Conserving biodiversity in timber production forests. Intensified forestry to meet rising demand for timber is placing biodiversity at risk. The aim of this project is to develop and field-test a novel framework to reconcile forest conservation with production. The project seeks to resolve whether intensive forestry coupled with a large reserve network produces better biodiversity outcomes than less intensive forestry with fewer reserves. I will integrate abundances of plant and animal species w ....Conserving biodiversity in timber production forests. Intensified forestry to meet rising demand for timber is placing biodiversity at risk. The aim of this project is to develop and field-test a novel framework to reconcile forest conservation with production. The project seeks to resolve whether intensive forestry coupled with a large reserve network produces better biodiversity outcomes than less intensive forestry with fewer reserves. I will integrate abundances of plant and animal species with forest industry timber yield data in a uniquely suited landscape. Survey results will be synthesised with global data on biodiversity responses to forestry. This research will benefit the forest industry by providing guidelines that improve conservation outcomes while maintaining timber yield.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC150100004
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,630,239.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. This training centre aims to build capacity to transform the Australian forest products sector by providing advanced training and research. In particular, it aims to train a workforce capable of improving resource utilisation and creating value at all stages along the forest-to-building supply chain. This should allow the sector to exploit emerging markets in the use of renewable materials. The centre’s partners range fr ....ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. This training centre aims to build capacity to transform the Australian forest products sector by providing advanced training and research. In particular, it aims to train a workforce capable of improving resource utilisation and creating value at all stages along the forest-to-building supply chain. This should allow the sector to exploit emerging markets in the use of renewable materials. The centre’s partners range from forest managers to architects and engineers, to ensure a flow of information from forest to design and manufacture. The centre’s research, and the industry-ready graduates produced, should increase industry productivity, profitability and sustainability, and enable increased returns from Australia’s forests.Read moreRead less
Optimising biodiversity conservation in managed forest landscapes. How to meet human needs for timber while limiting harm to biodiversity is an urgent scientific goal. The project will address this challenge by quantifying the impacts of forestry systems and wildfire on mammal species. Novel network modelling of interactions among plants, animals, and environmental variables will establish cost-effective management improvements to maximise biodiversity values. A systematic conservation planning ....Optimising biodiversity conservation in managed forest landscapes. How to meet human needs for timber while limiting harm to biodiversity is an urgent scientific goal. The project will address this challenge by quantifying the impacts of forestry systems and wildfire on mammal species. Novel network modelling of interactions among plants, animals, and environmental variables will establish cost-effective management improvements to maximise biodiversity values. A systematic conservation planning approach will deliver spatially and temporally explicit solutions to balancing trade-offs between production and conservation taking into account dynamic impacts from climate change and fire. Outcomes will provide a foundation for policy changes to put theoretical solutions into practice.Read moreRead less
Determining generic indicators of stress in eucalypt leaves for application to the remote sensing of canopy condition and productivity modelling. Biotic and abiotic stresses induce generic alterations of leaf chemistry (e.g. chlorophyll, anthocyanins). We will explore the behaviour of eucalypt leaf reflectance to changes in leaf cellular chemistry and structure arising from exposure to a range of stressful factors. We will relate leaf reflectance to physiological processes using a research radia ....Determining generic indicators of stress in eucalypt leaves for application to the remote sensing of canopy condition and productivity modelling. Biotic and abiotic stresses induce generic alterations of leaf chemistry (e.g. chlorophyll, anthocyanins). We will explore the behaviour of eucalypt leaf reflectance to changes in leaf cellular chemistry and structure arising from exposure to a range of stressful factors. We will relate leaf reflectance to physiological processes using a research radiation interception model. We will report on a) the potential integration of data related to stress, into process-based models for eucalypt plantation growth and b) the exploitation of generic reflectance indicators of stress in the remote acquisition of high resolution multispectral imagery with potential to spatially quantify plantation eucalypt health.Read moreRead less
Environmental and genetic control over blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) timber colour, density, and recovery. The project will investigate the roles of environment and genetics in the expression of wood characteristics in blackwood. It will determine the potential heritability of valuable blackwood wood traits and provide a sound understanding of the basis of colour expression. Heartwood characteristics, particularly colour, density, ring width and knottiness determine the commercial value of blac ....Environmental and genetic control over blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) timber colour, density, and recovery. The project will investigate the roles of environment and genetics in the expression of wood characteristics in blackwood. It will determine the potential heritability of valuable blackwood wood traits and provide a sound understanding of the basis of colour expression. Heartwood characteristics, particularly colour, density, ring width and knottiness determine the commercial value of blackwood. The limited research on these characteristics, all undertaken outside Australia, points to combined genetic and environmental control. By understanding the relative importance that environmental conditions and genetic material have in producing desirable wood traits, growers will be better able to realise the full commercial value of blackwood.Read moreRead less
