EucFACE animation Kim Calders
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Cumberland Plain which are on Dharug territory. We want to pay our respects to Elders past and present. Read more about the Dharug country here >>
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The Cumberland Plain Observatory and EucFACE is a part of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network – TERN – which measures key terrestrial ecosystem attributes over time from continental scale to field sites at hundreds of representative locations.
The world’s first Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment experiment in a mature, warm temperate forest ecosystem. This innovative experiment aims to predict decades in advance the effects of exposure to rising CO2 levels on native forests, animals, soils and grasses.
Once widespread across Sydney’s west, Cumberland Plain woodland is now critically endangered. A restoration program aims to restore this beautiful and diverse habitat . Reduced to small, isolated patches, it hosts species that also face a high risk of extinction, like swift parrots and regent honeyeaters.
How has the endangered ecological communities of the Cumberland Plain responded to fire frequency? What are the link between drought severity in rainforest areas and a subsequent intensification in bushfire seasons? Read more about ongoing projects here. Link also to HIE projects outside the Cumberland Plain.
We encourage collaboration with researchers from Australia and worldwide. There are numerous ways to become part of our dedicated research teams through collaborative projects,volunteering, internships, scholarships, Summer Studentships, Masters and PhD programs.
If you share our common passion for our natural heritage of flora and fauna there are a wide arrange of possibilities for community engagement. Read more about the iNaturalist project, the NSW Landcare program, HEN, the Dead Tree project, Working Together with Aboriginal communities and projects at the Botanic Garden in Mt Annan.
Latest news
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Researchers at Western Sydney University in partnership with Cornell University, the University of Wollongong and the Australian National University, have
Research at Western Sydney University into flowering plant pollination has shown that native bees and exotic European honeybees can support
Phone: +61 2 4570 1125
Email: hieinfo@westernsydney.edu.au
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment
Western Sydney University
Hawkesbury Campus
Ground Floor, Building R2
Locked Bag 1797
Penrith 2751 NSW Australia
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Reception: Building R2, Room G.67
Western Sydney University
Hawkesbury Campus
Bourke Street, Richmond
2753 NSW Australia
