Tree water use and amelioration of dryland salinity. Dryland salinity is a huge problem for large areas of Australia. One proposal for ameliorating dryland salinity is to plant trees in upslope sites in the landscape. Such planted forests reduce movement of water through the landscape, thereby reducing mobilisation and discharge of stored salts downslope onto agricultural and sensitive riparian areas. This project will investigate tree water use in a native forest, compare it with a planted fo ....Tree water use and amelioration of dryland salinity. Dryland salinity is a huge problem for large areas of Australia. One proposal for ameliorating dryland salinity is to plant trees in upslope sites in the landscape. Such planted forests reduce movement of water through the landscape, thereby reducing mobilisation and discharge of stored salts downslope onto agricultural and sensitive riparian areas. This project will investigate tree water use in a native forest, compare it with a planted forest in the same location and investigate fundamental relationships among climate, tree size, canopy area and water use. The outcome of this project is a deep mechanistic understanding of the efficacy of trees for salinity abatement.Read moreRead less
Feeding and breeding: Rainfall effects on connectivity and fidelity of iconic coastal fishes. Large predatory fish are of great significance to recreational anglers, not only for their trophy status but also for their disproportional fecundity and contribution to future fishing. Remarkably, the distribution and movements of large estuarine fish in estuaries and the coastal ocean are unknown, despite their importance to the national economy. We will determine the role of freshwater discharge an ....Feeding and breeding: Rainfall effects on connectivity and fidelity of iconic coastal fishes. Large predatory fish are of great significance to recreational anglers, not only for their trophy status but also for their disproportional fecundity and contribution to future fishing. Remarkably, the distribution and movements of large estuarine fish in estuaries and the coastal ocean are unknown, despite their importance to the national economy. We will determine the role of freshwater discharge and oceanography on the coastal and estuarine habitat requirements, movements and home ranges of mulloway, flathead and bream from the scale of hours to years, and extend these findings to evaluate population sub-structuring and connectivity in the context of a changing climate.Read moreRead less
Predicting and improving the productivity of plants in future climates. Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) sustains all terrestrial vegetation, yet the effects of increasing concentrations of this gas on plant productivity are difficult to predict. The project aims to undertake experiments on the leaf-level processes that underpin plant productivity in multiple global vegetation systems. This could enable the development of a new theoretical approach to predicting plant productivity in cha ....Predicting and improving the productivity of plants in future climates. Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) sustains all terrestrial vegetation, yet the effects of increasing concentrations of this gas on plant productivity are difficult to predict. The project aims to undertake experiments on the leaf-level processes that underpin plant productivity in multiple global vegetation systems. This could enable the development of a new theoretical approach to predicting plant productivity in changed environmental circumstances at all scales. The results of this project could provide new tools for understanding the vulnerabilities and sensitivities of natural and managed landscapes under environmental pressures associated with increasing CO2.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101608
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$394,655.00
Summary
Water resources in a changing climate: impact of climate variability, climate and land-use change on surface water dynamics and ecosystem connectivity. Climate and land use change act synergistically to affect scarce water resources, already under enormous pressure in Australia. This cross-disciplinary project aims to quantify the climate-driven variability and impact of climate and land use change on surface water dynamics and connectivity. This research will take a holistic approach integratin ....Water resources in a changing climate: impact of climate variability, climate and land-use change on surface water dynamics and ecosystem connectivity. Climate and land use change act synergistically to affect scarce water resources, already under enormous pressure in Australia. This cross-disciplinary project aims to quantify the climate-driven variability and impact of climate and land use change on surface water dynamics and connectivity. This research will take a holistic approach integrating remote sensing and climate data, land use science, graph theory and spatial statistics. Findings will, for the first time, assess the impact of multiple drivers of change (climate, land use) on scarce water resources by integrating empirical observations on surface water variability with global climate model projections and land use scenarios.Read moreRead less
Satellite tracking of health threats from grass pollen exposure. This project aims to discover why pollen exposure has increased since the 1960s. Grass pollens are the main environmental allergen source in Australia and the primary cause of allergic diseases. This project will investigate the ecological causes of changing pollen allergen exposures through integrating 40 years of satellite data, field phenology cameras, and pollen traps that track grass pollen sources, their evolution and impact ....Satellite tracking of health threats from grass pollen exposure. This project aims to discover why pollen exposure has increased since the 1960s. Grass pollens are the main environmental allergen source in Australia and the primary cause of allergic diseases. This project will investigate the ecological causes of changing pollen allergen exposures through integrating 40 years of satellite data, field phenology cameras, and pollen traps that track grass pollen sources, their evolution and impact areas. The outcomes are expected to advance knowledge of environmental drivers and enable more accurate pollen forecasts that alleviate the medical and socioeconomic burden of allergic diseases, estimated to cost 30 billion dollars.Read moreRead less
