Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC150100004
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,630,239.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. This training centre aims to build capacity to transform the Australian forest products sector by providing advanced training and research. In particular, it aims to train a workforce capable of improving resource utilisation and creating value at all stages along the forest-to-building supply chain. This should allow the sector to exploit emerging markets in the use of renewable materials. The centre’s partners range fr ....ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. This training centre aims to build capacity to transform the Australian forest products sector by providing advanced training and research. In particular, it aims to train a workforce capable of improving resource utilisation and creating value at all stages along the forest-to-building supply chain. This should allow the sector to exploit emerging markets in the use of renewable materials. The centre’s partners range from forest managers to architects and engineers, to ensure a flow of information from forest to design and manufacture. The centre’s research, and the industry-ready graduates produced, should increase industry productivity, profitability and sustainability, and enable increased returns from Australia’s forests.Read moreRead less
Conserving biodiversity in timber production forests. Intensified forestry to meet rising demand for timber is placing biodiversity at risk. The aim of this project is to develop and field-test a novel framework to reconcile forest conservation with production. The project seeks to resolve whether intensive forestry coupled with a large reserve network produces better biodiversity outcomes than less intensive forestry with fewer reserves. I will integrate abundances of plant and animal species w ....Conserving biodiversity in timber production forests. Intensified forestry to meet rising demand for timber is placing biodiversity at risk. The aim of this project is to develop and field-test a novel framework to reconcile forest conservation with production. The project seeks to resolve whether intensive forestry coupled with a large reserve network produces better biodiversity outcomes than less intensive forestry with fewer reserves. I will integrate abundances of plant and animal species with forest industry timber yield data in a uniquely suited landscape. Survey results will be synthesised with global data on biodiversity responses to forestry. This research will benefit the forest industry by providing guidelines that improve conservation outcomes while maintaining timber yield.Read moreRead less
Optimising biodiversity conservation in managed forest landscapes. How to meet human needs for timber while limiting harm to biodiversity is an urgent scientific goal. The project will address this challenge by quantifying the impacts of forestry systems and wildfire on mammal species. Novel network modelling of interactions among plants, animals, and environmental variables will establish cost-effective management improvements to maximise biodiversity values. A systematic conservation planning ....Optimising biodiversity conservation in managed forest landscapes. How to meet human needs for timber while limiting harm to biodiversity is an urgent scientific goal. The project will address this challenge by quantifying the impacts of forestry systems and wildfire on mammal species. Novel network modelling of interactions among plants, animals, and environmental variables will establish cost-effective management improvements to maximise biodiversity values. A systematic conservation planning approach will deliver spatially and temporally explicit solutions to balancing trade-offs between production and conservation taking into account dynamic impacts from climate change and fire. Outcomes will provide a foundation for policy changes to put theoretical solutions into practice.Read moreRead less
Risk, impact on productivity and control of Mycosphaerella infections in plantations in plantations of E. nitens and E. globulus. Mycosphaerella, a defoliating fungal pathogen of eucalypts, has the potential to change markedly the economics of plantation development. This research will explore the fundamental physiological and pathological processes associated with the disease, link these findings into established process-based models of forest plantation growth for predictive purposes and util ....Risk, impact on productivity and control of Mycosphaerella infections in plantations in plantations of E. nitens and E. globulus. Mycosphaerella, a defoliating fungal pathogen of eucalypts, has the potential to change markedly the economics of plantation development. This research will explore the fundamental physiological and pathological processes associated with the disease, link these findings into established process-based models of forest plantation growth for predictive purposes and utilise hyperspectral remote sensing techniques to scale impact from the tree to plantation level. In doing this research not only are questions of key importance to an important and growing industry sector addressed, but an innovative approach to disease impact assessment established and a skills base and methodology widely applicable to other tree and agricultural disease problems established.Read moreRead less
Determining generic indicators of stress in eucalypt leaves for application to the remote sensing of canopy condition and productivity modelling. Biotic and abiotic stresses induce generic alterations of leaf chemistry (e.g. chlorophyll, anthocyanins). We will explore the behaviour of eucalypt leaf reflectance to changes in leaf cellular chemistry and structure arising from exposure to a range of stressful factors. We will relate leaf reflectance to physiological processes using a research radia ....Determining generic indicators of stress in eucalypt leaves for application to the remote sensing of canopy condition and productivity modelling. Biotic and abiotic stresses induce generic alterations of leaf chemistry (e.g. chlorophyll, anthocyanins). We will explore the behaviour of eucalypt leaf reflectance to changes in leaf cellular chemistry and structure arising from exposure to a range of stressful factors. We will relate leaf reflectance to physiological processes using a research radiation interception model. We will report on a) the potential integration of data related to stress, into process-based models for eucalypt plantation growth and b) the exploitation of generic reflectance indicators of stress in the remote acquisition of high resolution multispectral imagery with potential to spatially quantify plantation eucalypt health.Read moreRead less
