Developing tools for assessing ecological performance of marine protected areas. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are rapidly being established around Australia as a device to conserve marine biodiversity. Their ability to sustain animal and plant populations depends critically on the ability of populations to replenish themselves, but we have no ready way of assessing replenishment, relying instead on simple counts of animals and plants within MPAs as a measure of their success. We propose a new ....Developing tools for assessing ecological performance of marine protected areas. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are rapidly being established around Australia as a device to conserve marine biodiversity. Their ability to sustain animal and plant populations depends critically on the ability of populations to replenish themselves, but we have no ready way of assessing replenishment, relying instead on simple counts of animals and plants within MPAs as a measure of their success. We propose a new measure, using relationships between adult stocks and recruitment, as a way of assessing the long-term success of MPAs. We will test this measure using comparisons among marine national parks that were established recently in Victoria.Read moreRead less
Marine conservation planning for persistent coral reef communities: Incorporating connectivity and resilience. Australia's biological diversity underpins much of our economic wealth - for example the remarkable diversity of coral reefs fuels a multibillion dollar tourism industry. However, despite substantial efforts to conserve marine ecosystems, Australian coral reefs are at increasing risk from climate change related catastrophes. To counteract this trend, we must choose marine reserve networ ....Marine conservation planning for persistent coral reef communities: Incorporating connectivity and resilience. Australia's biological diversity underpins much of our economic wealth - for example the remarkable diversity of coral reefs fuels a multibillion dollar tourism industry. However, despite substantial efforts to conserve marine ecosystems, Australian coral reefs are at increasing risk from climate change related catastrophes. To counteract this trend, we must choose marine reserve networks using methods that account for the dynamic nature of climate change and reef community responses to maximise the persistence of reef biodiversity. The new theory and methods will enable us to create more effective and economically efficient marine reserve systems.Read moreRead less
Coral reef connectivity: an empirical and theoretical synthesis. Australia possesses the greatest marine biodiversity of any first world country and this biodiversity is a major contributor to our economic wealth. Nonetheless, Australia's coral reef communities are threatened by various human activities and climate change. Wisely designed systems of marine reserves are critical to mitigating threats to coral reefs, but existing approaches do not incorporate crucial information about ecological c ....Coral reef connectivity: an empirical and theoretical synthesis. Australia possesses the greatest marine biodiversity of any first world country and this biodiversity is a major contributor to our economic wealth. Nonetheless, Australia's coral reef communities are threatened by various human activities and climate change. Wisely designed systems of marine reserves are critical to mitigating threats to coral reefs, but existing approaches do not incorporate crucial information about ecological connections between reefs. We will use graph theory metrics to identify priority reefs for protection based on empirical genetic and hydrological connectivity information. In addition, we will determine the sensitivity of these priorities to climate change scenarios.Read moreRead less
Conservation planning: incorporating patch dynamics and climate change to achieve better outcomes. This research will make significant contributions to planning for An Environmentally Sustainable Australia. Key outcomes will include guidelines for including, for the first time, the patch dynamics of coral bleaching and pelagic productivity in conservation planning. By using an Australian icon, the Great Barrier Reef, as the case study for this research, the findings will be directly applicable a ....Conservation planning: incorporating patch dynamics and climate change to achieve better outcomes. This research will make significant contributions to planning for An Environmentally Sustainable Australia. Key outcomes will include guidelines for including, for the first time, the patch dynamics of coral bleaching and pelagic productivity in conservation planning. By using an Australian icon, the Great Barrier Reef, as the case study for this research, the findings will be directly applicable and implementable. Furthermore, this study will result in an understanding of the potential effect of climate change on patch dynamics, and will provide guidelines and theory for planning for such changes. This research will enable Australia to effectively protect its biodiversity and to relate this knowledge to its neighbours.Read moreRead less
Network structure, connectivity and wildlife disease. Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife pose threats to human health (75% of human emerging diseases are zoonotic). They also threaten biodiversity and livestock. Changes in connectivity between wildlife individuals and populations are occurring because of human activities, including globalisation, climate change and habitat destruction. Understanding how these changes in connectivity affect wildlife disease dynamics is crucial for the deve ....Network structure, connectivity and wildlife disease. Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife pose threats to human health (75% of human emerging diseases are zoonotic). They also threaten biodiversity and livestock. Changes in connectivity between wildlife individuals and populations are occurring because of human activities, including globalisation, climate change and habitat destruction. Understanding how these changes in connectivity affect wildlife disease dynamics is crucial for the development of better strategies to manage their impacts. The project will also build Australia's wider capacity to manage outbreaks of infectious diseases.Read moreRead less
How can communities sustainably manage coral reefs? This project is relevant to the National Research Priority: An Environmentally Sustainable Australia. Key outcomes will include:
- a better understanding the most effective co-management arrangements for coral reefs;
- an evaluation of whether Australia's co-management models have the design principles associated with long-term success; and
- new insights into the socioeconomic environments under which co-management may be an effecti ....How can communities sustainably manage coral reefs? This project is relevant to the National Research Priority: An Environmentally Sustainable Australia. Key outcomes will include:
- a better understanding the most effective co-management arrangements for coral reefs;
- an evaluation of whether Australia's co-management models have the design principles associated with long-term success; and
- new insights into the socioeconomic environments under which co-management may be an effective management option.
