Linking phytoplankton to fisheries using zooplankton size spectra. This project aims to develop innovative numerical methods to understand the dynamics, carbon export, and trophic structure of zooplankton. The trophic links between phytoplankton, zooplankton and fisheries are unknown. The size- frequency distribution of zooplankton (size spectrum) is an innovative method for estimating their growth, predation and production as food for fish. Analysis of a global synthesis of zooplankton size dis ....Linking phytoplankton to fisheries using zooplankton size spectra. This project aims to develop innovative numerical methods to understand the dynamics, carbon export, and trophic structure of zooplankton. The trophic links between phytoplankton, zooplankton and fisheries are unknown. The size- frequency distribution of zooplankton (size spectrum) is an innovative method for estimating their growth, predation and production as food for fish. Analysis of a global synthesis of zooplankton size distributions from tropical to polar environments are expected to reveal these vital rates of pelagic ecosystems. The zooplankton rates will reveal, for the first time, the link between phytoplankton and fisheries, and will significantly improve ecosystem models and global assessments of environmental change.Read moreRead less
Mapping and Modelling the Ocean's Unseen Biodiversity. From the reef to the rainforest, Australia is famous for its unique biodiversity. Less well known is that Australia's coastline is predicted to be a global hotspot for biodiversity in marine microbes, the unseen life forces that maintain ocean health and productivity. This project aims to overcome historical technological and logistical hurdles by using cutting-edge sampling, genetic and modelling tools to provide the first models of microbi ....Mapping and Modelling the Ocean's Unseen Biodiversity. From the reef to the rainforest, Australia is famous for its unique biodiversity. Less well known is that Australia's coastline is predicted to be a global hotspot for biodiversity in marine microbes, the unseen life forces that maintain ocean health and productivity. This project aims to overcome historical technological and logistical hurdles by using cutting-edge sampling, genetic and modelling tools to provide the first models of microbial diversity patterns and organismal range in Australian marine systems. This is expected to be a crucial step for understanding the evolutionary and ecological processes that shape contemporary biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Keystone microbes and planktonic guilds in Australia's oceans. This project aims to unveil the ocean’s hidden sentinels, “keystone microbes” that underpin precious ecosystem services, and which can be used to monitor and model changes in ocean function. Marine microbes account for 90 per cent of oceanic biomass and every litre of seawater contains ~20,000 different species, but it is not known which species control ocean health and productivity. This project intends to provide definitive evidenc ....Keystone microbes and planktonic guilds in Australia's oceans. This project aims to unveil the ocean’s hidden sentinels, “keystone microbes” that underpin precious ecosystem services, and which can be used to monitor and model changes in ocean function. Marine microbes account for 90 per cent of oceanic biomass and every litre of seawater contains ~20,000 different species, but it is not known which species control ocean health and productivity. This project intends to provide definitive evidence of these keystones’ cellular level biogeochemical and metabolic capacity. Ultimately, this knowledge is expected to predict the resilience of ocean ecosystems and their response to change. The capacity to predict their dynamics will help provide investment clarity and increase healthy outcomes from activities involving human-ocean interactions such as recreation, food production and tourism.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE200100155
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,000.00
Summary
An Equilibrium Inlet-Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometer. Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) play a key role in earth system processes but little is known about the amount of BVOCs emitted, and the mechanisms underlying their production in marine habitats, despite these being potential hotspots for BVOC emissions. The aim of this proposal is to custom build a portable equilibrator inlet proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer for measurements of BVOC’s in coastal waters. This w ....An Equilibrium Inlet-Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometer. Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) play a key role in earth system processes but little is known about the amount of BVOCs emitted, and the mechanisms underlying their production in marine habitats, despite these being potential hotspots for BVOC emissions. The aim of this proposal is to custom build a portable equilibrator inlet proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer for measurements of BVOC’s in coastal waters. This will be the first such instrument in the southern hemisphere and it will enable us to make in situ, high-precision measurements which will lead to ground-breaking advances that will revolutionise our understanding of BVOC cycling in coastal environments and their influence on the global climate system.
