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Using in situ microrefugia to safeguard stringybark eucalypts from hot droughts

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dc.contributor.authorBentze, C.
dc.contributor.authorKeppel, G.
dc.contributor.authorGuerin, G.R.
dc.contributor.authorHurren, A.
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstract<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Facilitating species persistence under climate change is a pressing issue. Refugia, places where the impacts of climate change may be less severe, can constitute the only option for <jats:italic>in situ</jats:italic> persistence for many taxa. However, refugia will still experience some impacts of climate change. Management approaches that utilize the buffering provided by climate‐change refugia, while recognizing their vulnerability, are needed. This increasingly applies to forests impacted by drought‐induced dieback, threatening forest ecosystems globally. We established a gradient from good (putative microrefugia) to poor canopy health for a unique population of <jats:italic>Eucalyptus macrorhyncha</jats:italic> in South Australia. Microrefugia were identified in locations that received less solar radiation and were cooler and moister than other habitats. Physiological measurements (percent loss of conductivity) of trees indicate that microrefugia are already impacted by water stress during droughts, but less than more exposed habitats. Strong regeneration was observed in habitats with canopy dieback between 25% and 70%. Therefore, <jats:italic>in situ</jats:italic> persistence and recovery of populations should be feasible but may require interventions during periods of acute stress. Watering of targeted microrefugia and selected adjacent areas of high regeneration during extreme heatwaves and droughts could prevent hydraulic damage that triggers canopy defoliation and maintain a buffer around selected microrefugia.</jats:p>
dc.identifier.citationConservation Science and Practice, online, 2025; online(1)
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/csp2.70093
dc.identifier.issn2578-4854
dc.identifier.issn2578-4854
dc.identifier.orcidGuerin, G.R. [0000-0002-2104-6695]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11541.2/44045
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherWILEY
dc.relation.fundingRoyal Society of South Australia Small Research Grant
dc.relation.fundingLandscape South Australia - Northern and Yorke Peninsula
dc.rightsCopyright 2025 The author(s) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Access Condition Notes: This is an open access article
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70093
dc.subjectdrought
dc.subjectEucalyptus
dc.subjectrefugia
dc.subjectforest dieback
dc.subjectmicroclimate
dc.subjectclimate change
dc.subjectconservation
dc.titleUsing in situ microrefugia to safeguard stringybark eucalypts from hot droughts
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished online
ror.mmsid9917045146601831

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