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Unlocking the secrets of mangrove conservation success. This project aims to address the deterioration of mangrove ecosystems. Mangroves support fisheries, shoreline protection and carbon sequestration. The project aims to identify social-economic conditions that enable effective conservation in mangroves over multiple spatial scales. The project will use state of the art datasets and innovative modelling approaches to understand how factors such as population, governance and access to markets i ....Unlocking the secrets of mangrove conservation success. This project aims to address the deterioration of mangrove ecosystems. Mangroves support fisheries, shoreline protection and carbon sequestration. The project aims to identify social-economic conditions that enable effective conservation in mangroves over multiple spatial scales. The project will use state of the art datasets and innovative modelling approaches to understand how factors such as population, governance and access to markets influence changes in mangrove extent and restoration success. Expected outcomes include implementation of more effective environmental programs in Australia and overseas. This should provide significant benefits, including more cost-effective allocation of resources and increased delivery of ecosystem services.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101290
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Unravelling the transformation pathways and fate of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen in shallow coastal sediments. This project will significantly advance our understanding of the cycling of dissolved organic carbon and dissolved organic nitrogen in shallow coastal sediments, a potentially major part of global carbon and nitrogen cycles. This will have direct implications for the management and protection of Australian coastal systems and the world's oceans.
Unravelling the legacy of groundwater pollution to coastal waters. This project aims to resolve whether groundwater polluted decades ago is now seeping out along shorelines, and driving coastal water quality. The project will challenge common assumptions about the sources of chemical pollution to Australian coastal waters using a combination of cutting-edge analytical techniques, modelling, and laboratory investigations. The outcomes of the project will support the development of pollutant budge ....Unravelling the legacy of groundwater pollution to coastal waters. This project aims to resolve whether groundwater polluted decades ago is now seeping out along shorelines, and driving coastal water quality. The project will challenge common assumptions about the sources of chemical pollution to Australian coastal waters using a combination of cutting-edge analytical techniques, modelling, and laboratory investigations. The outcomes of the project will support the development of pollutant budgets and models required for the effective creation of water management solutions. As a result, the project will benefit the management of iconic waterways experiencing persistent, unresolved water quality issues which are costing the government billions of dollars.Read moreRead less
Microbiology of a tropical creek impacted by sewage effluent: novel assessment using N-cycle functional markers and changes in community composition. Although most of Darwin Harbour has good water quality, there is much concern about local 'hot spots' where sewage has degraded ecosystem processes and values. As no bio-indicators of tropical marine water and sediment quality are known, the project will identify functional markers and microbial indicators of stress for integrated environmental mo ....Microbiology of a tropical creek impacted by sewage effluent: novel assessment using N-cycle functional markers and changes in community composition. Although most of Darwin Harbour has good water quality, there is much concern about local 'hot spots' where sewage has degraded ecosystem processes and values. As no bio-indicators of tropical marine water and sediment quality are known, the project will identify functional markers and microbial indicators of stress for integrated environmental monitoring.Read moreRead less
Testing the waters: impacts of contaminants on ecosystem structure and function in urban waterways. To ensure that people can swim, catch fish and enjoy the beauty of urban waterways we need to be able to predict the effects of more than one stressor at a time. This project will determine how nutrients and metals affect our waterways. Findings will help prioritise management actions that protect biodiversity and human uses of these systems.
