PUBLIC LECTURE: UWA Albany Skywest Public Lecture

For nearly three decades Robert Naiman and his colleagues have been examining ecological processes in rivers and floodplains of the North American coastal rainforests and the savannas of southern Africa. Despite strong contrasts in climate and water regimes, there are a number of surprising similarities that impart ecological integrity. In both Ecoregions the characteristics of floodplain vegetation are intimately linked to flow regimes, floodplain soils acquire nutrients quickly and thereby contribute to robust plant growth, large mammals and fish play fundamentally important roles, and dead wood in river channels is paramount in shaping future ecological conditions. He will explore many of these similarities, and some contrasts, as an emerging understanding of basic ecological processes helps underpin improved resource management.