Fears of another ‘forest collapse’ event in Western Australia after record dry spell
After a record-breaking hot summer and significant dry spell, ecologists fear large pockets of WA’s central to southwest coast are facing a forest collapse, where trees and other smaller plants get so dry, they die. One expert describes it as coral bleaching on land, and just like in the ocean, it can have serious implications to the wider ecosystem, impacting breeding habits and potentially entire population of species.
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00:00 These trees in the Jarrah Forest aren't burnt, they're dying.
00:06 And they're not the only ones.
00:08 Ecologist Dr Joe Fontaine says the dry, dying and dead plants here at Manning Park in Perth
00:13 South are a sign of potential ecosystem collapse.
00:18 Plants were stressed and now they've run out of water and they're beginning to brown off
00:22 and it's becoming really noticeable.
00:24 And it's not confined to just this area.
00:27 We've had reports so far stretching from Denmark and Albany all the way to Shark Bay and everywhere
00:32 in between.
00:33 So it's a region-wide event and it's a big deal.
00:36 While WA summers are typically hot, this year was the warmest on record.
00:41 Parts of the state have also had prolonged stretches without rain, with Perth recording
00:46 its driest ever six-month period between October and March.
00:50 This is effectively land bleaching.
00:52 As these plants brown off and everybody knows where's the rain, more and more of them are
00:57 dying and as that happens it's affecting our biodiversity.
01:02 In 2011, researchers in WA identified what's believed to be one of the first forest collapse
01:08 events globally.
01:09 The effects sort of propagated through the system.
01:11 That was the year that cockatoos had a terrible breeding season and the numbers dropped.
01:16 Experts say climate change is to blame.
01:19 With the south-west of the state among the first in the world to begin a drying trend
01:23 in the 70s.
01:24 With a hotter, drier climate, I would expect more of these events, not only more frequent,
01:33 but also of longer duration and probably higher intensity as well.
01:40 With the state's water resources already depleted, there's little to do except wait for the rain.
01:45 But even then it could be too late for some plants and trees.
01:49 But Dr Fontaine and the team he's working with from across universities and government
01:54 say tracking and recording this event is important to best understand the impacts and prepare
02:00 for the next.
02:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]