preservation of these ecosystems. Many studies have outlined the deleterious effects of Forests respond to climate variation in myriad ways, with important implications for the changing climates on the health and vigour of plant communities. Changing temperature regimes, increased drought stress, and altered landscape connectivity can impact plant-animal interactions, magnifying herbivory threats to already stressed forest ecosystems. The soil environment is an important factor in modulating ecosystem vulnerability to climate-related stress and dieback through its role in supporting plant functions, including growth, storage of sugars, nutrient uptake, and responses to environmental stressors. Although there is strong evidence that climate adaptation shapes plant functional responses to drought stress, little is known about the role of soil environment in differential plant responses to stress. Additionally, local adaptation to edaphic conditions may contribute to functional trait diversity across heterogeneous landscapes. A sound understanding of how local adaptation to soil conditions may influence responses to climate will inform targeted selection of provenances with considerations for adaptation or maladaptation to transplant sites, improving the long-term viability of revegetation plantings.
Many eucalypt species are well-adapted to tolerate and recover from drought, having evolved Eucalypts are important keystone species that dominate many ecosystems across Australia. in Australia’s variable weather conditions. However, increased periods of extreme drought have resulted in stand-level dieback across Australia. This compounds existing impacts of herbivory, as drought stress may result in decreased production of deterrent phytochemicals, which could exacerbate herbivore-mediated dieback. New England Dieback is a syndrome in which the ultimate cause of tree mortality is repeated defoliation by a variety of herbivores, particularly in human-modified landscapes. This syndrome occurs primarily in the New England Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia, and the species most impacted over the past 70 years has been Eucalyptus nova-anglica (New England Peppermint).