Groundwater decline and climatic variability: Implications for groundwater linked agro-ecosystems
Poster
Paper/Presentation Title | Groundwater decline and climatic variability: Implications for groundwater linked agro-ecosystems |
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Presentation Type | Poster |
Authors | Le Brocque, Andrew F. (Author), Kath, Jarrod (Author), Reardon-Smith, Kate (Author) and Apan, Armando (Author) |
Journal or Proceedings Title | Proceedings of the 2016 Ecological Society of Australia Annual Conference (ESA 2016) |
Year | 2016 |
Place of Publication | Australia |
Web Address (URL) of Paper | https://www.ecolsoc.org.au/news/2016/04/call-abstracts-now-open |
Conference/Event | 2016 Conference of the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA 2016) |
Event Details | 2016 Conference of the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA 2016) Delivery Online Event Date 29 Nov 2016 to end of 02 Dec 2016 Event Location Fremantle, Australia |
Abstract | Chronic groundwater decline has become a significant issue in many agricultural landscapes. Remnant ecosystems in these landscapes are also impacted by climate change, which in some areas is predicted to intensify climatic extremes of drought and flooding. As water resources decline, the interplay between groundwater decline and climate change could be particularly important for many ecological communities. We investigated groundwater responses to climatic variability in an agricultural landscape in southern Queensland with a recent history of high climatic variability (intense drought and floods) and high rates of groundwater extraction. Trends in groundwater depths across 441 monitoring bores were calculated in different wet and dry climatic phases over a 27 year period from 1989 to 2015. Groundwater depth trends differed spatially and temporally across the different climatic phases. Some bores showed clear responses to climate (i.e. levels increased in wet phases and declined in dry phases), while others showed persistent declines in dry phases and no recovery in wet periods. Areas where groundwaters are persistently declining, and not recovering in wet periods, may be associated with areas of the landscape that will be increasingly vulnerable to future climate change and particularly intense droughts. Using this information on groundwater responses to climatic variability we are now assessing a range of ecological responses linked to groundwater to determine how the interplay between groundwater decline and climate variability affects the resilience of agro-ecosystems to climate change in this landscape. |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 310308. Terrestrial ecology |
410404. Environmental management | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | School of Agricultural, Computational and Environmental Sciences |
International Centre for Applied Climate Science | |
School of Civil Engineering and Surveying | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q4803/groundwater-decline-and-climatic-variability-implications-for-groundwater-linked-agro-ecosystems
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