Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100203
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$700,000.00
Summary
Advanced Geochemical Facility for Climate and Environmental Change Research: a Western Australian/Indian Ocean focus. Research outcomes from this new facility will empower government bodies, resource industries, and indigenous stakeholders with key baseline information to ensure the sustainable and sensitive development of west Australia's unique coastal and offshore regions, across heavily populated and pristine environments. This includes projecting future impacts on local industries (eg. ener ....Advanced Geochemical Facility for Climate and Environmental Change Research: a Western Australian/Indian Ocean focus. Research outcomes from this new facility will empower government bodies, resource industries, and indigenous stakeholders with key baseline information to ensure the sustainable and sensitive development of west Australia's unique coastal and offshore regions, across heavily populated and pristine environments. This includes projecting future impacts on local industries (eg. energy, fisheries, tourism), rising shorelines with critical implications for existing and developing communities, and enhancing the resilience of habitats at risk. These are crucial to mitigate the impacts from environmental change that could severely affect our regional and national economies, as well as the style and quality of life of current and future generations.Read moreRead less
Assessing absolute sustainability of global cities. The project aims to create a quantitative modelling framework for assessing the absolute sustainability of cities by combining global multi-region input-output analysis with the 'safe and just space' concept for human development. The model will allow assessment of the full supply chain environmental and social impacts of urban economic activities against biophysical planetary limits as well as social foundation thresholds defined in the litera ....Assessing absolute sustainability of global cities. The project aims to create a quantitative modelling framework for assessing the absolute sustainability of cities by combining global multi-region input-output analysis with the 'safe and just space' concept for human development. The model will allow assessment of the full supply chain environmental and social impacts of urban economic activities against biophysical planetary limits as well as social foundation thresholds defined in the literature. The project will advance sustainability science methodology and will greatly benefit worldwide initiatives for urban sustainability. Case studies on Australian cities will assess where interventions can be most practically, realistically and effectively implemented.Read moreRead less
Forecasting and managing biodiversity change: birds in an urbanising landscape. The project will help to predict changes in biodiversity from different development options, and will identify forms of urban design that provide improved biodiversity outcomes. The case study region (SE Queensland) is a national "biodiversity hotspot" due to high biodiversity combined with high threat from urbanisation. Findings will also be relevant to the ecological sustainability of forest ecosystems and urban ar ....Forecasting and managing biodiversity change: birds in an urbanising landscape. The project will help to predict changes in biodiversity from different development options, and will identify forms of urban design that provide improved biodiversity outcomes. The case study region (SE Queensland) is a national "biodiversity hotspot" due to high biodiversity combined with high threat from urbanisation. Findings will also be relevant to the ecological sustainability of forest ecosystems and urban areas throughout Australia. The project will develop decision-support tools for conservation planning, with the involvement of research partners from local government and regional environmental management. This will contribute to the sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity, a national research priority.Read moreRead less
Reimagining the Australian Suburb: Biodiversity planning in urban fringe landscapes. Over 40% of nationally listed threatened ecological communities occur in urban areas. Accelerating urbanisation in Australia is considered one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. This threat will increase without a more strategic approach to conservation planning in urban environments. Protection of biodiversity in urban areas brings numerous societal benefits but involves complicated tradeoffs between com ....Reimagining the Australian Suburb: Biodiversity planning in urban fringe landscapes. Over 40% of nationally listed threatened ecological communities occur in urban areas. Accelerating urbanisation in Australia is considered one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. This threat will increase without a more strategic approach to conservation planning in urban environments. Protection of biodiversity in urban areas brings numerous societal benefits but involves complicated tradeoffs between competing land uses including housing development, agricultural production and conservation. This project builds on recent advancements in ecological modelling and mathematical optimisation to develop and test tools to facilitate transparent decisions based on optimal trade-offs between competing values. It will result in a more strategic approach to planning conservation in urban environments.Read moreRead less
Dynamics of animal mediated vegetation establishment and persistence in disturbed landscapes. This project aims to provide strategies and commercial products for the best management of animals in plant community restoration. Ensuring effective seed dispersal and minimizing levels of herbivory will reduce resources expended on restoration and ensure sustainable ecosystems. A small reduction in the costs of individual plant protection not only improves the success of rehabilitation programs but sa ....Dynamics of animal mediated vegetation establishment and persistence in disturbed landscapes. This project aims to provide strategies and commercial products for the best management of animals in plant community restoration. Ensuring effective seed dispersal and minimizing levels of herbivory will reduce resources expended on restoration and ensure sustainable ecosystems. A small reduction in the costs of individual plant protection not only improves the success of rehabilitation programs but save millions of dollars throughout the mining industry and rural areas generally. It will also save thousands of dollars in culling programs. An extension of our study will target roadside hazards where kangaroos and traffic have high impact rates.Read moreRead less
