LTERN Data Portal

Alpine environments globally are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, particularly warming. To examine the effects of climate change on alpine ecosystems, a climate change experiment was established on the Bogong High Plains in 2003. The experiment aims to assess the likely response of vegetation and invertebrates to temperature increases attained via a passive warming experiment.

Following the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) protocol (Molau and Mølgaard 1996; Jarrad et al. 2009; Wahren et al. 2013), four open-heathland ATEX field sites, two burnt and two unburnt, were established in the Rocky Knobs area (36.90ºS, 147.27ºE) on the Bogong High Plains in 2003. The burnt and unburnt sites were ca. 1.7 km apart while within burn-type, each of the sites were separated by approximately 0.5 km. At each of the two unburnt sites, 26 x 1 m2 plots are located along permanently marked transects. Transects are 10 m apart, 50 m long, and are marked with sturdy, red gum end-pegs. At each unburnt site, 13 of the plots are covered by a hexagonal perspex open-topped chamber (OTC; base diameter 168 cm, top diameter 110 cm) and the remaining, control plots are uncovered. At each of the two burnt sites there are 14 x 1m2 plots, seven of which are covered by an OTC, and seven of which are uncovered, controls. The chambers change the microclimate of the plots during the growing season – raising the ambient temperature by about 1-1.5°C and reducing soil moisture by 5-10%.

Data collected at the ATEX sites include vegetation growth, vegetation phenology, plant species composition, climate data and invertebrate diversity.