Ecosystem health and function
Ensis specialises in understanding the factors that determine ecosystem resistance and resilience to pest impacts. This research area takes a broad, long term view of forestry in order to ensure the future health and vitality of the resource, the environment and the industry.
Forest health monitoring
Ensis Forest Biosecurity and Protection is developing new systems to quantify pest impacts and monitor long-term health trends. This expertise enables forest growers to oversee the condition of their resource and to understand the link between forest health and productivity.
The ultimate goal of this research programme is to understand the factors that determine ecosystem resistance and resilience to pest impacts. This information will help forest growers to ensure the long term health and sustainability of forest ecosystems.
Specialist skills within the group include:
- Forest health assessments – Defining key measures of forest health and developing systems for efficient monitoring of these factors, including crown health and classification models.
- Remote sensing – Developing methods for the remote and real-time monitoring of forest health condition.
- Risk and hazard ratings – Combining productivity models with risk and hazard ratings for particular pests and diseases to enable site selection and targeted management.
- Forest productivity modelling – Quantifying the relationships between forest canopy damage and loss of productivity. Models can be used to predict rotation length impacts arising from different levels and types of damage.
Ecosystem resistance to pests
Ensis Forest Biosecurity and Protection is conducting ground-breaking research into understanding the resistance of forest ecosystems to biological attack. A key part of this programme investigates the evolutionary relationships of pests and disease with their hosts.
Another important element of this research looks at the role of biodiversity in ecosystem stability.
Contact: Lindsay Bulman
Forest pathologist – Ensis Forest Biosecurity and Protection
Email: lindsay.bulman@ensisjv.com
Phone: +64 7 343 5777