The importance of edge effects in determining the value of seagrass landscapes as fish nurseries. Seagrasses are a conspicuous element of Australian marine environments, and are crucial in the conservation and maintenance of biodiversity. Degradation of seagrass ecosystems from climatic extremes, increased sediment and nutrients in the water, and other pollutants results in loss and fragmentation of meadows. These changes to seagrass are linked with increased coastal erosion, severe loss of bio ....The importance of edge effects in determining the value of seagrass landscapes as fish nurseries. Seagrasses are a conspicuous element of Australian marine environments, and are crucial in the conservation and maintenance of biodiversity. Degradation of seagrass ecosystems from climatic extremes, increased sediment and nutrients in the water, and other pollutants results in loss and fragmentation of meadows. These changes to seagrass are linked with increased coastal erosion, severe loss of biodiversity, and collapse of fisheries. Increased understanding of how biological processes such as predation and food availability influence animal associations with seagrasses, and how these effects change with landscape structure, will have important applications in the sustainable management of Australia's threatened coastal habitats.Read moreRead less
Apex predator control of nutrient dynamics. This project aims to understand the mechanisms through which predators can control ecosystem nutrient dynamics. Ecology has been dominated for decades by the top-down/bottom-up paradigm. The project will use experiments and remote sensing observations to examine the spatial structure of feedback loops between a top predator and nutrient cycles. The expected outcome is a mechanistic and scalable understanding of the spatial distribution of nutrients and ....Apex predator control of nutrient dynamics. This project aims to understand the mechanisms through which predators can control ecosystem nutrient dynamics. Ecology has been dominated for decades by the top-down/bottom-up paradigm. The project will use experiments and remote sensing observations to examine the spatial structure of feedback loops between a top predator and nutrient cycles. The expected outcome is a mechanistic and scalable understanding of the spatial distribution of nutrients and push ecosystems towards alternate states. The project will provide innovative approaches to scale-up ecological data that can be used to inform the decisions of policy makers and land managers.Read moreRead less
Achieving biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service delivery: the role of landscape structure. Achieving gains for human well-being and, at the same time, conserving biodiversity is the ultimate challenge for conservation policy. This project will develop new understandings and new methods to address this issue, with important impacts on the effectiveness of strategies to conserve biodiversity.
A novel approach for assessing environmental flows using satellite data. This project will determine how ecosystems respond to environmental flow by linking flooding history with vegetation responses, using remote sensing, climate data layers, spatial statistics, models of environmental flows and ecological theory. Beneficiaries will include water and land managers in Australia.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101870
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$342,100.00
Summary
More than pretty pictures? Ecological applications of modern remote sensing. Recent advances in remote sensing are allowing us to measure the biochemical and structural properties of ecosystems with increasing accuracy. This type of information is essential for sustainable natural resource management. However, we still lack a clear understanding of this technology's capabilities and limitations for environmental decision making. This project aims to investigate key gaps in our knowledge about th ....More than pretty pictures? Ecological applications of modern remote sensing. Recent advances in remote sensing are allowing us to measure the biochemical and structural properties of ecosystems with increasing accuracy. This type of information is essential for sustainable natural resource management. However, we still lack a clear understanding of this technology's capabilities and limitations for environmental decision making. This project aims to investigate key gaps in our knowledge about the extent to which modern remote sensing tools are capable of measuring landscape change and habitat quality. This collaborative research project aims to provide an unparalleled opportunity to examine these issues by combining state-of-the-art remote sensing with data from two intensively studied landscape-scale experiments.Read moreRead less
Can we see the wood for the trees? Effective restoration strategies in rapidly changing subtropical river systems. Addressing the issue of degraded waterways nationally will cost billions of dollars; in southeast Queensland alone it is estimated that it will cost $500 million. Fundamental research is needed to ensure such efforts achieve the desired outcomes. Previous research has shown riverbank erosion is a key stressor for water quality. This project aims to link fluvial disturbance with the ....Can we see the wood for the trees? Effective restoration strategies in rapidly changing subtropical river systems. Addressing the issue of degraded waterways nationally will cost billions of dollars; in southeast Queensland alone it is estimated that it will cost $500 million. Fundamental research is needed to ensure such efforts achieve the desired outcomes. Previous research has shown riverbank erosion is a key stressor for water quality. This project aims to link fluvial disturbance with the capacity for effective riparian restoration in subtropical river systems at a local, reach and whole of catchment scale. The outcome aims to develop decision-support tools and methods for industry partners to invest in catchment-scale restoration activities in order to manage the risks to drinking water quality and aquatic ecosystem health from riverbank erosion.Read moreRead less
New tracer methods for revealing the hidden connections between ecosystems. As humans modify the biosphere, many complex landscape-level problems are emerging. New methods are required to work on these large-scale problems. The aim of this project is to develop novel methods involving trace elements and isotopes, opening up new ways to explore the large-scale connections between terrestrial ecosystems and downstream estuaries. It is planned to use these new methods to test for unexpected positiv ....New tracer methods for revealing the hidden connections between ecosystems. As humans modify the biosphere, many complex landscape-level problems are emerging. New methods are required to work on these large-scale problems. The aim of this project is to develop novel methods involving trace elements and isotopes, opening up new ways to explore the large-scale connections between terrestrial ecosystems and downstream estuaries. It is planned to use these new methods to test for unexpected positive benefits of floods for estuarine fisheries. The project is significant and innovative because it develops two fundamentally new types of tracer work, one at the sediment-animal level and one at the within-molecule level. The expected outcomes include a new toolkit for tracing the hidden connections between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.Read moreRead less
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
The spatial energetics of pollination failure in habitat restoration. This project addresses the reasons for pollination failure of threatened plant species during habitat restoration. Specifically, the project will determine the role of energetic constraints on pollinator movement in the hostile landscape matrix surrounding urban woodland remnants, and model future scenarios for restoring natural functioning woodland ecosystems.
Grazing-fire interactions and vegetation dynamics. Grazing and fire are the two major cost-effective tools that can be used to manipulate the vegetation of reserves and rangelands. This project will result in information and models that will enable a more effective use of grazing than at present in natural vegetation management for both nature conservation and production. An understanding of the ways in which vertebrate grazing animals influence the incidence and intensity of fire is also highly ....Grazing-fire interactions and vegetation dynamics. Grazing and fire are the two major cost-effective tools that can be used to manipulate the vegetation of reserves and rangelands. This project will result in information and models that will enable a more effective use of grazing than at present in natural vegetation management for both nature conservation and production. An understanding of the ways in which vertebrate grazing animals influence the incidence and intensity of fire is also highly important in planning to prevent the occasional vegetation fire that causes substantial losses of life, property and conservation values, especially in the context of predicted climatic change.Read moreRead less