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Phreatophytic vegetation response to climatic and abstraction-induced groundwater drawdown: Examples of long-term spatial and temporal variability in community response
Authors:Ray Froend  Bea Sommer
Institution:1. Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Eau Terre Environnement, 490 rue de la Couronne, Québec G1K 9A9, Canada;2. Groupe de recherche interuniversitaire en limnologie et en environnement aquatique (GRIL), Canada
Abstract:The influence of climatic drought and groundwater abstraction on phreatophytic vegetation dynamics was investigated in the southwest of Western Australia. Two contrasting examples of long-term phreatophytic plant community response to reduced water availability are presented. Multivariate analysis of vegetation and hydrological parameters determined depth to watertable as the dominant biophysical driver of floristic spatial and temporal patterns. Under lower rates of watertable drawdown (9 cm year?1), a progressive change in floristic composition was observed over a 33-year period. The abundance of species with a preference for wetter sites was significantly reduced, whereas that of more drought-tolerant species increased. Higher rates of drawdown (50 cm year?1) where groundwater abstraction exacerbated climatic drought resulted in a threshold response in vegetation and 33% dissimilarity to pre-abstraction floristics in 12 years. In the context of an ecohydrological state and transition conceptual model, it is suggested higher rates of groundwater drawdown result in a threshold breach and subsequent transition to an alternative ecohydrological state, whilst lower rates result in a progressive floristic transition.
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