Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354789
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Networking environmental science to achieve integrated management of Australian terrestrial biodiversity in an era of environmental change. Human activities impact Australian ecosystems profoundly and compound natural complexity by superimposing environmental changes. Thus, understanding, conserving and enhancing Australian biodiversity demands interdisciplinary research and management strategies. These activities lack overarching strategic coordination, being conducted mainly by groups with fo ....Networking environmental science to achieve integrated management of Australian terrestrial biodiversity in an era of environmental change. Human activities impact Australian ecosystems profoundly and compound natural complexity by superimposing environmental changes. Thus, understanding, conserving and enhancing Australian biodiversity demands interdisciplinary research and management strategies. These activities lack overarching strategic coordination, being conducted mainly by groups with focused interests. We will develop a Network uniting the skills, resources and energies of excellent and productive researchers and managers of natural resources across the relevant disciplines and organizations, and so work synergistically towards the National Research Priority of an Environmentally Sustainable Australia.Read moreRead less
Our rural wealth: using functional responses of native fauna to predict conservation values of agricultural landscapes. The aim of this project is to develop and test a new approach for assessing the conservation value of agricultural landscapes in Australia. It is based on identifying the functional responses of the fauna to the extent and pattern of native vegetation and types and intensity of agricultural land-uses in whole landscapes. Different response types will be interpreted in relatio ....Our rural wealth: using functional responses of native fauna to predict conservation values of agricultural landscapes. The aim of this project is to develop and test a new approach for assessing the conservation value of agricultural landscapes in Australia. It is based on identifying the functional responses of the fauna to the extent and pattern of native vegetation and types and intensity of agricultural land-uses in whole landscapes. Different response types will be interpreted in relation to ecological characteristics of species. We will use this knowledge to predict the status of birds and mammals in novel landscapes in three bioregions, and test the predictions by field studies. This new landscape-level approach will help land managers assess present agricultural environments as well as evaluate scenarios for future changes in land-use.Read moreRead less
How much habitat and what configuration maintains natural levels of connectivity in southeast Australian native birds? Maintenance of biodiversity is fundamental to ecologically sustainable development. This project will deepen our understanding of the consequences of landscape change for native birds and enhance our national capacity to integrate nature conservation and agricultural production. We will contribute to sustainable use of rural landscapes by providing land managers with greater und ....How much habitat and what configuration maintains natural levels of connectivity in southeast Australian native birds? Maintenance of biodiversity is fundamental to ecologically sustainable development. This project will deepen our understanding of the consequences of landscape change for native birds and enhance our national capacity to integrate nature conservation and agricultural production. We will contribute to sustainable use of rural landscapes by providing land managers with greater understanding of (1) how and why landscape change affects bird species diversity and persistence, (2) which components of the landscape can most effectively be manipulated to enhance population survival, and (3) estimating the long-term effects of habitat fragmentation on the population structure and function of species.Read moreRead less
Quantifying and mitigating the barrier effect of roads on the movement and dispersal of wildlife. In fragmented landscapes, wildlife need to move between habitat patches to exchange genes, increase the size of declining populations and recolonise areas were animals have become extinct. For many species, roads may act as barriers that prevent or limit dispersal, potentially isolating some habitats. In this study, we aim to quantify the extent to which major highways in regional Australia form a ....Quantifying and mitigating the barrier effect of roads on the movement and dispersal of wildlife. In fragmented landscapes, wildlife need to move between habitat patches to exchange genes, increase the size of declining populations and recolonise areas were animals have become extinct. For many species, roads may act as barriers that prevent or limit dispersal, potentially isolating some habitats. In this study, we aim to quantify the extent to which major highways in regional Australia form a barrier to the movement of mammals and invertebrates. We will then test the effectiveness of measures that may facilitate safe crossing by measuring their rate of use, reduction in road kill and increase in population viability. This information can then be used to construct major roads that are more environmentally sustainable.Read moreRead less
Aboriginal patch burning and the quest for sustainable fire management. This project aims to document historical changes in the spatial grain of the patch burning mosaic in an Arnhem Land savannah with an unbroken history of management by Aboriginal people, and in adjacent areas where traditional management has ceased. The mosaic's spatial grain will be inferred by mapping the individual ages of the long-lived conifer Callitris intratropica. Prior research has shown that Callitris individuals c ....Aboriginal patch burning and the quest for sustainable fire management. This project aims to document historical changes in the spatial grain of the patch burning mosaic in an Arnhem Land savannah with an unbroken history of management by Aboriginal people, and in adjacent areas where traditional management has ceased. The mosaic's spatial grain will be inferred by mapping the individual ages of the long-lived conifer Callitris intratropica. Prior research has shown that Callitris individuals can be reliably aged, and population structures are very sensitive to fire regimes: saplings only establish if unburnt for 10 years. This research is expected to provide the first direct test of the hypothesis that Aboriginal people maintained fine-grained fire mosaics in savannas, and inform bushfire policy debates.Read moreRead less
