Future climate change: consequences for decomposition and pathways of carbon flow through rhizosphere fungal communities. The proposed collaboration will provide novel insights into likely consequences of global climate change on decomposition and pathways of carbon flow through forest soils. This will refine predictive models of future climate change and its impacts on the sustainability of Australia's forests. It will also enhance the protection of our valued habitats and their important soil ....Future climate change: consequences for decomposition and pathways of carbon flow through rhizosphere fungal communities. The proposed collaboration will provide novel insights into likely consequences of global climate change on decomposition and pathways of carbon flow through forest soils. This will refine predictive models of future climate change and its impacts on the sustainability of Australia's forests. It will also enhance the protection of our valued habitats and their important soil biodiversity. The knowledge gained will help land managers to adapt current practices to meet the demands of future climate change. This will maximize the opportunities for sequestering carbon in Australia's forests and so contribute to meeting Australia's global responsibility for mitigation of climate change.Read moreRead less
Continental temperature and rainfall change during past global warming - a multiproxy approach involving clumped isotopes in speleothems. Global climate simulation and prediction models depend on accurate and quantitative measurements of key climatic parameters such as temperature and rainfall, and their temporal changes and spatial distributions. Our research will combine the revolutionary clumped isotope thermometry with other climatic proxies archived in stalagmites to quantify temperature an ....Continental temperature and rainfall change during past global warming - a multiproxy approach involving clumped isotopes in speleothems. Global climate simulation and prediction models depend on accurate and quantitative measurements of key climatic parameters such as temperature and rainfall, and their temporal changes and spatial distributions. Our research will combine the revolutionary clumped isotope thermometry with other climatic proxies archived in stalagmites to quantify temperature and rainfall changes in Australia and China during the past two major episodes of global warming (Terminations I and II). This pilot project directly addresses national research priority goals 'Water - a critical resource', 'Responding to climate change and variability', provide an excellent platform for cross-institutional research training and enhance scientific exchange with China.Read moreRead less
Comparative studies of invasive plants: a leaf carbon strategy approach. Invasion of communities by exotic plants is a significant threat to biodiversity globally. This proposal is to strengthen collaborative links between the Plant Invasion Research Laboratories of Leishman in Australia and Richardson in South Africa. Their current research seeks to understand strategies of invasive plants in novel environments using the framework of leaf carbon strategies. Australian plants invasive in South A ....Comparative studies of invasive plants: a leaf carbon strategy approach. Invasion of communities by exotic plants is a significant threat to biodiversity globally. This proposal is to strengthen collaborative links between the Plant Invasion Research Laboratories of Leishman in Australia and Richardson in South Africa. Their current research seeks to understand strategies of invasive plants in novel environments using the framework of leaf carbon strategies. Australian plants invasive in South Africa and South African plants invasive in Australia provide an ideal model system. This collaborative research will enable better prediction of potential invaders, as well as providing important input for models of plant, ecosystem and biosphere responses to global change incorporating invasion dynamics.Read moreRead less
Economics, politics and culture in early post-independence Indonesia. Recent events in East Timor have highlighted the problems faced by new states after the initial honeymoon following independence is over. By examining the experience of Indonesia in the 1950s from the longer perspective of the 21st century, this project aims to better understand the significance of apparently simple but highly significant decisions made in the first years after decolonization and comparable major regime chang ....Economics, politics and culture in early post-independence Indonesia. Recent events in East Timor have highlighted the problems faced by new states after the initial honeymoon following independence is over. By examining the experience of Indonesia in the 1950s from the longer perspective of the 21st century, this project aims to better understand the significance of apparently simple but highly significant decisions made in the first years after decolonization and comparable major regime changes.Read moreRead less
Migration, Ethnicity and Workforce Segmentation in the Asia-Pacific. Globalisation has produced new polarised patterns in working populations, including ethnically segmented labour. The related dynamics of work, ethnicity and labour segmentation have very significant long-term consequences. Systematic studies are available for advanced economies, but are far less developed for newly industrialised countries. This program investigates these changes in major Asia-Pacific urban-industrial centres. ....Migration, Ethnicity and Workforce Segmentation in the Asia-Pacific. Globalisation has produced new polarised patterns in working populations, including ethnically segmented labour. The related dynamics of work, ethnicity and labour segmentation have very significant long-term consequences. Systematic studies are available for advanced economies, but are far less developed for newly industrialised countries. This program investigates these changes in major Asia-Pacific urban-industrial centres. Innovative analyses from large-scale datasets and from strategic localised case studies will meet this shortfall in knowledge. They will also connect with more extensive ongoing studies of social transformations. Research outcomes and theoretical re-assessments will be presented in two workshops, and published in refereed journals and a book.Read moreRead less
Palaeoclimate reconstruction in northwestern China. Records of climatic change between semi-arid regions of the two large continents, China and Australia, provide invaluable data on the manner in which the globe has responded to past environmental changes. Such reconstructions impose constraints on possible patterns of future change.
