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Assessment of the Risks Posed to an Antarctic Keystone Species, Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), Through Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants. POPs are subject to a global treaty seeking to reduce and eventually eliminate these chemicals from the environment. Inhibiting the development of effective intervention strategies is a lack of knowledge regarding biological dose-response and cause-effect relationships. The proposed study will develop multiple endpoint assays to investigate these ....Assessment of the Risks Posed to an Antarctic Keystone Species, Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), Through Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants. POPs are subject to a global treaty seeking to reduce and eventually eliminate these chemicals from the environment. Inhibiting the development of effective intervention strategies is a lack of knowledge regarding biological dose-response and cause-effect relationships. The proposed study will develop multiple endpoint assays to investigate these species-specific relationships and undertake a multidisciplinary risk assessment of increasing POP levels to E. superba. The research will fulfil national treaty requirements and represents an excellent opportunity to advance the field of polar and marine POP ecotoxicology. Outcomes will be critical for the sustainable management of a commercial resource and a pressured keystone species. Read moreRead less
Larval Dispersal And The Design Of Marine Reserve Networks: Benefits Within And Beyond Boundaries. Most marine organisms produce tiny offspring that are dispersed unknown distances by oceanic currents. Our present strategies to manage marine resources lack this vital piece of information. This study will apply two revolutionary techniques that finally enable us to determine how far marine larvae travel. Using the team that developed these techniques, field studies will for the first time measure ....Larval Dispersal And The Design Of Marine Reserve Networks: Benefits Within And Beyond Boundaries. Most marine organisms produce tiny offspring that are dispersed unknown distances by oceanic currents. Our present strategies to manage marine resources lack this vital piece of information. This study will apply two revolutionary techniques that finally enable us to determine how far marine larvae travel. Using the team that developed these techniques, field studies will for the first time measure both retention of fish larvae within marine protected areas and dispersal of larvae to adjacent fished areas on coral reefs. This information can be directly applied to optimize the size of reserves and their spacing in marine protected area networks.Read moreRead less
Integrating the conservation and ecosystem-service value of Australia's catchments. This project addresses the Priority Goal of Sustainable Use of Biodiversity by explicitly linking the intrinsic value of biodiversity and supporting ecosystems with the services they provide to humanity (e.g. carbon storage and nutrient cycling). It will employ a comprehensive, innovative approach to integrating conservation, market and non-market values of land holdings in Australia's catchments using the concep ....Integrating the conservation and ecosystem-service value of Australia's catchments. This project addresses the Priority Goal of Sustainable Use of Biodiversity by explicitly linking the intrinsic value of biodiversity and supporting ecosystems with the services they provide to humanity (e.g. carbon storage and nutrient cycling). It will employ a comprehensive, innovative approach to integrating conservation, market and non-market values of land holdings in Australia's catchments using the concept of nature's services. Through extensive collaboration among leading scientists and land managers, the project will identify sites of high value requiring special attention, yield important theoretical advancements to how we value ecosystems, and provide practical and easily applied guidelines for land managers. Read moreRead less
Comparative phylogeography and patterns of diversification in Amazonian fishes. I anticipate that this project will increase the research profile of Australia in the international scientific community by answering fundamental questions about the origin of biodiversity in the world's most diverse ecosystem, the lowland forests of central Amazonia. This will be achieved by analysing what will be the most comprehensive phylogeographic data set ever generated for Amazonian organisms. The project wil ....Comparative phylogeography and patterns of diversification in Amazonian fishes. I anticipate that this project will increase the research profile of Australia in the international scientific community by answering fundamental questions about the origin of biodiversity in the world's most diverse ecosystem, the lowland forests of central Amazonia. This will be achieved by analysing what will be the most comprehensive phylogeographic data set ever generated for Amazonian organisms. The project will provide information for comparing with patterns seen in the Australian wet tropics and will be inspirational for studies on population diversification of Australian fishes. Read moreRead less
Spatial-dynamic models to identify optimal fire mosaics, based on demography, dispersal and fire responses of plants, birds and reptiles. Inappropriate fire regimes threaten native species with extinction. The threat is higher in cleared landscapes where habitat is isolated and recolonisation unlikely. Furthermore, climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of intense bushfires. To meet the priority goals Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, and Responding to Climate Change, landscape-sca ....Spatial-dynamic models to identify optimal fire mosaics, based on demography, dispersal and fire responses of plants, birds and reptiles. Inappropriate fire regimes threaten native species with extinction. The threat is higher in cleared landscapes where habitat is isolated and recolonisation unlikely. Furthermore, climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of intense bushfires. To meet the priority goals Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, and Responding to Climate Change, landscape-scale fire management is essential. We will use simulation models based on detailed biological data and fire-behaviour to explore large-scale and long-term consequences of alternate fire management policies. Our project will enable fire mosaics to be implemented that maintain biodiversity and will identify effective fire management responses to climate change, and habitat fragmentation.Read moreRead less