Models for biodiversity futures for massively altered agricultural landscapes. Problems with soil and water and declines in native biodiversity have been linked to clearance of native vegetation. We consider future landscapes with substantially more native vegetation than at present to deal with these natural resource problems. Plantings will be slow to mature so optimal planning for landscape revegetation must consider how long it will take for the new vegetation to provide suitable habitat, bo ....Models for biodiversity futures for massively altered agricultural landscapes. Problems with soil and water and declines in native biodiversity have been linked to clearance of native vegetation. We consider future landscapes with substantially more native vegetation than at present to deal with these natural resource problems. Plantings will be slow to mature so optimal planning for landscape revegetation must consider how long it will take for the new vegetation to provide suitable habitat, both at patch and landscape scales. We will develop an optimization framework incorporating models of vegetation maturation and biotic responses to aid designs for placement and scheduling of replantings to give the best outcomes for biodiversity management given constraints on amounts of retired area and costs of implementation.Read moreRead less
Aquatic biodiversity: consequences of massive modification of agricultural landscapes. Agricultural landscapes have undergone great change. Significant shifts in land-use may sustain agricultural productivity, but nationally we risk the loss of our natural wealth - native plants and animals. This project develops a new vision for assessing conservation values of rural landscapes that will help land managers to plan for present and future land-use of both terrestrial and aquatic organisms. It wil ....Aquatic biodiversity: consequences of massive modification of agricultural landscapes. Agricultural landscapes have undergone great change. Significant shifts in land-use may sustain agricultural productivity, but nationally we risk the loss of our natural wealth - native plants and animals. This project develops a new vision for assessing conservation values of rural landscapes that will help land managers to plan for present and future land-use of both terrestrial and aquatic organisms. It will help managers to understand the biodiversity value of different landscapes, the types of species that may persist or be at risk of loss, and the landscape components that influence these outcomes. This knowledge will enhance our national capacity to jointly integrate nature conservation and agricultural productivityRead moreRead less
Devising ecologically sustainable restoration programs for degraded rural landscapes by integrating landscape ecology, genetics and ecophysiology. Concern about tree decline in rural landscape is widespread, and disturbingly climate change is predicted to exacerbate this problem. Past ill-considered tree plantings have proven to be economically wasteful, achieved limited ecological resilience and negligible improvement of biodiversity values. Using Tasmania as a 'model system', we will advance t ....Devising ecologically sustainable restoration programs for degraded rural landscapes by integrating landscape ecology, genetics and ecophysiology. Concern about tree decline in rural landscape is widespread, and disturbingly climate change is predicted to exacerbate this problem. Past ill-considered tree plantings have proven to be economically wasteful, achieved limited ecological resilience and negligible improvement of biodiversity values. Using Tasmania as a 'model system', we will advance this problem by undertaking research to determine how seedling establishment, tree growth, carbon storage and water use are influenced by landscape setting, management history, climate change, species type and local varieties. This research will provide a much needed evidence to devise ecologically sustainable tree-plantings in southern Australia.Read moreRead less
Annual rainfall variability and extreme drought over the late Holocene. This project aims to understand long-term rainfall variability for Australia by developing a network of extended, high resolution rainfall records from tree rings. How anthropogenic changes to the atmosphere have influenced changing rainfall patterns across Australia is unclear. By extracting climatic information from tree growth rings across a latitudinal gradient from the subtropical north to the south coast of western Aus ....Annual rainfall variability and extreme drought over the late Holocene. This project aims to understand long-term rainfall variability for Australia by developing a network of extended, high resolution rainfall records from tree rings. How anthropogenic changes to the atmosphere have influenced changing rainfall patterns across Australia is unclear. By extracting climatic information from tree growth rings across a latitudinal gradient from the subtropical north to the south coast of western Australia, the project will extend hydroclimatic records by several centuries, to identify the frequency and extent of extreme droughts across the continent. Outcomes are expected to provide appropriate context for evaluating and adapting to climate change, allowing climate modellers, agricultural producers and other industries to improve forecasts of likely change for risk management.Read moreRead less
A global-scale analysis of functional traits in the face of global change. This project uses a global collaboration to develop a novel method for determining the response of extremely diverse animal taxa to global change. The method focusses on morphological traits and their functions and will improve conservation efforts by predicting the types of ecological processes and species threatened.