The visit by an established researcher in Prof. Sun Jiamin will provide new data (including new dates) on the evolution of lakes and dunefields in China, and on ....Palaeoclimate reconstruction in northwestern China. Records of climatic change between semi-arid regions of the two large continents, China and Australia, provide invaluable data on the manner in which the globe has responded to past environmental changes. Such reconstructions impose constraints on possible patterns of future change.
The visit by an established researcher in Prof. Sun Jiamin will provide new data (including new dates) on the evolution of lakes and dunefields in China, and on the climatic conditions which controlled them. The visit builds on and extends the established links between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and staff in the Melbourne University, School of Earth Sciences.
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Australasian climate reconstruction for the past two millennia. The results generated during this Fellowship will provide a greater understanding of the sensitivity of the Australasian region to the natural range of climatic variability (far beyond that recorded by historical datasets). Focussing on the past two millennia, the applicant will help investigate the timing, rate and magnitude of change, allowing a robust test of whether past changes were in phase with the Northern Hemisphere. The ....Australasian climate reconstruction for the past two millennia. The results generated during this Fellowship will provide a greater understanding of the sensitivity of the Australasian region to the natural range of climatic variability (far beyond that recorded by historical datasets). Focussing on the past two millennia, the applicant will help investigate the timing, rate and magnitude of change, allowing a robust test of whether past changes were in phase with the Northern Hemisphere. The results will provide a considerably improved context for understanding present and future climate change in the Australasian region. Read moreRead less
Weathering History and Cenozoic Landscape Evolution in Northern Queensland and New Caledonia. Rates of rock weathering impose a major control on the CO2 global budget. Increased weathering rates consume atmospheric CO2, possibly resulting in cooler climates. We intend to determine rock weathering rates on similar lithologies currently placed on equatorial positions, Northeastern Australia and New Caledonia, but possibly differing in climatic history. Geochronology of continental weathering prof ....Weathering History and Cenozoic Landscape Evolution in Northern Queensland and New Caledonia. Rates of rock weathering impose a major control on the CO2 global budget. Increased weathering rates consume atmospheric CO2, possibly resulting in cooler climates. We intend to determine rock weathering rates on similar lithologies currently placed on equatorial positions, Northeastern Australia and New Caledonia, but possibly differing in climatic history. Geochronology of continental weathering profiles in the areas will permit correlating known paleoclimatic cycles, derived from the isotopic composition of ocean floor sediments, with the variation in continental weathering rates. This comparison will test current models proposing that cooling of Cenozoic climates results from increase rates of rock weathering.Read moreRead less
Mid-Holocene coral reef bleaching and recovery in the South China Sea and its implications for the modern Great Barrier Reef. Strong evidence shows the mid-Holocene was 1-2 ºC warmer than the present, implying a greater probability for coral bleaching. We have collected well-preserved mid-Holocene reef corals from the northern South China Sea, which contain growth hiatuses reflecting bleaching and mortality. We propose to use high-resolution Sr/Ca, d18O and microstructure analysis and high-preci ....Mid-Holocene coral reef bleaching and recovery in the South China Sea and its implications for the modern Great Barrier Reef. Strong evidence shows the mid-Holocene was 1-2 ºC warmer than the present, implying a greater probability for coral bleaching. We have collected well-preserved mid-Holocene reef corals from the northern South China Sea, which contain growth hiatuses reflecting bleaching and mortality. We propose to use high-resolution Sr/Ca, d18O and microstructure analysis and high-precision U-series dating of coral growth bands to determine the season and sea-surface temperature when each growth hiatus occurred and to establish the timing and duration of the growth hiatus. Reconstructed mid-Holocene coral bleaching history has important implications for management of the Great Barrier Reef during predicted global warming.Read moreRead less
Sustaining older workers' competence: Informing policy and practice. Maintaining the effective working life of older Australian workers is central for sustaining the economic and social health of the nation and for their workplace efficacy and sense of self as productive members of the community. This project will identify and recommend practices and policies for both Australian workplaces and educational institutions to sustain and develop further the skills of Australia's growing number of ol ....Sustaining older workers' competence: Informing policy and practice. Maintaining the effective working life of older Australian workers is central for sustaining the economic and social health of the nation and for their workplace efficacy and sense of self as productive members of the community. This project will identify and recommend practices and policies for both Australian workplaces and educational institutions to sustain and develop further the skills of Australia's growing number of older workers and effectively manage their work transitions. These outcomes will also be used to inform processes and practices to develop the capacities of older Australians in maintaining personally and economically productive working lives.Read moreRead less