How does warming prevent soil nitrogen availability from declining in response to elevated CO2? The sustainable use of the terrestrial environment depends upon maintaining ecosystem productivity which in turn depends upon nutrient availability within the soil. Increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are known to decrease nutrient availability while warming prevents this from happening. The aims of this project are to determine how warming is able to prevent elevated CO2 concentrations from re ....How does warming prevent soil nitrogen availability from declining in response to elevated CO2? The sustainable use of the terrestrial environment depends upon maintaining ecosystem productivity which in turn depends upon nutrient availability within the soil. Increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are known to decrease nutrient availability while warming prevents this from happening. The aims of this project are to determine how warming is able to prevent elevated CO2 concentrations from reducing soil N availability and hence productivity in a native grassland ecosystems. This is important, as it will allow likely problems caused by global climate change to be predicted by increasing the understanding of the underlying mechanisms as well as improving the management of grasslands in an environmentally sustainable way. Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354740
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
CaGaWaLo: regulation of carbon gain and water loss by woody vegetation. Trees and shrubs are widely perceived as central to solving problems of national and international significance. Seed funding is sought to facilitate establishment of a research network focused on their ability to sequester carbon and transmit water to the atmosphere. The proposed network is broadly based in plant physiology and ecology and contains a strong cross-section of leading international expertise in relevant sub- ....CaGaWaLo: regulation of carbon gain and water loss by woody vegetation. Trees and shrubs are widely perceived as central to solving problems of national and international significance. Seed funding is sought to facilitate establishment of a research network focused on their ability to sequester carbon and transmit water to the atmosphere. The proposed network is broadly based in plant physiology and ecology and contains a strong cross-section of leading international expertise in relevant sub-disciplines. By leveraging the huge pool of international expertise and focusing on a range of scales (from molecular to biosphere scales), this network will yield new ideas and approaches that will produce outputs and outcomes of national significance.Read moreRead less
ARC Australia-New Zealand Research Network for Vegetation Function. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits, and in their relations to climate, soils and geography. Global generalizations are emerging. Vegetation Function network will reach from plant function into genomics and crop breeding, into palaeoecology and vegetation history, into landscape management for carbon, water and salinity outcomes, into forecasting future ecosystems under global change, and into phylogeny, ....ARC Australia-New Zealand Research Network for Vegetation Function. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits, and in their relations to climate, soils and geography. Global generalizations are emerging. Vegetation Function network will reach from plant function into genomics and crop breeding, into palaeoecology and vegetation history, into landscape management for carbon, water and salinity outcomes, into forecasting future ecosystems under global change, and into phylogeny, ecoinformatics and evolutionary theory. Across this span, working groups will target nine identified opportunities for breakthrough research. Each research target needs input from two or more disciplines. Together, the nine targets link across disciplines, as a network that spans from genomic to planetary scales.Read moreRead less
Carbon in - carbon out: can carbon inputs keep up with losses in peatland? This project aims to quantify the current and predict the future carbon balance of a high altitude, carbon-dense ecosystem, namely sub-alpine grassy peatland, by measuring how environmental variables including experimental warming control the fluxes of carbon and water into and out of the system. In this way, this project will produce new knowledge on the susceptibility of high-altitude peaty soils to climate change. Expe ....Carbon in - carbon out: can carbon inputs keep up with losses in peatland? This project aims to quantify the current and predict the future carbon balance of a high altitude, carbon-dense ecosystem, namely sub-alpine grassy peatland, by measuring how environmental variables including experimental warming control the fluxes of carbon and water into and out of the system. In this way, this project will produce new knowledge on the susceptibility of high-altitude peaty soils to climate change. Expected outcomes include an enhanced ability to predict future carbon accumulation rates and the resilience of the vital water-storage and filtration services provided by these systems. This project will enhance outputs from new infrastructure and assist planning for future flood and drought management across SE Australia.Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network in Enterprise Information Infrastructure. EII targets consolidated research towards the comprehensive development & establishment of advanced information infrastructures. Its prime purpose is to provide a forum for intellectual exchange by diverse yet complementary research groups, to address the fundamental research problems faced by scientific & business communities when dealing with deployment of information technology to globally distributed, and data intensive environme ....ARC Research Network in Enterprise Information Infrastructure. EII targets consolidated research towards the comprehensive development & establishment of advanced information infrastructures. Its prime purpose is to provide a forum for intellectual exchange by diverse yet complementary research groups, to address the fundamental research problems faced by scientific & business communities when dealing with deployment of information technology to globally distributed, and data intensive environments. EII will address 3 tightly coupled research themes: Ability to interoperate across existing heterogenous platforms & applications; Efficient processing of very large data sets; Technology adoption & impact. Generic results will be applicable to e-science and large business information systems installations.Read moreRead less
