Satellite tracking of health threats from grass pollen exposure. This project aims to discover why pollen exposure has increased since the 1960s. Grass pollens are the main environmental allergen source in Australia and the primary cause of allergic diseases. This project will investigate the ecological causes of changing pollen allergen exposures through integrating 40 years of satellite data, field phenology cameras, and pollen traps that track grass pollen sources, their evolution and impact ....Satellite tracking of health threats from grass pollen exposure. This project aims to discover why pollen exposure has increased since the 1960s. Grass pollens are the main environmental allergen source in Australia and the primary cause of allergic diseases. This project will investigate the ecological causes of changing pollen allergen exposures through integrating 40 years of satellite data, field phenology cameras, and pollen traps that track grass pollen sources, their evolution and impact areas. The outcomes are expected to advance knowledge of environmental drivers and enable more accurate pollen forecasts that alleviate the medical and socioeconomic burden of allergic diseases, estimated to cost 30 billion dollars.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101141
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$366,000.00
Summary
Critical regions and network connectivity of coral reef ecosystems. This project aims to measure the degree of connectivity between isolated reefs in Australia's Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef and identify the biological and environmental mechanisms that enhance management strategies or mitigate against disturbances. The movement of individuals in fragmented landscapes plays a central role in the ecology and evolution of species. The project seeks to measure connectivity at multiple scales ....Critical regions and network connectivity of coral reef ecosystems. This project aims to measure the degree of connectivity between isolated reefs in Australia's Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef and identify the biological and environmental mechanisms that enhance management strategies or mitigate against disturbances. The movement of individuals in fragmented landscapes plays a central role in the ecology and evolution of species. The project seeks to measure connectivity at multiple scales and identify critical regions for the design of networks of marine protected areas. This is anticipated to improve our understanding of connectivity in marine seascapes and benefit management of important fishery species and current efforts in coral reef conservation.Read moreRead less
Ecophysiological limitations that affect water and carbon balance within large tree canopies: a comparative investigation. Supply of water to forest canopies is a major control of hydrological, atmospheric and biotic processes that impinge on groundwater stability, catchment yield, the fate of pollutants and plant productivity. Fundamental aspects of water transport and distribution within plant tissues remain obscured by conflicting experimental data and conflicting theoretical models that des ....Ecophysiological limitations that affect water and carbon balance within large tree canopies: a comparative investigation. Supply of water to forest canopies is a major control of hydrological, atmospheric and biotic processes that impinge on groundwater stability, catchment yield, the fate of pollutants and plant productivity. Fundamental aspects of water transport and distribution within plant tissues remain obscured by conflicting experimental data and conflicting theoretical models that describe physiological functioning.
Potential hydraulic constraints to the exchange of water and carbon between leaf and atmosphere require investigation before accurate models and informed decisions can be made with respect to the role of forests in biosphere-atmosphere processes. I will use large trees to investigate physiological and morphological determinants of hydraulic function and consider relationships between tree size, water requirements and water supply.
This project will foster comparative analyses of hydraulic functioning in large angiosperm and conifer species to elucidate universal principles that relate form to function and explain relationships between trees and their environment.
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Aboriginal patch burning and the quest for sustainable fire management. This project aims to document historical changes in the spatial grain of the patch burning mosaic in an Arnhem Land savannah with an unbroken history of management by Aboriginal people, and in adjacent areas where traditional management has ceased. The mosaic's spatial grain will be inferred by mapping the individual ages of the long-lived conifer Callitris intratropica. Prior research has shown that Callitris individuals c ....Aboriginal patch burning and the quest for sustainable fire management. This project aims to document historical changes in the spatial grain of the patch burning mosaic in an Arnhem Land savannah with an unbroken history of management by Aboriginal people, and in adjacent areas where traditional management has ceased. The mosaic's spatial grain will be inferred by mapping the individual ages of the long-lived conifer Callitris intratropica. Prior research has shown that Callitris individuals can be reliably aged, and population structures are very sensitive to fire regimes: saplings only establish if unburnt for 10 years. This research is expected to provide the first direct test of the hypothesis that Aboriginal people maintained fine-grained fire mosaics in savannas, and inform bushfire policy debates.Read moreRead less
