PAstures and Climate Extremes (PACE)
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at Western Sydney University
PACE was comprised of two treatments: an extreme winter-spring drought that reduces all precipitation events by 60% and a sustained warming treatment of + 3 degrees C. Taking continuous measurements of plant responses to drought and heating is an important aspect of addressing our research questions at PACE.
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Our local newspaper (the Hawkesbury Gazette) ran a great article highlighting the launch of PACE in May 2018- check out this link for details!
Additional project photos and overview information can be found here.
We also recorded an interview describing the project and Dr. Churchill's research
Additional project photos and overview information can be found here.
We also recorded an interview describing the project and Dr. Churchill's research
Below is a (partial!) list of the ongoing projects led by Dr. Churchill associated with the PACE experiment:
Pastures and Climate Extremes: Impacts of warming and drought on the productivity of key pasture species in a field experimentThis paper is now available online- the first of many!
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Nutrient niche partitioning between tropical legumes and grasses under elevated CO2An experiment designed to test mechanisms of mixed pasture productivity and responses to elevated CO2 conditions using glasshouses at the Hawkesbury Campus at WSU- published and available here.
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Pasture plant-plant competition and nutrient facilitation under extreme drought and warmingField experimental test of the impact of plant-plant interactions on the consequences to productivity associated with extreme drought and sustained warming
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Detecting shifts in pasture ecosystem health and function under extreme climate conditions using canopy greennessField based mounted cameras used to track changes in plant canopy (phenology) throughout the year
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Dr. Churchill worked with both graduate and undergraduate students as part of the PACE experiment at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, and projects/papers associated with those collaborations are outlined below:
Graduate student collaborators at PACE included:
Karen Catunda (PhD student)
Rapid prediction of the nutritional composition of pasture species by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy available here:
Short-term drought is a stronger driver of plant morphology and nutritional composition than warming for two common pasture species available here:
Plant structural allocations and nutritional composition respond to drought differently among common pasture species available here:
Vinod Jacob (PhD student)
Warming reduced net carbon gain and productivity in Medicago sativa and Festuca arundinacea available here:
Pasture grasses exhibit high safety margins to drought-induced hydraulic failure available here:
Manjuanatha Chandregowda (PhD student)
Root trait shifts towards an avoidance strategy promote productivity and recovery in C3 and C4 pasture grass species under drought available here:
Belowground allocation, root trait plasticity and productivity under drought and warming in a widespread pasture grass available here:
Undergraduate projects included:
Impacts of climate extremes on pasture growth dynamics
Student: Sophie Palmer (2020) with Dr. Sally Power
What is the future cooking up for hungry cattle? Pasture nutrition under climate extremes
Student: Minh Doan, with Dr. Ben Moore and Karen Catunda (Summer 2019-2020)
Understanding the PACE of Climate Change
Students: Alexandra Boyd, Samantha Weller, and Shania Therese Didier Serre, with Dr. Sally Power and Dr. Elise Pendall (Summer 2018-2019)
Graduate student collaborators at PACE included:
Karen Catunda (PhD student)
Rapid prediction of the nutritional composition of pasture species by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy available here:
Short-term drought is a stronger driver of plant morphology and nutritional composition than warming for two common pasture species available here:
Plant structural allocations and nutritional composition respond to drought differently among common pasture species available here:
Vinod Jacob (PhD student)
Warming reduced net carbon gain and productivity in Medicago sativa and Festuca arundinacea available here:
Pasture grasses exhibit high safety margins to drought-induced hydraulic failure available here:
Manjuanatha Chandregowda (PhD student)
Root trait shifts towards an avoidance strategy promote productivity and recovery in C3 and C4 pasture grass species under drought available here:
Belowground allocation, root trait plasticity and productivity under drought and warming in a widespread pasture grass available here:
Undergraduate projects included:
Impacts of climate extremes on pasture growth dynamics
Student: Sophie Palmer (2020) with Dr. Sally Power
What is the future cooking up for hungry cattle? Pasture nutrition under climate extremes
Student: Minh Doan, with Dr. Ben Moore and Karen Catunda (Summer 2019-2020)
Understanding the PACE of Climate Change
Students: Alexandra Boyd, Samantha Weller, and Shania Therese Didier Serre, with Dr. Sally Power and Dr. Elise Pendall (Summer 2018-2019)
