Species redundancy in response to multiple disturbances. This project aims to elucidate how the context within which disturbances occur affects food web linkages and how these map to responses in ecosystem function. There is a critical need to test the common assumption in environmental management that high biodiversity makes ecosystems resilient to disturbances. Studies that merely observe biodiversity change after disturbance cannot identify ecological processes connecting high diversity and e ....Species redundancy in response to multiple disturbances. This project aims to elucidate how the context within which disturbances occur affects food web linkages and how these map to responses in ecosystem function. There is a critical need to test the common assumption in environmental management that high biodiversity makes ecosystems resilient to disturbances. Studies that merely observe biodiversity change after disturbance cannot identify ecological processes connecting high diversity and ecosystem function, making experiments that manipulate identical disturbances in ecosystems with different biodiversity essential. This project will use field experiments that manipulate disturbances in streams replicated in low and high biodiversity regions and across gradients of chronic background stress to show how biodiversity sustains functional ecosystems, and how much diversity can be lost before ecosystems collapse.Read moreRead less
Fire, air, water and earth: Using fossils to discover the evolution of Australia’s open vegetation. How Australia came to be dominated by open, tough-leaved vegetation is an old but still highly controversial question, especially with recent developments in molecular biology that challenge paradigms established from the fossil record. The project will test this new molecular paradigm with innovative use of characteristics of fossil leaves to identify the timing and drivers of the evolution of Au ....Fire, air, water and earth: Using fossils to discover the evolution of Australia’s open vegetation. How Australia came to be dominated by open, tough-leaved vegetation is an old but still highly controversial question, especially with recent developments in molecular biology that challenge paradigms established from the fossil record. The project will test this new molecular paradigm with innovative use of characteristics of fossil leaves to identify the timing and drivers of the evolution of Australia’s open vegetation. The integration of new and rigorous evidence derived from living and fossil plants will provide the clearest evidence yet for the origins of Australian environments. This has ramifications for understanding plant responses to past and future climate changes.Read moreRead less
Towards an Active and Passive L- and P-band soil moisture satellite mission. This project tests alternate configurations for remote sensing of soil moisture using a new state-of-the-art Active/Passive (ie radar/radiometer) P-/L-band (ie microwave) satellite concept through a series of airborne field experiments. Timely soil moisture information is critical to improved water management for food production in the face of climate variability. The challenge is to do this accurately over large areas ....Towards an Active and Passive L- and P-band soil moisture satellite mission. This project tests alternate configurations for remote sensing of soil moisture using a new state-of-the-art Active/Passive (ie radar/radiometer) P-/L-band (ie microwave) satellite concept through a series of airborne field experiments. Timely soil moisture information is critical to improved water management for food production in the face of climate variability. The challenge is to do this accurately over large areas with an appropriate spatio-temporal detail, and for a soil depth that closely approximates the layer which impacts crop/pasture growth and influences management decisions. The longer P-band allows deeper penetration into the soil while the active/passive combination uses the respective resolution and accuracy characteristics.Read moreRead less
Managing Fresh-Water Resources in Saline Environments. Australian industry and urban developments often rely on a secure supply of fresh water. In many situations, the fresh water occurs adjacent to large expanses of saline water. This poses special constraints on how the fresh water can be recovered. This project undertakes careful mathematical modelling of fresh water recovery from reservoirs and from within islands (where it may be the only practical source of drinking water). The injecti ....Managing Fresh-Water Resources in Saline Environments. Australian industry and urban developments often rely on a secure supply of fresh water. In many situations, the fresh water occurs adjacent to large expanses of saline water. This poses special constraints on how the fresh water can be recovered. This project undertakes careful mathematical modelling of fresh water recovery from reservoirs and from within islands (where it may be the only practical source of drinking water). The injection and extraction of ground water in novel "mineral leaching" mining technology will also be investigated.Read moreRead less
Enhancing marine bathymetry using new generation satellite sensors. Highly accurate marine bathymetry are currently lacking in 72% of the global ocean including around Australia, particularly in shallow seas and near-shore coastal zones, contributing to various navigation and marine safety accidents. Ship surveys of the seafloor are time-consuming and expensive. Satellite altimetry data provide an alternative solution. This project will improve Australia’s marine bathymetry by using spatially co ....Enhancing marine bathymetry using new generation satellite sensors. Highly accurate marine bathymetry are currently lacking in 72% of the global ocean including around Australia, particularly in shallow seas and near-shore coastal zones, contributing to various navigation and marine safety accidents. Ship surveys of the seafloor are time-consuming and expensive. Satellite altimetry data provide an alternative solution. This project will improve Australia’s marine bathymetry by using spatially comprehensive and unprecedented data from new radar and laser satellite sensors. We aim to develop techniques for integration of the new data with other independent data sources, producing the most precise marine bathymetry for coastal terrain mapping, marine transport and safety management.Read moreRead less
