Predicting the consequences of drought-induced mortality for tree species in a changing climate. Tree mortality will be a dramatic manifestation of climate change as drought intensifies. A pre-existing record of mortality after recent drought in Eucalyptus woodland defines the moisture sensitivity of tree species and will be related to their functional traits, population dynamics and geography. This analysis will search for generalised characters that define the species that will be most suscept ....Predicting the consequences of drought-induced mortality for tree species in a changing climate. Tree mortality will be a dramatic manifestation of climate change as drought intensifies. A pre-existing record of mortality after recent drought in Eucalyptus woodland defines the moisture sensitivity of tree species and will be related to their functional traits, population dynamics and geography. This analysis will search for generalised characters that define the species that will be most susceptible to drought and will identify how future exaggerated drought will reorganise forest communities. The findings will contribute to understanding the vulnerability and resilience of our natural ecosystems with a changing climate.Read moreRead less
Do microbial and plant diversity interact to regulate multifunctionality? This project aims to quantify the relative contribution of plant and microbial communities and their interactions on the rate, stability and resilience of ecosystem functions. Plant and soil microbial communities contribute to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, driving key processes such as carbon and nutrient cycling. This project will adapt established theories which indicate that greater plant diversity improves ....Do microbial and plant diversity interact to regulate multifunctionality? This project aims to quantify the relative contribution of plant and microbial communities and their interactions on the rate, stability and resilience of ecosystem functions. Plant and soil microbial communities contribute to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, driving key processes such as carbon and nutrient cycling. This project will adapt established theories which indicate that greater plant diversity improves ecosystem functions, stability and recovery. The expected outcome is a unifying framework for determining variation in functions across different ecosystem types and environmental disturbance such as rapid climate change.The insight gained into vulnerable ecosystems will help stakeholders (government, conservation, land management) to prioritise the focus on conservation and reduce risks to ecosystem services.Read moreRead less
The role of mycorrhizal fungi in the nutrition of temperate terrestrial orchids. This project addresses the role of external mycelial systems in the carbon and mineral nutrition of temperate terrestrial orchids. The project will determine the processes of nutrient transfer in the protocorm and adult phases of development across a range of terrestrial temperate orchids to inform conservation and restoration efforts.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101263
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Assessing the impact of global environmental change on the nutritional ecology of marsupial and insect folivores of Eucalyptus. Higher atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are predicted to alter plant nutrient and toxin content, while higher ambient temperatures may compromise the abilities of animals to metabolise plant toxins. This project will assess how climate change scenarios are likely to impact native marsupials and insects that rely on eucalypt leaves for food.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100041
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
A high-resolution isotope facility for low cost analysis of water, plant, and soil/sediment samples to understand environmental change. The most significant environmental challenges facing Australia include ensuring sustainable management of our water resources and conservation of both terrestrial and marine biodiversity, particularly in the face of our changing climate and land-use. The new instruments will accelerate progress across a number of projects aimed at understanding the developme ....A high-resolution isotope facility for low cost analysis of water, plant, and soil/sediment samples to understand environmental change. The most significant environmental challenges facing Australia include ensuring sustainable management of our water resources and conservation of both terrestrial and marine biodiversity, particularly in the face of our changing climate and land-use. The new instruments will accelerate progress across a number of projects aimed at understanding the development of groundwater resources, the relative dependency of ecosystems on groundwater versus soil and surface water, and an assessment of the likely impacts of altered hydrology, especially dewatering and salinisation, on ecosystems. In addition, they will also be used to extend our knowledge of climate variability in the recent past and increase understanding of critical marine resources.Read moreRead less
