Giles Hardy, Katinka Ruthrof, George Matusick, Bernie Dell,
Trish Fleming, Leonie Valentine, Niels Brouwers
State Centre of Excellence for Climate Change, Woodland and Forest Health,
School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch University

A number of woodland and forest ecosystems in the south-west of Western Australia are suffering from varying degrees of decline. The causes of these decline syndromes are complex and it is likely that predisposing (e.g. climate shifts, disturbance regime shifts), inciting (e.g. frost, drought, insect defoliation) and contributing (e.g. soilborne pathogens, canker pathogens, wood and bark beetles) factors will be different for each of these forest or woodland ecosystems. The decline in rainfall and the slight increase in average summer and winter temperatures over the last 30 years could well be playing a significant role in helping predispose these ecosystems to decline. These changes together with the long-term predictions of a 5-60% decrease in rainfall and a 0.5-6.5 C increase in summer temperatures by 2070 do indicate that our woodland and forest ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide are under threat. This talk will discuss the different forest and woodland decline syndromes, the biotic and abiotic factors involved and the approaches taken to diagnose and monitor these. It will briefly discuss the potential impacts on ecosystem function and health as well as the possible management tools available to reduce their incidence and severity.