People

Jim has over 40 years experience in hydrological research with particular expertise in hydro-ecological interactions, sediment and nutrient transport during floods, rainforest hydrology and vegetation water use. Jim has a wide knowledge of hydrological research and particular expertise in water-ecology interactions, rainforest hydrology and vegetation water use. He joined JCU’s Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecological Research (TropWATER) in 2013 after 8 years as Team Leader of CSIRO’s Tropical Hydrology Group in Townsville. His research has addressed some of the key issues involved in the understanding and management of two of Australia’s World Heritage Areas; the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and Tropical Rainforests.

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Research Online @ JCU Publications

Research Interests

Jim Wallace is a Senior Research Scientist with a wide knowledge of hydrological research and particular expertise in water-ecology interactions, rainforest hydrology and vegetation water use. He joined JCU’s Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecological Research (TropWATER) in 2013 after 8 years as Team Leader of CSIRO’s Tropical Hydrology Group in Townsville. His research has addressed some of the key issues involved in the understanding and management of two of Australia’s World Heritage Areas; the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and Tropical Rainforests. He pioneered the use of hydro-dynamic models to quantify (i) sediment and nutrient transport to the GBR during floods and (ii) the connectivity of floodplain wetlands during and after floods. He has published extensively on the water balance of Australia’s tropical rainforests, how this links with rainforest ecology and how these might change under climate change. His most recent research addresses the question of how riverine ecology in northern Australia might be affected by climate and/or development (via water abstraction) where he has developed novel applications of hydrological modelling and remote sensing techniques to quantify pool formation during the dry season in ephemeral rivers.

Prior to this his work in Australia Jim was Director of the UK Institute of Hydrology and Deputy Director of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. During this time he was Hydrological Advisor to the UK Government and the UK Permanent representative to the World Meteorological Organisation. In recognition of his scientific contribution in the field of hydrology he was awarded a visiting Professorship at University of Reading in 1997. In 1999 he initiated the establishment of the Joint Centre for Hydro Meteorological Research in the UK, responsible for the development of the UK National system for flood warning and improvements to large scale weather and hydrological models. He was also an international leader in major global water research programmes with extensive experience of research collaboration in developing countries.

Recent Research Projects

• Climate and development impacts on ephemeral river pool formation in northern Australia.
• Improving forest interception estimation in the continental scale Australian Water Resources Assessment model (AWRA).
• Quantifying floodplain connectivity using Hydro-dynamic models.
• The role of floods in sediment and nutrient transport to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
• Rainforest hydrology and climatic impacts.
• Tropical wetland hydrology.
• Improving crop water requirement estimation.
• Establishing an Australian large area surface moisture monitoring network using cosmic ray sensors.

Selected Publications

Books

McJannet D.L., Wallace, J.S. and Reddel, P. 2010. Comparative water budgets of a lower and an upper montane cloud forest in the Wet Tropics of northern Australia. In: Tropical montane cloud forests: Science for Conservation and Management, (Eds. Bruijnzeel, L.A., Scatena, F.N. and Hamilton, L.S.). Cambridge University Press, 479-490.

McJannet, D.L., Wallace, J.S., Fitch, P.G., Disher, M.G., Reddel, P. 2007. Hydrological processes in the tropical rainforests of Australia. In: Living in a Dynamic Tropical Forest Landscape: Lessons form Australia, (Eds: Stork N and Turton SM). Cambridge University Press, 197-209.

Wallace, J.S. and Wouters, P. 2006. Hydrology and Water Law – Bridging the gap. Water Law and Policy Series, IWA Publishing, London, UK, 344pp.

Wallace, J.S., Young, A and Ong, C.K. 2005.  The potential of Agroforestry for Sustainable Land and Water Management.  In: Forests-Water-People in the humid tropics: Past Present and Future Hydrological Research for Integrated Land and Water Management.  (Eds: M.Bonell and L.A. Bruinzeel), UNESCO International Hydrology Series, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 652-671.

Wallace, J.S. and  Verhoef, A. 2000. Modelling interactions in mixed-plant communities: light, water and carbon dioxide. In: Leaf development and canopy growth (Eds. Bruce Marshall and Jeremy A Roberts). Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, UK, 204-250

Journal Articles

Wallace, J.S. and McJANNET, D. 2012a. Climate change impacts on the water balance of coastal and montane rainforests in northern Queensland, Australia. Journal of Hydrology (In Press)

Wallace, J.S. and McJANNET, D. 2012b. How might Australian rainforest cloud interception respond to climate change? Journal of Hydrology (In Press).

