Risks of rapid ocean warming at the Antarctic continental margin. This project aims to comprehensively understand the interconnected processes by which oceanic heat is circulated towards Antarctica. The risk of rapid ocean warming at the Antarctic margin is profound, with change already detected via deep ocean warming, land-ice melt, and ice shelf collapse. Yet this region remains poorly understood, with only limited observations due to both a harsh environment and a lack of standard data stream ....Risks of rapid ocean warming at the Antarctic continental margin. This project aims to comprehensively understand the interconnected processes by which oceanic heat is circulated towards Antarctica. The risk of rapid ocean warming at the Antarctic margin is profound, with change already detected via deep ocean warming, land-ice melt, and ice shelf collapse. Yet this region remains poorly understood, with only limited observations due to both a harsh environment and a lack of standard data streams. This project will use high-resolution global and regional ocean/sea-ice models to examine mechanisms for rapid warming of Antarctic continental shelf waters via both large-scale drivers and fine-scale processes, including mesoscale eddies, tide-topography interactions, and bottom boundary flows. This work will better constrain future rates of ice melt around Antarctica by providing vital knowledge of the ocean processes, dynamics, and feedbacks relating to warm water intrusion onto the Antarctic continental shelf.Read moreRead less
Quantifying the impacts of environmental stress on marine microorganisms. Microorganisms underpin marine ecosystem health, yet there is limited understanding of how they will respond to different environmental pressures. This project will resolve this critical knowledge gap by developing a unique molecular platform for deriving quantitative stress thresholds for microbial communities inhabiting key reef habitats (seawater, sediments, invertebrates). Quantifying how reef microorganisms respond to ....Quantifying the impacts of environmental stress on marine microorganisms. Microorganisms underpin marine ecosystem health, yet there is limited understanding of how they will respond to different environmental pressures. This project will resolve this critical knowledge gap by developing a unique molecular platform for deriving quantitative stress thresholds for microbial communities inhabiting key reef habitats (seawater, sediments, invertebrates). Quantifying how reef microorganisms respond to a broad suite of environmental perturbations (temperature, nutrients, contaminants), will generate stress-response data that can be incorporated alongside eukaryotic data in environmental assessments, greatly improving the ecological relevance and reliability of risk and vulnerability assessments.Read moreRead less
Ancient Ecology: Changes in penguin diet over ~30,000 years in Antarctica. This project proposes the first direct study of ancient ecology using a combination of second-generation DNA sequencing and targeted gene recovery. The food web of the Antarctic Ocean is a classic textbook example of energy and nutrient cycling in the marine environment. Although a great deal is known about the current status of this food web, understanding how this complex set of predator / prey relationships have change ....Ancient Ecology: Changes in penguin diet over ~30,000 years in Antarctica. This project proposes the first direct study of ancient ecology using a combination of second-generation DNA sequencing and targeted gene recovery. The food web of the Antarctic Ocean is a classic textbook example of energy and nutrient cycling in the marine environment. Although a great deal is known about the current status of this food web, understanding how this complex set of predator / prey relationships have changed over long periods of time is vital to understanding the nature of the system itself. The project intends to track changes in the diet of Adélie penguins from serially preserved ancient fecal (guano) remains dating back approximately 30,000 years. These remains are known to contain microscopic remnants of penguin prey.Read moreRead less
Modelling Decision Making Within the Household and Analysing its Welfare Implications:Methodological Advances with Policy Applications. The project examines the behavioural and welfare implications of alternative models of intra household decisions. A framework that integrates the household's earnings and expenditure decisions will be proposed and applied. The project introduces new measures of spousal power in making decisions and examines its impact on household outcomes. A satisfactory eco ....Modelling Decision Making Within the Household and Analysing its Welfare Implications:Methodological Advances with Policy Applications. The project examines the behavioural and welfare implications of alternative models of intra household decisions. A framework that integrates the household's earnings and expenditure decisions will be proposed and applied. The project introduces new measures of spousal power in making decisions and examines its impact on household outcomes. A satisfactory econometric methodology to test the conventional unitary model will be developed and applied. The usefulness of this research is underlined by examining the policy implications in areas that range from taxation in the developed country context to child health, child labour and gender bias in case of developing countries.Read moreRead less
