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| Photo: Hugh O’Brien |
Forty top scientists from around the world have descended on Queensland for a world-first project to detect the precise impact of global warming.
Queensland’s enviable position as one of the most bio-diverse regions on earth with a stable government and top class scientific infrastructure has made the state the perfect location for the world’s first comprehensive, collaborative study of the impact of climate change in a sub-tropical setting.
Between October 2006 and April 2007, ecologists, entomologists, botanists and taxonomists from Australia, USA, Canada, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Norway, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Brazil are collecting data from 20 rainforest sites at five different altitudes within south-east Queensland’s famous Lamington National Park.
The brainchild of Professor of Ecology at Griffith University Roger Kitching, (pictured right) the BATH (Biodiversity at the Heights) Project will determine which groups of organisms are the best climate change predictors and which survey methods best pick up those changes.
"The rainforest is a great place to measure the impact of global warming on biodiversity because much of what happens in the rainforest is driven by the local climate," Professor Kitching said.
The idea for BATH was born in a tropical downpour in a Central American rainforest. Awarded a Queensland-Smithsonian Fellowship to further his research into the diversity of rainforest moths, Professor Kitching was one of 50 scientists involved in Project IBISCA (Investigation of the Biodiversity of Soil and Canopy Arthropods) initiated by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution in Panama.
"A group of scientists with diverse specialties were huddled under a tree in driving rain and we started talking about global warming and we realised that if we went out together in the field, we could achieve more in a year than we would in a lifetime of working alone," he said.
Professor Kitching knew he had the perfect spot for his global collaboration fieldwork project in Lamington National Park.
"Lamington Plateau is a national bio-diversity hot-spot with an extraordinary range of flora and fauna not found anywhere else in the world and it’s ideal for research because while the rainforest is not under direct threat, it is part of a regional eco-system under stress from the huge population growth in south-east Queensland," he said.
Professor Kitching said that collecting data from sites at 300, 500, 700, 900 and 1100 metres will allow scientists to conduct a series of parallel studies.
"This will help us to develop a range of early warning indicators of climate change impact on both diversity and ecosystem function," he said.
The BATH Project is managed by Griffith University with partners, the Queensland Museum; Queensland Herbarium; Queensland Environmental Protection Agency; Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water; Pro-Natura International; and National Parks Association of Queensland and is supported by the Queensland Government with a commitment of $356 000 through the Smart State Innovation Projects Fund.
The project involves scientists being trained in climbing to allow them to access the tops of trees. Ecologist and experienced rainforest climber Kalsum Mohd Yusah (pictured far right) from the University of Malayasia Sabah has been brought to Queensland by the UK-based Global Canopy Programme to assist the Programme’s John Pike with training.
One of the BATH partners, French-based Pro-Natura International will use the project to further develop the scientific use of a new canopy access technique, the Canopy Glider. It is a 25 metre tall hot-air balloon which can cruise over the forest providing direct access for research.
Last reviewed 29 January 2007