Women Advancing River Research: Tonya Doody

The recording for this seminar is now available.

Abstract: Willows (Salix spp.) are highly invasive "weeds of national significance" in Australia due to their propensity to rapidly colonize narrow, shallow stream beds and consume large amounts of water when located in the stream channel. With more than 30,000 kilometers of shallow streams in south-eastern Australia, this poses substantial water and riparian management issues. In the past, removal programs have been undertaken to clear willows from streams and banks. This, however, introduces revegetation requirements that are often inadequate, leading to stream bank erosion with high river flows. Although detrimental effects of willows are well documented, little attention has been focussed on consideration of potential ecosystem services that willow infestations may provide under predicted climate warming. For example, shading by willows can provide thermal refugia for temperature sensitive endemic taxa. As such, future willow management planning might consider a more holistic approach to management via a simple decision matrix for willow removal.

Biography: Doody is a research scientist at CSIRO specializing in plant physiology and water relations in floodplain and forest environments. She has significant experience in quantifying the water requirements of vegetation and their impact on water resources. In general, Doody's research focuses on groundwater dependent ecosystems, understanding the connections between flow and ecology (Australia and Nepal), surface water and groundwater interactions, remote sensing vegetation evapotranspiration, and integrative science. Collectively, this research helps to understand the water requirements of woody vegetation and the impact of perturbations.

Additional Information:

Lecture begins at 11 a.m. U.S. Eastern time (New York) and will be followed by a question and answer session. Registration is required prior to the free event.