Linking environmental stress in pine plantations to bark stripping by browsers and fungal attack: developing novel options for management. The Australian forest industry, under the pressure of certification requirements, is moving towards a more integrated, reduced chemical, environmentally sustainable approach to protecting forest. Novel insights into the stress biology of pine will provide valuable information that will underpin efforts to reduce risk e.g. the matching of specific genotypes to ....Linking environmental stress in pine plantations to bark stripping by browsers and fungal attack: developing novel options for management. The Australian forest industry, under the pressure of certification requirements, is moving towards a more integrated, reduced chemical, environmentally sustainable approach to protecting forest. Novel insights into the stress biology of pine will provide valuable information that will underpin efforts to reduce risk e.g. the matching of specific genotypes to site so that pest resistance can be maintained even under environmental stress conditions. By understanding the 'attraction' factor of stressed pine to wallabies we will develop and test an urgently and nationally required diversionary feed for this browser. Lethal control involving poison is becoming increasingly restricted.Read moreRead less
A new integrated approach for ecologically sustainable forest management. As harvested regions can maintain high levels of biodiversity, forestry has moved away from conservation in large reserves, and instead focuses on creating a dynamic mosaic of harvested and unharvested forest. However, designing this mosaic poses complex problems. This project aims to identify underlying patterns and processes determining how forest biodiversity is distributed and use this information to develop decision m ....A new integrated approach for ecologically sustainable forest management. As harvested regions can maintain high levels of biodiversity, forestry has moved away from conservation in large reserves, and instead focuses on creating a dynamic mosaic of harvested and unharvested forest. However, designing this mosaic poses complex problems. This project aims to identify underlying patterns and processes determining how forest biodiversity is distributed and use this information to develop decision models to underpin sustainable forest management plans. Existing and new evidence will be used, the latter derived from three innovative approaches for more efficient and cost effective biodiversity assessment: remote sensing of plants, next generation DNA technology of beetles and analysis of acoustic recording of birds.Read moreRead less
Understanding and manipulating stress physiology of eucalypt seedlings to improve survival and growth. Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens are the major species being established to meet the 2020 Vision (Anon 1999) of trebling Australia's plantation estate. Seedling mortality and/or reduced growth after planting, linked to the transition from ideal growing conditions in the nursery to stressful conditions (high drought and browsing risk) at the planting sites, significantly increase the costs of ....Understanding and manipulating stress physiology of eucalypt seedlings to improve survival and growth. Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens are the major species being established to meet the 2020 Vision (Anon 1999) of trebling Australia's plantation estate. Seedling mortality and/or reduced growth after planting, linked to the transition from ideal growing conditions in the nursery to stressful conditions (high drought and browsing risk) at the planting sites, significantly increase the costs of plantation production. By investigating physiological mechanisms of seedlings and their responses to drought and browsing stress during establishment in the field, methods for the production of seedlings acclimated to drought or browsing stress will be developed. The research outcomes will help maximise the financial return on over $28 M per annum being invested by the 8 project partners in seedling production and planting over 80, 000 ha per year for the next 19 years to meet the requirements of Vision 2020.Read moreRead less
Linking plant genetics and chemistry to maximise tree production in the softwood industry. This project aims to test a ‘gene to plantation’ approach for the management of pests in softwood forestry. The project aims to focus on the stripping of bark from Pinus radiata trees by mammals: a major threat to tree productivity in many regions of Australia and an economic burden for forestry companies. The project aims to use a wide complement of P. radiata germplasm to link genetics, bark defensive ch ....Linking plant genetics and chemistry to maximise tree production in the softwood industry. This project aims to test a ‘gene to plantation’ approach for the management of pests in softwood forestry. The project aims to focus on the stripping of bark from Pinus radiata trees by mammals: a major threat to tree productivity in many regions of Australia and an economic burden for forestry companies. The project aims to use a wide complement of P. radiata germplasm to link genetics, bark defensive chemistry and susceptibility to damage. It aims to identify genotypes with increased resistance, unravel defensive tree traits, screen for genetic markers and identify specific gene regions correlated with trait variation, and examine cross-correlations with other major tree productivity traits.Read moreRead less
Assessing the risk of genetic pollution from Eucalyptus globulus and Corymbia plantations. We will provide the biological information necessary to assess the risk of genetic pollution of native eucalypt forest from plantations of Eucalyptus globulus and Corymbia torelliana. Key biological factors that can act as barriers to hybridisation including flowering time, pollen and seed dispersal distances, crossability, hybrid fitness and the potential for backcrossing will be identified and used to de ....Assessing the risk of genetic pollution from Eucalyptus globulus and Corymbia plantations. We will provide the biological information necessary to assess the risk of genetic pollution of native eucalypt forest from plantations of Eucalyptus globulus and Corymbia torelliana. Key biological factors that can act as barriers to hybridisation including flowering time, pollen and seed dispersal distances, crossability, hybrid fitness and the potential for backcrossing will be identified and used to develop strategies to reduce the risk of genetic pollution. The molecular differentiation between populations of the E. globulus complex, including plantations, will be studied to provide a genetic framework for the management of the genepool of this most important hardwood plantation species.Read moreRead less