Zooplankton and ocean productivity in a changing climate. The scarcity of iron in the Southern Ocean limits biological productivity and carbon uptake. There is currently very little Information on zooplankton iron content, yet available data points to high variability. This variability is leading to poor predictive outcomes for models of Southern Ocean iron and carbon cycling. Our project addresses this knowledge gap by quantifying zooplankton iron content and examining its biogeochemical and ec ....Zooplankton and ocean productivity in a changing climate. The scarcity of iron in the Southern Ocean limits biological productivity and carbon uptake. There is currently very little Information on zooplankton iron content, yet available data points to high variability. This variability is leading to poor predictive outcomes for models of Southern Ocean iron and carbon cycling. Our project addresses this knowledge gap by quantifying zooplankton iron content and examining its biogeochemical and ecological impact on Southern Ocean productivity. Developing an understanding of how iron is cycled through zooplankton will provide significant benefits including improved global models used to quantify current and future patterns of ocean productivity critical for environmental and economic predictions.Read moreRead less
Coupled physical and biogeochemical dynamics on the Australian North West Shelf. Information regarding the natural function of the Australian North West Shelf is urgently required to sustainably manage the often conflicting uses of the region. This project will study the role of ocean processes in driving ocean productivity on the North West Shelf and determine the impact of projected climate variability.
The future of forests under climatic stress. This project aims to measure the vulnerability of forest trees to more extreme drought as global temperatures inevitably rise. Australian forests face the immediate threat of increased mortality associated with intensifying drought stress in the future. Understanding the magnitude of this threat is of the utmost urgency. This project aims to predict future mortality of forest communities in Australia and worldwide using recent breakthroughs enabling t ....The future of forests under climatic stress. This project aims to measure the vulnerability of forest trees to more extreme drought as global temperatures inevitably rise. Australian forests face the immediate threat of increased mortality associated with intensifying drought stress in the future. Understanding the magnitude of this threat is of the utmost urgency. This project aims to predict future mortality of forest communities in Australia and worldwide using recent breakthroughs enabling the rapid quantification of lethal stress in trees. This new understanding will provide a basis upon which to make far-reaching decisions about land management, conservation and restoration.Read moreRead less
Calcification and shell chemistry response of Southern Ocean planktic foraminifers to ocean acidification and changing climates. Plankton that form tiny calcium carbonate shells will be cultured to determine how they will respond to acidification of the Southern Ocean caused by rising CO2 in the atmosphere. The same experiments will be used to gauge from their fossil shells how the Southern Ocean has caused and responded to changing atmosphere CO2 over the last glacial climate cycle
The last glaciation maximum climate conundrum and environmental responses of the Australian continent to altered climate states. This project will show how climate systems in south east Australia responded to large scale global change the last time this happened, which was about 21,000 years ago. By determining the climate response in Australia to this change, this project will help predict future response in rainfall and temperature to human-induced and natural climate change.
Earthquake biases in measurements of Antarctica's sea-level contribution. This project aims to accurately determine Antarctica’s contribution to present-day sea-level. Large technique-specific systematic errors make this uncertain and controversial with the sign of change not agreed. Three of four measurement techniques rely on knowing the solid earth's changing shape or gravity field. Studies have not considered post-seismic deformation, but GPS data show that Antarctica has deformed since the ....Earthquake biases in measurements of Antarctica's sea-level contribution. This project aims to accurately determine Antarctica’s contribution to present-day sea-level. Large technique-specific systematic errors make this uncertain and controversial with the sign of change not agreed. Three of four measurement techniques rely on knowing the solid earth's changing shape or gravity field. Studies have not considered post-seismic deformation, but GPS data show that Antarctica has deformed since the 1998 Magnitude-8.2 Antarctic Plate Earthquake. This project will develop a model of these earthquakes constrained by geodetic data and use the model to estimate Antarctica's contribution to sea-level change. This should enable more confident local, national and international planning. This will benefit society through reducing the sea-level projection uncertainty.Read moreRead less