Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. This project aims to develop and apply new methods to scale forest water use from plot to catchment-level, using relationships between plot-level annual evapotranspiration and biophysical and biochemical properties of stands detectable by unmanned aircraft systems and other remote sensing platforms. Australia's water security depends on understanding how changes in forests from disturbance and ....Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. This project aims to develop and apply new methods to scale forest water use from plot to catchment-level, using relationships between plot-level annual evapotranspiration and biophysical and biochemical properties of stands detectable by unmanned aircraft systems and other remote sensing platforms. Australia's water security depends on understanding how changes in forests from disturbance and climate change influence catchment water yields. This project will estimate water yields over time and space in ungauged catchments with disturbed eucalypt forests. This research is expected to enable more effective risk mitigation and planning for augmentations; improved fire management strategies; and better water management of the Murray Darling Basin.Read moreRead less
A novel top-down approach to ecosystem management using multivariate foraging strategies of an iconic marine top-predator. Understanding predator aggregation patterns in relation to marine productivity is critical in designing ecosystem-level conservation plans for protecting marine habitats and species. The project aims to develop a new approach to measure prey abundance and availability in the marine ecosystem for the management of resources of top-predators. This will be of specific benefit i ....A novel top-down approach to ecosystem management using multivariate foraging strategies of an iconic marine top-predator. Understanding predator aggregation patterns in relation to marine productivity is critical in designing ecosystem-level conservation plans for protecting marine habitats and species. The project aims to develop a new approach to measure prey abundance and availability in the marine ecosystem for the management of resources of top-predators. This will be of specific benefit in areas where a strong need exists for conservation of prey species with economic importance too low to justify expensive at-sea research.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100606
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$450,400.00
Summary
Effects of environmental change on seafood micronutrients: a SE Asian focus. This project aims to track variability in flows of essential micronutrients through marine food webs, to quantify how environmental changes will affect micronutrient supply to humans in seafood – findings that will be highly significant as governments grapple with increases in both malnutrition and ecological degradation. Expected outcomes: world-first models for accurately estimating nutrient production from SE Asian r ....Effects of environmental change on seafood micronutrients: a SE Asian focus. This project aims to track variability in flows of essential micronutrients through marine food webs, to quantify how environmental changes will affect micronutrient supply to humans in seafood – findings that will be highly significant as governments grapple with increases in both malnutrition and ecological degradation. Expected outcomes: world-first models for accurately estimating nutrient production from SE Asian reef fisheries up to 2050, under conditions of predicted climate change. Major expected benefits: new capacity to plan for food and nutrition security into an uncertain future, for Australia, our region, and beyond; with improvements to human nutrition and health, in accord with UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger).Read moreRead less
Lags and legacies: antecedent effects on grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide. This project aims to assess how past conditions influence grassland responses to the rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. High CO2 concentrations should stimulate productivity but in grasslands this is rarely realised because other, mostly unknown, factors constrain the response. By synthesising data from past experiments, this project aims to determine exactly why grasslands fail to realise the ....Lags and legacies: antecedent effects on grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide. This project aims to assess how past conditions influence grassland responses to the rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. High CO2 concentrations should stimulate productivity but in grasslands this is rarely realised because other, mostly unknown, factors constrain the response. By synthesising data from past experiments, this project aims to determine exactly why grasslands fail to realise the full productivity benefits of increased CO2 and when this will happen. This should improve predictions of carbon exchange and indicating the best direction for climate change adaptation measures.Read moreRead less
Multi-model predictions of ecosystem flux under climate change based on novel genetic and image analysis methods. Improving the forecasts of ecosystem shifts must be a key focus of future ecological research if we are to preserve our unique Australian landscapes. Our proposal is of clear benefit to Australia because of the urgent need for integrated methods to predict the cumulative impact of shifts in climate and land use. We will also contribute innovative tools involving genetic and image ana ....Multi-model predictions of ecosystem flux under climate change based on novel genetic and image analysis methods. Improving the forecasts of ecosystem shifts must be a key focus of future ecological research if we are to preserve our unique Australian landscapes. Our proposal is of clear benefit to Australia because of the urgent need for integrated methods to predict the cumulative impact of shifts in climate and land use. We will also contribute innovative tools involving genetic and image analysis, and state-of-the-art modelling. The damage modern human societies are inflicting on global environments has led to a great demand for logistically feasible and cost-effective ways to prevent biodiversity loss.Read moreRead less
Effects of invasive macrofauna on marine biodiversity and ecosystem function. The project will identify environmental and biological factors that help prevent invasion of native marine communities by introduced pests, and describe thresholds in marine systems where further loss of macrofaunal species results in declines in ecosystem health.
