Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100043
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$454,000.00
Summary
Kangaroos, feral herbivores and bushfires: Consequences for forest dynamics. This project aims to investigate the functional role of native and introduced herbivores in forest ecosystems using a powerful, highly replicated, herbivore exclosure experiment. This project expects to create new knowledge of the effects of mammalian herbivores, particularly kangaroos and invasive deer, on forest plants, soils and productivity. Expected outcomes include fundamental insights into above and belowground i ....Kangaroos, feral herbivores and bushfires: Consequences for forest dynamics. This project aims to investigate the functional role of native and introduced herbivores in forest ecosystems using a powerful, highly replicated, herbivore exclosure experiment. This project expects to create new knowledge of the effects of mammalian herbivores, particularly kangaroos and invasive deer, on forest plants, soils and productivity. Expected outcomes include fundamental insights into above and belowground interactions in forests, and an enhanced capacity to predict effects of changing herbivore populations across environmental gradients, and following bushfire. This should produce significant benefits for forest management in Australia, allowing informed, targeted, and pre-emptive management of invasive herbivore populations.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101870
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$342,100.00
Summary
More than pretty pictures? Ecological applications of modern remote sensing. Recent advances in remote sensing are allowing us to measure the biochemical and structural properties of ecosystems with increasing accuracy. This type of information is essential for sustainable natural resource management. However, we still lack a clear understanding of this technology's capabilities and limitations for environmental decision making. This project aims to investigate key gaps in our knowledge about th ....More than pretty pictures? Ecological applications of modern remote sensing. Recent advances in remote sensing are allowing us to measure the biochemical and structural properties of ecosystems with increasing accuracy. This type of information is essential for sustainable natural resource management. However, we still lack a clear understanding of this technology's capabilities and limitations for environmental decision making. This project aims to investigate key gaps in our knowledge about the extent to which modern remote sensing tools are capable of measuring landscape change and habitat quality. This collaborative research project aims to provide an unparalleled opportunity to examine these issues by combining state-of-the-art remote sensing with data from two intensively studied landscape-scale experiments.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100026
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,536.00
Summary
Insect diversity and carrion decomposition in modified landscapes. Decomposition is fundamental to the recycling of nutrients in ecosystems, yet it is not known how different combinations of decomposer insects contribute to this important ecosystem service. This project includes a series of experiments to examine how insects affect carrion decomposition rates, and how this depends on environmental context. The project aims to show how decomposition is maintained in variable and changing landscap ....Insect diversity and carrion decomposition in modified landscapes. Decomposition is fundamental to the recycling of nutrients in ecosystems, yet it is not known how different combinations of decomposer insects contribute to this important ecosystem service. This project includes a series of experiments to examine how insects affect carrion decomposition rates, and how this depends on environmental context. The project aims to show how decomposition is maintained in variable and changing landscapes by revealing when the loss or gain of species will alter this critical ecological process. This will have implications for biodiversity-ecosystem function theory, and applications to biodiversity management and ecosystem restoration.Read moreRead less
Hydraulic control on water use, growth and survival in tropical rainforest. This project aims to measure drought-related limits to water transport in the woody xylem tissue of trees in Australian tropical rainforests, to understand how this influences tree water use, photosynthesis, health and mortality risk. Tropical rainforests are sensitive to climate variability, especially drought, but this sensitivity is poorly understood, despite large effects regionally and globally. This project will co ....Hydraulic control on water use, growth and survival in tropical rainforest. This project aims to measure drought-related limits to water transport in the woody xylem tissue of trees in Australian tropical rainforests, to understand how this influences tree water use, photosynthesis, health and mortality risk. Tropical rainforests are sensitive to climate variability, especially drought, but this sensitivity is poorly understood, despite large effects regionally and globally. This project will compare forests that contrast strongly in seasonal drought stress, and use the information to develop a model designed for species-diverse forest, with subsequent potential global application. The understanding gained will enable widely applicable advances designed to feed through rapidly to regional- and global-scale models that inform land use, economic and social policy-making.Read moreRead less
Forecasting live fuel moisture content, the on/off switch for forest fire. Dry forest fuels are a precursor of large bushfires. This research aims to develop, for the first time, a model to reliably forecast the moisture content of live fuels (e.g. the foliage and fine branches of shrubs and trees). This will be achieved by combining (i) satellite-derived estimates of live fuel moisture content, (ii) forecasts of soil moisture, and (iii) plant physiological responses to soil dryness. Forecasts o ....Forecasting live fuel moisture content, the on/off switch for forest fire. Dry forest fuels are a precursor of large bushfires. This research aims to develop, for the first time, a model to reliably forecast the moisture content of live fuels (e.g. the foliage and fine branches of shrubs and trees). This will be achieved by combining (i) satellite-derived estimates of live fuel moisture content, (ii) forecasts of soil moisture, and (iii) plant physiological responses to soil dryness. Forecasts of live fuel moisture content will deliver an early warning system of the risk of bushfires. These forecasts will also facilitate improved planning of prescribed burns: if fuels are too dry there is a risk of burns escaping, conversely, if fuels are too wet there is a risk that burns will fail to meet objectives.Read moreRead less
Is a grass-fire cycle reducing biodiversity in the stone country of Kakadu National Park? There is concern that bushfires in northern Australia are causing biodiversity loss. The project will compare fire regimes and populations of a fire-sensitive tree, Callitris intratropica, in Kakadu to similar areas in central Arnhem Land, to see how fire management can be optimised to prevent further biodiversity loss on the Arnhem Plateau.