Testing the importance of large-scale climate factors to plant community assembly following land-use change. This project will examine the native plant species and functional diversity of Australia's rain forest communities to create a predictive framework of how plant communities recover following deforestation. Such a framework is key to focusing conservation efforts in degraded and multi-use landscapes.
Novel laser isotopic techniques to assess the potential for water-use efficiency improvement of Australian crops. This project aims to develop new methods to reduce the water used by grain crops while maintaining productivity by advancing knowledge of the regulation plant carbon gain and water loss. Novel laser-lased measurement systems developed and applied in this project will provide new mechanistic understanding of plant carbon-water dynamics for individual leaves and at the whole crop scal ....Novel laser isotopic techniques to assess the potential for water-use efficiency improvement of Australian crops. This project aims to develop new methods to reduce the water used by grain crops while maintaining productivity by advancing knowledge of the regulation plant carbon gain and water loss. Novel laser-lased measurement systems developed and applied in this project will provide new mechanistic understanding of plant carbon-water dynamics for individual leaves and at the whole crop scale. Water availability is the most pressing environmental issue facing the Australian grain industry, so improvements in the efficiency with which water is used will have profound economic and environmental effects.Read moreRead less
Predicting climate change impacts on the biodiversity of Lord Howe Island: an approach using experimental and historical data. Climate change will have profound impacts on biodiversity. We will investigate both recent and future impacts of climate change on invertebrate and plant assemblages on Lord Howe Island, an important World Heritage Area. We will 1. compare current assemblages with a unique set of historical databases spanning the past 150 years, to investigate whether recent warming has ....Predicting climate change impacts on the biodiversity of Lord Howe Island: an approach using experimental and historical data. Climate change will have profound impacts on biodiversity. We will investigate both recent and future impacts of climate change on invertebrate and plant assemblages on Lord Howe Island, an important World Heritage Area. We will 1. compare current assemblages with a unique set of historical databases spanning the past 150 years, to investigate whether recent warming has affected community composition and 2. experimentally assess impacts of increasing temperature and CO2 on Lord Howe's unique flora and fauna. Our assessment of species vulnerability to climate change threats will be used to inform future conservation policy and species management on Lord Howe. Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200100005
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$36,000,000.00
Summary
Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future. This program aims to deliver unprecedented research capability for securing Antarctic environments in the face of uncertain change.
By integrating a highly skilled team with new approaches and breakthrough technologies, the program anticipates discovery science, enhanced environmental forecasting and optimised decision-making to advance Australia’s position as an influential Antarctic nation.
Expected outcomes include better environmental management ....Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future. This program aims to deliver unprecedented research capability for securing Antarctic environments in the face of uncertain change.
By integrating a highly skilled team with new approaches and breakthrough technologies, the program anticipates discovery science, enhanced environmental forecasting and optimised decision-making to advance Australia’s position as an influential Antarctic nation.
Expected outcomes include better environmental management, unparalleled strategic decision-support for an effective Antarctic Treaty, and new minds to address Antarctica’s new challenges.
Anticipated benefits are the means to transform environmental forecasting and management in the Antarctic, for Australia, and to the advantage of global security.Read moreRead less
Stress, virulence and bacterial disease in temperate seaweeds: the rise of the microbes. Climate change is predicted to increase the spread and virulence of pathogens, and decrease the resistance to disease via temperature stress on the hosts. Combined with other human impacts (higher nutrients, pollution), we may be facing a major rise in the effect of disease on natural communities. However, these effects are largely unstudied. We will investigate the impact of marine pathogens on kelps and ....Stress, virulence and bacterial disease in temperate seaweeds: the rise of the microbes. Climate change is predicted to increase the spread and virulence of pathogens, and decrease the resistance to disease via temperature stress on the hosts. Combined with other human impacts (higher nutrients, pollution), we may be facing a major rise in the effect of disease on natural communities. However, these effects are largely unstudied. We will investigate the impact of marine pathogens on kelps and other seaweeds when they are stressed by temperature, elevated nutrients or other anthropogenic stressors. Kelp are the 'trees of the oceans', the organisms responsible for creating much of the habitat that fishes and other organisms live in. The loss of kelp forests due to disease would radically change these environments.Read moreRead less
