Biodiversity indicators for better conservation decisions. This project aims to test, design and select biodiversity indicators to support conservation. Reliable and sensitive biodiversity indicators are critical to track progress towards conservation targets, but the ability of most biodiversity indicators to reveal trends needed by decision-makers is untested. This project will test indicators to monitor biodiversity change at local to global scales, by sampling ecosystem models to evaluate ho ....Biodiversity indicators for better conservation decisions. This project aims to test, design and select biodiversity indicators to support conservation. Reliable and sensitive biodiversity indicators are critical to track progress towards conservation targets, but the ability of most biodiversity indicators to reveal trends needed by decision-makers is untested. This project will test indicators to monitor biodiversity change at local to global scales, by sampling ecosystem models to evaluate how indicator design, data bias and environmental variability affect performance. Project outcomes are expected to ensure that that data collected to monitor and assess the state of Australia’s environment are informative, cost-effective and robust. This is expected to have implications for predicting and measuring effects of policy such as the Convention on Biological Diversity.Read moreRead less
Peripheral isolates as hotbeds of adaptive diversity. This project uses cutting edge molecular technology and spatial analyses to predict the location of diversity relevant to managing the impact of climate change. Knowledge generated in this project will open the door to the informed use of genetic translocation in efforts to kerb expected biodiversity losses.
A predictive framework for invaded communities. Australian native and agricultural landscapes are under threat from introduced plant species. Over $1.5 billion per year is spent on subsequent land management. However it is not clear that this is money is well spent. This project aims to determine the importance of the two major factors (dispersal and habitat) that drive the invasion of Australian native plant communities by surveying native Australian plant communities with different levels of d ....A predictive framework for invaded communities. Australian native and agricultural landscapes are under threat from introduced plant species. Over $1.5 billion per year is spent on subsequent land management. However it is not clear that this is money is well spent. This project aims to determine the importance of the two major factors (dispersal and habitat) that drive the invasion of Australian native plant communities by surveying native Australian plant communities with different levels of disturbance and numbers of introduced species. The results could enable the building and testing of an innovative model for predicting the establishment and spread of invasive species. This critical research could help target money towards better management of invasive species in native environments.Read moreRead less
New statistical approaches for analysing foodwebs and species distributions. Identifying how species are distributed over the landscape, interact and self-organise into foodwebs are central goals in Ecology. This project aims to provide innovative new Bayesian modelling tools to improve our understanding of species distributions and their foodweb networks. It is expected to develop a general framework for extending species distribution models to deal with multiple species, incorporating both the ....New statistical approaches for analysing foodwebs and species distributions. Identifying how species are distributed over the landscape, interact and self-organise into foodwebs are central goals in Ecology. This project aims to provide innovative new Bayesian modelling tools to improve our understanding of species distributions and their foodweb networks. It is expected to develop a general framework for extending species distribution models to deal with multiple species, incorporating both their interactions as well as errors in detection. The project also hopes to develop a robust Bayesian methodology for partitioning complex foodweb networks into ecologically relevant compartments as there are currently no reliable methods to achieve this. Both projects are of relevance to conservation policy and management of threatened species.Read moreRead less
Microeconomic effects of Australian natural disasters. This project aims to describe and identify the effects of Australian natural disasters – such as the Black Saturday bushfires and the Brisbane floods – on important microeconomic outcomes, including health, education and employment. Natural disasters have profound economic and social effects on individuals and communities. This project intends to bring evidence on how disasters affect individuals and how the effects can be lessened. The proj ....Microeconomic effects of Australian natural disasters. This project aims to describe and identify the effects of Australian natural disasters – such as the Black Saturday bushfires and the Brisbane floods – on important microeconomic outcomes, including health, education and employment. Natural disasters have profound economic and social effects on individuals and communities. This project intends to bring evidence on how disasters affect individuals and how the effects can be lessened. The project expects to inform policy-makers on these critical issues by analysing field, survey and administrative data on individuals before and after past disasters.Read moreRead less
New methods for improving active adaptive management in biological systems. Understanding population dynamics is critical in many areas of national importance to Australia, such as protection of biodiversity, management of invasive species and prediction of the possible effects of climate change. This project will develop a collection of state-of-the-art methods enabling optimal ecological management.
Practical utility of new classes of species distribution models. This project aims to improve species distribution modelling practice by developing new tools and determining the net value of competing approaches under realistic data-availability scenarios and for real applications. Expected outcomes are clear protocols for using process-based distribution models in biodiversity management. This will have significant benefits, such as equipping researchers, governments and land managers with tool ....Practical utility of new classes of species distribution models. This project aims to improve species distribution modelling practice by developing new tools and determining the net value of competing approaches under realistic data-availability scenarios and for real applications. Expected outcomes are clear protocols for using process-based distribution models in biodiversity management. This will have significant benefits, such as equipping researchers, governments and land managers with tools and guidance necessary for better prediction of distributions, enabling them to efficiently allocate public resources while also protecting biodiversity and natural assets.Read moreRead less
Forty million Australians: the future of our biodiversity. Many countries have experienced rapid increases in human numbers and natural-resource use. The project will use measured effects on biodiversity from such countries, combined with models of potential changes in Australia's population and climate, to forecast how our biodiversity may be affected up to 2050, and then to plan how to minimize negative impacts.
Using species distribution models to make robust conservation decisions. Species distribution models inform numerous conservation decisions, from planning reserves and managing biological invasions to assessing climate change impacts. While it is often vital to predict where suitable conditions for a species occur, many applications disregard uncertainty, leading to unexpected and potentially unacceptable outcomes. This project aims to provide a definitive guide to using species distribution mod ....Using species distribution models to make robust conservation decisions. Species distribution models inform numerous conservation decisions, from planning reserves and managing biological invasions to assessing climate change impacts. While it is often vital to predict where suitable conditions for a species occur, many applications disregard uncertainty, leading to unexpected and potentially unacceptable outcomes. This project aims to provide a definitive guide to using species distribution models in conservation decision-making by integrating ecological and statistical thinking with decision theory. It seeks to describe how to explore the sources of uncertainty and their impact, develop approaches to reducing uncertainty, and evaluate the effects of uncertainty from the decision viewpoint in order to assist more robust conservation decision making.Read moreRead less
Host-tumour interplay in Tasmanian devils with devil facial tumour disease: can immune cells be harnessed for therapy? Tasmanian devils only exist naturally in Tasmania and Devil Facial Tumour Disease, an infectious cancer, could cause the extinction of the Tasmanian devil. This project will determine if Devil Facial Tumour Disease reduces the effectiveness of the devil's immune system and test if activated immune cells can protect against this disease.