HIE | Professor Brendan Choat

Professor Brendan Choat

Brendan Choat obtained his BSc (Hons) in 1997 (JCU) and his PhD in 2003 (JCU).

From 2003-2005 he worked as a Post Doctoral Fellow at Harvard University in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. He held a second Post Doctoral Fellowship in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis from 2005-2008.

In 2008 he returned to Australia to take up a Research Fellowship at ANU before moving to a Senior Research Lectureship at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment. He is an editor for the PrometheusWiki Project and on the editorial review board of Tree Physiology.

In 2010 he was awarded a Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers.

In 2013, Brendan was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship for his work in mapping drought responses in trees.

More details about the research and collaborations of .(opens in a new window)

Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise

The growth and survival of plants is strongly tied to the effective balance of water loss and carbon gain. In vascular plants, the xylem tissue constitutes a hydraulic system that must supply water to the transpiring leaf surface at a rate that allows for a net positive carbon balance.

The efficiency of this system is therefore of paramount importance to plant productivity and survival. However, water transported in the xylem is under tension and is therefore subject to cavitation. The resultant gas void (embolism) blocks conduits and leads to a reduction in hydraulic conductivity, which in turn can impact on leaf gas exchange and ultimately cause die back and death of the plant.

I am studying how the structure of the xylem achieves a compromise between features that promote efficiency of transport to the leaves while preserving safety from cavitation. The questions are of great importance in both natural and agricultural systems.

Awards and Recognition

Grants / Current Projects

Monitoring dieback in coastal IFOA region forests
Co-Researcher: Rachael Nolan
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Natural Resources Commission
Period: 2024

Understanding the confluence of Eucalyptus dieback and koala habitat in NSW - Stage 1
Co-Researchers: Rachael Nolan, Ben Moore, Rachael Gallagher, Belinda Medlyn, Matthias Boer
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Department of Planning and Environment
Period: 2023-2024

Understanding the confluence of Eucalyptus dieback and koala habitat in NSW - literature review
Co-Researchers: Rachael Nolan, Ben Moore, Rachael Gallagher, Belinda Medlyn, Matthias Boer
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Department of Planning and Environment
Period: 2023-2024

Assessment of the impact of damage to retained trees

Co-Researcher: Rachael Nolan
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Government Natural Resources Commission
Period: 2023

Quantifying the recovery trajectory and aboveground productivity in rainforest species after fire on rich versus poor soils
Co-Researchers: Kristine Crous, Rachael Nolan, David Ellsworth and Robert Kooyman (MQ)
Partner/Funding Body: Herman Slade
Period: 2022

Understanding the survival of forests under drought
Co-Researcher: Ben Smith
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Discovery
Period: 2022-2024

Predicting vegetation dynamics in Australia's arid zone
Co-Researchers: Rachael Nolan and Belinda Medlyn
Partner/Funding Body: Bush Heritage Australia / Arid Recovery
Period: 2022

Recovery of NSW Gondwana rainforest from bushfires
Partner/Funding Body: Baker Hughes Services Australia Pty Ltd
Period: 2021

Impacts of drought stress on bushfire risk
Co-Researchers: Rachael Nolan, Belinda Medlyn, Brendan Choat and Anne Griebel
Partner/Funding Body: Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources and RedEye Consulting
Period: 2021-2022

Memorandum of Understanding Partner Grants Project
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
Period: 2021

Real-time decision support system for remote monitoring of crops
Co-Researchers: Ian Anderson and Oula Ghannoum
Partner/funding body: Horticulture Innovation Australia
Period: 2021

Determining the physiological underpinnings of eucalypt dieback in NSW
Co-Researchers: Matthias Boer, Belinda Medlyn, Sebastian Pfautsch, Rachael Nolan, David Tissue, Paul Rymer and Mark Tjoelker
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Environmental Trust
Period: 2021-2024

Quantifying forest mortality after record-breaking drought and unprecedented wildfire in Eastern Australia
Co-Researchers: Rachael Nolan, Matthias Boer, Belinda Medlyn and Anne Griebel
Partner/Funding Body: Hermon Slade Foundation
Period: 2020-2022