Optimal environmental monitoring under severe uncertainty. Environmental monitoring is a type of quality control that informs managers about the health of the environment and about how well their management systems are performing. Because it is a critical, but expensive, component of sustainable management, it is important to ensure value for resources spent on monitoring and that environmental impacts will be detected if they are occurring. We argue that current approaches to environmental mana ....Optimal environmental monitoring under severe uncertainty. Environmental monitoring is a type of quality control that informs managers about the health of the environment and about how well their management systems are performing. Because it is a critical, but expensive, component of sustainable management, it is important to ensure value for resources spent on monitoring and that environmental impacts will be detected if they are occurring. We argue that current approaches to environmental management ensure neither efficiency nor environmental security. The aim of the project is to develop theories and techniques to make monitoring both cost effective and reliable, thereby providing monetary savings and better environmental outcomes.Read moreRead less
The effect of catchment revegetation on waterways. The effect of catchment revegetation on waterways. This project will examine the forms, transformations and fate of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic ecosystems and the link to human health with water treatment. Catchment revegetation is a management tool used to reduce excessive nutrient loads to waterways, which in turn causes poor water quality. However, catchment revegetation also produces DOM. DOM is typically poorly characterised a ....The effect of catchment revegetation on waterways. The effect of catchment revegetation on waterways. This project will examine the forms, transformations and fate of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic ecosystems and the link to human health with water treatment. Catchment revegetation is a management tool used to reduce excessive nutrient loads to waterways, which in turn causes poor water quality. However, catchment revegetation also produces DOM. DOM is typically poorly characterised and its effect on ecosystem health unclear. DOM also reacts with chlorine in water treatment plants to form disinfection by-products that affect human health. This research is expected to provide important new information to guide future catchment restoration efforts.Read moreRead less
Transforming Cultural & Natural Resource Management workforce capabilities. This project aims to implement a transformative program of transdisciplinary cultural and natural resource management and workforce development research in Northern Australia’s Arnhem Plateau region. This project expects to create new knowledge in the areas of cultural knowledges, wildfire, feral animal, invasive plants, mine-site rehabilitation, and climate change, as well as Indigenous training effectiveness. Expected ....Transforming Cultural & Natural Resource Management workforce capabilities. This project aims to implement a transformative program of transdisciplinary cultural and natural resource management and workforce development research in Northern Australia’s Arnhem Plateau region. This project expects to create new knowledge in the areas of cultural knowledges, wildfire, feral animal, invasive plants, mine-site rehabilitation, and climate change, as well as Indigenous training effectiveness. Expected outcomes of the project include practical learnings for application in broader Indigenous community/First Nations capability and supportive policy development contexts. The expected benefits are a long-term platform for enhancing cultural and environmental landscape management and sustainable employment opportunities.Read moreRead less
Utilising innovative fishing technology to address key questions on the biology of Antarctic krill. Antarctic krill are an important species in the Southern Ocean supporting most of the Antarctic birds and mammals. A sustainable krill fishery is developing with krill products used in aquaculture and increasingly for human consumption. A new omega 3 krill oil industry has emerged and is rapidly expanding. The aim of the project is to predict the factors governing oil levels and the biochemical co ....Utilising innovative fishing technology to address key questions on the biology of Antarctic krill. Antarctic krill are an important species in the Southern Ocean supporting most of the Antarctic birds and mammals. A sustainable krill fishery is developing with krill products used in aquaculture and increasingly for human consumption. A new omega 3 krill oil industry has emerged and is rapidly expanding. The aim of the project is to predict the factors governing oil levels and the biochemical composition in krill which will help us understand growth, reproduction and recruitment. The research aims to also assess the possible effects of climate change on krill. Outcomes of this research aim to be used to manage the expanding krill fishery.Read moreRead less
Practical, powerful and cost effective indicators of sustainable forest management for the conservation of biological diversity. Much debate about appropriate use of Australia's forests stems from uncertainty about the magnitude of impacts on abundances and distributions of forest-dependent species, a key indicator of sustainable management under the Montreal Process. An opportunity exists to develop new tools to substantially improve our ability to detect and assess change. This project will de ....Practical, powerful and cost effective indicators of sustainable forest management for the conservation of biological diversity. Much debate about appropriate use of Australia's forests stems from uncertainty about the magnitude of impacts on abundances and distributions of forest-dependent species, a key indicator of sustainable management under the Montreal Process. An opportunity exists to develop new tools to substantially improve our ability to detect and assess change. This project will develop optimal monitoring design and analysis strategies for detecting population trends against a background of natural fluctuation and observation error. It will result in templates for coherent reporting on indicators at regional and national levels. It will exploit recent findings regarding observation error in surveys, advances in statistical control processes, simulation methods, and power analysis to develop a world-class species monitoring system.Read moreRead less