Functional links between estuaries and their catchments: How does land use change affect estuarine ecological and bio-geochemical function? Estuaries are iconic recreational areas of high ecological and socio-economic value. Estuarine health is strongly linked to the catchments that feed them, yet we have no detailed understanding of these links. This project will use a number of state of the art approaches to better understand how land use affects estuarine health.
New tools to detect ecological effects of contaminants in estuaries. Identifying risks to estuarine environments from pollutants is difficult for environmental managers, who must choose between laboratory toxicity testing that is precise, but hard to generalise to field situations, and more realistic field-based monitoring, which is expensive, with a high signal to noise ratio. New molecular techniques may provide more options. Metabolomics can provide insights into the health of animals, and ec ....New tools to detect ecological effects of contaminants in estuaries. Identifying risks to estuarine environments from pollutants is difficult for environmental managers, who must choose between laboratory toxicity testing that is precise, but hard to generalise to field situations, and more realistic field-based monitoring, which is expensive, with a high signal to noise ratio. New molecular techniques may provide more options. Metabolomics can provide insights into the health of animals, and ecogenomics offers a way to rapidly assess the composition of an ecological community. These techniques offer great promise, but they must be cross-validated against existing methods to derive the best ’toolbox’. Working with Melbourne Water and CSIRO the investigators aim to do this using demonstration estuaries in Victoria.Read moreRead less
Testing the waters: impacts of contaminants on ecosystem structure and function in urban waterways. To ensure that people can swim, catch fish and enjoy the beauty of urban waterways we need to be able to predict the effects of more than one stressor at a time. This project will determine how nutrients and metals affect our waterways. Findings will help prioritise management actions that protect biodiversity and human uses of these systems.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101084
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
From sink to source: does microbial priming of degraded seagrasses contribute to global warming? Australian seagrasses are among the planet's most effective natural systems for removing greenhouse gases; but, if degraded, they could leak stored carbon and accelerate global warming. This project will test the emerging paradigm that microbes control carbon leakage, thereby providing information to ensure that seagrass carbon remains locked away.
Novel habitat quality assessment to inform the development of recreational boating infrastructure. As Australians migrate towards the coast, the demand for recreational boating facilities such as moorings and marinas is increasing rapidly. These structures can remove habitat and fragment the seascape in a similar manner to roads and clearings in forest and grasslands. Coastal infrastructure can also reduce the quality of existing habitats and their full impact must be assessed if the diversity a ....Novel habitat quality assessment to inform the development of recreational boating infrastructure. As Australians migrate towards the coast, the demand for recreational boating facilities such as moorings and marinas is increasing rapidly. These structures can remove habitat and fragment the seascape in a similar manner to roads and clearings in forest and grasslands. Coastal infrastructure can also reduce the quality of existing habitats and their full impact must be assessed if the diversity and function of coastal seascapes is to be conserved. This project aims to use a combination of novel modelling, surveys, and large experiments to understand how threatened seagrass, fish, and sediment habitats are altered in human modified seascapes, and to assess the success of habitat restoration following the removal of boating structures.Read moreRead less
Assessing fish connectivity across highly-modified seascapes. This project aims to quantify the effects of large-scale infrastructure on fish connectivity and populations by advancing our understanding of critical ecological processes within these modified coastal seascapes. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of fish seascape ecology and management using an innovative approach which considers all life history stages within a metapopulation modelling context. Expected outco ....Assessing fish connectivity across highly-modified seascapes. This project aims to quantify the effects of large-scale infrastructure on fish connectivity and populations by advancing our understanding of critical ecological processes within these modified coastal seascapes. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of fish seascape ecology and management using an innovative approach which considers all life history stages within a metapopulation modelling context. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of an integrated modelling approaches to better predict the effects of habitat modifications. This should provide significant benefits by allowing assessment of development and management actions before they take place, supporting long-term planning.Read moreRead less
Bioinvasions: the interactive effects of propagule pressure and pollution. The successful establishment of species outside their native range is an increasingly frequent occurrence and can cause reductions in biodiversity and ecosystem disruption. Bioinvasions may also cause public health risks and damage to agriculture and fisheries. Nowhere is the accelerating pace of bioinvasions more dramatic than in ports and harbours. This project will determine the effects of pollution on invasion in a ma ....Bioinvasions: the interactive effects of propagule pressure and pollution. The successful establishment of species outside their native range is an increasingly frequent occurrence and can cause reductions in biodiversity and ecosystem disruption. Bioinvasions may also cause public health risks and damage to agriculture and fisheries. Nowhere is the accelerating pace of bioinvasions more dramatic than in ports and harbours. This project will determine the effects of pollution on invasion in a marine system. This project is in the national interest because it will identify mechanisms through which the invasion of exotic species are encouraged and assist in the identification and prioritisation of effective management strategies to prevent invasion.Read moreRead less
Do pollution events facilitate biotic invasion in marine systems? This project aims to determine whether pollution affects the biological resistance of assemblages to invasion. The discharge of toxicants into coastal waters is an increasingly important source of disturbance that has the potential to make marine assemblages more susceptible to biotic invasion. The project will determine if pollution events facilitate the colonisation, persistence and spread of non-native species and how initial a ....Do pollution events facilitate biotic invasion in marine systems? This project aims to determine whether pollution affects the biological resistance of assemblages to invasion. The discharge of toxicants into coastal waters is an increasingly important source of disturbance that has the potential to make marine assemblages more susceptible to biotic invasion. The project will determine if pollution events facilitate the colonisation, persistence and spread of non-native species and how initial assemblage diversity modifies this response. The generality of several important ecological hypotheses developed in plant communities are tested in marine systems for the first time and extended to include the role of toxic disturbances.Read moreRead less
The recovery of seagrass beds: the role of catchments and options for management responses. Seagrass beds once dominated tidal flats but are disappearing at an increasing rate due to human actions, both in Australia and around the world. This project will develop an understanding of the processes that cause these losses, the factors that prevent seagrass-bed re-establishment, and provide a framework for evaluating alternative management options.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100330
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$461,299.00
Summary
Creating shellfish reefs for hazard risk reduction and habitat restoration. Living shorelines are a potentially powerful solution to two pervasive problems: an increased need for coastal protection; and the restoration of lost habitats. This project aims to investigate the effective application of living shorelines using shellfish reefs. It expects to generate new knowledge to ensure living shorelines achieve both hazard risk reduction and habitat restoration goals. Expected outcomes of this pro ....Creating shellfish reefs for hazard risk reduction and habitat restoration. Living shorelines are a potentially powerful solution to two pervasive problems: an increased need for coastal protection; and the restoration of lost habitats. This project aims to investigate the effective application of living shorelines using shellfish reefs. It expects to generate new knowledge to ensure living shorelines achieve both hazard risk reduction and habitat restoration goals. Expected outcomes of this project include an enhanced capacity within Australia for the application of nature-based coastal defence, and a better understanding of effective living shoreline design. This should provide significant socio-economic and environmental benefits through the development of a sustainable and adaptive method of coastal defence.Read moreRead less