Novel habitat quality assessment to inform the development of recreational boating infrastructure. As Australians migrate towards the coast, the demand for recreational boating facilities such as moorings and marinas is increasing rapidly. These structures can remove habitat and fragment the seascape in a similar manner to roads and clearings in forest and grasslands. Coastal infrastructure can also reduce the quality of existing habitats and their full impact must be assessed if the diversity a ....Novel habitat quality assessment to inform the development of recreational boating infrastructure. As Australians migrate towards the coast, the demand for recreational boating facilities such as moorings and marinas is increasing rapidly. These structures can remove habitat and fragment the seascape in a similar manner to roads and clearings in forest and grasslands. Coastal infrastructure can also reduce the quality of existing habitats and their full impact must be assessed if the diversity and function of coastal seascapes is to be conserved. This project aims to use a combination of novel modelling, surveys, and large experiments to understand how threatened seagrass, fish, and sediment habitats are altered in human modified seascapes, and to assess the success of habitat restoration following the removal of boating structures.Read moreRead less
Genetic solution or dilution: can selective breeding future-proof oysters? This project aims to test whether the flow of beneficial genes from farmed oysters into wild oysters can make natural oyster beds and the ecological communities that they support more resilient to environmental change. Wild oysters are critical to the function of coastal ecosystems. However, wild oyster populations are threatened by environmental change in Australia and around the world. Selectively bred oysters bearing s ....Genetic solution or dilution: can selective breeding future-proof oysters? This project aims to test whether the flow of beneficial genes from farmed oysters into wild oysters can make natural oyster beds and the ecological communities that they support more resilient to environmental change. Wild oysters are critical to the function of coastal ecosystems. However, wild oyster populations are threatened by environmental change in Australia and around the world. Selectively bred oysters bearing stress resistance genotypes are now commercially farmed in many estuaries on Australia's east coast and may be used to bolster wild oyster populations. This project endeavours to develop novel genetic strategies to future-proof oysters. Thus, the outcome of this project has potential to benefit entire ecosystems that depend upon oysters.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100461
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Early Detection of Seagrass Habitat Loss Caused by Eutrophication. Eutrophication (nutrient over-enrichment) caused by a host of anthropogenic activities is recognised as the most widespread cause of seagrass loss. In order to effectively control seagrass loss, there is an urgent need to determine the link between eutrophication and seagrass loss. This project aims to undertake an innovative 'omics approach (transcriptomics and metabolomics) to develop an early-warning system for seagrass loss. ....Early Detection of Seagrass Habitat Loss Caused by Eutrophication. Eutrophication (nutrient over-enrichment) caused by a host of anthropogenic activities is recognised as the most widespread cause of seagrass loss. In order to effectively control seagrass loss, there is an urgent need to determine the link between eutrophication and seagrass loss. This project aims to undertake an innovative 'omics approach (transcriptomics and metabolomics) to develop an early-warning system for seagrass loss. The acclimation and plasticity of seagrass to sub-lethal stress induced by eutrophication will be investigated at the molecular and biochemical levels. This will allow mitigation responses such as altered catchment management processes to prevent damage before meadows are lost.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101084
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
From sink to source: does microbial priming of degraded seagrasses contribute to global warming? Australian seagrasses are among the planet's most effective natural systems for removing greenhouse gases; but, if degraded, they could leak stored carbon and accelerate global warming. This project will test the emerging paradigm that microbes control carbon leakage, thereby providing information to ensure that seagrass carbon remains locked away.
Microplastic infiltration of food webs: cells to ecosystem consequences. Using trophic ecological theory as a framework, this project aims to provide the first comprehensive assessment of the fate and effects of microplastics. Plastic pollution is a persistent and increasing problem. Plastics are degraded into small particles, called microplastics, which are ingested by animals. The project aims to develop much-needed techniques to measure microplastics in biological tissue and apply these techn ....Microplastic infiltration of food webs: cells to ecosystem consequences. Using trophic ecological theory as a framework, this project aims to provide the first comprehensive assessment of the fate and effects of microplastics. Plastic pollution is a persistent and increasing problem. Plastics are degraded into small particles, called microplastics, which are ingested by animals. The project aims to develop much-needed techniques to measure microplastics in biological tissue and apply these techniques in food web studies to determine the capacity of microplastics to transfer from the environment into animals, and how microplastics move through a food web to affect biological diversity and animal health. This information will be used to complete the first risk assessment for microplastics in a major coastal habitat.Read moreRead less