Towards a Landscape Conservation Culture - broadening the spatio-temporal scope of ecological studies to anticipate change in Australian forested ecosystems. This project in south-western Australia develops an integrated framework to interpret knowledge about landscape processes and future trajectories of species and assemblages at different spatio-temporal scales. A synthesis of data obtained through repeated biological surveys and remote sensing, with spatial data handled through GIS is used i ....Towards a Landscape Conservation Culture - broadening the spatio-temporal scope of ecological studies to anticipate change in Australian forested ecosystems. This project in south-western Australia develops an integrated framework to interpret knowledge about landscape processes and future trajectories of species and assemblages at different spatio-temporal scales. A synthesis of data obtained through repeated biological surveys and remote sensing, with spatial data handled through GIS is used in an explanatory modeling approach to make predictions under different disturbance regimes. Models built from combined spatial layers exhibiting continuous variation in environmental variables will provide area-class maps at different scales, allowing the portrayal of uncertainty associated with vegetation units - a considerable innovation over maps depicting homogenous discrete zones.Read moreRead less
Protecting the safe havens: will granite outcrop environments serve as refuges for flora threatened by anthropogenic climate change? Anthropogenic climate change threatens the Earth's biota and human society. By identifying areas that can act as refuges under projected climate conditions, adaptation and conservation activities can be focused where they will provide greatest benefit. This transdisciplinary project in the Australian global biodiversity hotspot examines the role of granite outcrops ....Protecting the safe havens: will granite outcrop environments serve as refuges for flora threatened by anthropogenic climate change? Anthropogenic climate change threatens the Earth's biota and human society. By identifying areas that can act as refuges under projected climate conditions, adaptation and conservation activities can be focused where they will provide greatest benefit. This transdisciplinary project in the Australian global biodiversity hotspot examines the role of granite outcrops as safe havens for species in the face of climate change. Knowing areas where species will retreat and maintain biodiversity under climate change will support decision making for protection of key refuges. Large financial, social and biodiversity returns follow from implementation of effective climate change adaptation management programs in Australian landscapes.Read moreRead less