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
The role of mycorrhizal fungi in the nutrition of temperate terrestrial orchids. This project addresses the role of external mycelial systems in the carbon and mineral nutrition of temperate terrestrial orchids. The project will determine the processes of nutrient transfer in the protocorm and adult phases of development across a range of terrestrial temperate orchids to inform conservation and restoration efforts.
Managing ecosystem change requires the integration of above and belowground hydrological processes at relevant scales. Unprecedented levels of keystone Banksia species mortality and an increased number of species with reduced capacity to provide vital ecosystem services is leading to ecosystem change and reduced resilience of Western Australian woodlands. In water sensitive ecosystems, failure to capture and integrate above- (tree function and ecology) and below-ground (soil hydrology and physic ....Managing ecosystem change requires the integration of above and belowground hydrological processes at relevant scales. Unprecedented levels of keystone Banksia species mortality and an increased number of species with reduced capacity to provide vital ecosystem services is leading to ecosystem change and reduced resilience of Western Australian woodlands. In water sensitive ecosystems, failure to capture and integrate above- (tree function and ecology) and below-ground (soil hydrology and physics) processes at various scales (individual to landscape) has seen global tree decline remain unresolved. Using this approach, the project aims to identify processes leading to, and identify areas at high risk of, significant ecosystem change. Outcomes are expected to include the establishment a benchmark approach in understanding global ecosystem change to inform land management in a changing climate.Read moreRead less
Do hotter and drier regions harbour adaptive variation for climate change? This project aims to improve our understanding of the capacity of trees to respond to climate change. This is essential for the maintenance of biodiversity, forest health and productivity. In south-west Australia, climate variation has increased the frequency and intensity of droughts, which has resulted in tree death and negatively affected essential ecosystem services. Adaptive land management is urgently needed to miti ....Do hotter and drier regions harbour adaptive variation for climate change? This project aims to improve our understanding of the capacity of trees to respond to climate change. This is essential for the maintenance of biodiversity, forest health and productivity. In south-west Australia, climate variation has increased the frequency and intensity of droughts, which has resulted in tree death and negatively affected essential ecosystem services. Adaptive land management is urgently needed to mitigate the risk of large-scale drought mortality in a rapidly changing climate. This project seeks to deliver a scientific basis for the adoption of assisted gene migration in south-west forests, through a detailed understanding of genetic adaptation and physiological tolerance, to improve drought-resilience under future hotter and drier climates.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100321
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$335,000.00
Summary
Responses of fish to climate change. Climate variation will continue to impact biodiversity on our globe. Exciting new evidence has suggested that terrestrial ectotherms can minimise their vulnerability to changing temperatures by altering their thermoregulatory behaviour. Fish, unlike terrestrial ectotherms do not possess the same ability to thermoregulate and it is unclear how behavioural changes may reduce a population's vulnerability to climate change. This project aims to combine bio-loggin ....Responses of fish to climate change. Climate variation will continue to impact biodiversity on our globe. Exciting new evidence has suggested that terrestrial ectotherms can minimise their vulnerability to changing temperatures by altering their thermoregulatory behaviour. Fish, unlike terrestrial ectotherms do not possess the same ability to thermoregulate and it is unclear how behavioural changes may reduce a population's vulnerability to climate change. This project aims to combine bio-logging technology, energy budget theory and climate models to predict the potential role that changing behaviours may have in reducing the vulnerability of fish populations to climate change.Read moreRead less
Circumventing demographic processes that limit seagrass restoration. Circumventing demographic processes that limit seagrass restoration. This project aims to explore a demographic approach for seed-based restoration of seagrasses. Sustainable strategies are needed to restore the structure and function of seagrass ecosystems. Although seed-based restoration has been successfully used for decades in terrestrial ecosystems, failures in seagrass restoration are common because the science of seed-ba ....Circumventing demographic processes that limit seagrass restoration. Circumventing demographic processes that limit seagrass restoration. This project aims to explore a demographic approach for seed-based restoration of seagrasses. Sustainable strategies are needed to restore the structure and function of seagrass ecosystems. Although seed-based restoration has been successfully used for decades in terrestrial ecosystems, failures in seagrass restoration are common because the science of seed-based restoration is grossly underdeveloped, and transitions from dispersed seed, seedling, recruiting juvenile to reproductive adult in seagrasses are poorly understood. Recent demographic approaches in terrestrial vegetation restoration identify transitions most limiting to recruitment and successful establishment. Anticipated outcomes are successful seed-based restoration of seagrasses.Read moreRead less
Climatic forcing of ecological function in temperate marine habitats: bridging the gaps. This project will use novel approaches to integrate work on past, present and future ecological change in response to climatic forcing in temperate marine ecosystems. This will facilitate continued conservation and sustainable use of valuable ecosystem services in a changing world.