Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101453
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$364,015.00
Summary
Developing predictions of extinction risk for tropical arthropods in the face of global environmental change. Developing knowledge of the characteristics that make species especially at risk of extinction is critical in order to limit the extent of future biodiversity losses. This project uses the fossil record of extinctions on islands in order to develop a better understanding of the processes that drive species to extinction.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions. Despite facing the sixth global mass extinction of species, most conservation management is unevaluated and inefficient. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions will provide international research leadership in tackling the complex problems of environmental management and monitoring in an uncertain world. Working through six Australian universities and six international organisations, the Centre will forge new approaches and ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions. Despite facing the sixth global mass extinction of species, most conservation management is unevaluated and inefficient. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions will provide international research leadership in tackling the complex problems of environmental management and monitoring in an uncertain world. Working through six Australian universities and six international organisations, the Centre will forge new approaches and tools from ecology, mathematics, statistics, economics and the social sciences. It will lead the world in developing and delivering predictive models and decision-making approaches to improve outcomes in conservation.Read moreRead less
Targeted gene flow for conservation. This project aims to develop targeted gene flow as a broad conservation strategy, exploiting natural geographic variation to achieve conservation outcomes. Geographic variation and local adaptation are ubiquitous within species, but conservation managers do not use this heritable variation. The project will develop decision tools to address when to time a targeted gene flow action, and where to source appropriate genetic variation. As case studies, the projec ....Targeted gene flow for conservation. This project aims to develop targeted gene flow as a broad conservation strategy, exploiting natural geographic variation to achieve conservation outcomes. Geographic variation and local adaptation are ubiquitous within species, but conservation managers do not use this heritable variation. The project will develop decision tools to address when to time a targeted gene flow action, and where to source appropriate genetic variation. As case studies, the project will try to use targeted gene flow to halt the invasion of the cane toad in northern Australia and reverse the decline of northern quolls.Read moreRead less
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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100904
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Connections between imperfect detection and ecological inference. This project is designed to resolve whether or when it is important to account for imperfect detection when modelling communities of species. Robust conservation and environmental decisions require reliable estimates of biodiversity, yet current modelling methods may be biased because they fail to account for the imperfect detection of species. Improving the models requires good understanding about levels and patterns of species d ....Connections between imperfect detection and ecological inference. This project is designed to resolve whether or when it is important to account for imperfect detection when modelling communities of species. Robust conservation and environmental decisions require reliable estimates of biodiversity, yet current modelling methods may be biased because they fail to account for the imperfect detection of species. Improving the models requires good understanding about levels and patterns of species detectability, which is currently lacking. The project intends to bridge this gap by producing a global synthesis of species detectability across taxa, geographical regions and survey methods. The project then aims to evaluate the performance and limitations of existing and emerging community modelling methods in ecology to enable better biodiversity conservation decisions.Read moreRead less
Cascading effects of Australia's ecological extinctions on biodiversity and ecosystem function. The current rate of species extinctions is so extensive that it has been described as the “sixth mass extinction”. In Australian ecosystems, extinctions and declines of mammals have been dramatic, with formerly abundant species now “ecologically extinct”, meaning they are too rare to continue to play important ecological roles. The loss of entire functional guilds may have cascading effects on biodive ....Cascading effects of Australia's ecological extinctions on biodiversity and ecosystem function. The current rate of species extinctions is so extensive that it has been described as the “sixth mass extinction”. In Australian ecosystems, extinctions and declines of mammals have been dramatic, with formerly abundant species now “ecologically extinct”, meaning they are too rare to continue to play important ecological roles. The loss of entire functional guilds may have cascading effects on biodiversity and ecosystem function. This project uses a multi-scalar experimental approach to investigate the broader impacts of mammal declines on Australian ecosystems, accounting for interactions with climate. The outcomes will include new insights into the pre-European state of Australian ecosystems and more realistic targets for ecosystem restoration.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100121
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$384,671.00
Summary
Genomic library infrastructure for ancient environmental samples. This project aims to enable automated genome recovery from diverse environmental samples, without contamination risk. For more than 100 years, environmental scientists have studied diverse organism / environment interactions using a variety of conceptual and technical tools. Recently, studies of ancient and historical DNA have come to complement these tools and to occupy a significant place in environmental studies conducted over ....Genomic library infrastructure for ancient environmental samples. This project aims to enable automated genome recovery from diverse environmental samples, without contamination risk. For more than 100 years, environmental scientists have studied diverse organism / environment interactions using a variety of conceptual and technical tools. Recently, studies of ancient and historical DNA have come to complement these tools and to occupy a significant place in environmental studies conducted over serial time. The project’s addition to the existing dual Ancient DNA complex facility at Griffith University will comprise two liquid handling workstations, each being housed in separate, self-contained, ancient DNA laboratories. The new facility will enable many researchers to have unprecedented access to an ancient DNA facility and a high level of technical support.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH130200031
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,273,780.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Advanced Technologies for Australian Iron Ore. ARC Research Hub for Advanced Technologies for Australian Iron Ore. This Research Hub aims to bring together three world-class groups covering fine particle beneficiation, raw materials handling, and iron ore characterisation to address the complex issues that arise from the different ore types that have emerged in recent years. This Research Hub will focus on the development and adoption of advanced beneficiation and handling t ....ARC Research Hub for Advanced Technologies for Australian Iron Ore. ARC Research Hub for Advanced Technologies for Australian Iron Ore. This Research Hub aims to bring together three world-class groups covering fine particle beneficiation, raw materials handling, and iron ore characterisation to address the complex issues that arise from the different ore types that have emerged in recent years. This Research Hub will focus on the development and adoption of advanced beneficiation and handling technologies into iron ore mining operations, and new knowledge for informing producers and end-users, while providing the training for a new generation of research leaders.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