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
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.
Seagrass adaptation and acclimation responses to extreme climatic events. This project aims to advance our understanding of how temperate marine plants in their northern limit will respond to the effects of synergistic stressors from extreme events combined with climate change. The project will study Shark Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where a semi-permanent, salinity gradient maintained by shallow seagrass banks has resulted in unique ecosystems like stromatolites to persist. Expected outc ....Seagrass adaptation and acclimation responses to extreme climatic events. This project aims to advance our understanding of how temperate marine plants in their northern limit will respond to the effects of synergistic stressors from extreme events combined with climate change. The project will study Shark Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where a semi-permanent, salinity gradient maintained by shallow seagrass banks has resulted in unique ecosystems like stromatolites to persist. Expected outcomes include practical solutions for building resilience to climate change mitigation in marine ecosystems. This will benefit the broader Australian community through changing how we manage significant resources and services these systems support, such as fisheries, coastal protection.Read moreRead less
Enabling social innovation for local climate adaptability. Climate variability and change is likely to be felt most acutely at the local scale in Australia. This is where inter/national and State policies are translated into practices to prepare for, and adapt to, anticipated impacts of heatwaves, bushfires and floods. This project will investigate tensions and potentialities between risk-based assessments by local governance agencies and innovations by local groups and Non-Government Organisati ....Enabling social innovation for local climate adaptability. Climate variability and change is likely to be felt most acutely at the local scale in Australia. This is where inter/national and State policies are translated into practices to prepare for, and adapt to, anticipated impacts of heatwaves, bushfires and floods. This project will investigate tensions and potentialities between risk-based assessments by local governance agencies and innovations by local groups and Non-Government Organisations. The research will utilise an innovative mixed-methods approach to investigate and to analyse the strategies and experiments of adaptation practices. It aims to develop new ways of identifying and implementing practical, local, adaptive responses that are contextually relevant, socially innovative and capacity building.Read moreRead less
Climate and environmental history of SE Queensland dunefields. This project aims to generate fundamental information about the timing and mode of formation of sand dunes in the world's largest downdrift sand system, Cooloola and Fraser Island, Queensland. The project aims to provide a world class record of climate variability, sea-level change and long term climate change from the sub-tropics of Australia, an area critical to understanding global climate links and sea-level change but where high ....Climate and environmental history of SE Queensland dunefields. This project aims to generate fundamental information about the timing and mode of formation of sand dunes in the world's largest downdrift sand system, Cooloola and Fraser Island, Queensland. The project aims to provide a world class record of climate variability, sea-level change and long term climate change from the sub-tropics of Australia, an area critical to understanding global climate links and sea-level change but where high quality long-term records are sparse and little investigated. This project will also underpin the outstanding universal value of the Fraser Island World Heritage Area which is based on the area being the world's largest sand island, but for which scientific understanding of the sand dunes is remarkably poor.Read moreRead less
Multi-Country Study on Health Effects of Bushfire Air Pollution. Catastrophic bushfires are a major natural disaster, causing serious air pollution. However, aligning bushfire air pollution and public health policies becomes a significant challenge, because limited studies are available on relationships between bushfire air pollution and human health, particularly for the prolonged exposure. We will characterize the nature of the relationships between bushfire air pollution and mortality/morbidi ....Multi-Country Study on Health Effects of Bushfire Air Pollution. Catastrophic bushfires are a major natural disaster, causing serious air pollution. However, aligning bushfire air pollution and public health policies becomes a significant challenge, because limited studies are available on relationships between bushfire air pollution and human health, particularly for the prolonged exposure. We will characterize the nature of the relationships between bushfire air pollution and mortality/morbidity by developing a multi-country study; and estimate the burden of diseases attributed to bushfire air pollution. This project will provide essential scientific evidence to policy-makers and stakeholders in the development, prioritization and implementation of health protection strategies and policies.
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The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which ....The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which sex genes are targets? Epigenetic enzymes are astonishingly conserved, providing exciting opportunities to draw from human systems to unravel novel signatures of temperature-induced sex switching in reptiles. This project will advance knowledge of developmental programming generally.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.
Dating West Antarctic ice sheet collapse using molecular sequence data. This project aims to investigate the past stability and configuration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by examining genomic signatures in present day bottom-dwelling Antarctic marine animals. By employing this novel biological approach this project will provide an independent test of the hypothesis that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed during the most recent interglacial period and formed a trans-Antarctic seaway. Expec ....Dating West Antarctic ice sheet collapse using molecular sequence data. This project aims to investigate the past stability and configuration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by examining genomic signatures in present day bottom-dwelling Antarctic marine animals. By employing this novel biological approach this project will provide an independent test of the hypothesis that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed during the most recent interglacial period and formed a trans-Antarctic seaway. Expected project outcomes include increased resolution of the most recent collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This project should provide benefits in predicting future ice sheet collapse and its impact on sea level rise, which is a key uncertainty resulting from climate change.Read moreRead less
Illuminating the evolutionary history of Australia’s most iconic animals. This project aims to pinpoint the nature and timing of key steps in macropod history and to test how these link with major climatic and biotic changes. Macropods (kangaroos and relatives) are widely considered the marsupial equivalents to hoofed mammals on other continents, but we have a weaker understanding of how their evolution was shaped by environmental change. This project will combine palaeontology, anatomy and gene ....Illuminating the evolutionary history of Australia’s most iconic animals. This project aims to pinpoint the nature and timing of key steps in macropod history and to test how these link with major climatic and biotic changes. Macropods (kangaroos and relatives) are widely considered the marsupial equivalents to hoofed mammals on other continents, but we have a weaker understanding of how their evolution was shaped by environmental change. This project will combine palaeontology, anatomy and genetics to address questions such as how and why ancestral macropods descended from the trees and evolved bipedal hopping, and the upper size limits of the kangaroo “body plan”. This should improve our understanding of the long-term effects of climate change on marsupials, and provide a test of key placental-based evolutionary models.Read moreRead less