Forecasting soil conditions. Not knowing where and how soil responds to climate change and human intervention compromises food, water, climate and energy security. Currently there is a lack of soil process knowledge and data infrastructure collectively causing significant uncertainty and risk in the assessments of key threats to soil. The project devises a transformational digital soil model to forecast where and how soil pH and carbon will change in New South Wales. Tested on sites within Au ....Forecasting soil conditions. Not knowing where and how soil responds to climate change and human intervention compromises food, water, climate and energy security. Currently there is a lack of soil process knowledge and data infrastructure collectively causing significant uncertainty and risk in the assessments of key threats to soil. The project devises a transformational digital soil model to forecast where and how soil pH and carbon will change in New South Wales. Tested on sites within Australia, the model will give insight on the drivers of change and will provide a unique analysis of the effect of climate change and land management on the dynamics of soil.Read moreRead less
Carbon dioxide-methane exchange in porous media for carbon-neutral energy production. This project aims to incorporate carbon capture and storage into natural gas production from energy reserves. Carbon sequestration could assist in achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Injecting carbon dioxide into natural gas reservoirs or methane hydrate sands would be a nearly carbon-neutral means of energy production. However, this exchange of carbon dioxide for methane is poorly understood in ....Carbon dioxide-methane exchange in porous media for carbon-neutral energy production. This project aims to incorporate carbon capture and storage into natural gas production from energy reserves. Carbon sequestration could assist in achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Injecting carbon dioxide into natural gas reservoirs or methane hydrate sands would be a nearly carbon-neutral means of energy production. However, this exchange of carbon dioxide for methane is poorly understood in both reservoirs and sands because multiple phases like water and sand affect mixing and recovery. This project will combine spatially-resolved Magnetic Resonance Imaging of high-pressure flooding and exchange experiments with multi-scale modelling. The expected outcome is simultaneous carbon dioxide sequestration with enhanced energy production.Read moreRead less
Pyrogenic carbon sequestration in Australian soils. Pyrogenic Carbon ('charcoal') is a poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle, important because it is resistant to degradation and hence has potential soil carbon sequestration benefits. This project applies a new technique (hydrogen pyrolysis), in combination with spectroscopic techniques, to quantify charcoal in a pan-Australian soil sample set, collected using uniform stratified sampling and preparation protocols. This will ena ....Pyrogenic carbon sequestration in Australian soils. Pyrogenic Carbon ('charcoal') is a poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle, important because it is resistant to degradation and hence has potential soil carbon sequestration benefits. This project applies a new technique (hydrogen pyrolysis), in combination with spectroscopic techniques, to quantify charcoal in a pan-Australian soil sample set, collected using uniform stratified sampling and preparation protocols. This will enable the mapping of soil charcoal stocks in relation to environmental and soil variables across Australia. The results will enable understanding of the controls on charcoal sequestration potential in Australian soils and contribute to efforts to quantify soil charcoal stocks and dynamics globally.Read moreRead less
Soil ecology in the 21st century - a crucial role in land management. Recent technological advances have helped us discover the role of soil ecology in achieving sustainability in Australia. This project will develop ways to take this complex knowledge and translate it into forms that can be used by land managers. This work will focus on soil carbon sequestration, but is relevant to many other environmental issues.
