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
Universal properties and application of species size distributions. This project aims to identify general properties of body size distributions for thousands of aquatic species by bringing together datasets enabled by global observation and citizen science programs, novel statistical methods and latest theoretical advances. By addressing temperature effects on body sizes, the project expects to generate new knowledge about species status globally, under the combined impacts of climate change and ....Universal properties and application of species size distributions. This project aims to identify general properties of body size distributions for thousands of aquatic species by bringing together datasets enabled by global observation and citizen science programs, novel statistical methods and latest theoretical advances. By addressing temperature effects on body sizes, the project expects to generate new knowledge about species status globally, under the combined impacts of climate change and harvesting. Expected outcomes include new tools to integrate limited body size data into a consistent framework for significance advancement of models used in research and management. This should increase the capacity to assess human impacts on natural ecosystems and predict global warming driven changes.Read moreRead less
Species redundancy in response to multiple disturbances. This project aims to elucidate how the context within which disturbances occur affects food web linkages and how these map to responses in ecosystem function. There is a critical need to test the common assumption in environmental management that high biodiversity makes ecosystems resilient to disturbances. Studies that merely observe biodiversity change after disturbance cannot identify ecological processes connecting high diversity and e ....Species redundancy in response to multiple disturbances. This project aims to elucidate how the context within which disturbances occur affects food web linkages and how these map to responses in ecosystem function. There is a critical need to test the common assumption in environmental management that high biodiversity makes ecosystems resilient to disturbances. Studies that merely observe biodiversity change after disturbance cannot identify ecological processes connecting high diversity and ecosystem function, making experiments that manipulate identical disturbances in ecosystems with different biodiversity essential. This project will use field experiments that manipulate disturbances in streams replicated in low and high biodiversity regions and across gradients of chronic background stress to show how biodiversity sustains functional ecosystems, and how much diversity can be lost before ecosystems collapse.Read moreRead less
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.
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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100900
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,718.00
Summary
When and where are temperate reef communities vulnerable to ocean warming? This project will test in the laboratory and the field, when and where ocean warming will exceed the thermal limits of marine species and why certain species show greater sensitivity to warming temperatures than others. This project expects to generate robust estimates about how temperature sensitivity varies between populations across species’ ranges and identify the ecological implications for habitat loss in areas wher ....When and where are temperate reef communities vulnerable to ocean warming? This project will test in the laboratory and the field, when and where ocean warming will exceed the thermal limits of marine species and why certain species show greater sensitivity to warming temperatures than others. This project expects to generate robust estimates about how temperature sensitivity varies between populations across species’ ranges and identify the ecological implications for habitat loss in areas where thermal limits differ between key species. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capacity to detect when and where vulnerability hotspots will emerge that could jeopardise the immense social, ecological, and economic value of Australia’s temperate reefs, next to which 70% of Australians live, along 8,000 km of coastline.Read moreRead less
Reef health tipping-points: triage for threatened/collapsed reef ecosystems. The accelerating collapse of reef ecosystems represents one of the greatest threats for marine biodiversity and seafood production worldwide. To confront this emergency, this Fellowship will determine reef health tipping-points and provide a new 'reef ecosystem triage’ approach to prioritise the order of preventative treatments to safeguard threatened reefs, while directing remediation efforts to collapsed reefs where r ....Reef health tipping-points: triage for threatened/collapsed reef ecosystems. The accelerating collapse of reef ecosystems represents one of the greatest threats for marine biodiversity and seafood production worldwide. To confront this emergency, this Fellowship will determine reef health tipping-points and provide a new 'reef ecosystem triage’ approach to prioritise the order of preventative treatments to safeguard threatened reefs, while directing remediation efforts to collapsed reefs where recovery is most probable. The research will directly benefit reef-dependent industries and coastal communities by providing an objective evidence-based reef health system to protect against collapse and to identify our greatest opportunities to recover vast biodiversity and economic potential for reef ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Pelagic ecosystem linkages in a changing Southern Ocean. Our study, which aims to better describe and understand the ecology of the vast Ocean to the south of Australia, will provide the information that will assist in managing this region in an era of change. Many species are of significant conservation concern, others are recovering from previous harvesting, some are being harvested and all will be affected by a changing climate. Understanding the ecosystem linkages and the way in which the p ....Pelagic ecosystem linkages in a changing Southern Ocean. Our study, which aims to better describe and understand the ecology of the vast Ocean to the south of Australia, will provide the information that will assist in managing this region in an era of change. Many species are of significant conservation concern, others are recovering from previous harvesting, some are being harvested and all will be affected by a changing climate. Understanding the ecosystem linkages and the way in which the physical environment affects the distribution and abundance of key ecosystem components will allow us to better manage the system and to predict the effects of future climate change. Read moreRead less
Characteristic length scales of marine systems: Can they be measured and what do they mean? A crucial question in ecology is the ?characteristic? scale or scales at which a system should be observed to most clearly observe its deterministic dynamics. We propose to modify methods recently developed for model ecosystems so they may be applied to real ecosystems, assess the performance of these measures in identifying unambiguous length scales, and ascertain what these scales reveal about the under ....Characteristic length scales of marine systems: Can they be measured and what do they mean? A crucial question in ecology is the ?characteristic? scale or scales at which a system should be observed to most clearly observe its deterministic dynamics. We propose to modify methods recently developed for model ecosystems so they may be applied to real ecosystems, assess the performance of these measures in identifying unambiguous length scales, and ascertain what these scales reveal about the underlying ecology. The work will provide significant advances to important applied scaling questions such as the optimal size of reserves and ecosystem management ?units?, and the appropriate scale of observation to detect deterministic trends in ecosystem dynamics.
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Reconstructing past population dynamics to understand human and climatic impacts in prehistory. More than 100 species have become extinct since humans first colonised Australia, and over 1000 are considered threatened. This research will determine the factors most strongly governing the interaction between humans and native fauna in Australia over the last 46 millennia. Our approach is powerful and novel because it will effectively draw together multidisciplinary evidence on natural resource exp ....Reconstructing past population dynamics to understand human and climatic impacts in prehistory. More than 100 species have become extinct since humans first colonised Australia, and over 1000 are considered threatened. This research will determine the factors most strongly governing the interaction between humans and native fauna in Australia over the last 46 millennia. Our approach is powerful and novel because it will effectively draw together multidisciplinary evidence on natural resource exploitation and habitat alteration by ancient people, and the influence of dramatic climatic shifts on the Australian biota. Information on past biological responses to environmental change is critical to properly contextualising the current impact, and long-term consequences of, threats such as global warming, habitat loss and invasive species.Read moreRead less