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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120100352
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Understanding the origin and maintenance of megadiverse plant communities. South-western Australia hosts some of the most biologically diverse plant communities on Earth, and these occur on the most ancient, nutrient-impoverished soils. By studying coastal dunes of increasing age, this project will determine how megadiverse plant communities originate during long-term ecosystem development, and how they are maintained.
Ecological and genetic connectivity in seagrasses: the role of sexual reproduction, dispersal and recruitment on meadow restoration. This project's goal is to study the role of dispersal in contemporary demographics and genetics of an Australian seagrass genus Posidonia. The expected outcome of this project is to understand the importance of long-distance dispersal of seeds in determining resilience of seagrasses to both natural and anthropogenic disturbances.
Biotic connectivity within the temperate Australian marine protected area network at three levels of biodiversity, communities, populations and genes. Project outcomes will improve management of coastal biodiversity through a multi-state collaboration of managers, marine ecologists, population geneticists and taxonomists. Sites most needed within marine protected area (MPA) networks for maintaining resilience of populations across seascapes will be identified, including sites with exceptional en ....Biotic connectivity within the temperate Australian marine protected area network at three levels of biodiversity, communities, populations and genes. Project outcomes will improve management of coastal biodiversity through a multi-state collaboration of managers, marine ecologists, population geneticists and taxonomists. Sites most needed within marine protected area (MPA) networks for maintaining resilience of populations across seascapes will be identified, including sites with exceptional endemism or key roles in dispersal of larvae. The ecological efficacy of the temperate Australian MPA network will be assessed through analysis of long-term ecological datasets and further development of a novel 'remote sensing' methodology, whereby surveys are undertaken by volunteer divers across much greater spatial and temporal scales than could be studied by dedicated scientific dive teams.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE200100083
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$310,000.00
Summary
A 4D habitat-modelling facility to support marine ecological research. The loss and modification of natural habitats is a major threat to biodiversity that requires evidence-based management supported by excellent science. To this end, this project will create a facility for 4D habitat modelling (i.e. assessing changes in 3D habitat structure over time) that will underpin research innovation in marine systems. The new aerial and subtidal image acquisition technology will also be used to accurate ....A 4D habitat-modelling facility to support marine ecological research. The loss and modification of natural habitats is a major threat to biodiversity that requires evidence-based management supported by excellent science. To this end, this project will create a facility for 4D habitat modelling (i.e. assessing changes in 3D habitat structure over time) that will underpin research innovation in marine systems. The new aerial and subtidal image acquisition technology will also be used to accurately measure changes in marine plants and algae over time, improve habitats provided by coastal protection infrastructure and support ecological field research. The new equipment will allow scaling up of field experiments and monitoring to enhance their impact and capacity to support effective management.Read moreRead less
New tools to detect ecological effects of contaminants in estuaries. Identifying risks to estuarine environments from pollutants is difficult for environmental managers, who must choose between laboratory toxicity testing that is precise, but hard to generalise to field situations, and more realistic field-based monitoring, which is expensive, with a high signal to noise ratio. New molecular techniques may provide more options. Metabolomics can provide insights into the health of animals, and ec ....New tools to detect ecological effects of contaminants in estuaries. Identifying risks to estuarine environments from pollutants is difficult for environmental managers, who must choose between laboratory toxicity testing that is precise, but hard to generalise to field situations, and more realistic field-based monitoring, which is expensive, with a high signal to noise ratio. New molecular techniques may provide more options. Metabolomics can provide insights into the health of animals, and ecogenomics offers a way to rapidly assess the composition of an ecological community. These techniques offer great promise, but they must be cross-validated against existing methods to derive the best ’toolbox’. Working with Melbourne Water and CSIRO the investigators aim to do this using demonstration estuaries in Victoria.Read moreRead less
The contribution of human/marine herbivore interactions to reef degradation. This project aims to define how interactions between human society and herbivores influence marine ecosystem structure and function. It will analyse geographic patterns from recent systematic sampling of reef communities worldwide and study fish, macro-invertebrate and meso-grazer herbivory to identify herbivores’ role in the collapse and recovery of reef ecosystems. This project will examine the match between a critica ....The contribution of human/marine herbivore interactions to reef degradation. This project aims to define how interactions between human society and herbivores influence marine ecosystem structure and function. It will analyse geographic patterns from recent systematic sampling of reef communities worldwide and study fish, macro-invertebrate and meso-grazer herbivory to identify herbivores’ role in the collapse and recovery of reef ecosystems. This project will examine the match between a critical ecosystem function and community structure across local to global scales, including the identification of non-linearities and interactions involving human effects on this process. This research is expected to safeguard marine ecosystems from collapse.Read moreRead less
The ecological impact of large carnivore restoration. This project aims to assess the ecological changes that have arisen due to the repatriation of estuarine crocodiles to Australian ecosystems. It is significant because the restoration provides a rare opportunity to empirically test changes in ecosystem processes under varying degrees of large carnivore predation pressure. Expected outcomes include improved understanding of the processes that govern the strength of predator-ecosystem interacti ....The ecological impact of large carnivore restoration. This project aims to assess the ecological changes that have arisen due to the repatriation of estuarine crocodiles to Australian ecosystems. It is significant because the restoration provides a rare opportunity to empirically test changes in ecosystem processes under varying degrees of large carnivore predation pressure. Expected outcomes include improved understanding of the processes that govern the strength of predator-ecosystem interactions and an ability to quantify the biomass, social structure, and behaviours of predators required to influence these processes. Benefits should include improvements in how the ecological role of large carnivores is measured, and when and where carnivore populations should be culled or conserved.Read moreRead less
The role of plant-soil feedback in biodiversity maintenance along fertility gradients: from patterns to mechanisms. Plants strongly modify soils and their associated biota, which in turn has important consequences for plant growth. This is known as 'plant-soil feedback'. This project will determine whether such feedback plays a role in maintaining the exceptionally high levels of plant biodiversity found in the kwongan shrublands of south-western Australia.
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.
Predicting coastal ecological futures in an era of unprecedented change. This project aims to show how we can predict the future for coastal habitats, fisheries and biodiversity, and validate the reliability of those predictions. Global change means ecosystems are rapidly changing beyond the bounds of historical data, so we can no longer extrapolate past trajectories to predict the future. Reliable predictions are needed to help managers mitigate the risks of future human activities to the envir ....Predicting coastal ecological futures in an era of unprecedented change. This project aims to show how we can predict the future for coastal habitats, fisheries and biodiversity, and validate the reliability of those predictions. Global change means ecosystems are rapidly changing beyond the bounds of historical data, so we can no longer extrapolate past trajectories to predict the future. Reliable predictions are needed to help managers mitigate the risks of future human activities to the environment. Expected outcomes are improved techniques for making predictions that can inform the adaptive management of ecosystems. This is expected to benefit the management of the coastal zone, including fisheries and habitat restoration, which will contribute to enhancing Australia’s valuable ocean economy. Read moreRead less