The Australian subalpine environment contains snow gums, an iconic tree with gnarled trunks, multicoloured ribbons of bark, and widespread presence in the high country. The trees provide immense ecosystem services for hydrology, carbon cycling, cultural importance, and local and downstream biodiversity. The overstorey of subalpine environments are dominated by snow gums, providing habitat to native wildlife and contribute to storage of carbon.

Recent years have shown a rapid dieback or mortality of snow gums due to the increased activity of a native wood-boring beetle (Phoracantha mastersi). The larvae of the beetle feed on sapwood, disrupting tree-level hydraulic function, leading to decline and eventual death. Previously, beetle infestations were isolated and localised where now they are widespread and moving as a devastating front. What records are available indicate possible interactions between beetle, water availability/climate change, altered fire regimes, management, and landscape features. 

A multidisciplinary team of researchers and land managers at ANU are seeking students to contribute to these research projects. We are focused on studying the drivers of dieback, the consequences, and work with conservation officers to develop useful tools for managers and contribute to intervention options. 

We seek motivated students for Honours and PhD projects. Most likely, these projects will focus on a discipline area such as those listed here. Students will engage with other researchers from associated disciplines working in this space. Some example research areas are:

1. Socio-political dynamics of management decisions such as with the ‘resist-accept-direct’ framework
2. Soil-plant-atmosphere interactions; soil microbial dynamics; carbon and water cycling using eddy covariance, static chambers, and piezometers, etc.
3. Resolve the snow gum subspecies genetics complex.
4. Assess snow gum response to abiotic stress (heat, freezing, water limitation)
5. Modelling future dieback extent using process-based models.

More information is available on our webpage https://www.saveoursnowgum.org/

Interested students should contact Adrienne Nicotra (Adrienne.nicotra@anu.edu.au).