More bang for your carbon buck: carbon, biodiversity and water balance consequences of whole-catchment carbon farming. Farming carbon via tree plantings on pasture land is becoming increasingly common to address the effects of climate change. This activity is likely to produce dramatic changes in Australia's rural landscapes, but we have little knowledge of likely effects on crucial ecosystem services and attributes such as stream water yields and biodiversity. This project will investigate the ....More bang for your carbon buck: carbon, biodiversity and water balance consequences of whole-catchment carbon farming. Farming carbon via tree plantings on pasture land is becoming increasingly common to address the effects of climate change. This activity is likely to produce dramatic changes in Australia's rural landscapes, but we have little knowledge of likely effects on crucial ecosystem services and attributes such as stream water yields and biodiversity. This project will investigate the relationship between tree cover, carbon uptake, water yield and biodiversity. The outcomes will allow government agencies, landowners and carbon farming groups to better evaluate the effects of different landscape planning options and contribute to effective long-term planning for multiple goals.Read moreRead less
Rehabilitating a changing landscape: using the latest advances in koala ecology to direct adaptive management. The koala has been identified as one of the world's flagship species suffering from environmental change. In contrast to the decline of koalas in New South Wales generally, the eucalypts planted in Gunnedah to combat salinity led to an increase in koalas. However, the startlingly high death rate of Gunnedah koalas (25 per cent of the population) in the heatwave during the drought in 200 ....Rehabilitating a changing landscape: using the latest advances in koala ecology to direct adaptive management. The koala has been identified as one of the world's flagship species suffering from environmental change. In contrast to the decline of koalas in New South Wales generally, the eucalypts planted in Gunnedah to combat salinity led to an increase in koalas. However, the startlingly high death rate of Gunnedah koalas (25 per cent of the population) in the heatwave during the drought in 2009 must be understood. There are also new threats brought about by intensive land modification. This project aims to determine the effects of environmental change on the koala population through a study of landscape ecology, leaf chemistry, disease epidemiology and koala movements. This aims to lead to better management decisions for arboreal fauna.Read moreRead less
Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. This project aims to develop a novel, integrated socio-ecological approach for connecting landscapes and communities for the recovery of threatened koala populations on the New South Wales far north coast. This should increase understanding of how local landholders and land managers respond to koala recovery programs and why they respond positively and b ....Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. This project aims to develop a novel, integrated socio-ecological approach for connecting landscapes and communities for the recovery of threatened koala populations on the New South Wales far north coast. This should increase understanding of how local landholders and land managers respond to koala recovery programs and why they respond positively and become engaged for the long-term. The intended outcome is a spatial prioritisation framework for species recovery that integrates social and ecological values, and increased global knowledge of how to recover declining wildlife populations.Read moreRead less
Modelling the potential of large-scale revegetation to reduce the impacts of climate change in semi-arid Australia. This project will contribute to Australia's capacity to respond to climate change and to the ecologically sustainable management of our natural resources. It will provide a comprehensive understanding of the potential of large-scale revegetation to moderate climate change, and to identify limitations to adaptation.
Grazing-fire interactions and vegetation dynamics. Grazing and fire are the two major cost-effective tools that can be used to manipulate the vegetation of reserves and rangelands. This project will result in information and models that will enable a more effective use of grazing than at present in natural vegetation management for both nature conservation and production. An understanding of the ways in which vertebrate grazing animals influence the incidence and intensity of fire is also highly ....Grazing-fire interactions and vegetation dynamics. Grazing and fire are the two major cost-effective tools that can be used to manipulate the vegetation of reserves and rangelands. This project will result in information and models that will enable a more effective use of grazing than at present in natural vegetation management for both nature conservation and production. An understanding of the ways in which vertebrate grazing animals influence the incidence and intensity of fire is also highly important in planning to prevent the occasional vegetation fire that causes substantial losses of life, property and conservation values, especially in the context of predicted climatic change.Read moreRead less
How much habitat and what configuration maintains natural levels of connectivity in southeast Australian native birds? Maintenance of biodiversity is fundamental to ecologically sustainable development. This project will deepen our understanding of the consequences of landscape change for native birds and enhance our national capacity to integrate nature conservation and agricultural production. We will contribute to sustainable use of rural landscapes by providing land managers with greater und ....How much habitat and what configuration maintains natural levels of connectivity in southeast Australian native birds? Maintenance of biodiversity is fundamental to ecologically sustainable development. This project will deepen our understanding of the consequences of landscape change for native birds and enhance our national capacity to integrate nature conservation and agricultural production. We will contribute to sustainable use of rural landscapes by providing land managers with greater understanding of (1) how and why landscape change affects bird species diversity and persistence, (2) which components of the landscape can most effectively be manipulated to enhance population survival, and (3) estimating the long-term effects of habitat fragmentation on the population structure and function of species.Read moreRead less