00:00 These trees in the Jarrah Forest aren't burnt, they're dying.
00:06 And they're not the only ones.
00:08 Ecologist Dr Joe Fontaine says the dry, dying and dead plants here at Manning Park in Perth
00:13 South are a sign of potential ecosystem collapse.
00:18 Plants were stressed and now they've run out of water and they're beginning to brown off
00:22 and it's becoming really noticeable.
00:24 And it's not confined to just this area.
00:27 We've had reports so far stretching from Denmark and Albany all the way to Shark Bay and everywhere
00:32 in between.
00:33 So it's a region-wide event and it's a big deal.
00:36 While WA summers are typically hot, this year was the warmest on record.
00:41 Parts of the state have also had prolonged stretches without rain, with Perth recording
00:46 its driest ever six-month period between October and March.
00:50 This is effectively land bleaching.
00:52 As these plants brown off and everybody knows where's the rain, more and more of them are
00:57 dying and as that happens it's affecting our biodiversity.
01:02 In 2011, researchers in WA identified what's believed to be one of the first forest collapse
01:08 events globally.
01:09 The effects sort of propagated through the system.
01:11 That was the year that cockatoos had a terrible breeding season and the numbers dropped.
01:16 Experts say climate change is to blame.
01:19 With the south-west of the state among the first in the world to begin a drying trend
01:23 in the 70s.
01:24 With a hotter, drier climate, I would expect more of these events, not only more frequent,
01:33 but also of longer duration and probably higher intensity as well.
01:40 With the state's water resources already depleted, there's little to do except wait for the rain.
01:45 But even then it could be too late for some plants and trees.
01:49 But Dr Fontaine and the team he's working with from across universities and government
01:54 say tracking and recording this event is important to best understand the impacts and prepare
02:00 for the next.
02:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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