Phosphate stabilisation of metalliferous mine wastes: The key to solving a major environmental issue? Mine wastes represent the greatest proportion of solid waste produced by mankind. Unconstrained drainage from sulfide-rich mine wastes impacts on water, soil and sediment quality. This project will establish the scientific principles of phosphate stabilisation, which involves the addition of phosphate compounds to mine wastes and soils to permanently contain metals and acid. A solid understandin ....Phosphate stabilisation of metalliferous mine wastes: The key to solving a major environmental issue? Mine wastes represent the greatest proportion of solid waste produced by mankind. Unconstrained drainage from sulfide-rich mine wastes impacts on water, soil and sediment quality. This project will establish the scientific principles of phosphate stabilisation, which involves the addition of phosphate compounds to mine wastes and soils to permanently contain metals and acid. A solid understanding of this emerging technology is a prerequisite for any sustainable management of mine sites. The study will provide the foundation of future management tools needed by landholders, industry and regulators to remediate mined land and waste repositories.Read moreRead less
Community-level selection: Empirical tests in a microbial system. Given the profile of the question of community-level selection as a long-running controversy, the main benefit of the proposed work, which will critically test the idea in an empirical system, will be to increase recognition of Australia's position as a research nation in evolutionary biology. In exploring mechanisms of floc formation, a key component of wastewater treatment, the work will establish important foundations for impro ....Community-level selection: Empirical tests in a microbial system. Given the profile of the question of community-level selection as a long-running controversy, the main benefit of the proposed work, which will critically test the idea in an empirical system, will be to increase recognition of Australia's position as a research nation in evolutionary biology. In exploring mechanisms of floc formation, a key component of wastewater treatment, the work will establish important foundations for improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment. Improvement in performance of only a few percent will bring important economic savings. This is evidenced by recent commitment of >$US 230 billion to improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment in Germany, Italy and Spain over 5 years.Read moreRead less
Improved management of coastal plankton systems by ancient DNA technology. This project aims to assemble comprehensive long term Australian plankton records spanning 50 to 1000 years, by applying ancient DNA technology to dated sediment depth cores. Long-term data for Australian coastal and estuarine waters are sparse, so cannot be used for management of fisheries, tourism or urban development. Long-term records are essential to understand how disruptive algal and jellyfish blooms, introduced sp ....Improved management of coastal plankton systems by ancient DNA technology. This project aims to assemble comprehensive long term Australian plankton records spanning 50 to 1000 years, by applying ancient DNA technology to dated sediment depth cores. Long-term data for Australian coastal and estuarine waters are sparse, so cannot be used for management of fisheries, tourism or urban development. Long-term records are essential to understand how disruptive algal and jellyfish blooms, introduced species and increased human use of coastal resources affect dynamic plankton ecosystems. This project’s findings are expected to explore cyclical patterns, define range expansions and understand and manage how dynamic coastal ecosystems respond to multistressor anthropogenic change. Findings will improve understanding of how dynamic marine environments retain their biodiversity values and critical ecological functions.Read moreRead less
Dust to the ocean: Does it really increase productivity? This project aims to investigate the relationship between dust deposition and marine productivity. This project will quantify dust deposition to the ocean and its chemical and ecological impact by using new geochemical techniques and novel approaches with autonomous ocean sensors. Expected outcomes of this project include improved estimates of dust deposition to the ocean and the development of globally-applicable methods for quantifying t ....Dust to the ocean: Does it really increase productivity? This project aims to investigate the relationship between dust deposition and marine productivity. This project will quantify dust deposition to the ocean and its chemical and ecological impact by using new geochemical techniques and novel approaches with autonomous ocean sensors. Expected outcomes of this project include improved estimates of dust deposition to the ocean and the development of globally-applicable methods for quantifying the link between dust and biology using profiling floats. This should provide significant benefits such as improved dust models used to predict future changes in nutrient deposition, with implications for predicting future ocean fish production and carbon uptake.Read moreRead less
The failure-threshold of leaves in drought. This project aims to reveal how specific water-stress thresholds damage the leaves of Australian crop and forest species during drought. Water stress affects agricultural productivity and plant survival in drought-prone regions such as Australia. Using optical and X-ray techniques, this project seeks to visualise and quantify the dynamic processes of damage and repair in leaves under stress. Anticipated outputs include a practical basis to predict drou ....The failure-threshold of leaves in drought. This project aims to reveal how specific water-stress thresholds damage the leaves of Australian crop and forest species during drought. Water stress affects agricultural productivity and plant survival in drought-prone regions such as Australia. Using optical and X-ray techniques, this project seeks to visualise and quantify the dynamic processes of damage and repair in leaves under stress. Anticipated outputs include a practical basis to predict drought-induced canopy death; identification of threats to ecologically sensitive plants; and selection and screening tools to improve the drought resilience of agriculturally important crop species.Read moreRead less