Lags and legacies: antecedent effects on grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide. This project aims to assess how past conditions influence grassland responses to the rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. High CO2 concentrations should stimulate productivity but in grasslands this is rarely realised because other, mostly unknown, factors constrain the response. By synthesising data from past experiments, this project aims to determine exactly why grasslands fail to realise the ....Lags and legacies: antecedent effects on grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide. This project aims to assess how past conditions influence grassland responses to the rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. High CO2 concentrations should stimulate productivity but in grasslands this is rarely realised because other, mostly unknown, factors constrain the response. By synthesising data from past experiments, this project aims to determine exactly why grasslands fail to realise the full productivity benefits of increased CO2 and when this will happen. This should improve predictions of carbon exchange and indicating the best direction for climate change adaptation measures.Read moreRead less
Detecting and deciphering extinction dynamics under environmental change. This project aims to improve knowledge of extinction processes and impacts. It will use high-performance computing and museum collections to disentangle the ecological mechanisms that were integral in the initial decline and later extinction of Australia's unique mammals. Its significance is that it will establish the historical ranges and past population trajectories of Australian threatened mammals, pinpointing the combi ....Detecting and deciphering extinction dynamics under environmental change. This project aims to improve knowledge of extinction processes and impacts. It will use high-performance computing and museum collections to disentangle the ecological mechanisms that were integral in the initial decline and later extinction of Australia's unique mammals. Its significance is that it will establish the historical ranges and past population trajectories of Australian threatened mammals, pinpointing the combinations of ecological characteristics and threats that most affect risk of extinction from environmental change. Expected outcomes and benefits are new data and verified models to enrich conservation research and inform evidence-based solutions to better protect and recover some of Australia’s most threatened species.Read moreRead less
Mapping Antarctic climate change in space and time using mosses as biological proxies. This project will use polar mosses as sentinels for climate change to determine the extent to which change is already affecting Antarctica and enable development of more robust global climate models. Novel remote sensing methods will be developed to identify biodiversity most at risk from climate change thus maintaining Antarctic treaty obligations.
Future fisheries under climate change: the missing role of zooplankton. This project aims to develop the first global ecosystem model with a more realistic representation of zooplankton. Fish are the main source of protein for 3 billion people, yet fish catches are declining. Current models of future fish biomass under climate change do not consider the complex role that zooplankton play in transferring energy from phytoplankton to fish. By resolving the link between phytoplankton and fish, this ....Future fisheries under climate change: the missing role of zooplankton. This project aims to develop the first global ecosystem model with a more realistic representation of zooplankton. Fish are the main source of protein for 3 billion people, yet fish catches are declining. Current models of future fish biomass under climate change do not consider the complex role that zooplankton play in transferring energy from phytoplankton to fish. By resolving the link between phytoplankton and fish, this project will vastly improve estimates of future global fisheries production and regional variation. Such knowledge is vital for future food security in Australia and globally, and also to understand the role of zooplankton in carbon export in the ocean.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200100005
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$36,000,000.00
Summary
Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future. This program aims to deliver unprecedented research capability for securing Antarctic environments in the face of uncertain change.
By integrating a highly skilled team with new approaches and breakthrough technologies, the program anticipates discovery science, enhanced environmental forecasting and optimised decision-making to advance Australia’s position as an influential Antarctic nation.
Expected outcomes include better environmental management ....Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future. This program aims to deliver unprecedented research capability for securing Antarctic environments in the face of uncertain change.
By integrating a highly skilled team with new approaches and breakthrough technologies, the program anticipates discovery science, enhanced environmental forecasting and optimised decision-making to advance Australia’s position as an influential Antarctic nation.
Expected outcomes include better environmental management, unparalleled strategic decision-support for an effective Antarctic Treaty, and new minds to address Antarctica’s new challenges.
Anticipated benefits are the means to transform environmental forecasting and management in the Antarctic, for Australia, and to the advantage of global security.Read moreRead less