Variable responses of alpine grassland plant species to drought in Kosciuszko National Park

Abstract

Understanding how plant species in alpine Australia will respond to climate change is vital for the future management of these ecosystems. Plant and leaf traits can provide key insights into how an individual is responding to environmental stresses such as reduced water availability. By assessing traits across species and functional groups, a picture can begin to develop about whole community responses to drought stress. This study recorded a variety of traits for six alpine plant species across three functional groups to understand how plant stress responses may influence shifts in community composition in the Australian Alps. The results of this study varied greatly between species and functional groups, highlighting the need for further longer-term studies to provide a more comprehensive understanding of species-specific responses.