Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling gr ....Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling growth and survival. The expected outcome is to provide practical advice to restoration practitioners about the importance of matching the provenance of seed source to planting sites, and opportunities for selecting provenances pre-adapted to predicted future climatic conditions at planting sites.Read moreRead less
Will stomatal responses to humidity and carbon dioxide constrain tropical forest productivity as atmospheric carbon dioxide rises? This project will investigate two physiological processes that will partly determine growth responses of tropical forest trees to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. The project will produce equations summarising physiological responses that can be incorporated into process-based models of tropical forest productivity.
Reading the isotopic archive: carbon and oxygen stable isotope ratios as recorders of plant physiological processes. This project will investigate how plant physiological processes are reflected in stable isotope ratios of carbon and oxygen in plant tissues. Results will contribute towards a mechanistic understanding of the processes that cause isotopic modifications, thereby enabling an improved interpretation of naturally occurring stable isotope signals.
ARC Australia-New Zealand Research Network for Vegetation Function. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits, and in their relations to climate, soils and geography. Global generalizations are emerging. Vegetation Function network will reach from plant function into genomics and crop breeding, into palaeoecology and vegetation history, into landscape management for carbon, water and salinity outcomes, into forecasting future ecosystems under global change, and into phylogeny, ....ARC Australia-New Zealand Research Network for Vegetation Function. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits, and in their relations to climate, soils and geography. Global generalizations are emerging. Vegetation Function network will reach from plant function into genomics and crop breeding, into palaeoecology and vegetation history, into landscape management for carbon, water and salinity outcomes, into forecasting future ecosystems under global change, and into phylogeny, ecoinformatics and evolutionary theory. Across this span, working groups will target nine identified opportunities for breakthrough research. Each research target needs input from two or more disciplines. Together, the nine targets link across disciplines, as a network that spans from genomic to planetary scales.Read moreRead less
Potential of Corymbia torelliana hybrids for hardwood forestry and investigation of their seed dispersal by Trigona bees. Cadaghi (Corymbia torelliana) and their hybrids with spotted gums (C. variegata complex) have enormous potential for plantation forestry. These hybrids have many excellent features that make them exciting as hardwood species, such as resistence to disease, tolerance of marginal environments, good wood properties, and fast growth rates. This project will create hybrids between ....Potential of Corymbia torelliana hybrids for hardwood forestry and investigation of their seed dispersal by Trigona bees. Cadaghi (Corymbia torelliana) and their hybrids with spotted gums (C. variegata complex) have enormous potential for plantation forestry. These hybrids have many excellent features that make them exciting as hardwood species, such as resistence to disease, tolerance of marginal environments, good wood properties, and fast growth rates. This project will create hybrids between Corymbia torelliana and spotted gums to identify hybrids which are suitable for sustainable wood production on marginal agricultural lands.
An unusual feature of Cadaghi is that native Trigona bees disperse their seeds. This project will investigate this unique seed dispersal mechanism and identify features of hybrids that are not attractive to bees. This will prevent environmental problems by preventing hybrids from dispersing seeds, becoming weedy and harming the Trigona bees.
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Understanding responses of tightly coupled ecological interactions of biota vulnerable to climate change: endangered Australian cycads and their pollinators. Australian cycads are iconic plants. Most of the forty Macrozamia species have small, fragmented distributions and fifteen are endangered or vulnerable. They are at risk from harvesting by collectors and pollination failure, because a highly specialised relationship with insect pollinators is crucial to their persistence in nature. Cycads r ....Understanding responses of tightly coupled ecological interactions of biota vulnerable to climate change: endangered Australian cycads and their pollinators. Australian cycads are iconic plants. Most of the forty Macrozamia species have small, fragmented distributions and fifteen are endangered or vulnerable. They are at risk from harvesting by collectors and pollination failure, because a highly specialised relationship with insect pollinators is crucial to their persistence in nature. Cycads release chemo-attractants by increasing cone temperatures when ambient temperature reaches a threshold, so climate change will affect these systems. An understanding of this temperature-dependent relationship will help predict future fates of cycads and other tightly coupled ecological interactions. Our integrated approach will generate knowledge to help manage vulnerable Australian biodiversity.Read moreRead less