These outcomes will promote the sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity by strengthening the capacity of co-management institutions. This project will also promote Australia's research capacity by providing research funds for one PhD student and one Honours student.
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Mechanisms fo Release of Deep Dormancy in Seeds of Australian Plant Species used in Land Restoration. Over 4 million Ha of Australian land is currently in need of revegetation. To facilitate this, large-scale revegetation programs utilising native species are urgently required. Currently, many desirable species are difficult to propagate due to deep intractable dormancy, but are nevertheless needed due to their keystone function in many ecosystems. The aim is to therefore investigate seed dorman ....Mechanisms fo Release of Deep Dormancy in Seeds of Australian Plant Species used in Land Restoration. Over 4 million Ha of Australian land is currently in need of revegetation. To facilitate this, large-scale revegetation programs utilising native species are urgently required. Currently, many desirable species are difficult to propagate due to deep intractable dormancy, but are nevertheless needed due to their keystone function in many ecosystems. The aim is to therefore investigate seed dormancy alleviation in key rehabilitation species. Outcomes flowing from this project will significantly increase the suite of species currently available for land restoration efforts by land rehabilitation practitioners and will therefore increase the quality and effectiveness of Australian restoration programs.Read moreRead less
Wandoo crown decline - an ecophysiological diagnosis. Eucalyptus wandoo forests and woodlands once covered a large area in SW Western Australia. Remnants of these ecosystems are now threatened by the Wandoo Crown Decline syndrome. We hypothesise that the progressive dieback of branches is due to drought stress, causing irreversible damage to water supply and/or predisposing trees to fungal disease. The project aims at identifying the physiological mechanism of Wandoo Crown Decline. This knowledg ....Wandoo crown decline - an ecophysiological diagnosis. Eucalyptus wandoo forests and woodlands once covered a large area in SW Western Australia. Remnants of these ecosystems are now threatened by the Wandoo Crown Decline syndrome. We hypothesise that the progressive dieback of branches is due to drought stress, causing irreversible damage to water supply and/or predisposing trees to fungal disease. The project aims at identifying the physiological mechanism of Wandoo Crown Decline. This knowledge is imperative for the assessment of risks for wandoo populations and for the formulation of management options.Read moreRead less
Synthesising prior information for ecological research and management. While using existing information to design studies and compare results, ecologists rarely use existing information in their analyses. We will combine the results of previous ecological studies to summarise the existing information. We will test how well the traits of plants and animals can be predicted from previous research, and the benefit of this existing information for environmental management. By taking advantage of the ....Synthesising prior information for ecological research and management. While using existing information to design studies and compare results, ecologists rarely use existing information in their analyses. We will combine the results of previous ecological studies to summarise the existing information. We will test how well the traits of plants and animals can be predicted from previous research, and the benefit of this existing information for environmental management. By taking advantage of the wealth of previous ecological research, our project can save time and money for ecological research by scientists and environmental management by federal and state agencies. This will fundamentally change the way that ecology is conducted.Read moreRead less
Enhancing native seed performance for minesite restoration and biodiversity conservation. The knowledge and practical outcomes generated from this project will facilitate more effective restoration of degraded native ecosystems through the return of a wider range of key understorey plant taxa and more efficient use of seed supplies. Availability of a broader suite of species will increase biodiversity, improve ecosystem resilience to change, and help in the conservation and recovery of nationall ....Enhancing native seed performance for minesite restoration and biodiversity conservation. The knowledge and practical outcomes generated from this project will facilitate more effective restoration of degraded native ecosystems through the return of a wider range of key understorey plant taxa and more efficient use of seed supplies. Availability of a broader suite of species will increase biodiversity, improve ecosystem resilience to change, and help in the conservation and recovery of nationally threatened taxa. By increasing the range of species with horticultural potential available for commercial propagation, it will also reduce the harvest of wild flowers. More efficient production and use of seed stocks will reduce the pressure on limited seed resources from seed harvesting.Read moreRead less