Wallace, J.S., Karim, F. and Wilkinson, S. 2011. Assessing the potential underestimation of sediment and nutrient loads to the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon during floods. Marine Pollution Bulletin (2011). DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.10.019.

Karim, F.,  Kinsey-Henderson, A., Wallace, J.S., Arthington, A.H. and Pearson, R.G. 2011a. Modelling wetland connectivity during overbank flooding in a tropical floodplain in north Queensland, Australia. Hydrological Processes (2011) DOI: 10.1002/hyp.8364.

McJannet, D.L., Wallace, J.S., Keen, R., Hawdon, A., and Kemei, J. 2011a. The filtering capacity of a tropical riverine wetland: I. Water balance. Hydrological Processes 26, 40-52.

McJannet, D.L., Wallace, J.S., Keen, R., Hawdon, A., and Kemei, J. 2011b. The filtering capacity of a tropical riverine wetland: II. Sediment and nutrient balances. Hydrological Processes 26, 53-72.

Wallace, J.S. and McJannet, D.L. 2010. Processes controlling transpiration in the rainforests of north Queensland, Australia. Journal of Hydrology 384, 107-117.

Wallace, J.S., Hawdon, A., Keen, R. Stewart, L. and Kemei, J. 2009. Flood water quality and marine sediment and nutrient loads from the Tully and Murray catchments in north Queensland, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 60, 1123-1131.

Shuttleworth, J.S. and Wallace, J.S. 2009. Calculating the water requirements of irrigated crops in Australia using the Matt-Shuttleworth approach. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, 52, 1895-1906.

Wallace, J.S., Hawdon, A., Keen, R. and Stewart, L. 2008. The role of coastal floodplains in generating sediment and nutrient fluxes to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon in Australia. International Journal of Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology 8, 183-194.

Wallace, J.S. and McJannet, D.L. 2008. Modelling interception in coastal and montane rainforests in northern Queensland, Australia. Journal of Hydrology 348, 480-495.

Reports

Close, P.G., Wallace, J.S., Bayliss, P., Bartolo, R., Burrows, D., Pusey, B.J., Robinson, C.J., McJannet, D., Karim, F., Byrne, G., Marvanek, S., Turnadge, C., Harrington, G., Petheram, C., Dutra, L., Dobbs, R., Pettit, N., Jankowski, A., Wallington, T., Kroon, F., Schmidt, D., Buttler, B., Stock, M., Veld, A., Speldewinde, P., Cook, B.A., Cook, B., Douglas, M., Setterfield, S., Kennard, M., Davies, P., Hughes, J., Cossart, R., Conolly, N., and  Townsend, S. 2012. Assessment of the likely impacts of development and climate change on aquatic ecological assets in Northern Australia. A report for the National Water Commission, Australia. Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRaCK) Commonwealth Environmental Research Facility, Charles Darwin University, Darwin. ISBN: 978-1-921576-66-9. 561pp.

Bird, M., Bass, A., Hawdon, A., Keen, R., Liddel, M.J. and Wallace, J.S. 2011. Project 29: Ecosystem water and carbon balance in upland and lowland tropical forests. Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility (MTSRF) Transition Project Final report. Reef and rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns, 13pp.

Wallace, J.S., Hawdon, A., Keen, R., Karim, K., Stewart, L. and Kemei, J. 2010. Wetlands and floodplains: connectivity and hydro-ecological function.  Part I: the role of over bank floods in transporting sediments and nutrients to the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon. Final report to the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility.  Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns. 19pp.

Karim, K., Wallace, J.S., Kinsey-Henderson, A., Hawdon, A., Keen, R. J., Godfrey, P., Arthington, A.H. and Pearson, R.G. 2010. Wetlands and floodplains: connectivity and hydro-ecological function.  Part II: Quantification of overbank and channelized wetland connectivity in the Tully-Murray floodplain. Report to the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility.  Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns. 37pp.

Pearson, R.G., Arthington, A.H., Godfrey, P.C., Wallace, J.S., Karim, F. and Ellison, M. 2010. Ecosystem health of wetlands of the Great Barrier Reef catchment: Tully-Murray floodplain case study. Final report on Marine and Tropical Science Research Facility project 3.7.3. Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns, 119pp.

McJannet, D.M., Wallace, J.S., McMahon, J. and Henderson, A. 2009. High and low flow regime changes at environmental assets across northern Australia under future climate and development scenarios. A report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Northern Australia Sustainable Yields Project. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship, Australia. Viii+132pp. ISSN 1835-095X.