Complex system dynamics: restoring riparian and riverine ecosystems. Attempts to restore damaged ecosystems reveal inadequacies in theories describing ecosystem structure and function. For rivers, it is unclear whether theories relating to fluvial geomorphology and ecosystem dynamics are adequate to predict system trajectories following restoration. We will use empirical data on a degraded river to develop cross-scale models of system function, and predict ecosystem structure and dynamics follow ....Complex system dynamics: restoring riparian and riverine ecosystems. Attempts to restore damaged ecosystems reveal inadequacies in theories describing ecosystem structure and function. For rivers, it is unclear whether theories relating to fluvial geomorphology and ecosystem dynamics are adequate to predict system trajectories following restoration. We will use empirical data on a degraded river to develop cross-scale models of system function, and predict ecosystem structure and dynamics following restoration. Following revegetation of riparian habitats and replacement of large woody debris in in-stream habitats of the river, we will test theoretical predictions about changes to physical processes, biotic community assemblage rules and food webs to develop improved ecosystem-based restoration guidelines.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989680
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,000.00
Summary
Interuniversity Elemental and Structural Analytical Facility. The items in this proposal will form the first stage of a larger facility for Elemental and Structural analytical programs in materials engineering and the natural sciences. The vision is to create an analytical facility which will have at its core and at the outset true collaboration leading to great national benefit. The equipment will be available via on-line access management allowing equitable and transparent access for users fro ....Interuniversity Elemental and Structural Analytical Facility. The items in this proposal will form the first stage of a larger facility for Elemental and Structural analytical programs in materials engineering and the natural sciences. The vision is to create an analytical facility which will have at its core and at the outset true collaboration leading to great national benefit. The equipment will be available via on-line access management allowing equitable and transparent access for users from multiple institutions. The resulting facility will complement existing microstructural capabilities and networks and will be open for all researchers and collaborators to use, further enhancing the national benefit.Read moreRead less
Ants, plants, diversity and function: trophic interactions and ecosystem function in a large-scale restoration experiment. Food and clean water are but two of the benefits we reap from functioning ecosystems, but we know little about how individual species contribute to making ecosystems work. This project capitalises on the diversity of Australia's ant fauna by using ants as a model taxon to explore the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Rhizosphere mediation of soil greenhouse gas fluxes with climate change. Increasingly extreme heat waves, droughts and floods contribute major uncertainties in predicting natural land-based climate change mitigation. This project will quantify current and future greenhouse gas absorption in a managed grassland ecosystem, and the new knowledge will contribute to carbon emissions offsets in climate change accounting schemes. We will conduct this research using a manipulative field experiment, cont ....Rhizosphere mediation of soil greenhouse gas fluxes with climate change. Increasingly extreme heat waves, droughts and floods contribute major uncertainties in predicting natural land-based climate change mitigation. This project will quantify current and future greenhouse gas absorption in a managed grassland ecosystem, and the new knowledge will contribute to carbon emissions offsets in climate change accounting schemes. We will conduct this research using a manipulative field experiment, controlled laboratory incubations, microbial gene analysis and mechanistic modelling to provide new insights into future potential climate change mitigation by soils.Read moreRead less
Feast or famine: how Australian plants stay productive under low phosphorus. Phosphorus (P) is in low supply in soils around the nation, and limits plant production in the Australian landscape, as well as for many tropical forests worldwide. How scarce P restricts photosynthetic capacity has remained elusive. We will determine how Australian plants achieve high phosphorus-use efficiency despite low P concentrations in leaves and soils. We will synthesise knowledge of how plants maintain producti ....Feast or famine: how Australian plants stay productive under low phosphorus. Phosphorus (P) is in low supply in soils around the nation, and limits plant production in the Australian landscape, as well as for many tropical forests worldwide. How scarce P restricts photosynthetic capacity has remained elusive. We will determine how Australian plants achieve high phosphorus-use efficiency despite low P concentrations in leaves and soils. We will synthesise knowledge of how plants maintain productivity with low P availability, and inform global models how to represent P biogeochemistry and photosynthesis to improve C-cycle estimates. The understanding of plant photosynthetic and P-saving mechanisms that emerge should provide benefits through improved ecological models and enhanced management of primary production.Read moreRead less