Dynamic resilience and stability properties of marine systems: the importance of environment-engineer feedbacks in kelp forests. Kelp forests form complex habitats that support diverse, productive and economically important food-webs. This project will determine whether healthy kelp forests engineer their environment to make conditions more suitable for their continued recruitment and survivorship, thus increasing their stability and resilience in response to anthropogenic threats.
Taking advantage of rising CO2 to maximise ecosystem productivity. The rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide provides an opportunity to increase ecosystem productivity, especially in agricultural systems. To what extent is highly uncertain, particularly when combined with changing temperature and precipitation. It has recently been demonstrated that seasonal water supply is the strongest controller of the productivity response to high carbon dioxide concentrations of grasslands. Th ....Taking advantage of rising CO2 to maximise ecosystem productivity. The rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide provides an opportunity to increase ecosystem productivity, especially in agricultural systems. To what extent is highly uncertain, particularly when combined with changing temperature and precipitation. It has recently been demonstrated that seasonal water supply is the strongest controller of the productivity response to high carbon dioxide concentrations of grasslands. This project aims to elucidate the processes governing this response and develop simple models that could allow the conditions required to maximise the productivity benefit from rising carbon dioxide concentration to be calculated.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100041
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
A high-resolution isotope facility for low cost analysis of water, plant, and soil/sediment samples to understand environmental change. The most significant environmental challenges facing Australia include ensuring sustainable management of our water resources and conservation of both terrestrial and marine biodiversity, particularly in the face of our changing climate and land-use. The new instruments will accelerate progress across a number of projects aimed at understanding the developme ....A high-resolution isotope facility for low cost analysis of water, plant, and soil/sediment samples to understand environmental change. The most significant environmental challenges facing Australia include ensuring sustainable management of our water resources and conservation of both terrestrial and marine biodiversity, particularly in the face of our changing climate and land-use. The new instruments will accelerate progress across a number of projects aimed at understanding the development of groundwater resources, the relative dependency of ecosystems on groundwater versus soil and surface water, and an assessment of the likely impacts of altered hydrology, especially dewatering and salinisation, on ecosystems. In addition, they will also be used to extend our knowledge of climate variability in the recent past and increase understanding of critical marine resources.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE170100219
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$170,000.00
Summary
A multi-institutional environmental radioactivity research centre. This project aims to establish an environmental radioactivity research centre, equipped with ultra-low background and high-resolution alpha and gamma spectrometry systems, radon detectors and radium delayed coincidence counters. The centre will address a critical demand in Australia for precise analysis of a large suite of natural and artificial radionuclides, which will be used as tracers and chronological tools to investigate k ....A multi-institutional environmental radioactivity research centre. This project aims to establish an environmental radioactivity research centre, equipped with ultra-low background and high-resolution alpha and gamma spectrometry systems, radon detectors and radium delayed coincidence counters. The centre will address a critical demand in Australia for precise analysis of a large suite of natural and artificial radionuclides, which will be used as tracers and chronological tools to investigate key questions in oceanography and the mining and energy, archaeological, agricultural, and forestry sectors. The facility is expected to substantially increase expertise and training in radionuclides in Australia, and promote high-level research collaborations and outputs of both national and international significance. Major outcomes of the proposed facility include better understanding of how oceans regulate climate and improved capacity to assess effects of radiation on natural ecosystems.Read moreRead less