The Importance Of The Jearrah Rainforest

Lack of rainfall is affecting the growth of trees, the amount of water received by the city of Perth, and the number of wildfires. The Jarrah karri region of Australia is drying out due to global warming. The rainfall has decreased around 15-20 percent since 1970 (Wardell-Johnson). Because of this, Bunbury says that the Jarrah karri region is a good example “for understanding what climate change impacts may mean in the future.” Many other areas in the world have a Mediterranean climate similar to the Jarrah forests and so by understanding what is happening to the Jarrah forests, researchers hope to change the future of other Mediterranean areas (Bunbury). One of the reasons that this part of Australia is suffering so much is that it has been in a “human-triggered climate

The reason for not receiving the rain the forests once did is because rain follows the trees. (Bunbury). The lack of rainfall has severely affected the way that streams flow. Streams that once flowed all year now only run for a couple of months. This has caused the water table to decline. As the ground continues to lose water, there are more wildfires or bushfires, and the more bushfires there are, the longer it takes for the land to rehabilitate (Wardell-Johnson). The forests needed high rainfalls not only to support jarrah trees but also Karri and tingle trees (Southwestern). One of the ways that they are hoping to produce more rainfall is through a method known as “Thinning”. Thinning is the systematic removal of plants in hope that the other plants in the area with receiving more water. As for now, the method is not working because there is simply not enough water to go around (Wardell-Johnson). A way that is similar to this method is just the general clearing method. The land is cleared of trees and then used for agricultural purposes. This way was tested. A twenty-eight percent higher rainfall was