Landscape-scale population dynamics of open forests in the Australian monsoon tropics

在过去的一个世纪里，许多景观的树木覆盖率都有增加的趋势。然而，人们对这一重要的全球生态现象的原因知之甚少，但可能包括气候、火灾、放牧和二氧化碳的影响。我们将确定卡卡杜国家公园的森林面积在过去50年里是如何变化的，将森林人口统计学与遥感技术、长期树木人口统计学数据集的重新测量和分析以及景观尺度上树木种群动态的模拟模型联系起来。这将为发展可持续土地管理和保护澳大利亚森林生物多样性提供一个科学框架。

Over the last century there has been a trend of increasing tree cover in many landscapes. Yet the causes of this globally important ecological phenomenon are poorly understood, but may include the effects of climate, fire, grazing and CO2. We will determine how an area of forest has changed over 50 years in Kakadu National Park, linking forest demography with remote sensing techniques, re-measurement and analysis of long-term tree demography datasets, and simulation models of tree population dynamics on a landscape scale. This will provide a scientific framework to develop sustainable land management and the conservation of Australia's forest biodiversity.