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An introduction to the Australian and New Zealand flux tower network - OzFlux

Citation

Beringer, J and Hutley, LB and McHugh, I and Arndt, SK and Campbell, D and Cleugh, HA and Cleverly, J and de Dios, VR and Eamus, D and Evans, B and Ewenz, C and Grace, P and Griebel, A and Haverd, V and Hinko-Najera, N and Huete, A and Isaac, P and Kanniah, K and Leuning, R and Liddell, MJ and Macfarlane, C and Meyer, W and Moore, C and Pendall, E and Phillips, A and Phillips, RL and Prober, SM and Restrepo-Coupe, N and Rutledge, S and Schroder, I and Silberstein, R and Southhall, P and Yee, MS and Tapper, NJ and Gorsel, EV and Vote, C and Walker, J and Wardlaw, T, An introduction to the Australian and New Zealand flux tower network - OzFlux, Biogeosciences, 13, (21) pp. 5895-5916. ISSN 1726-4170 (2016) [Refereed Article]


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Copyright 2016 the Authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

DOI: doi:10.5194/bg-13-5895-2016

Abstract

OzFlux is the regional Australian and New Zealand flux tower network that aims to provide a continental-scale national research facility to monitor and assess trends, and improve predictions, of Australia’s terrestrial biosphere and climate. This paper describes the evolution, design, and current status of OzFlux as well as provides an overview of data processing. We analyse measurements from all sites within the Australian portion of the OzFlux network and two sites from New Zealand. The response of the Australian biomes to climate was largely consistent with global studies except that Australian systems had a lower ecosystem water-use efficiency. Australian semi-arid/arid ecosystems are important because of their huge extent (70 %) and they have evolved with common moisture limitations. We also found that Australian ecosystems had a similar radiation use efficiency per unit leaf area compared to global values that indicates a convergence toward a similar biochemical efficiency. The two New Zealand sites represented extremes in productivity for a moist temperate climate zone, with the grazed dairy farm site having the highest GPP of any OzFlux site (2620 gC m−2 yr−1) and the natural raised peat bog site having a very low GPP (820 gC m−2 yr−1). The paper discusses the utility of the flux data and the synergies between flux, remote sensing, and modelling. Lastly, the paper looks ahead at the future direction of the network and concludes that there has been a substantial contribution by OzFlux, and considerable opportunities remain to further advance our understanding of ecosystem response to disturbances, including drought, fire, land-use and land-cover change, land management, and climate change, which are relevant both nationally and internationally. It is suggested that a synergistic approach is required to address all of the spatial, ecological, human, and cultural challenges of managing the delicately balanced ecosystems in Australasia.

Item Details

Item Type:Refereed Article
Keywords:Australia, eddy covariance, environmental monitoring, climate change, productivity, energy exchange, water exchange, carbon exchange
Research Division:Biological Sciences
Research Group:Ecology
Research Field:Terrestrial Ecology
Objective Division:Plant Production and Plant Primary Products
Objective Group:Forestry
Objective Field:Native Forests
Author:Wardlaw, T (Dr Timothy Wardlaw)
ID Code:122623
Year Published:2016
Web of Science® Times Cited:36
Deposited By:Office of the School of Biological Sciences
Deposited On:2017-11-21
Last Modified:2017-12-07
Downloads:18 View Download Statistics

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