Report on the impact of drought on tree health and consequences for storm damage
Co-Researcher: Belinda Medlyn
Partner/Funding Body: AUSGRID
Period: 2020

Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Network â€“ Cumberland Plain Supersite.
Co-Researcher: David Ellsworth, Elise Pendall and Matthias Boer
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Government, Departmnt of Industry, Research Attraction and Acceleration Program (RAAP)
Period: 2018-2022

Forecasting live fuel moisture content, the on/off switch for forest fire Co-Researchers: Rachael Nolan, Belinda Medlyn and Matthias Boer
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Linkage
Period: 2020-2023

Quantifying adaptive capacity to climate change through a multi-faceted approach: habitat suitability, functional traits, physiological tolerance and genetic adaptation
Co-Researchers: Paul Rymer, David Tissue and Belinda Medlyn
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Office of Environment and Heritage
Period: 2018-2021

Burning for a healthy future: people and their environment. Founding partner of NSW Bushfire Risk Management Research Hub.
Co-Researchers: Matthias Boer, Belinda Medlyn, Mark Tjoelker Elise Pendall, Ross Bradstock, David Bowman and David Keith
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Government, Department of Environment and Heritage
Period: 2018-2022

Understanding the physiological underpinnings of a massive mangrove die off in northern Australia
Partner/Funding Body: Australia and Pacific Science Foundation
Period: 2017-2019

Finding damage thresholds in pyrethrum to optimise crop profitability
Co-Researcher: Timothy Brodribb
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Discovery
Period: 2017-2019

Carbon Water Linkages for native trees under elevated CO2: A unique coupled sensor system for tree water-use efficiency
Co-Researcher: David Ellsworth
Partner/Funding Body: Campbell Scientific Australia Pty Ltd
Period: 2014

Limits to the resilience of Australian forests and woodlands to drought
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Future Fellowship
Period: 2014-2018

Drought and recovery: embolism spread and repair in conifer and angiosperm species
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Synchrotron Company Ltd
Period: 2013

Observation of embolism formation and refilling in plants using synchrotron based x-ray micro computed tomography
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Synchrotron Company Ltd
Period: 2012

Xylem and phloem transport limitations and their role in drought-induced mortality of trees
Co-Researcher: David Tissue
Partner/Funding Body: University of Western Sydney
Period: 2011-2014

Climate change effects on decomposition of coarse woody debris, as mediated by wood traits and fungal communities
Co-researchers: Jeff Powell and Peter Reich
Partner/Funding Body: University of Western Sydney
Period: 2011-2013

Fundamental aspects of water transport in plants
Co-Researcher: Steven Jansen
Partner/Funding Body: Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers
Period: 2010-2012

Travel funding to conduct experiments at the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley California
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Synchrotron International Synchrotron
Period: 2010

Visualizing xylem functional repair and elucidating its mechanisms in a variety of woody and herbaceous species
Co-Researchers: AJ McElrone, C Brodersen, KA Shackel and MA Matthews
Partner/Funding Body: Advanced Light Source, General Sciences Proposals
Period: 2010

Salinity tolerance along an aridity gradient: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function in mangroves
Co-Researchers: MC Ball, CE Lovelock and L Sack
Partner/Funding Body: ARC Discovery Grant
Period: 2010-2012

The role of systems level properties in the transport function of the xylem network
Co-Researchers: MA Matthews, AJ McElrone, R Phillips, KA Shackel
Partner/Funding Body: NSF, Integrative Organismal Systems Program UC Davis
Period: 2008-2011

Australian Vegetation Function Network Working Group 63: Xylem Functional Traits
Co-Researcher: S Jansen
Period: 2009

Functional studies of pit membrane thickenings in angiosperms
Co-Researcher: S Jansen
Partner/Funding Body: Lennox Boyd Memorial Trust Fund
Period: 2005

The effects of seasonal drought on hydraulic architecture and vulnerability to embolism in Cordia
Partner/Funding Body: Mellon Exploration Grant, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Organisation of Tropical Studies
Period: 2003