this thesis I aim to answer the following questions:

  • In resprouting forests, does the post-fire recovery vary spatially?
  • If yes, what factor causes that change (i.e., the environmental variables such as climate and topography, or tree attributes, or both).

Supervisors

Dr Rachael Nolan, Professor Matthias Boer,  Professor Brendan Choat and Dr Eli Bendall