Unravelling soil carbon response to warming in fire-affected ecosystems. This project aims to reveal the continental pattern of soil carbon (C) response to warming in fire-affected ecosystems across Australia and to unravel the biogeochemical mechanisms underlying fire’s role in shaping the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. Fire has modified over 40% of the Earth’s land surface and wildfire frequency is predicted to increase under global warming. This project expects to generate new k ....Unravelling soil carbon response to warming in fire-affected ecosystems. This project aims to reveal the continental pattern of soil carbon (C) response to warming in fire-affected ecosystems across Australia and to unravel the biogeochemical mechanisms underlying fire’s role in shaping the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. Fire has modified over 40% of the Earth’s land surface and wildfire frequency is predicted to increase under global warming. This project expects to generate new knowledge on how fire influences soil-to-atmosphere C fluxes in a warmer climate using a multi-disciplinary approach. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capacity to predict the terrestrial ecosystem-to-atmosphere C fluxes and their feedbacks to climate under increasing frequency of fire using Earth-system models. Read moreRead less
Developing a novel carbon negative fertiliser . Food security is vital to support our growing population. However, our increasing reliance on intensive farming systems necessitates increased fertiliser use, leading to increased water pollution and soil degradation - threatening both the Australian environment and food security. Increasing carbon storage capacity by soil and decreasing fertiliser use are two of the primary pathways for restoring the bio-support capacity of soils and reducing farm ....Developing a novel carbon negative fertiliser . Food security is vital to support our growing population. However, our increasing reliance on intensive farming systems necessitates increased fertiliser use, leading to increased water pollution and soil degradation - threatening both the Australian environment and food security. Increasing carbon storage capacity by soil and decreasing fertiliser use are two of the primary pathways for restoring the bio-support capacity of soils and reducing farming footprints. This innovative and first-of-its-kind project aims to develop a cost-effective, carbon negative fertiliser that reduces fertiliser inputs and increases soil carbon storageRead moreRead less
Anticipating closure of bauxite refineries in Western Australia: the water quality implications of a proposed new design in residue storage areas. Refining bauxite is a major industrial activity in Australia, with economic benefits and a high potential for environmental impact. Many bauxite refineries are sited in rural areas. Community interests are given high priority in developing strategies for long-term storage of residue. These community interests include minimal impact on farmland, water, ....Anticipating closure of bauxite refineries in Western Australia: the water quality implications of a proposed new design in residue storage areas. Refining bauxite is a major industrial activity in Australia, with economic benefits and a high potential for environmental impact. Many bauxite refineries are sited in rural areas. Community interests are given high priority in developing strategies for long-term storage of residue. These community interests include minimal impact on farmland, water, health and natural ecosystems. Some of the refinery residue can be re-used in applications such as road construction, thus reducing the need to find other materials for this purpose. This project will investigate new residue management practices which could lead to better ways of establishing a sustainable vegetation cover and avoiding the impact of drainage water on the environment.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101029
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$462,763.00
Summary
A global exploration of microbial carbon breakdown in wetland ecosystems. This project aims to investigate how plant litter breakdown in wetlands controls soil carbon preservation by identifying the climatic, environmental and microbial drivers of decomposition on a global scale. This project will generate new knowledge in the area of freshwater and coastal wetland ecology using interdisciplinary approaches in biogeochemistry and microbial ecology. Outcomes of this project include novel global d ....A global exploration of microbial carbon breakdown in wetland ecosystems. This project aims to investigate how plant litter breakdown in wetlands controls soil carbon preservation by identifying the climatic, environmental and microbial drivers of decomposition on a global scale. This project will generate new knowledge in the area of freshwater and coastal wetland ecology using interdisciplinary approaches in biogeochemistry and microbial ecology. Outcomes of this project include novel global datasets that will identify why some wetlands preserve carbon better than others and what management practices can enhance sequestration capacity. This should provide significant benefits, including advancing carbon-cycling models and predictions, and improving capacity to manage and restore wetland function.Read moreRead less
Carbon sequestration by mineral surface area as a feedback to climate warming in a greenhouse ocean. The project will investigate a previously unrecognised negative feedback to global warming resulting from sequestration of carbon to marine sediments by soil-formed clay minerals. By studying the past transitions to greenhouse periods, this project will assess the likely influence of this feedback in the present transition to a warmer climate.
Global space-time soil carbon assessment. Soil carbon is a key component of functional ecosystems and is crucial for food, water and energy security, and for climate change mitigation. The project will contribute to global understanding of soil carbon and its management for sustainable wellbeing.