affiliation

New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, Snowy Mountains Region
Research Centre of Applied Alpine Ecology, Department of Botany, La Trobe University

email

Susanna.venn[at]environment.nsw.gov.au or Susanna.venn[at]gmail.com

contact details

NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, PO Box 2228, Jindabyne NSW 2627, Tel: (02) 6450 5558

research interests

• Snow ecology
• Plant ecology
• Global warming
• Other: Climate change
• Long-term monitoring

publications

Publications

Lord JM, Venn SE, Morgan JW (in prep.) Foliar freezing resistance of Australian alpine species vary with altitude and the timing of snow melt

Venn SE, Green K, Pickering CM and Morgan JW (2010) Plant functional trait means and divergence vary with the timing of snowmelt in Australian alpine snowpatches Plant Ecology (in review)

Venn SE and Morgan JW (2010) Soil seedbank composition and dynamics across alpine summits in south-eastern Australia Australian Journal of Botany 58, 349-362

Venn SE, Morgan, JW and Green PT (2009) Do facilitative interactions with neighboring plants assist the growth of seedlings at high altitudes in alpine Australia? Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 41(3) 381-387

Venn SE and Morgan JW (2009) Germination characteristics of Mountain Celery Aciphylla glacialis (F. Muell.) Benth. (Apiaceae). The Victorian Naturalist, 126 (1) 4-12

Venn SE and Morgan JW (2009) Patterns in alpine seedling emergence and establishment across a stress gradient of mountain summits in south-eastern Australia. Plant Ecology and Diversity, 2 (1) 5–16

Venn SE and Morgan JW (2007) Phytomass and phenology of three alpine snowpatch species across a natural snowmelt gradient Australian Journal of Botany 55: 450–456

Venn SE, Morgan JW (2005) Patterns in alpine vegetation across an altitudinal gradient in Victoria, Australia: an example of 'space for time substitution' in order to assess the potential effects of climate change. In 'Global Change in Mountain Regions'. (Ed. MF Price). (Sapiens Publishing: Duncow, United Kingdom)

Morgan J, Venn S, Wearne L, Bartley M, McMillan S (2003) Small-scale patterns of occurrence of Snow Pratia Pratia gelida at Hospice Plain, Mount Buffalo National Park. The Victorian Naturalist 120, 4-9.

Conference presentations

Venn SE, Green K (2010) Marching up the mountain? Mechanisms of woodland expansion into the Australian alpine zone Spoken paper, Global Change and World’s Mountains conference, Perth Scotland, United Kingdom.

Venn SE, Morgan JW, Pickering CM and Green KP (2009) Using plant traits to predict functional shifts in snowpatch communities with climate change Spoken paper, Ecological Society of Australia, Brisbane

Venn SE, Morgan JW, Lord JM (2008) Left out in the cold. Can alpine plants get tough against frost in early spring? Spoken paper, Ecological Society of Australia, Sydney

Venn SE, Morgan JW (2007) Plant recruitment across alpine summits in Victoria. Spoken paper, Ecological Society of Australia, Perth. (Best oral paper presentation by a student 2007)

Venn SE, Morgan JW (2006) Facilitation is an important plant-plant interaction at high altitudes in Victoria, Australia. Spoken paper, Ecological Society of Australia and New Zealand Ecological Society joint conference, Wellington, New Zealand (Student prize winner, sponsored by Australian Flora Foundation).

Venn SE, Morgan JW (2005) Patterns in alpine vegetation across an altitudinal gradient in Victoria, Australia: an example of 'space for time substitution' in order to assess the potential effects of climate change. Poster paper, Global Change in Mountain Regions conference, Perth, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Venn SE, Morgan JW (2005) Alpine seedling regeneration and distribution: predicting changes using a natural gradient and ‘space for time’ approach. Spoken paper, Ecological Society of Australia conference, Brisbane (Student prize winner, sponsored by Australian Flora Foundation).

Venn SE, Morgan JW (2005) Plant interactions across an altitudinal gradient. Spoken paper, Australian Institute for Alpine Studies conference, Jindabyne, NSW.

Venn SE, Morgan JW. (2004) Patterns in seed germination across an altitudinal gradient. Spoken paper, Ecological Society of Australia conference, Armidale, NSW

Previous Research Grants

• 2005 M. A. Ingram Trust, $8390
• Holsworth Wildlife Research Fund, $4900
• 2004 Holsworth Wildlife Research Fund, $4500
• Australian Geographic Society, $2000
• 2003 Holsworth Wildlife Research Fund, $3000
• Ecological Society of Australia, $500
• Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, $350

current research or projects

Research Objectives

To develop a better understanding of how Australian alpine plant species and communities will respond to reductions in snowfall over future decades. More specifically, I ask ecological questions concerned with plant community (re)assembly by investigating how environmental phenomena affect various life history events, freezing resistance, phenology and species’ distribution across the landscape.

Current research topics

• Recruitment at the alpine treeline in Kosciuszko National park
• Freezing resistance of alpine shrub species across the growing season
• Functional Diversity within snowpatch communities and relationships with growing season length
• Investigation into the mechanisms maintaining linear, parallel bands of snowgums at high altitudes
• Frost tolerance among Snowgum seedlings
• Germination studies of Snowgum
• Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA)

PhD thesis

Plant recruitment across alpine summits in south-eastern Australia (2007) is available for viewing and downloading here:
http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/thesis/public/adt-LTU20080526.160815/