Quantifying tree and soil respiration and their responses to global change. The Australian Greenhouse Office, as well as independent analysis, recognizes that belowground processes must be better quantified if Australia's contributions to atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GG) are to be firmly based. A major issue is the lack of dedicated research focused on soil and plant root emissions of GG and, in particular, a lack of testing of methodologies suited to Australian soils and con ....Quantifying tree and soil respiration and their responses to global change. The Australian Greenhouse Office, as well as independent analysis, recognizes that belowground processes must be better quantified if Australia's contributions to atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GG) are to be firmly based. A major issue is the lack of dedicated research focused on soil and plant root emissions of GG and, in particular, a lack of testing of methodologies suited to Australian soils and conditions. This project will address these concerns. We will also be addressing the clear need for further training of PhD qualified researchers in the field of climate change. Read moreRead less
Planning for a transformed future: Modelling synergistic climate change and land use impacts on biodiversity. Climate change poses a dire threat to Australia's biodiversity and natural resources due to its all-encompassing reach and the speed at which human-driven changes are taking place in already heavily modified systems. The proposed research, on modelling the synergistic impacts of anthropogenic threats, will provide new knowledge and innovative solutions for protecting unique ecosystems fa ....Planning for a transformed future: Modelling synergistic climate change and land use impacts on biodiversity. Climate change poses a dire threat to Australia's biodiversity and natural resources due to its all-encompassing reach and the speed at which human-driven changes are taking place in already heavily modified systems. The proposed research, on modelling the synergistic impacts of anthropogenic threats, will provide new knowledge and innovative solutions for protecting unique ecosystems facing severe environmental challenges this century. The validation of these new methods, which aim to capture ecological responses to global change, will represent a major and timely addition to the national research capability on climate change adaptation, and add to Australia's reputation as a global leader in the field of ecology.Read moreRead less
Integrative assessment of disturbance and land-use change on total greenhouse gas balance and nutrient cycling in savanna ecosystems. Climate change and variability is expected to have an impact on the NT environment and economy. This project will enable NT specific calibrations of climate variability-land use models, such as the National Carbon Accounting System. The NT Government will have access to a high quality database and calibrated models relating to greenhouse gas emissions as a functio ....Integrative assessment of disturbance and land-use change on total greenhouse gas balance and nutrient cycling in savanna ecosystems. Climate change and variability is expected to have an impact on the NT environment and economy. This project will enable NT specific calibrations of climate variability-land use models, such as the National Carbon Accounting System. The NT Government will have access to a high quality database and calibrated models relating to greenhouse gas emissions as a function of land use change. The project will improve estimates and management of GHG and provide a basis for the NT to potentially exploit future carbon-trading initiatives or GHG abatement schemes as fundamental data describing emissions as a function of land use will be available. This is of national significance given the size of the savanna biome in Australia.Read moreRead less
Testing climatic, physiological and hydrological assumptions underpinning water yield from montane forests. Water collected in dams and reservoirs remains the mainstay water resource for Australian cities, towns and industry. Overwhelmingly, that water is collected from forested catchments where the water balance of forest stands is dominated by the amount of water used by trees. Characterising tree water use, its response to changing climatic and nocturnal conditions, and other aspects of sta ....Testing climatic, physiological and hydrological assumptions underpinning water yield from montane forests. Water collected in dams and reservoirs remains the mainstay water resource for Australian cities, towns and industry. Overwhelmingly, that water is collected from forested catchments where the water balance of forest stands is dominated by the amount of water used by trees. Characterising tree water use, its response to changing climatic and nocturnal conditions, and other aspects of stand hydrology, are crucial to our ability to predict and model future water yields. Working in the Cotter catchment near Canberra and the upper Kiewa catchment in north-east Victoria, we aim to help the agencies responsible for water and catchment management to improve the security of their forecasts of water yield and their on-ground management. Read moreRead less
An Integrated Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change on Victorian Alpine Ecosystems: Detecting and Managing Ecological Change. Climate change threatens biodiversity in alpine areas of Australia. This project seeks to predict how plants, soils and small animals will respond to warming and the associated increased risk of bushfire. Our project uses chambers placed out in the field to simulate warming conditions, and measures plant growth and development, and small animal community structure w ....An Integrated Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change on Victorian Alpine Ecosystems: Detecting and Managing Ecological Change. Climate change threatens biodiversity in alpine areas of Australia. This project seeks to predict how plants, soils and small animals will respond to warming and the associated increased risk of bushfire. Our project uses chambers placed out in the field to simulate warming conditions, and measures plant growth and development, and small animal community structure within the chambers. We also assess the effects of climate change on soil processes. The information is used to evaluate the ability of alpine plants and animals to deal with climate change and to identify ways managers can help maintain biodiversity in this fragile ecosystem. Read moreRead less
