Climate change and the future of Australian riverine vegetation

Abstract

Freshwater and riparian ecosystems are likely to be highly vulnerable to the effects of the current phase of rapid, anthropogenic climate change because of their high levels of exposure and sensitivity to changes in climatic stimuli. Furthermore, the adaptive capacity of these ecosystems has been limited due to human activities (Capon ct al. 2013; Capon and Bunn 2015). Riverine vegetation is exposed to all the direct influences of rising CO₂ and the climatic changes driven by this described for terrestrial vegetation, including elevated temperatures, altered precipitation and evapotranspiration patterns. Additionally, climate change has many indirect effects on riverine vegetation as a result of changes in soil moisture, hydrology and, in coastal situations, sea level rise and storm surges. Arguably, no other vegetation type is subject to the same levels of exposure and yet relatively little is known about how plants in Australian riverine habitats may respond.