Finding lost dust storms: re-evaluation of the last 20 years of meteorological records to advance wind erosion mapping in Australia. The Dust Event Database (DEDB) at Griffith University is the only long term (1960 - present) record of wind erosion in Australia. It is used in many studies of the impact of dust on the terrestrial, atmospheric and marine environments as well as in studies of urban and regional air pollution and environmental health. Through this project, the revision of the DEDB w ....Finding lost dust storms: re-evaluation of the last 20 years of meteorological records to advance wind erosion mapping in Australia. The Dust Event Database (DEDB) at Griffith University is the only long term (1960 - present) record of wind erosion in Australia. It is used in many studies of the impact of dust on the terrestrial, atmospheric and marine environments as well as in studies of urban and regional air pollution and environmental health. Through this project, the revision of the DEDB will provide new knowledge on these impacts of wind erosion processes and will inform environmental policy through its contributions to the Caring for Our Country Program, the national State of the Environment, and the Australian Centre for Rangeland Information Systems.Read moreRead less
Vulnerability of Australian savannas to climate change and variability. Australian savannas are productive and are culturally and biologically significant landscapes, but they are vulnerable to climate change. This project will determine savanna function (carbon and water balance) for the present and assess how sensitive they have been to past climate variability. The project will then address how they may respond to future climate change.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100157
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,343.00
Summary
Breaking the link between predators and bushfire for fauna conservation. This project aims to quantify how bushfires amplify the impacts of invasive predators (feral cats and foxes) on native fauna. Through innovative field experiments and empirical modelling, this project expects to generate new knowledge in the key areas of wildlife conservation, fire ecology and invasive species management. Expected outcomes of this project include transformative insights into how threats interact to influenc ....Breaking the link between predators and bushfire for fauna conservation. This project aims to quantify how bushfires amplify the impacts of invasive predators (feral cats and foxes) on native fauna. Through innovative field experiments and empirical modelling, this project expects to generate new knowledge in the key areas of wildlife conservation, fire ecology and invasive species management. Expected outcomes of this project include transformative insights into how threats interact to influence biodiversity and greatly enhanced capacity to manage bushfires and invasive predators. These advances should provide significant benefits, including improved conservation of threatened species, advances in ecological theory and improved capacity to predict and respond to environmental change.Read moreRead less
Climate-related regime shifts in inland semi-arid ecosystems through ecohydrological proxies. This project will investigate the dynamics of climate, especially rainfall, of the northwest of Australia over the last few thousand years. Our findings will increase understanding of climate variability and contribute to sustainable management of water and biodiversity in semi-arid Australia.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE210100035
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,205,137.00
Summary
Founding an Australian Critical Zone Observatory Network. This proposal founds a new network of Australian Critical Zone Observatories. The network will fill essential knowledge gaps about interactions of under- and above-ground environmental processes and their responses to disturbance and change. These interactions determine the sustainability of food, clean water, mineral resources and Australian ecosystems, and cannot be studied with existing environmental infrastructure. The 5 foundation ....Founding an Australian Critical Zone Observatory Network. This proposal founds a new network of Australian Critical Zone Observatories. The network will fill essential knowledge gaps about interactions of under- and above-ground environmental processes and their responses to disturbance and change. These interactions determine the sustainability of food, clean water, mineral resources and Australian ecosystems, and cannot be studied with existing environmental infrastructure. The 5 foundational sites will host integrated monitoring equipment to observe stocks and fluxes of carbon, water, energy and mass across the “Critical Zone” – the vertical span from plant canopies to fresh bedrock. Joining a burgeoning international movement, the network will catalyse Critical Zone science in Australia.Read moreRead less
Carbon costs of plant nutrient and water uptake. This project aims to investigate how much carbon plants need to invest belowground in return for water and nutrients. By using economic principles of supply and demand the project will quantify carbon expenditure for water and nutrients in grasslands and crops under different climate and land management scenarios. This project will use triple and quadruple isotope labelling techniques and explore the dependency of carbon investment on plant-microb ....Carbon costs of plant nutrient and water uptake. This project aims to investigate how much carbon plants need to invest belowground in return for water and nutrients. By using economic principles of supply and demand the project will quantify carbon expenditure for water and nutrients in grasslands and crops under different climate and land management scenarios. This project will use triple and quadruple isotope labelling techniques and explore the dependency of carbon investment on plant-microbial interactions and availability of belowground resources. Expected outcomes include new knowledge to build a universal framework about plant carbon-water-nutrient economics. This will benefit global carbon cycling models and efforts to increase nutrient and water use efficiencies in agricultural crops.Read moreRead less
Turning water into carbon: a synthesis of plant water-use efficiency from leaf to globe. The efficiency with which plants use water to gain carbon is a fundamental aspect of plant growth that has been frequently measured but is poorly understood. Using our new theory to draw together major datasets, the project will make a dramatic advance in our ability to understand and predict this key aspect of ecosystem function.
Building resilience to change for mammals in a multi-use landscape. This project aims to identify critical habitat and dispersal corridors for mammals by applying a novel, interdisciplinary landscape genetics approach to genetic and spatial data. The project expects to generate new knowledge on the evolutionary significance of landscapes in the Pilbara that have facilitated species persistence. Expected outcomes are the incorporation of evolutionary processes into multi-species, systematic conse ....Building resilience to change for mammals in a multi-use landscape. This project aims to identify critical habitat and dispersal corridors for mammals by applying a novel, interdisciplinary landscape genetics approach to genetic and spatial data. The project expects to generate new knowledge on the evolutionary significance of landscapes in the Pilbara that have facilitated species persistence. Expected outcomes are the incorporation of evolutionary processes into multi-species, systematic conservation planning and enhanced capacity to inform conservation and sustainable development in the Pilbara. Significant benefits include alignment of conservation approaches across industry and government stakeholders, and implementation of best-practice conservation science in a biodiversity hotspot.
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Cross-cultural management of freshwater on resource-constrained islands. This project aims to develop a methodology for community-led adaptive water management on resource-constrained islands and will involve Indigenous communities in the development of predictive groundwater models. The project plans to apply three-dimensional participatory mapping, a stakeholder engagement process led and owned by the local communities, on Milingimbi Island in the Northern Territory. The extension of the parti ....Cross-cultural management of freshwater on resource-constrained islands. This project aims to develop a methodology for community-led adaptive water management on resource-constrained islands and will involve Indigenous communities in the development of predictive groundwater models. The project plans to apply three-dimensional participatory mapping, a stakeholder engagement process led and owned by the local communities, on Milingimbi Island in the Northern Territory. The extension of the participatory mapping with a subsurface component will then support the conceptualisation and development of a numerical model of the island's groundwater system. The predictive model and community engagement processes are expected to provide a more robust methodology for evaluating future water management plans. The project outcomes will contribute to solving water supply problems in remote communities in Australia, and overseas.Read moreRead less
Australian savannah landscapes: past, present and future. Australian savannahs are productive and culturally and biologically significant landscapes but are vulnerable to climate change. The project will determine savannah function (carbon and water balance) for the present and assess how sensitive they have been to past climate variability. The project will then address how they may respond to future climate change.