Integrating the rice industry with biodiversity conservation: the spatial ecology of waterfowl in agricultural and natural landscapes. Waterfowl damage to rice crops is a significant problem for the rice industry worldwide. The management and conservation of waterfowl requires an explicit understanding of the effect of rice bays on habitat structure for waterfowl and how these interact with population processes operating at broad scales. This project will analyse the spatial ecology of waterfowl ....Integrating the rice industry with biodiversity conservation: the spatial ecology of waterfowl in agricultural and natural landscapes. Waterfowl damage to rice crops is a significant problem for the rice industry worldwide. The management and conservation of waterfowl requires an explicit understanding of the effect of rice bays on habitat structure for waterfowl and how these interact with population processes operating at broad scales. This project will analyse the spatial ecology of waterfowl in agricultural and natural landscapes in the Murray-Darling Basin. Specifically we will (1) track waterfowl, (2) analyse wetland distribution at fine and broad scales, (3) develop spatial models to describe the relationships between waterfowl movements and wetland distribution, including rice bays, and (4) develop models of agronomic risk based on landscape structure and the known responses of waterfowl.Read moreRead less
Rehabilitating a changing landscape: using the latest advances in koala ecology to direct adaptive management. The koala has been identified as one of the world's flagship species suffering from environmental change. In contrast to the decline of koalas in New South Wales generally, the eucalypts planted in Gunnedah to combat salinity led to an increase in koalas. However, the startlingly high death rate of Gunnedah koalas (25 per cent of the population) in the heatwave during the drought in 200 ....Rehabilitating a changing landscape: using the latest advances in koala ecology to direct adaptive management. The koala has been identified as one of the world's flagship species suffering from environmental change. In contrast to the decline of koalas in New South Wales generally, the eucalypts planted in Gunnedah to combat salinity led to an increase in koalas. However, the startlingly high death rate of Gunnedah koalas (25 per cent of the population) in the heatwave during the drought in 2009 must be understood. There are also new threats brought about by intensive land modification. This project aims to determine the effects of environmental change on the koala population through a study of landscape ecology, leaf chemistry, disease epidemiology and koala movements. This aims to lead to better management decisions for arboreal fauna.Read moreRead less
Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. This project aims to develop a novel, integrated socio-ecological approach for connecting landscapes and communities for the recovery of threatened koala populations on the New South Wales far north coast. This should increase understanding of how local landholders and land managers respond to koala recovery programs and why they respond positively and b ....Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. This project aims to develop a novel, integrated socio-ecological approach for connecting landscapes and communities for the recovery of threatened koala populations on the New South Wales far north coast. This should increase understanding of how local landholders and land managers respond to koala recovery programs and why they respond positively and become engaged for the long-term. The intended outcome is a spatial prioritisation framework for species recovery that integrates social and ecological values, and increased global knowledge of how to recover declining wildlife populations.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100059
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
Dual frequency identification SONAR (DIDSON) facility for sampling benthic and pelagic fish populations. Many Australians enjoy marine and freshwater resources, and we are exploiting fisheries and waterways in particular at an increasing rate. Effective management of fisheries requires understanding the abundance and behavior of fish. This facility will provide novel acoustic video technology for researchers to count fishes and sharks near weirs, under wharves or logs, and within seagrass beds. ....Dual frequency identification SONAR (DIDSON) facility for sampling benthic and pelagic fish populations. Many Australians enjoy marine and freshwater resources, and we are exploiting fisheries and waterways in particular at an increasing rate. Effective management of fisheries requires understanding the abundance and behavior of fish. This facility will provide novel acoustic video technology for researchers to count fishes and sharks near weirs, under wharves or logs, and within seagrass beds. The dual frequency identification sonar (DIDSON) will also allow accurate and standardised study of fish movements in response to floods, algal blooms or re-stocking events without disturbing the fish or their habitats. This will enhance our understanding of the top-down control by fish of aquatic ecosystems that are directly adjacent to human activity.Read moreRead less
Why isn’t the world full of mistletoe? An integrative approach to understanding dispersal, recruitment and distribution of parasitic plants. Parasitic plants are less affected by resource constraints than other plants, but they are characteristically rare in undisturbed habitats?an apparent paradox that challenges current thinking about ecological constraints. To determine which factors limit recruitment and distribution of parasitic plants, we will conduct integrative research on two mistleto ....Why isn’t the world full of mistletoe? An integrative approach to understanding dispersal, recruitment and distribution of parasitic plants. Parasitic plants are less affected by resource constraints than other plants, but they are characteristically rare in undisturbed habitats?an apparent paradox that challenges current thinking about ecological constraints. To determine which factors limit recruitment and distribution of parasitic plants, we will conduct integrative research on two mistletoes and a sandalwood in a structurally simple semi-arid shrubland, combining experimental germination trials and chemical analyses of hosts with ecological studies of seed vectors in a spatially-explicit framework. This study will also yield powerful insights into the general mechanisms underlying the relationships between life-history traits, species distributions and resource availability in dynamic landscapes.Read moreRead less