Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL120100108
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,849,770.00
Summary
Surrogate ecology: when and where can it work to improve environmental management? New empirical analyses and new ecological theory will be used to discover where, when and how to best apply surrogates. New capacity will be built in surrogate ecology and the results used to significantly enhance the effective management and monitoring of environments and biodiversity both in Australia and worldwide.
Acoustics for Large Scale Biodiversity Assessment. Aims: This project will investigate using automated acoustic recording to efficiently census biodiversity assessment at a continental scale.
Significance: To generate new techniques for analysing environmental acoustic data and assessing Australian biodiversity, verified empirical estimates of biodiversity, an understanding of causes of variation in biodiversity.
Expected outcomes: methods for large-scale and accurate assessment of biodiversity ....Acoustics for Large Scale Biodiversity Assessment. Aims: This project will investigate using automated acoustic recording to efficiently census biodiversity assessment at a continental scale.
Significance: To generate new techniques for analysing environmental acoustic data and assessing Australian biodiversity, verified empirical estimates of biodiversity, an understanding of causes of variation in biodiversity.
Expected outcomes: methods for large-scale and accurate assessment of biodiversity, enhanced capacity to detect causes of variation in biodiversity, open-source software tools for analysing environmental audio data, biodiversity datasets.
Benefits: measuring and understanding biodiversity change, allowing enhanced management, conservation, and use of Australian natural resources.
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Using decision theory to design smart plant surveys. Threatened species may remain unprotected, or weeds detected too slowly if, because of imperfect detection, a species is believed to be absent when it is in fact present. This project will develop new theory and combine it with new estimates of detection rates to minimise the impact of imperfect detection on management decisions.
Advancing vegetation classification and mapping to meet conservation needs. The project aims to develop advanced statistical and modelling techniques to classify and map vegetation over very large areas, using the most extensive and detailed vegetation data set in Australia and new methods to evaluate these classifications. Such classifications and maps provide the data needed to make biodiversity conservation decisions, yet current operational methods are limited over very large areas, and cann ....Advancing vegetation classification and mapping to meet conservation needs. The project aims to develop advanced statistical and modelling techniques to classify and map vegetation over very large areas, using the most extensive and detailed vegetation data set in Australia and new methods to evaluate these classifications. Such classifications and maps provide the data needed to make biodiversity conservation decisions, yet current operational methods are limited over very large areas, and cannot deal with varied sources of uncertainty. Expected outcomes and benefits include a fine-scale vegetation classification and map for almost a million square kilometres, and associated analytical tools and guidelines for large-scale vegetation classification and global mapping.Read moreRead less
Best practice temperate woodland assessment, management and monitoring. This ARC proposal is central to the goals of National Research Priority #1 – An environmentally sustainable Australia. The loss of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes in rural Australia is a major social, economic and ecological issue. Australian governments and local communities invest considerable money restoring temperate woodlands in agricultural landscapes. However, there remains considerable uncertainty about the e ....Best practice temperate woodland assessment, management and monitoring. This ARC proposal is central to the goals of National Research Priority #1 – An environmentally sustainable Australia. The loss of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes in rural Australia is a major social, economic and ecological issue. Australian governments and local communities invest considerable money restoring temperate woodlands in agricultural landscapes. However, there remains considerable uncertainty about the effectiveness of this investment. This project will produce an unparalleled evidence-base for individuals and organisations that make long-term investments in these landscapes for conservation.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions. Despite facing the sixth global mass extinction of species, most conservation management is unevaluated and inefficient. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions will provide international research leadership in tackling the complex problems of environmental management and monitoring in an uncertain world. Working through six Australian universities and six international organisations, the Centre will forge new approaches and ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions. Despite facing the sixth global mass extinction of species, most conservation management is unevaluated and inefficient. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions will provide international research leadership in tackling the complex problems of environmental management and monitoring in an uncertain world. Working through six Australian universities and six international organisations, the Centre will forge new approaches and tools from ecology, mathematics, statistics, economics and the social sciences. It will lead the world in developing and delivering predictive models and decision-making approaches to improve outcomes in conservation.Read moreRead less
Recovering Australia’s migratory shorebirds. This project seeks to determine how Australia’s coastal environments can be managed to aid in the recovery of threatened shorebird species. Millions of migratory shorebirds arrive in Australia each year from their Arctic breeding grounds, yet many of these iconic species are in rapid decline, and two were recently nominated as nationally threatened in Australia. Recovering these threatened species is an important priority. The project aims to discover ....Recovering Australia’s migratory shorebirds. This project seeks to determine how Australia’s coastal environments can be managed to aid in the recovery of threatened shorebird species. Millions of migratory shorebirds arrive in Australia each year from their Arctic breeding grounds, yet many of these iconic species are in rapid decline, and two were recently nominated as nationally threatened in Australia. Recovering these threatened species is an important priority. The project aims to discover when and where to act to recover declining migratory species. It also plans to assess the strength of protective mechanisms already in place in Australia and overseas to protect migratory species from extinction, and determine how to improve protection for migrants when they arrive on Australia’s shores.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100777
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
New technology for accurate freshwater biodiversity assessment using environmental DNA. This project will develop a new biodiversity monitoring tool for identifying freshwater fish species without their capture or observation, using environmental DNA (faeces, urine and skin cells) extracted from water samples. This new tool will be used to survey for all fish species in freshwater ecosystems in southwestern Australia, a biodiversity hotspot.
Linking risks to ecosystems with risks to human well-being. This project aims to provide theory and practical guidelines to integrate ecosystem science into policy and action to address human well-being. Ecosystem risk assessment provides critical information for conservation, and has compelling but unexplored relationships with human health and nature’s benefits to people. The research will identify ecosystem measures that highlight areas of risk to human well-being as well as biodiversity. Exp ....Linking risks to ecosystems with risks to human well-being. This project aims to provide theory and practical guidelines to integrate ecosystem science into policy and action to address human well-being. Ecosystem risk assessment provides critical information for conservation, and has compelling but unexplored relationships with human health and nature’s benefits to people. The research will identify ecosystem measures that highlight areas of risk to human well-being as well as biodiversity. Expected outcomes include new standards for including ecosystem change in policy frameworks globally and in Australia, such as natural capital accounting and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Benefits include improved ways of meeting and tracking progress on Australia’s international commitments.Read moreRead less
Biodiversity indicators for better conservation decisions. This project aims to test, design and select biodiversity indicators to support conservation. Reliable and sensitive biodiversity indicators are critical to track progress towards conservation targets, but the ability of most biodiversity indicators to reveal trends needed by decision-makers is untested. This project will test indicators to monitor biodiversity change at local to global scales, by sampling ecosystem models to evaluate ho ....Biodiversity indicators for better conservation decisions. This project aims to test, design and select biodiversity indicators to support conservation. Reliable and sensitive biodiversity indicators are critical to track progress towards conservation targets, but the ability of most biodiversity indicators to reveal trends needed by decision-makers is untested. This project will test indicators to monitor biodiversity change at local to global scales, by sampling ecosystem models to evaluate how indicator design, data bias and environmental variability affect performance. Project outcomes are expected to ensure that that data collected to monitor and assess the state of Australia’s environment are informative, cost-effective and robust. This is expected to have implications for predicting and measuring effects of policy such as the Convention on Biological Diversity.Read moreRead less