Cellular automata model of forest stands to predict size-class distribution and survival. Existing forest growth models predict well stand level processes such as growth. However, they provide little information on forest structure and how this affects commercial forest products, risks of growing plantations and stand dynamics that determine carbon sequestration and water-use and result in age-related decline in productivity and self-thinning. By using newly developed technology to quantify in ....Cellular automata model of forest stands to predict size-class distribution and survival. Existing forest growth models predict well stand level processes such as growth. However, they provide little information on forest structure and how this affects commercial forest products, risks of growing plantations and stand dynamics that determine carbon sequestration and water-use and result in age-related decline in productivity and self-thinning. By using newly developed technology to quantify inter-tree competition, tree level resource supply, between tree genetic differences and the importance of chance events this project will draw on complexity theory to develop an innovative model that partitions stand level production to forecast the growth and size of individual trees.Read moreRead less
Quantitative genetic control of economic traits in Eucalyptus globulus. Eucalyptus globulus is the most important plantation eucalypt in Australia and a model for tree genetic research. The project aims to study the quantitative genetic architecture of this species, focusing on traits of economic significance, and provide new insights into: the relative importance of non-additive genetic effects, including maternal and reciprocal effects; the importance of indirect genetic effects, particularly ....Quantitative genetic control of economic traits in Eucalyptus globulus. Eucalyptus globulus is the most important plantation eucalypt in Australia and a model for tree genetic research. The project aims to study the quantitative genetic architecture of this species, focusing on traits of economic significance, and provide new insights into: the relative importance of non-additive genetic effects, including maternal and reciprocal effects; the importance of indirect genetic effects, particularly on the competitive interactions amongst trees; and the genetics of traits impacting the production of emerging plantation products such as veneer. This information is needed to improve genetic evaluation models and to better target germplasm to environments and products.Read moreRead less
Managing variable retention harvesting to maintain forest biodiversity—effects of forest influence and successional stage on recolonisation. The project will provide the ecological evidence that will allow forest harvesting practices to be designed to sustain the full range of biodiversity in managed forest systems. It therefore will provide the basis for sustainable forest management, with extensive economic implications. It will specifically test the biodiversity implications of the new and in ....Managing variable retention harvesting to maintain forest biodiversity—effects of forest influence and successional stage on recolonisation. The project will provide the ecological evidence that will allow forest harvesting practices to be designed to sustain the full range of biodiversity in managed forest systems. It therefore will provide the basis for sustainable forest management, with extensive economic implications. It will specifically test the biodiversity implications of the new and increasingly important variable retention methods of forest harvesting, and provide the basis for optimising these methods. In addition, the large database of DNA barcodes for forest beetles developed as a by-product by this project will provide a basis for less expensive and more accurate biodiversity assessments in sustainable management of forest systems in general.Read moreRead less
Risk, impact on productivity and control of Mycosphaerella infections in plantations in plantations of E. nitens and E. globulus. Mycosphaerella, a defoliating fungal pathogen of eucalypts, has the potential to change markedly the economics of plantation development. This research will explore the fundamental physiological and pathological processes associated with the disease, link these findings into established process-based models of forest plantation growth for predictive purposes and util ....Risk, impact on productivity and control of Mycosphaerella infections in plantations in plantations of E. nitens and E. globulus. Mycosphaerella, a defoliating fungal pathogen of eucalypts, has the potential to change markedly the economics of plantation development. This research will explore the fundamental physiological and pathological processes associated with the disease, link these findings into established process-based models of forest plantation growth for predictive purposes and utilise hyperspectral remote sensing techniques to scale impact from the tree to plantation level. In doing this research not only are questions of key importance to an important and growing industry sector addressed, but an innovative approach to disease impact assessment established and a skills base and methodology widely applicable to other tree and agricultural disease problems established.Read moreRead less
Understanding and manipulating stress physiology of eucalypt seedlings to improve survival and growth. Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens are the major species being established to meet the 2020 Vision (Anon 1999) of trebling Australia's plantation estate. Seedling mortality and/or reduced growth after planting, linked to the transition from ideal growing conditions in the nursery to stressful conditions (high drought and browsing risk) at the planting sites, significantly increase the costs of ....Understanding and manipulating stress physiology of eucalypt seedlings to improve survival and growth. Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens are the major species being established to meet the 2020 Vision (Anon 1999) of trebling Australia's plantation estate. Seedling mortality and/or reduced growth after planting, linked to the transition from ideal growing conditions in the nursery to stressful conditions (high drought and browsing risk) at the planting sites, significantly increase the costs of plantation production. By investigating physiological mechanisms of seedlings and their responses to drought and browsing stress during establishment in the field, methods for the production of seedlings acclimated to drought or browsing stress will be developed. The research outcomes will help maximise the financial return on over $28 M per annum being invested by the 8 project partners in seedling production and planting over 80, 000 ha per year for the next 19 years to meet the requirements of Vision 2020.Read moreRead less