Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment

• Grants
• Selected Publications
• Contact

I joined the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment in 2012 as Research Fellow in Terrestrial Ecosystem Function and Environmental Change. Previously I held a position as Research Fellow in Tree Physiology at the Faculty of Agriculture and Environment at the University of Sydney.

I was awarded my PhD (summa cum laude) from the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany, in 2007. Since then I have worked on a range of field-based projects throughout alpine, temperate and tropical Australia. This research was led by Prof Adams and during this time I  developed national (CSIRO, UWA, UniMelb) and international (Leibnitz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Germany; University of Padova, Italy; Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuria, Argentina) collaborations. 

Areas of research/teaching expertise

In my research I use a wide range of techniques to elucidate how environmental change, particularly climatic extremes and the lack of water impacts on tree dominated systems. I have studied these impacts on various spatial and temporal scales, from the cellular (wood anatomy) to whole organism (tree water use, gas exchange) and ecosystem level (ecohydrology, biogeochemical cycling). I am skilled in using stable isotopes, amino acids and chemical profiles of biological materials to investigate water and nutrient cycles. This allows me to integrate climate, anthropogenic influences and seasonal variation to further our understanding of ecosystem function.
 
I have developed and supervised several projects for international visiting students. I am currently supervising a Master and a PhD student. I started teaching in the area of tree physiology in 2003 at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg (Germany), developed a unit of study in a Bachelor degree, entitled "Tropical Ecophysiology", and have contributed continuously to tertiary education at the University of Sydney.

Awards

• 2012: Fellowship of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities
• 2008: Maxwell Jacobs Award, Institute of Foresters of Australia
• 2004: International PhD Scholarship, German Academic Exchange Service
• 2003: PhD Scholarship, State Foundation of Baden Wuerttemberg

Grants

• 2009: Combining traditional and contemporary land management in remote Australian landscapes - fire, pests and productivity. Seeding Grant, University of Sydney's Institute for Sustainable Solutions
• 2008: Linking Water Use and Stable Isotope Signatures in Trees across Different Climatic Regions in Australia in Order to Predict Changes in Carbon Sequestration of Long-Lived Plants under a Changing Climate (WISTAC). Overseas Travel Grant, Go8 - German Academic Exchange Service

Selected publications

Peer reviewed

Buckley TN, Turnbull TL, Pfautsch S, Gharun M, Adams MA, (2012) 'Differences in water use between mature and post-fire regrowth stands of subalpine Eucalyptus delegatensis R. Baker', Forest Ecology and Management, vol.270, pp 1-10  

Merchant A, Buckley TN, Pfautsch S, Turnbull TL, Samsa GA, Adams MA, (2012) 'Site-specific responses to short-term environmental variation are reflected in leaf and phloem-sap carbon isotopic abundance of field grown Eucalyptus globulus', Physiologia Plantarum, vol.146, no.4, pp 448-459

Pfautsch S, Macfarlane C, Ebdon N, Meder R, (2012) 'Assessing sapwood depth and wood properties in Eucalyptus and Corymbia spp. using visual methods and near infrared spectroscopy (NIR)', Trees - Structure and Function, vol.26, no.3, pp 963-974

Pfautsch S, Keitel C, Turnbull TL, Braimbridge MJ, Wright TE, Simpson RR, O'Brien JA, Adams MA, (2011) 'Diurnal patterns of water use in Eucalyptus victrix indicate pronounced desiccation-rehydration cycles despite unlimited water supply', Tree Physiology, vol.31, pp 1041-1051, doi:10/1093/treephys/tpr082

Buckley TN, Turnbull TL, Pfautsch S, Adams MA, (2011) 'Nocturnal sap flow in Australian subalpine forests and woodlands is indicative of nocturnal transpiration and negatively correlated with soil moisture', Ecology and Evolution, vol.1, pp 435-450, doi:10.1002/ece3.44

Pfautsch S, Gessler A, Rennenberg H, Weston CJ, Adams MA, (2010) 'δ²H, δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O of ecosystem samples identify continental and local climatic influences on hydrology of eucalypt-Nothofagus ecosystems', Water Resources Research, vol.46, W03510, doi:10.1029/2009WR007807

Petit G, Pfautsch S, Anfodillo T, Adams MA, (2010) 'The challenge of tree height in Eucalyptus regnans: when xylem tapering overcomes hydraulic resistance', New Phytologist, vol.187,  pp 1146-1153

Pfautsch S, Bleby TM, Rennenberg H, Adams MA, (2010) 'Sap flow measurements reveal influence of temperature and stand structure on water use of Eucalyptus regnans forests', Forest Ecology and Management, vol.259, pp 1190-1199

Adams MA, Simon J, Pfautsch S, (2010) 'Woody legumes: a (re)view from the south (Invited Review)', Tree Physiology, vol.30, pp 1072-1082

Pfautsch S, Rennenberg H, Bell TL, Adams MA, (2009) 'N-uptake of Eucalyptus regnans and Acacia spp. - preferences, resource-overlap and energetic costs', Tree Physiology, vol.29, pp 389-399

Pfautsch S, Gessler A, Adams MA, Rennenberg H, (2009) 'Using amino-N pools and fluxes to identify contributions of understorey Acacia spp. to overstorey Eucalyptus regnans and stand N uptake in temperate Australia', New Phytologist, vol.183, pp 1097-1113

Non-peer reviewed

Henry J, Pfautsch S, Adams MA, (2011) 'Tales from the dark side - how nature complicates ecohydrological research', The Forrester, vol.54, pp 6-7

Pfautsch S, (2007) 'Ecophysiology of Eucalyptus regnans (F. Muell.) and associated Acacia spp.: cycles of water and nitrogen', PhD Thesis, Albert Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany, 260 pp

Pfautsch S, Adams MA, Gessler A, (2005) 'Climate, topography, growth and carbon isotope composition of Nothofagus cunninghamii at Mt Donna Buang, Victoria, Australia', In: Forests in the balance: Linking tradition and Technology (Eds J.L. Innes, I.K. Edwards, D.J. Wilford). The International Forestry Review, vol.7, p 96

Other duties

I am a member of the reviewers board of Tree Physiology since 2010 and regualry review manuscripts for CSIRO Publishing, Ecological Engineering, European Journal of Forest Research, Geophysical Research Letters, International Journal of Biometeorology, Plant Biology and Trees ¡V Structure and Function.