The Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) invites you to participate in a short survey about your
interaction with the ARDC and use of our national research infrastructure and services. The survey will take
approximately 5 minutes and is anonymous. It’s open to anyone who uses our digital research infrastructure
services including Reasearch Link Australia.
We will use the information you provide to improve the national research infrastructure and services we
deliver and to report on user satisfaction to the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research
Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program.
Please take a few minutes to provide your input. The survey closes COB Friday 29 May 2026.
Complete the 5 min survey now by clicking on the link below.
How arid zone wetlands persist: linking ecological dynamics with hydrological regimes . This project will investigate how aquatic food webs assemble and persist in mound springs, relict streams and river pools in the Australian arid zone. Knowing how aquatic systems respond to wet and dry phases is the first step towards ‘climate proofing ’ these systems against future extreme events.
Have we already lost the Australian lungfish? This project aims to use radiocarbon ageing, conservation genetics and modelling to identify threats to the long-term survival of the Australian lungfish, the world's oldest living vertebrate. This project will provide managers with a powerful tool to prioritise management interventions to ensure the conservation of the species and to pull it back from extinction.
Dispersal and species coexistence across patchy landscapes. Millions of dollars are spent rehabilitating degraded river ecosystems in the absence of knowing whether and how species will be able to disperse to and re-populate repaired sections. This research will provide definitive information allowing restoration efforts to be targeted properly in streams surrounded by, and serving, agricultural areas.
Species coexistence in the real world. This project aims to discover how similar species co-exist without weaker competitors going extinct. Hypotheses offer explanations for stable coexistence in the presence of competition, but logistic barriers mean field tests are almost completely lacking. Recent research on competition and dispersal presents an opportunity to deliver tests using riverine species, leading to experiments at landscape scales. The research will quantify the role of environmenta ....Species coexistence in the real world. This project aims to discover how similar species co-exist without weaker competitors going extinct. Hypotheses offer explanations for stable coexistence in the presence of competition, but logistic barriers mean field tests are almost completely lacking. Recent research on competition and dispersal presents an opportunity to deliver tests using riverine species, leading to experiments at landscape scales. The research will quantify the role of environmental variability and dispersal in permitting stable coexistence of species, thus filling a major knowledge gap. The project expects to provide fresh avenues for research into the causes of species losses – particularly for the 70 per cent that are invertebrates.Read moreRead less
Explaining species diversity in a fractal world. This project aims to improve our understanding of landscape-scale patterns of species diversity, particularly invertebrates. A central question in ecology asks how habitat patchiness interacts with dispersal abilities to determine species diversity. Field tests of hypotheses are lacking due to logistic difficulties in quantifying habitat patchiness and dispersal over landscape scales. A new model proposes that fractals (a clever way of measuring e ....Explaining species diversity in a fractal world. This project aims to improve our understanding of landscape-scale patterns of species diversity, particularly invertebrates. A central question in ecology asks how habitat patchiness interacts with dispersal abilities to determine species diversity. Field tests of hypotheses are lacking due to logistic difficulties in quantifying habitat patchiness and dispersal over landscape scales. A new model proposes that fractals (a clever way of measuring environmental complexity) can capture both habitat patchiness and species' responses. Advances in river ecology have solved the logistic problems and will allow tests to compare the three main hypotheses about species diversity. The project aims to improve information about which tools will provide the best guidance, benefitting the discipline of ecology and conservation managers.Read moreRead less
Evolutionary origins of sexual parasitism in an Australian freshwater fish. Carp gudgeons are the most abundant, widespread and biodiverse freshwater fishes in southeastern Australia. The unacknowledged presence of many cryptic species and sexually-parasitic lineages severely taints all research on this cornerstone group. This project aims to provide unrivalled evolutionary, genomic, and taxonomic insights into this new instance of vertebrate sexual parasitism, which offers a unique mix of resea ....Evolutionary origins of sexual parasitism in an Australian freshwater fish. Carp gudgeons are the most abundant, widespread and biodiverse freshwater fishes in southeastern Australia. The unacknowledged presence of many cryptic species and sexually-parasitic lineages severely taints all research on this cornerstone group. This project aims to provide unrivalled evolutionary, genomic, and taxonomic insights into this new instance of vertebrate sexual parasitism, which offers a unique mix of research advantages not displayed by any other sexual/unisexual complex. The knowledge gained could impact many research fields, including evolutionary theory addressing the unexplainable prevalence of sex, native fish ecology, and environmental monitoring of the Murray-Darling Basin, an ecosystem of world significance.Read moreRead less
Investigating movement, distribution, abundance and diet to support management objectives for threatened riverine predators in Northern Australia. The rivers and estuaries of northern Australia are highly productive environments, containing an exceptional diversity and abundance of large predatory aquatic species. This project aims to monitor the movements, habitat preferences and diet in eight large predatory species in a northern Queensland river over the next three years. Movement data will b ....Investigating movement, distribution, abundance and diet to support management objectives for threatened riverine predators in Northern Australia. The rivers and estuaries of northern Australia are highly productive environments, containing an exceptional diversity and abundance of large predatory aquatic species. This project aims to monitor the movements, habitat preferences and diet in eight large predatory species in a northern Queensland river over the next three years. Movement data will be combined with isotopic analysis to reveal how environmental and biological factors drive animal movements and impact habitat connectivity. In a world of vanishing top predators, it is imperative to understand system dynamics before we can evaluate the impact of species removal on ecosystem function.Read moreRead less
Explaining biodiversity. Why are there many species in some places and not in others? The aim of this project is to understand this in order to protect species, understand invasion and restore ecological systems. Using published food webs, this project will determine what factors underlie biodiversity, then use experiments to understand effects of habitat loss and climate change on food web structure.
Quantitative metrics for determining aquifer ecosystem state. Clean groundwater comes from dirty surface water by way of biological purification. This project will develop quantitative ways to assess groundwater ecosystems to ensure the sustainable extraction of water and maintenance of these crucial ecosystems.
Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaire ....Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaired but must be developed to identify the causes of decline. The intended outcomes are improved sustainable water resource management within and among states, and improved natural resource policy development.Read moreRead less