An Australian storm wave damage and beach erosion early warning system. This project aims to develop a new coastal hazard early-warning system capability for Australia, to alert coastal communities, emergency managers and coastal engineers to impending storm wave damage and coastal erosion. Emergency preparedness informed by early warning is expected to significantly benefit vulnerable communities and infrastructure along Australia’s coasts.
Fish Jenga: metapopulation management for coastal river fish. This project aims to address the escalating threats to coastal freshwater fish from drought, fire, and other disturbances. The project expects to generate new knowledge on contemporary distributions of NSW coastal freshwater fishes, and will develop models of population dynamics to explore the consequences of alternative water management and disturbance scenarios. The expected outcome of the project is to revolutionise management by r ....Fish Jenga: metapopulation management for coastal river fish. This project aims to address the escalating threats to coastal freshwater fish from drought, fire, and other disturbances. The project expects to generate new knowledge on contemporary distributions of NSW coastal freshwater fishes, and will develop models of population dynamics to explore the consequences of alternative water management and disturbance scenarios. The expected outcome of the project is to revolutionise management by replacing the current practice of managing river basins separately, with a framework that accounts for among-basin linkages that are essential for the long-term persistence of fish populations. Significant benefits include more efficient use of water resources and improved conservation outcomes for native fish.Read moreRead less
Snails to the rescue! Conservation of Australia’s island invertebrates. This project aims to deliver an exemplar industry network model for conservation on Australia’s islands which are hotspots both of biodiversity and of extinctions. Protecting species on islands is therefore key to securing Australia’s biodiversity. We will secure Norfolk Island's 60 species of land snails via in situ and ex situ conservation with six key industry partners. The project expects to unite conservation actions ac ....Snails to the rescue! Conservation of Australia’s island invertebrates. This project aims to deliver an exemplar industry network model for conservation on Australia’s islands which are hotspots both of biodiversity and of extinctions. Protecting species on islands is therefore key to securing Australia’s biodiversity. We will secure Norfolk Island's 60 species of land snails via in situ and ex situ conservation with six key industry partners. The project expects to unite conservation actions across research, governments, and industry. Expected outcomes of this project include Norfolk Island emerging as a leader in global conservation. This should provide significant benefits such as a model for conservation that is applicable to thousands of isolated, range-restricted invertebrate species across Australia.Read moreRead less
The next generation rural landscape governance: the Australian dimension. The project team in collaboration with Industry and regional stakeholders will undertake innovative research to develop the next generation of natural resource governance in Australia. This project will focus on the reforms required to improve the sustainability performance of primary industries through reduced transaction costs, co-regulatory structures and stewardship.
Rocky coasts: a framework for risk assessment in order to reduce drowning. Reducing drowning on the rocky coast through modelling how waves impact and where people use the shore is the aim of this project. In collaboration with Surf Life Saving Australia, the latest laser surveying and modelling techniques will be combined with perception surveys to develop an innovative and new risk framework for coastal management.
Detecting ecological impacts of water extraction on river ecosystem structure and function: Validating a novel decision-making protocol. Reliable assessment of ecological responses to flow alteration coupled with management triggers to prevent unacceptable impact is essential in rivers where water extraction occurs. Most regulated rivers lack optimal monitoring programs to provide early indications of over-extraction. We aim to apply a novel framework (Downes et al. 2002) to optimize sampling ....Detecting ecological impacts of water extraction on river ecosystem structure and function: Validating a novel decision-making protocol. Reliable assessment of ecological responses to flow alteration coupled with management triggers to prevent unacceptable impact is essential in rivers where water extraction occurs. Most regulated rivers lack optimal monitoring programs to provide early indications of over-extraction. We aim to apply a novel framework (Downes et al. 2002) to optimize sampling efficiency of structural and functional variables to determine whether extractions from the Nymboida River, NSW, are preventing the system from achieving its desired ?target?. If validated, this innovative framework that specifies effect size, statistical power, and management triggers will be invaluable for common situations where pre-impact data are lacking.Read moreRead less
New antiparasitics to protect Australian livestock. There is an urgent need for new antiparasitics to treat multi-drug resistant livestock infections. This project aims to explore the bacteria and fungi present in the microbiomes of heavily infected sheep faeces and pastures, challenging them with environmental cues, including those from associated parasites, to stimulate production of defensive chemicals hidden deep within their genomes. Enabled by an integrated pipeline of high throughput anal ....New antiparasitics to protect Australian livestock. There is an urgent need for new antiparasitics to treat multi-drug resistant livestock infections. This project aims to explore the bacteria and fungi present in the microbiomes of heavily infected sheep faeces and pastures, challenging them with environmental cues, including those from associated parasites, to stimulate production of defensive chemicals hidden deep within their genomes. Enabled by an integrated pipeline of high throughput analytical cultivation, molecular networking, and chemical and biological analyses, expected outcomes include an enhanced ability to explore and exploit valuable chemistry hidden within microbial genomes, leading to the discovery of new classes of natural antiparasitic to safeguard livestock.
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A smartphone rip-detection tool to improve rip current awareness. This project aims to develop a smartphone rip-detection tool and online education game to help reduce the number of Australians drowning in rips each year. The project expects to develop an optimised deep learning algorithm to detect rips from smartphone video taken at Australian beaches, which can then be used by Surf Life Saving Australia for training and education. Expected outcomes of this project are enhanced identification a ....A smartphone rip-detection tool to improve rip current awareness. This project aims to develop a smartphone rip-detection tool and online education game to help reduce the number of Australians drowning in rips each year. The project expects to develop an optimised deep learning algorithm to detect rips from smartphone video taken at Australian beaches, which can then be used by Surf Life Saving Australia for training and education. Expected outcomes of this project are enhanced identification and literacy of rip currents, particularly among priority high-risk demographics like young males, culturally and linguistic diverse communities and rural visitors. This should provide significant benefits in reducing rip-current drowning and rescue incidents in Australia, particularly at unpatrolled beaches.Read moreRead less
Rip currents: an evidence based approach to managing the greatest beach hazard. For the first time, an understanding of the action of swimmers caught in rip currents will be linked through interviews with rip current survivors and measurements of swimmer response and rip flow. This project will provide information that will improve existing rip current education and assist in reducing the unacceptably high drowning toll on Australian beaches.
Australian coastal observation network: monitoring and forecasting coastal erosion in a changing climate. Australia's coastline is one of this country's greatest natural, economic and cultural resources. The asset value of existing beach-front infrastructure is immeasurable. Climate change is driving sea-level rise and changing regional wave climates, resulting in coastal erosion and increasing the threat to coastal sustainability. This research launches a strategic university-industry-governmen ....Australian coastal observation network: monitoring and forecasting coastal erosion in a changing climate. Australia's coastline is one of this country's greatest natural, economic and cultural resources. The asset value of existing beach-front infrastructure is immeasurable. Climate change is driving sea-level rise and changing regional wave climates, resulting in coastal erosion and increasing the threat to coastal sustainability. This research launches a strategic university-industry-government alliance to address the considerable and growing pressure for solutions to observe and forecast accelerating shoreline erosion. The new knowledge, greater cross-sector collaboration and international linkages to be fast-tracked by this project will inform and build the capacity of Australia's coastal managers to confront the challenges of a changing climate.Read moreRead less