Silicon: a novel solution to reduce water use and pest damage in wheat. The project aims to improve Australian wheat production by increasing drought resilience and reducing reliance on pesticides. This is achieved by incorporating amorphous silicon (Si), an abundant national resource. Si uptake by wheat has been proven to alleviate stress from drought and pests, but mechanisms and agronomic feasibility remain to be fully assessed. The project will deliver a mechanistic understanding of how Si a ....Silicon: a novel solution to reduce water use and pest damage in wheat. The project aims to improve Australian wheat production by increasing drought resilience and reducing reliance on pesticides. This is achieved by incorporating amorphous silicon (Si), an abundant national resource. Si uptake by wheat has been proven to alleviate stress from drought and pests, but mechanisms and agronomic feasibility remain to be fully assessed. The project will deliver a mechanistic understanding of how Si alleviates stress in wheat, from gene to farm scale, providing cost-benefit analysis and a best–practice toolbox for implementation by farmers. Outcomes are anticipated to provide a cheaper and more environmentally sustainable solution to issues of water scarcity and yield losses to pests in Australia’s leading crop.Read moreRead less
Does dynamic ecological change cause rapid evolution? This project aims to increase understanding of how Australia’s native biota responds to rapid environmental changes. Abrupt environmental change has the potential to drive rapid evolution, which may facilitate species persistence in the face of novel challenges. This project will use long-term genomic data to quantify rates of evolutionary change in species living in arid environments, whose populations fluctuate markedly in response to rainf ....Does dynamic ecological change cause rapid evolution? This project aims to increase understanding of how Australia’s native biota responds to rapid environmental changes. Abrupt environmental change has the potential to drive rapid evolution, which may facilitate species persistence in the face of novel challenges. This project will use long-term genomic data to quantify rates of evolutionary change in species living in arid environments, whose populations fluctuate markedly in response to rainfall variation. By measuring the pace of genomic change in these species, and the evolutionary processes driving that change, this project will reveal species’ evolutionary responses to major environmental fluctuations.Read moreRead less
Towards 2050 - managing recovery of Australia's coral reefs. The coral reefs of Australia contribute over $6 bn each year to the economy. However, the reefs of Australia, in addition to those worldwide, are threatened by coral bleaching driven by anthropogenic climate change. If we are to preserve the economic, social and ecosystem value of these environments, it is essential that we are able to better manage the recovery of reefs from bleaching events. This project will utilise a variety of mul ....Towards 2050 - managing recovery of Australia's coral reefs. The coral reefs of Australia contribute over $6 bn each year to the economy. However, the reefs of Australia, in addition to those worldwide, are threatened by coral bleaching driven by anthropogenic climate change. If we are to preserve the economic, social and ecosystem value of these environments, it is essential that we are able to better manage the recovery of reefs from bleaching events. This project will utilise a variety of multi-disciplinary approaches, ranging from future climate models, historical satellite data to in-field experimentation to fill fundamental knowledge gaps in our understanding of coral bleaching recovery and delivery a variety of management and stakeholder relevant outputs.Read moreRead less
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
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354582
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
Australia-NZ Network for Vegetation Function and Futures. Plants shape our landscapes and drive ecosystem processes from local to global scale. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits. Global datasets about functional variation are emerging, with Australian and NZ leadership. A network would be supported in both Australia and NZ and with strong links elsewhere. It would target seven ambitious but achievable research developments. Each of them demands intensive conversation be ....Australia-NZ Network for Vegetation Function and Futures. Plants shape our landscapes and drive ecosystem processes from local to global scale. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits. Global datasets about functional variation are emerging, with Australian and NZ leadership. A network would be supported in both Australia and NZ and with strong links elsewhere. It would target seven ambitious but achievable research developments. Each of them demands intensive conversation between separate disciplines. Networking across all seven strands will create a broader linkage, spanning across palaeobiology, ecosystem function, vegetation structure, global change, ecophysiology, phylogeny, genomics, ecoinformatics and evolutionary theory.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
Quantifying the impact of phenotypic plasticity on population persistence. This project aims to understand how environmental sensitivity in growth, survival and reproduction of individuals in a population influence population dynamics using terrestrial ectotherms. It will provide significant new insights into whether phenotypic plasticity promotes population persistence in the face of environmental change. Expected outcomes include approaches for incorporating environmental effects in population ....Quantifying the impact of phenotypic plasticity on population persistence. This project aims to understand how environmental sensitivity in growth, survival and reproduction of individuals in a population influence population dynamics using terrestrial ectotherms. It will provide significant new insights into whether phenotypic plasticity promotes population persistence in the face of environmental change. Expected outcomes include approaches for incorporating environmental effects in population models for threatened species, open databases that can be used to estimate demographic information for species lacking data, and an assessment of what characteristics make some species more sensitive to the environment than others. Benefits include quantitative training and tools for managing Australia's rich biodiversity.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
Maximising accuracy and reliability of carbonate climate proxy archives. This project brings together expertise and cutting-edge methodology from different disciplines to identify the controls on the compositions of the shells and skeletons of marine organisms. The compositions of these materials are essential tools to reconstruct environmental conditions before modern climate records began. However, recent insights into how they form profoundly complicate and affect their interpretations.
The r ....Maximising accuracy and reliability of carbonate climate proxy archives. This project brings together expertise and cutting-edge methodology from different disciplines to identify the controls on the compositions of the shells and skeletons of marine organisms. The compositions of these materials are essential tools to reconstruct environmental conditions before modern climate records began. However, recent insights into how they form profoundly complicate and affect their interpretations.
The results will enable us to develop new, realistic models for the behaviour of chemical elements in these materials. This will significantly improve paleoclimate interpretations and provide critical benefit for protecting Australia’s marine resources in the future. Read moreRead less
To grow or to store: Do plants hedge their bets? This project aims to resolve a long-standing question about the function of perennial plants: how much of the carbon taken up by photosynthesis is used immediately for growth, and how much is kept in reserve as insurance against future stress? This question is important to our understanding of how plants respond to stresses such as severe drought, and yet lack of data and theoretical modelling currently hampers our ability to answer it. By applyin ....To grow or to store: Do plants hedge their bets? This project aims to resolve a long-standing question about the function of perennial plants: how much of the carbon taken up by photosynthesis is used immediately for growth, and how much is kept in reserve as insurance against future stress? This question is important to our understanding of how plants respond to stresses such as severe drought, and yet lack of data and theoretical modelling currently hampers our ability to answer it. By applying novel data analysis and modelling tools to recent experimental results, the project plans to test hypotheses for how plants allocate carbon between growth and storage in response to stress. Insights from the project may underpin better management of Australia’s vulnerable ecosystems.Read moreRead less