Identification of groundwater-dependent terrestrial vegetation: an integrative approach in a semi-arid floodplain landscape, western NSW, Australia  


Authors / CoAuthors

Gow, L.J. | Halas, L. | Tan, K.P. | Magee, J. | Gibson, D. | Brodie, R.S. | Lymburner, L. | McIntyre, A. | Lawrie, K.

Abstract

Identification of groundwater-dependent terrestrial vegetation, and assessment of the relative importance of different water sources to vegetation dynamics, typically requires detailed ecophysiological studies over a number of seasons or years. However, even when groundwater dependence can be quantified, results are often difficult to upscale beyond the plot scale. Quicker, more regional approaches to mapping groundwater-dependent vegetation have consequently evolved with technological advancements in remote sensing techniques. These approaches however often fail to incorporate sub-surface hydrogeological processes in their interpretation of groundwater dependence. This study, undertaken in the semi-arid Darling River Floodplain in NSW, Australia, innovatively combines Landsat Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series data with hydrogeological, hydrogeochemical and hydrogeophysical data to assess the relative importance of hydrological processes and groundwater characteristics. Central to the approach is the use of airborne electromagnetics which provides a 3-dimensional context to otherwise point-based borehole data. This approach has resulted in an improved understanding of vegetation dynamics including the spatial distribution of vegetation utilising groundwater, timing and duration of groundwater use, and response to different hydrologic regimes (e.g. rainfall, lateral bank recharge, and overbank flooding). In particular, the study has established that the deeper (>25m), semi-confined aquifer is only rarely important to vegetation dynamics, with the shallow unconfined aquifer and river flush zones being of greater importance. These findings are being used to assess the suitability of proposed groundwater-development schemes in the study area, and have implications for riparian vegetation management more broadly.

Product Type

nonGeographicDataset

eCat Id

73537

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  Custodian

EGD  

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Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)  
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia

Keywords

  • External PublicationAbstract
( Theme )
  • groundwater
( Theme )
  • vegetation
( Theme )
  • geophysics
( Theme )
  • hydrogeology
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
  • Earth Sciences
  • Published_Internal

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2012-02-15T00:00:00

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence    

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geoscientificInformation

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