Land-atmosphere interaction in a semiarid region: the bunny fence experiment

Abstract

Southwestern Australia, with a semiarid Mediterranean climate, has been extensively cleared of native vegetation for winter-growing agricultural species. The resultant reduction in evapotranspiration has increased land salinisation. Through detailed meteorological and vegetation measurements over both agricultural and native vegetation, the bunny fence experiment is addressing the impact on the climate of replacing native perennial vegetation with winter-growing annual species. Such measurements will give a better understanding of the interaction between the land surface and the atmosphere and are important for improved parameterization of the boundary layer in climate models. -Authors