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Development of a mechanistic model of marine biological activity. The development of predictive models of marine biological activity lags that in physical oceanography. While modellers of ocean circulation use primarily physical laws, biological processes have typically been modelled using empirical approximations. Many biological processes in the ocean, however, are constrained by quantifiable biophysical limits. This study aims to improve our ability to predict the dynamics of biological po ....Development of a mechanistic model of marine biological activity. The development of predictive models of marine biological activity lags that in physical oceanography. While modellers of ocean circulation use primarily physical laws, biological processes have typically been modelled using empirical approximations. Many biological processes in the ocean, however, are constrained by quantifiable biophysical limits. This study aims to improve our ability to predict the dynamics of biological populations in the marine environment by the development of a model based on mechanistic descriptions of organisms interacting with their environment. The model's performance will be assessed by its ability to predict in situ and remotely sensed data from Australian waters.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100019
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$580,000.00
Summary
A transportable containerised laboratory for rapid cell sorting and high-resolution bioimaging of living aquatic microbes in field locations. This project will deliver a transportable, unique laboratory for the rapid isolation and high-resolution analysis of living microbes immediately after sampling from the sea or waterways. It will be the first of its kind in Australia and deliver new knowledge of the role of these organisms in their natural habitats.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100146
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$320,000.00
Summary
The marine productivity buoy: a multi-parametric underwater profiler . The marine productivity buoy: a multi-parametric underwater profiler:
The marine productivity buoy is an innovative multi-parametric moored underwater profiler that would provide key information on phytoplankton primary productivity (PP), phytoplankton blooms, and water quality in coastal waters around Australia. The aim is to better understand changes in phytoplankton PP and abundance by synergistically using observations ....The marine productivity buoy: a multi-parametric underwater profiler . The marine productivity buoy: a multi-parametric underwater profiler:
The marine productivity buoy is an innovative multi-parametric moored underwater profiler that would provide key information on phytoplankton primary productivity (PP), phytoplankton blooms, and water quality in coastal waters around Australia. The aim is to better understand changes in phytoplankton PP and abundance by synergistically using observations from the new facility made several times a day from the surface to the seafloor, and spatially extended surface observations from Earth-orbiting ocean colour satellites. Anticipated outcomes are more accurate phytoplankton PP estimates and water quality parameters in Australian coastal waters in support to research and to monitoring of these critical environments.Read moreRead less
Quantifying the role of salps in marine food webs and organic carbon export. Australia has recently committed significant resources to the observation and forecasting of ocean temperature and circulation that will vastly improve the understanding of environmental forcing of regional scale biological processes. This project will use ocean circulation hindcasts, ship-board measurements and laboratory studies to capture the dynamics of the zooplankton community, and in particular a fast-growing cla ....Quantifying the role of salps in marine food webs and organic carbon export. Australia has recently committed significant resources to the observation and forecasting of ocean temperature and circulation that will vastly improve the understanding of environmental forcing of regional scale biological processes. This project will use ocean circulation hindcasts, ship-board measurements and laboratory studies to capture the dynamics of the zooplankton community, and in particular a fast-growing class of gelatinous zooplankton, the salps, in the waters off southeast Australia. During bloom events, salps can alter the functioning of marine ecosystems. This project will quantify the impact of salp blooms on fish resources and ocean uptake of carbon in southeast Australian waters.Read moreRead less
Development of a coupled physical-biological model of size-structured biota in marine waters. The marine environment contains highly valued economic, social and environmental resources. Natural resource management in Australia is shifting from considering the value of a single resource, such as the South Eastern Trawl Fishery, to considering complete ecosystems with their multiple uses, such as the South East Australian coastal and shelf waters. With such a shift in perspective, Australia is a w ....Development of a coupled physical-biological model of size-structured biota in marine waters. The marine environment contains highly valued economic, social and environmental resources. Natural resource management in Australia is shifting from considering the value of a single resource, such as the South Eastern Trawl Fishery, to considering complete ecosystems with their multiple uses, such as the South East Australian coastal and shelf waters. With such a shift in perspective, Australia is a world leader. A new suite of tools is required to understand ecosystem dynamics and to formulate management strategies. By providing well-defined manageable outputs from a complex natural system the coupled physical-biological model to be developed will provide such a tool.Read moreRead less
Coastal Processes Driven by the East Australia Current. Coastal waters of Northern NSW are dominated by the East Australia Current (EAC). Through its strength, variability in space and time, and its proximity to the coast, the EAC directly controls not only the longshore currents, but also the cross-shelf transport of nutrients, plankton and other biota. A knowledge of EAC dynamics and ocean productivity will be achieved in this project by comparison of results from high resolution ocean models ....Coastal Processes Driven by the East Australia Current. Coastal waters of Northern NSW are dominated by the East Australia Current (EAC). Through its strength, variability in space and time, and its proximity to the coast, the EAC directly controls not only the longshore currents, but also the cross-shelf transport of nutrients, plankton and other biota. A knowledge of EAC dynamics and ocean productivity will be achieved in this project by comparison of results from high resolution ocean models (having additional biological modules) with data from Research Vessel Franklin cruises in 1998 and 1999.Read moreRead less