Australia’s alpine ash forests are now officially endangered. Can we save them? One of the most widespread types of forest in Australia’s high country is facing an existential threat. We need bold action before it is too late.

Scientists predict fire-sensitive Alpine Ash forests could be halved in the next 60 years as too-frequent fires prevent forest regeneration.
Read: theconversation.com/australias-a...
Via @theconversation.com by @itsnotfairman.bsky.social & @trentpenman.bsky.social

What a massive and stupid waste closing down these sites.

The difficult path to a gas tax As multinational gas companies reap huge profits from the Iran war, parliamentarians are pressing the treasurer to overhaul LNG taxes in the May budget.

“The oil and gas industry told the Norwegian government that if you tax us, we won't invest," says David Pocock. "Guess what? They've still invested. Norway has a $3 trillion sovereign wealth fund now.” satpa.pe/jMCRsAo

A shark head out of the water. Its mouth is open. It looks like it's screaming.

🦈 Rare picture of a shark stepping on a Lego.

#MadeMeSmile 🤭

Exciting research environment in a great team and a lovely working space

📉 This means:

– Continuous, high‑resolution water potential tracking
– A simpler path for drought physiology + hydraulic experiments
– We can use the optical technique to monitor both cavitation and water potential during bench vulnerability curves (no need for a psychrometer!).

Plots showing relationship between branch diameter measured with optical dendrometry and stem water potential measured with a psychrometry

🚨 New paper out in Journal of Plant Hydraulics!
jplanthydro.org/article/view...

Our team shows that Optical Dendrometry on small branches produces an incredibly tight linear relationship with water potential (R² ≈ 0.99) during drought‑to‑death drydowns in Eucalyptus crebra.

We relaunch our seminar series!

Jordi Martinez-Vilalta will talk on the

‘Limits and opportunities in predicting drought-induced forest mortality’

24 March 2026 at 15:00 UTC

www.tree-mortality.net/seminars/

The School of Biosciences at University of Birmingham is recruiting FIVE Assistant/Associate Profs in areas including fungal biology, plant science and bioengineering. Full details below 🍄🌾🧬🧫

Super cool database compiled by Fabian J. Fischer (Uni Bristol/TUM)!

We all love trees. But lianas are beautiful too!

Cross-sections reveal the pattern of xylem tubes, reflecting the stem space dedicated to transporting water skywards and phylogenetic variation in a liana community.

Intense heatwaves directly threaten crops and native species. Here’s what we can do Sustained extreme heat can damage, weaken and kill all living things, from wheat crops to koalas and fruit bats.

Extreme heat is fast becoming one of the biggest threats to global food systems. Our new piece in The Conversation looks at how intense heatwaves put crops and native species at risk — and what we can actually do about it.
🔗 theconversation.com/intense-heat...

☀️Hotter and drier conditions under ongoing climate change are causing tree mortality events and altering forest dynamics worldwide.

🧑‍💻Learn more in the webinar:
☀️Limits and opportunities in predicting drought-induced forest mortality
🗓️24 March 2026; 🕓4:00 pm CET

🔗 zoom.us/meeting/regi...

So great to be back at the Australian Synchrotron IMBL! Plants all instrumented up and ready to go thanks to awesome team.

Just as important, the mandatory dinner at Ping's Dumplings on the first night!

@westsyduhie.bsky.social @ansto.bsky.social

Congrats Billy! Great to see this one out.

Kings Canyon National Park, Pixabay/banyanphotos

🌲 From Forest Ecology and Management: Satellite time series reveal fewer surviving trees after wildfire than standard severity maps suggest, reshaping how delayed mortality and recovery are tracked. (Saba Saberi, Andrew Latimer, Derek J.N. Young)
▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#PlantScience

Thanks! Please add me

Yes, forest trees die of old age. But the warming climate is killing them faster The warming climate is killing Australia’s forest trees at a faster rate. This offers a glimpse of what may lie ahead for forests globally.

Australia’s trees are dying faster — not from fire, but from the stress of a warming, drying climate, weakening their role as vital carbon sinks.
🔗 theconversation.com/yes-forest-t... @bmedlyn.bsky.social @westernsydneyu.bsky.social @profchoat.bsky.social

Nice work Suz!

