TERN South East Queensland Peri-urban SuperSite - Samford - Australia

The South East Queensland Peri-urban SuperSite is a member of the Australian SuperSite Network (SuperSites, http://www.supersites.net.au/), a facility within the Australian Terrestrial Ecosystem Network (TERN, http://www.tern.org.au/). The SEQ Peri-urban SuperSite’s (SEQP) core infrastructure is located along two longitudinal transects north and south of Brisbane where the urban footprint is expanding the most rapidly. The SEQP Samford node is located in the Pine transect to the north of Brisbane extends from the upper reaches of the Pine River catchment through Samford Valley to Central Moreton Bay. It focuses on the impact of urban development and low frequency, high flow (ephemeral) events on terrestrial biogeochemistry and downstream east-west transect in recent years and will complement hydrological and biogeochemistry monitoring. Rapid population growth in SEQ is expected to continue particularly in peri-urban areas. The development, transformation of land use and exploitation of resources associated with this population growth will intensify the pressure on catchment, aquatic and coastal environments, potentially leading to significant habitat fragmentation, water quality issues, biodiversity loss and loss of economic and amenity values. The vulnerability of SEQ’s high biodiversity ecosystems will be compounded by climate change in the region. The two nodes of the SEQ Peri-urban SuperSite in the Samford Valley and the Albert Logan provide contrasting catchments for assessing the impact of urbanisation on water quantity, quality and biodiversity and are applicable to many locations in coastal Australia. Key research questions • Can ecosystem services be maintained in an urbanising environment? • How do carbon and energy balances change under different land uses in transition from a natural dry sclerophyll forest to a peri-urban area? • What impact will Brisbane’s peri-urban development have on water and greenhouse gases (carbon) and surrounding vegetation? • What are the long-term effects of urbanisation on remnant vegetation? • How will changes in the climate, land-use (e.g. from rural to residential) and soil nutrient balances affect water leaving the catchment? • How can bio-acoustic monitoring be used for measuring ecosystem health?