Where will species go? Revolutionising projections of species distributions with climate change. Improving our capacity to predict climate change impacts on biodiversity is a National Research Priority and a priority under the National Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan (2004-2007). Our research will revolutionise the field of bioclimatic modelling by enabling the probability of losses/gains in species distributions to be calculated. This will enable policy makers to identify vulnerable ....Where will species go? Revolutionising projections of species distributions with climate change. Improving our capacity to predict climate change impacts on biodiversity is a National Research Priority and a priority under the National Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan (2004-2007). Our research will revolutionise the field of bioclimatic modelling by enabling the probability of losses/gains in species distributions to be calculated. This will enable policy makers to identify vulnerable species and provides a strong framework for prioritizing areas for research and monitoring. Our research will interface two disciplines, earth and biological sciences, and establish a new international collaboration that will ensure Australia is at the forefront of a rapidly developing research field. Read moreRead less
Adapting to climate change: does enhanced metabolism provide heritable protection against ocean acidification and increasing temperature in oysters? By the end of this century, our oceans will have much higher concentrations of carbon dioxide and will be several degrees warmer. We have developed a population of oysters that can survive in these conditions, and the project will examine these oysters at the molecular level to determine whether increased metabolism is responsible for their survival ....Adapting to climate change: does enhanced metabolism provide heritable protection against ocean acidification and increasing temperature in oysters? By the end of this century, our oceans will have much higher concentrations of carbon dioxide and will be several degrees warmer. We have developed a population of oysters that can survive in these conditions, and the project will examine these oysters at the molecular level to determine whether increased metabolism is responsible for their survival.Read moreRead less
Turf Wars: fighting the new battle facing blue forests. This project aims to use ecological models and field experiments to uncover drivers and critical thresholds for turf expansion. Habitat loss is a leading threat to goods and services from the oceans. Globally, kelp forests are collapsing and being replaced by persistent unwanted algal ‘turfs’. Understanding of this habitat shift is rudimentary, and solutions to mitigate the impacts virtually non-existent. Through stress experiments and geno ....Turf Wars: fighting the new battle facing blue forests. This project aims to use ecological models and field experiments to uncover drivers and critical thresholds for turf expansion. Habitat loss is a leading threat to goods and services from the oceans. Globally, kelp forests are collapsing and being replaced by persistent unwanted algal ‘turfs’. Understanding of this habitat shift is rudimentary, and solutions to mitigate the impacts virtually non-existent. Through stress experiments and genomic analyses, this project aims to discover resilient kelps that promote forest persistence under stress. By expanding our understanding of critical habitat transitions, and exploring new solutions, this project aims to enhance our capacity to respond to the ongoing degradation of Australia’s Great Southern Reef.Read moreRead less
Development and calcification in benthic marine invertebrates (Mollusca and Echinodermata) in an acidified and warm ocean. As an island continent Australia generates considerable wealth from its oceans with marine invertebrate resources playing a key role. These resources are at risk due to the impact of climate change, ocean acidification and warming, on availability of carbonate minerals for shell production. Of major concern is potential recruitment failure if planktonic larvae cannot produc ....Development and calcification in benthic marine invertebrates (Mollusca and Echinodermata) in an acidified and warm ocean. As an island continent Australia generates considerable wealth from its oceans with marine invertebrate resources playing a key role. These resources are at risk due to the impact of climate change, ocean acidification and warming, on availability of carbonate minerals for shell production. Of major concern is potential recruitment failure if planktonic larvae cannot produce their skeleton and if benthic stages cannot grow due to impaired skeleton formation. This project addresses uncertainties in knowledge of the response of ecologically and commercially important marine biota to climate change, knowledge crucial to inform risk assessment of future changes to our marine resources.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882935
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$110,000.00
Summary
Tuneable diode laser for field and laboratory measurement of stable isotopes of CO2. The tuneable diode laser system will facilitate projects with major environmental benefits to Australia. Projects will provide major insights into Australia's CO2 balance. This will improve our ability to predict whether ecosystems are net sources or sinks for CO2 -- information that underpins Australia's greenhouse gas balance. The tuneable diode laser system will also benefit Australia's economy via enhanci ....Tuneable diode laser for field and laboratory measurement of stable isotopes of CO2. The tuneable diode laser system will facilitate projects with major environmental benefits to Australia. Projects will provide major insights into Australia's CO2 balance. This will improve our ability to predict whether ecosystems are net sources or sinks for CO2 -- information that underpins Australia's greenhouse gas balance. The tuneable diode laser system will also benefit Australia's economy via enhancing understanding of agricultural and forest production, a key portion of our GDP. These economic benefits will stem from new knowledge about the limitations to plant growth and the water-use efficiency of plants. Read moreRead less