In the Mount Lofty Ranges, there are three stringybark eucalypt species: Eucalyptus baxteri (brown stringybark), Eucalyptus obliqua (messmate stringybark) and Eucalyptus macrorhyncha (red stringybark). All three species show signs of dieback, resulting in the reduction of overall forest health with an increase in the death rate of the trees. Anthropogenic climate change is causing an increase in extreme weather events, such as the occurrence of prolonged and successional droughts, placing these stringybarks at further risk of dieback.

Effective management of the conservation efforts for stringybarks within the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia requires accurate knowledge of the amount and extent of the vegetation health changes and how local topography can influence the presence of unhealthy vegetation. Advances in remote sensing techniques using satellite or airborne (derived using sensors on planes or remotely piloted aircraft (RPA)) imagery allow for the assessment of vegetation, including its structure, distribution, health, species information and spatiotemporal dynamics across the landscape. Remote sensing allows discrete investigation across inaccessible or fragile ecosystems to identify spatiotemporal patterns, which is especially important for conservation efforts.

In this PhD research, the extent of dieback will be determined, and vegetation health changes over time will be identified in eucalypt forests using comparative remote sensing techniques to monitor forest health. The aim is to develop and compare different remote sensing methods on a simpler stringybark forest and then apply the developed methods to a more complex stringybark forest. Findings will be used to develop a Remote Sensing and scenario-based framework for dieback analytics, allowing for determining the extent of dieback and vegetation health changes over time for other eucalypt forests.