Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities ....Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities. We will develop innovative techniques to date prehistoric biotic and climatic events and, using a range of tracers, characterize ancient environments and groundwater. This project will assist rural and regional Australia through education and job creation in geotourism and natural resource interpretation and provide a mechanism to combat generational skill shortage.Read moreRead less
Overturning the Ediacara biota: community structure of the oldest animal ecosystems. The first systematic excavation of serial fossil beds of South Australia's famous Ediacara biota will lead to an integrated study of the oldest diverse macroscopic assemblages of life on Earth. Once the preservational and biological components of the record have been separated, Ediacaran fossil beds can be treated as 'snap-shots? of benthic marine communities. This will enable the use of palaeoecological tools t ....Overturning the Ediacara biota: community structure of the oldest animal ecosystems. The first systematic excavation of serial fossil beds of South Australia's famous Ediacara biota will lead to an integrated study of the oldest diverse macroscopic assemblages of life on Earth. Once the preservational and biological components of the record have been separated, Ediacaran fossil beds can be treated as 'snap-shots? of benthic marine communities. This will enable the use of palaeoecological tools to determine which if any of these Precambrian fossils were members of animal groups that heralded the Cambrian explosion of animal life.Read moreRead less
The evolution of Australian rainforest faunas and the implications of continuing climate change. Australia's rainforest animals and ecosystems have been evolving for millions of years yet we routinely use only the last 200 years to assess changes that will affect their future - far too short a time interval to distinguish short-term perturbations from long-term trends in lineage health or community response. Our multidisciplinary team proposes to learn from 55 million years of response to rainfa ....The evolution of Australian rainforest faunas and the implications of continuing climate change. Australia's rainforest animals and ecosystems have been evolving for millions of years yet we routinely use only the last 200 years to assess changes that will affect their future - far too short a time interval to distinguish short-term perturbations from long-term trends in lineage health or community response. Our multidisciplinary team proposes to learn from 55 million years of response to rainfall and other climate change documented by the spectacular national, natural treasures in the fossil deposits of Tingamarra, Riversleigh and Rockhampton, to assess probable impacts of future environmental change and inform development of effective, long-term conservation strategies for rainforest communities. Read moreRead less
Unravelling the last great Gondwanan mystery: the first land vertebrate fauna from the Tertiary of New Zealand. This project will dramatically increase knowledge about Australia's and New Zealand's shared biodiversity and the history of trans-Tasman dispersals. By comparing Australian and New Zealand fossil records, it will be possible to assess the speed at which evolving vertebrates of one landmass invade another, as well as the biotic consequences of such events, and provide data important fo ....Unravelling the last great Gondwanan mystery: the first land vertebrate fauna from the Tertiary of New Zealand. This project will dramatically increase knowledge about Australia's and New Zealand's shared biodiversity and the history of trans-Tasman dispersals. By comparing Australian and New Zealand fossil records, it will be possible to assess the speed at which evolving vertebrates of one landmass invade another, as well as the biotic consequences of such events, and provide data important for predicting and responding to future potentially-damaging events of this kind. Developing understanding about the timing and intensity of antipodean faunal response to past climate change will improve ability to anticipate and manage processes that threaten ecosystem resilience in both lands.Read moreRead less
An inventory of past biodiversity in Western Australia using ancient DNA. Fossil bones and museum skins are genetic time capsules that facilitate the exploration of Australia's past biodiversity. Travelling back in 'genetic time' provides important insights into how ecosystems functioned prior to the arrival of Europeans and the feral species that accompanied them. This funding will facilitate research into the genetic heritage of endangered WA species such as Woylies and Cockatoos. Native speci ....An inventory of past biodiversity in Western Australia using ancient DNA. Fossil bones and museum skins are genetic time capsules that facilitate the exploration of Australia's past biodiversity. Travelling back in 'genetic time' provides important insights into how ecosystems functioned prior to the arrival of Europeans and the feral species that accompanied them. This funding will facilitate research into the genetic heritage of endangered WA species such as Woylies and Cockatoos. Native species face increasing pressures from climate change and invasive species. Compiling a genetic inventory of WA's past biodiversity will assist in developing scientifically sound conservation management responses. Such approaches are critically important if this biodiversity hotspot is to be preserved for future generations.Read moreRead less
Precious time-capsule: discovery of fossil-rich amber from Australia. Cape York's natural attributes are already of national and global significance. Our research, which focuses on the world's most recently discovered, fossil-rich amber deposit will significantly increase this value. In addition to discovery of hundreds of stunningly-well preserved fossil organisms, analysis of trapped bubbles of ancient air will enable us to reconstruct their prehistoric environment. This should improve ability ....Precious time-capsule: discovery of fossil-rich amber from Australia. Cape York's natural attributes are already of national and global significance. Our research, which focuses on the world's most recently discovered, fossil-rich amber deposit will significantly increase this value. In addition to discovery of hundreds of stunningly-well preserved fossil organisms, analysis of trapped bubbles of ancient air will enable us to reconstruct their prehistoric environment. This should improve ability to anticipate biotic responses to future climate change. The amber industry globally contributes to national wealth. Increasing understanding about the geology and palaeontology of this amber deposit will maximise commercial and scientific benefits to the nation.Read moreRead less