Management of fire-prone shrublands in Western Australia: testing the effects of frequent fire. Understanding the impacts of different fire regimes (frequency, intensity, patchiness, size of fires) on high diversity shrublands will help CALM (the land managers) develop fire management prescriptions that ensure the conservation of rare and threatened flora, and maintain biodiversity. The research will identify relationships between weather, fuel and fire behaviour that is currently lacking for s ....Management of fire-prone shrublands in Western Australia: testing the effects of frequent fire. Understanding the impacts of different fire regimes (frequency, intensity, patchiness, size of fires) on high diversity shrublands will help CALM (the land managers) develop fire management prescriptions that ensure the conservation of rare and threatened flora, and maintain biodiversity. The research will identify relationships between weather, fuel and fire behaviour that is currently lacking for shrubland vegetation types. It offers advances in our understanding of ecosystem structure and function, with applied value in fire management for conservation and asset protection. The project contributes to development of ecological theory, and provides a scientific basis for improved management of Australia's unique natural heritage.Read moreRead less
A new hypothesis for the development of hollows in Box-Ironbark forest. Timber harvesting in Box-Ironbark forest over the past 150 years has significantly affected the habitat of hollow dependent fauna. Current management aims at speeding the growth of trees to accelerate hollow formation. Recent studies suggest that hollows form in trees of the Box-Ironbark forest following basal stem damage by fire or windstorm, rather than from branch damage as previously assumed. This hypothesis will be t ....A new hypothesis for the development of hollows in Box-Ironbark forest. Timber harvesting in Box-Ironbark forest over the past 150 years has significantly affected the habitat of hollow dependent fauna. Current management aims at speeding the growth of trees to accelerate hollow formation. Recent studies suggest that hollows form in trees of the Box-Ironbark forest following basal stem damage by fire or windstorm, rather than from branch damage as previously assumed. This hypothesis will be tested in relation to wildfires in 1985, 1991 and 1993 and by experimental simulation of these events. The results of this research are likely to have major implications for the management of Box- Ironbark forests.Read moreRead less
Management of rehabilitated bauxite mines to accelerate the return of vertebrate fauna. This project will examine the effect of thinning and burning mine-site rehabilitation on the abundance of terrestrial mammals and reptiles. This nationally significant project will provide Resource Managers in Western Australia with measures of impacts of forestry thinning and burning (for timber production and drinking water catchment) on vertebrates, and will provide management tools to conserve biodiversit ....Management of rehabilitated bauxite mines to accelerate the return of vertebrate fauna. This project will examine the effect of thinning and burning mine-site rehabilitation on the abundance of terrestrial mammals and reptiles. This nationally significant project will provide Resource Managers in Western Australia with measures of impacts of forestry thinning and burning (for timber production and drinking water catchment) on vertebrates, and will provide management tools to conserve biodiversity within productive forest environments. Expected outcomes are procedures to accelerate returns of vertebrate fauna to mine-sites, measurements of thinning and burning practices on tree-health, and trial procedures for forest thinning (the 12000 Ha Wungong catchment) that minimise impacts on terrestrial vertebrates.Read moreRead less
Unravelling community interactions between mammals and fungi, and the role of mycophagy in mediating biodiversity and driving ecosystem processes. Maintenance of Australia's forest biodiversity and healthy forested ecosystems are of national importance. Mammal species that are key to dispersing beneficial fungi in our forests have suffered greatest declines in the past, and further declines may ultimately lead to ecosystem collapse. My research seeks to unravel community relationship between ma ....Unravelling community interactions between mammals and fungi, and the role of mycophagy in mediating biodiversity and driving ecosystem processes. Maintenance of Australia's forest biodiversity and healthy forested ecosystems are of national importance. Mammal species that are key to dispersing beneficial fungi in our forests have suffered greatest declines in the past, and further declines may ultimately lead to ecosystem collapse. My research seeks to unravel community relationship between mammals and fungi, and how interactions within and between these groups maintain diverse communities. My results will enable forest managers to protect forest biodiversity from current and future threats and to restore degraded ecosystems. Through training of early career ecologists, the research also represents a tangible benefit to Australian science.Read moreRead less
Phylogeography, Conservation Genetics and Stocking Management of Perches and Basses. This project will use DNA data to address fundamental questions about the origin and maintenance of biodiversity in a popular and widely distributed fish group. From a conservation perspective, the project will produce a benchmark about management of fish resources. We will investigate questions related to important conservation issues (including the recovery plan of a nationally threatened species) and the mana ....Phylogeography, Conservation Genetics and Stocking Management of Perches and Basses. This project will use DNA data to address fundamental questions about the origin and maintenance of biodiversity in a popular and widely distributed fish group. From a conservation perspective, the project will produce a benchmark about management of fish resources. We will investigate questions related to important conservation issues (including the recovery plan of a nationally threatened species) and the management of stocking activities in recreational fisheries of coastal and inland waters. The latter is particularly relevant to rural communities since they provide both social and economic benefits to rural people.Read moreRead less