New models for effective surveillance. This project will deliver new methods for generating the information that underpins sound resource management decisions, focusing on statistical techniques to deploy surveillance resources. Results will be relevant to a wide range of applications including setting realistic targets for the effectiveness of biosecurity and quarantine systems.
Response and vulnerability of tropical rainforest plants to experimental drought. This project will assess the vulnerability of rainforest plants to a large-scale experimental drought in the Daintree rainforest of north Queensland, using a canopy crane to access all vertical forest layers. This will provide a unique opportunity to understand how rainforests could be affected by future climate change.
Global change: Rainforest responses to experimental drought. How will rainforests respond if droughts increase in the future? In a globally unique experiment, this project will examine how Australian tropical rainforests are affected by a large-scale experimental drought, using a canopy crane to assess plant responses at all vertical forest levels. It will contrast demographic and physiological responses of an array of plant species and functional groups between experimental and control plots wh ....Global change: Rainforest responses to experimental drought. How will rainforests respond if droughts increase in the future? In a globally unique experiment, this project will examine how Australian tropical rainforests are affected by a large-scale experimental drought, using a canopy crane to assess plant responses at all vertical forest levels. It will contrast demographic and physiological responses of an array of plant species and functional groups between experimental and control plots where tree growth, composition, soil water and atmospheric exchange have been monitored since 1999. Drought responses of key species and functional groups will be compared with their distributions across regional rainfall gradients to yield crucial insights into the potential impacts of future climate change on rainforests.Read moreRead less
Does climatic thermal variability matter? This project aims to research how annual and daily variability in temperature effects the distribution of species, their tolerance to temperature, their dispersal ability and genetic structuring. Expected outcomes include more accurate assessment of the ecological risk of climate change, which is expected to result in altered average temperatures and temperature variability. Such assessments will result in better management of species and ecosystems faci ....Does climatic thermal variability matter? This project aims to research how annual and daily variability in temperature effects the distribution of species, their tolerance to temperature, their dispersal ability and genetic structuring. Expected outcomes include more accurate assessment of the ecological risk of climate change, which is expected to result in altered average temperatures and temperature variability. Such assessments will result in better management of species and ecosystems facing threats from climate change.Read moreRead less
Drought-induced mortality in arid-zone tree species: a mechanistic study. This project aims to determine the relative importance of elevated temperature and increased vapour pressure deficit during drought in causing drought induced mortality (DIM). The outcomes of this project will be an enhanced ability to predict future mortality in response to a warmer and atmospherically drier climate. This will benefit the development of future management strategies and our ability to predict drought impac ....Drought-induced mortality in arid-zone tree species: a mechanistic study. This project aims to determine the relative importance of elevated temperature and increased vapour pressure deficit during drought in causing drought induced mortality (DIM). The outcomes of this project will be an enhanced ability to predict future mortality in response to a warmer and atmospherically drier climate. This will benefit the development of future management strategies and our ability to predict drought impacts on landscape function and productivity.Read moreRead less
Will trees get enough nitrogen to sustain productivity in elevated CO2? The project proposes to explore how tissue nitrogen declines in future elevated carbon dioxide (eCO2) by studying the availability of soil nitrogen to plants and use of nitrogen by Eucalyptus woodland trees. Plant canopy nitrogen concentrations decline in nearly every large-scale eCO2 study done on native soils. The project plans to explore how changes in ecosystem nitrogen balance occur, by investigating if leaf nitrogen de ....Will trees get enough nitrogen to sustain productivity in elevated CO2? The project proposes to explore how tissue nitrogen declines in future elevated carbon dioxide (eCO2) by studying the availability of soil nitrogen to plants and use of nitrogen by Eucalyptus woodland trees. Plant canopy nitrogen concentrations decline in nearly every large-scale eCO2 study done on native soils. The project plans to explore how changes in ecosystem nitrogen balance occur, by investigating if leaf nitrogen declines under eCO2 due to the balance of plant activity versus changes in soil nitrogen availability. The outcomes are central to knowing the extent to which extra nitrogen ‘feeds’ the eCO2 fertilisation response and sustains long-term increases in productivity. Expected outcomes may support the development of management options to sustain future forest productivity.Read moreRead less
How does temperature affect complex life histories? A Cost Theory approach. This proposal seeks to understand how temperature affects the relative costs of early life history stages, from
development, through to energy independence for a diverse array of taxa, from seaweeds, to plants to
vertebrates. The proposed research seeks to test the predictions of a new framework, Developmental Cost
Theory, and extend this theory to include germination (for plants) and metamorphosis for animals. The antic ....How does temperature affect complex life histories? A Cost Theory approach. This proposal seeks to understand how temperature affects the relative costs of early life history stages, from
development, through to energy independence for a diverse array of taxa, from seaweeds, to plants to
vertebrates. The proposed research seeks to test the predictions of a new framework, Developmental Cost
Theory, and extend this theory to include germination (for plants) and metamorphosis for animals. The anticipated
goals are to provide clear predictions regarding which species are likely to thrive or suffer under continued global
warming, and a valuable framework for understanding how temperature shapes the life histories of organisms,
including those that are important from an ecological or agricultural perspective.Read moreRead less
Woodland response to elevated CO2 in free air carbon dioxide enrichment: does phosphorus limit the sink for Carbon? This project will determine if growth of Australian woodland trees is limited by phosphorus, and if that limitation means the woodland carbon sink is constrained from responding to rising atmospheric CO2. Assessing the CO2 sink capacity of native eucalypt woodland is central to meeting Australia's domestic and international carbon accounting commitments.
Developing a mechanistic basis for coral reef conservation. This project aims to provide an evidence base for coral reef management to be targeted towards regions at greatest risk, and those that have the greatest capacity for acclimation under near-future climate change. This project will undertake an innovative trans-disciplinary analysis of coral thermal tolerance and the implications for targeted coral reef conservation to mitigate the impacts of climate change across the Great Barrier Reef ....Developing a mechanistic basis for coral reef conservation. This project aims to provide an evidence base for coral reef management to be targeted towards regions at greatest risk, and those that have the greatest capacity for acclimation under near-future climate change. This project will undertake an innovative trans-disciplinary analysis of coral thermal tolerance and the implications for targeted coral reef conservation to mitigate the impacts of climate change across the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The project will provide significant benefits, by assisting in the maintenance of the goods and services (tourism, fisheries, shoreline protection) provided to Australia by the GBR.Read moreRead less