Invasive plant species and climate change in Australia: predicting the threat and projecting the future. The interaction between climate change and invasive pest species poses a significant threat to Australia's biodiversity. The need for research on both the independent impacts of climate change and invasive species, as well as their interaction, has been clearly identified by both national and state governments, and is identified as a priority under the National Biodiversity and Climate Change ....Invasive plant species and climate change in Australia: predicting the threat and projecting the future. The interaction between climate change and invasive pest species poses a significant threat to Australia's biodiversity. The need for research on both the independent impacts of climate change and invasive species, as well as their interaction, has been clearly identified by both national and state governments, and is identified as a priority under the National Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan (2004-2007). The proposed research will assess exotic plant species' responses to climate change, identify potential hotspots of invasion, and provide a risk assessment framework to enable prioritization of exotic plant management under future climate.Read moreRead less
Equitable local outcomes in adaptation to sea-level rise. The project clearly falls within the priority goal of responding to climate change and variability in being about responding to sea-level rise. It is of direct benefit to rural communities in Gippsland that are vulnerable to sea-level rise, and the project has been identified as a priority research need by the Gippsland Coastal Board, local governments in Gippsland, and the Victorian Government, all of whom are partners in this project. T ....Equitable local outcomes in adaptation to sea-level rise. The project clearly falls within the priority goal of responding to climate change and variability in being about responding to sea-level rise. It is of direct benefit to rural communities in Gippsland that are vulnerable to sea-level rise, and the project has been identified as a priority research need by the Gippsland Coastal Board, local governments in Gippsland, and the Victorian Government, all of whom are partners in this project. The guidelines produced will contribute to improved decision making about adaptation nationally and internationally, and the project's intellectual outcomes will be of interest and values to researchers working in Australia and abroad.Read moreRead less
Privacy-Preserving Remote Access to Health Information Infrastructure in Ubiquitous Computing Environments. The project's benefits can be summarised as follows. (a) The project will provide new solutions that enable remote access to health-care data in a secure and privacy-preserving manner. (b) This will improve health care services in northern metropolitan Melbourne, and provide shorter medical response time, which is particularly important in emergency scenarios. (c) It will exemplify advance ....Privacy-Preserving Remote Access to Health Information Infrastructure in Ubiquitous Computing Environments. The project's benefits can be summarised as follows. (a) The project will provide new solutions that enable remote access to health-care data in a secure and privacy-preserving manner. (b) This will improve health care services in northern metropolitan Melbourne, and provide shorter medical response time, which is particularly important in emergency scenarios. (c) It will exemplify advanced IT support for health care, which can be utilised by other providers. (d) The project will make a direct link between IT research and its industrial application. (e) The project will also give the opportunity to a postdoctoral researcher and PhD students to perform leading edge research on privacy protection of information in an industrial environment.Read moreRead less
The reliability of corporate reporting of greenhouse gas estimates: Determinants, consequences, training for accountants and policy Initiatives. Fundamental to the successful re-allocation of resources to address climate change is that greenhouse gas estimates reported by firms are reliable. The first outcome from this research is the development of tools to assist and train the Australian accountancy profession in the estimation of reliable emissions. The second outcome is identification of fac ....The reliability of corporate reporting of greenhouse gas estimates: Determinants, consequences, training for accountants and policy Initiatives. Fundamental to the successful re-allocation of resources to address climate change is that greenhouse gas estimates reported by firms are reliable. The first outcome from this research is the development of tools to assist and train the Australian accountancy profession in the estimation of reliable emissions. The second outcome is identification of factors associated with the inaccuracy and bias of greenhouse gas emissions reported by companies and the consequences of the inaccuracies for the share market's valuation of emission liabilities. These research findings will identify issues that need to be addressed by regulators to ensure that the greenhouse gas estimates reported by companies are reliable.Read moreRead less
Robust prediction and decision strategies for managing extinction risks under climate change. Climate change is a principal threat to biodiversity and ecosystem health. The loss of ecosystem services from loss of species and ecosystem change may have serious social and economic repercussions. Unreliable predictions of climate change impacts and inefficient adaptation decisions result in wasted public resources and unnecessary loss of natural assets. In addition to direct benefits of efficient ad ....Robust prediction and decision strategies for managing extinction risks under climate change. Climate change is a principal threat to biodiversity and ecosystem health. The loss of ecosystem services from loss of species and ecosystem change may have serious social and economic repercussions. Unreliable predictions of climate change impacts and inefficient adaptation decisions result in wasted public resources and unnecessary loss of natural assets. In addition to direct benefits of efficient adaptation strategies for case-study ecosystems, techniques arising from this research will improve the way we respond to uncertain, but potentially catastrophic consequences of climate change. Bringing state-of-the-art modelling and formal decision methods to climate change adaptation is a central aim of this research.Read moreRead less