Exposure and sensitivity of threatened plant species to changing drought regimes: A global analysis Climate change is driving substantial impacts on plants, including widespread increases in drought frequency, duration, and intensity. Changes to thes…

Drought is often omitted from IUCN Red Listing assessments as it is difficult to quantify. But our study has found that >95% of threatened species will be exposed to longer and more frequent droughts! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

PhD Opportunity in Plant Ecophysiology – Adelaide University We are looking for an PhD candidate to join an exciting research project focused on understanding heat and drought combined impacts on threatened plants’ mortality. Key Objectives: Describe drought sensitivity in juvenile and mature individuals of threatened plant species. Disentangle the effects of elevated temperature, soil dryness, and atmospheric water demand on the sensitivity of threatened species to hotter droughts. Model threatened species’ risk of mortality under current and future hotter droughts. Eligibility: Australians and international applicants with a completed Master's degree (GPA > 5.0) and/or a completed 4-year Bachelor with Honours (GPA > 5.0) in Plant Biology or related areas; Proof of English proficiency (e.g. IELTS score > 6.5 or equivalent qualification), only for applicants who speak English as a second language. Strong analytical and programming skills in R or Python. Genuine interest in studying plants with previous experience in plant ecology and/or physiology. Effective writing skills; a passion for reading, writing, and continually improving as a communicator. Ability to drive in Australia is desirable but not essential. Start Date: April 2026 (negotiable) Duration: 3.5 years Benefits: PhD scholarship (tax-exempt stipend of $36,500 AUD p.a. + $3,000 AUD p.a. top up); Higher stipend rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates ($ 53,608 p.a.); Relocation allowances for both domestic and international candidates; Single Overseas Student Health cover for international applicants. 100% tuition fee waiver. How to Apply: Email the following documents to ilaine.matos@adelaide.edu.au before the 15th of February 2026. Women and people underrepresented in research are encouraged to apply. 1-page cover letter explaining why you are interested in this position and your previous experiences relevant for this opportunity. Curriculum Vitae in the Adelaide University format.

✨ PhD opportunity studying drought and heatwave effects on threatened plants ✨🔥

Funded by an ARC DECRA awarded to the amazing Dr Ilaíne Matos and co-supervised by Dr Sami Rifai and me!

Limited by the character limit here, so please see the attached flyer for all the details - please share widely!

Great initiative!

📣 #Dendrometer community! We’re building an International Dendrometer Network 🌍

Join our mailing list for updates on activities, data calls & collaboration opportunities:
👉 forms.gle/gcnhXBjpmgEb...

First online meeting this Friday—join us! 🌲🌳

#TreeGrowth

Sydney Plant Ecophysiology Group (SPEG) Sydney Plant Ecophysiology (SPEG)

I’m excited to announce Sydney Plant Ecophys Group is hosting two talks 9 Dec from 4PM (Australian Eastern summer time)
Andrew Merchant: plant source-sink dynamics using low field NMR
&
Davide Siclari: thermal metrics in a warming climate

sydneyplantecophysiologygroup.wordpress.com/talks/

Revisiting Paradigms Related to Root Hydraulic Limitation Under Drought In vascular plants, the long-distance water transport between organs occurs under tension. Because it is difficult to study a system under negative pressure without measurement artefacts, the field of...

We re-evaluate several root hydraulic paradigms and show that they are outdated (doi.org/10.1007/124_...). Thanks to ‪@mutezahmed.bsky.social‬‬, @profchoat.bsky.social, @sdelzon.bsky.social, @peterpetrik94.bsky.social, @torresruizjm.bsky.social, @scottmcadam.bsky.social‬ and others.‬

Drinking water in Tehran could run dry in two weeks, Iranian official says A historic drought in the country has culminated in a '100 percent drop in precipitation' in the Tehran region.

Drought situation in Iran (and Iraq) looks bad. Major supply dam for Tehran may run dry before December.
Another example of mid latitude regions drying around the globe coupled with natural climate variability + minimal preparation.

www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11...
www.forbes.com/sites/sanamm...

Hundreds of dolphins found dead in Amazon lake were in water hotter than a jacuzzi, study finds "You couldn't put your finger in the water," said the lead author of the study, which spotlights the impacts of planetary warming on aquatic ecosystems.

New study finds “brutal drought and extreme heat wave that began in September 2023 transformed the lake into a steaming cauldron. The lake's waters reached 41C (106F).” 😱

TWO PhD positions at Uni Western Australia with Caitlin Moore studying #agrivoltaics & #microclimate. Funding available for int'l & domestic students. Closing soon–apply by Fri 31 Oct (Aus time).
#PlantScience

researchdegrees.uwa.edu.au/scholarships...
researchdegrees.uwa.edu.au/scholarships...

Mum turns her love of gardening into stint at NASA | 9 News Australia YouTube video by 9 News Australia

Very proud of Donna Fitzgerald. She's also producing top notch research on applying remote sensing to study dieback youtu.be/Gcv5oySYavE?...

Our department at UBC is hiring for a professor of forest ecophysiology, including "tree ecophysiology; plant abiotic or biotic stress physiology; forest mortality and climate change responses; forest carbon balance; tree water relations; or nutrient use." Learn more at: tinyurl.com/5da56f5c