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Measuring tree water use and calculating stand water use. The national benefit of this project is significant. Woodlands and forests transpire vast amounts of water into the atmosphere and this water is thus lost to human consumptive use. Given large variation in rainfall between years and between seasons, it is vital that water and catchment resource managers are able to estimate how much water is lost through trees. This allows estimation of the amount of water available for irrigation, drinki ....Measuring tree water use and calculating stand water use. The national benefit of this project is significant. Woodlands and forests transpire vast amounts of water into the atmosphere and this water is thus lost to human consumptive use. Given large variation in rainfall between years and between seasons, it is vital that water and catchment resource managers are able to estimate how much water is lost through trees. This allows estimation of the amount of water available for irrigation, drinking, other industrial uses or maintaining ecosystem health. This project will be the first to generate a mechanistic understanding thereby allowing estimates of water use across a range of woody ecosystems in Australia.Read moreRead less
Towards sustainable bioproduction systems: harnessing organic nitrogen for plant growth. It is of great concern that over 50% of nitrogen fertiliser applied to crops is lost to the environment, resulting in a large environmental footprint and greenhouse gas emission. Future farming systems have to reduce nitrogen fertiliser use but this threatens crop and biofuel production. Alternatives to man-made nitrogen fertilisers are crop residues and organic materials which are more stable in soils but l ....Towards sustainable bioproduction systems: harnessing organic nitrogen for plant growth. It is of great concern that over 50% of nitrogen fertiliser applied to crops is lost to the environment, resulting in a large environmental footprint and greenhouse gas emission. Future farming systems have to reduce nitrogen fertiliser use but this threatens crop and biofuel production. Alternatives to man-made nitrogen fertilisers are crop residues and organic materials which are more stable in soils but less available to plants. How plants can best access organic nitrogen will be explored, based on our recent discovery that plants can use protein as a nitrogen source for growth. The project will produce essential knowledge for nitrogen-efficient bioproduction.Read moreRead less
Mechanisms of arsenic tolerance in plants: how do symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi reduce uptake? Arsenic contamination of soil is a major problem caused by irrigation with contaminated ground-water, mining and application of pesticides. Plant uptake leads to entry into food chains, with severe consequences for crop growth and human health. This project will aid the search for mechanisms to reduce plant arsenic accumulation by exploring roles of beneficial plant-fungus symbioses in r ....Mechanisms of arsenic tolerance in plants: how do symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi reduce uptake? Arsenic contamination of soil is a major problem caused by irrigation with contaminated ground-water, mining and application of pesticides. Plant uptake leads to entry into food chains, with severe consequences for crop growth and human health. This project will aid the search for mechanisms to reduce plant arsenic accumulation by exploring roles of beneficial plant-fungus symbioses in reducing uptake. Results will be relevant to most crop plants, because of the widespread occurrence of the symbioses. The project will enhance collaboration with China where arsenic toxicity is prevalent, provide education and training in an internationally recognised laboratory and enhance Australia's reputation for tackling soil contamination.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
The contribution of beneficial arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi to sustainable tomato production in Australia. Formation of beneficial arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) by processing tomatoes has been used as an indicator of 'healthy soil' in an environmental monitoring audit of the industry in southern Australia, but field occurrence of the AM fungi and their potential contribution to tomato nutrition and productivity are not well understood. We will determine the responsiveness of widely-grown tomat ....The contribution of beneficial arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi to sustainable tomato production in Australia. Formation of beneficial arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) by processing tomatoes has been used as an indicator of 'healthy soil' in an environmental monitoring audit of the industry in southern Australia, but field occurrence of the AM fungi and their potential contribution to tomato nutrition and productivity are not well understood. We will determine the responsiveness of widely-grown tomato varieties to AM inoculation and relate colonisation in the field to farming practices. The results will determine the potential benefits of AM fungi to tomato crops, in the context of development of environmentally and economically sustainable practices both in Australia and overseas. Read moreRead less
Interactive effects of salinity and nutrients: linking physiological processes with patterns in mangrove forest productivity. The proposed research will provide insight into physiological mechanisms that underpin mangrove productivity along salinity and aridity gradients, and determine how these factors affect plant responses to nutrient enrichment. Plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance will be identified, thereby assisting development of plant varieties suited to Australian cond ....Interactive effects of salinity and nutrients: linking physiological processes with patterns in mangrove forest productivity. The proposed research will provide insight into physiological mechanisms that underpin mangrove productivity along salinity and aridity gradients, and determine how these factors affect plant responses to nutrient enrichment. Plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance will be identified, thereby assisting development of plant varieties suited to Australian conditions. The results will also contribute to development of process-based models to better manage mangrove resources with climate change and increasing nutrient influx from urban or agricultural activities. Such models are essential for managing mangrove productivity for sustainable fisheries, and protecting the ecological well being of the coastal zone.Read moreRead less
Salinity tolerance along an aridity gradient: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function in mangroves. The proposed research will provide insight into the physiological and morphological features that control the productivity of mangrove forests across broad gradients in salinity and aridity. Central to this is this identification of plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance, which will assist in the development of plant varieties suited to Austra ....Salinity tolerance along an aridity gradient: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function in mangroves. The proposed research will provide insight into the physiological and morphological features that control the productivity of mangrove forests across broad gradients in salinity and aridity. Central to this is this identification of plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance, which will assist in the development of plant varieties suited to Australian conditions. The results will also contribute to development of process-based models to better predict the response of mangrove vegetation to changing climate. A deep understanding of the processes that influence the growth and survival of mangroves is of fundamental importance to sustainable fisheries and protection of wildlife reliant on coastal ecosystems. Read moreRead less
Water-use efficiency of Australian tropical trees: mechanistic analysis at multiple scales. The proposed research will provide valuable information about the physiological functioning of trees in northern Australia. Experiments will elucidate mechanisms that can result in variation in water-use efficiency among different tree species. Such a mechanistic understanding will have multiple benefits: (1) results will be able to be incorporated into process-based models of carbon and water cycling ....Water-use efficiency of Australian tropical trees: mechanistic analysis at multiple scales. The proposed research will provide valuable information about the physiological functioning of trees in northern Australia. Experiments will elucidate mechanisms that can result in variation in water-use efficiency among different tree species. Such a mechanistic understanding will have multiple benefits: (1) results will be able to be incorporated into process-based models of carbon and water cycling in the north-Australian landscape; (2) they will provide valuable information for land managers interested in optimizing both plant biomass production and water resource management; and (3) they will provide a critical test of proxy methods for identifying high water-use efficiency in taxonomically diverse tree species.Read moreRead less
The impact of water logging on mitochondrial metabolism in leaves and roots of Grey poplar. Water logging and flooding are seasonal occurrences in a variety of environments. These events cause various damage to environments, including damage to plants. The damage to plants has traditionally been associated with annuals, such as various crop species. However larger plants, i.e. trees, are also very susceptible to water-logging and flooding. As it can take from several years to decades for tress t ....The impact of water logging on mitochondrial metabolism in leaves and roots of Grey poplar. Water logging and flooding are seasonal occurrences in a variety of environments. These events cause various damage to environments, including damage to plants. The damage to plants has traditionally been associated with annuals, such as various crop species. However larger plants, i.e. trees, are also very susceptible to water-logging and flooding. As it can take from several years to decades for tress to be established it is important to understand how trees can withstand water-logging and flooding. As tree plantation are uses for commercial and environmental purposes this knowledge will be useful to a broad spectrum of users in the community.Read moreRead less
Effects of environmental factors on ecophysiological performance in the toxic cyanobacterium Nodularia. Nodularia is a toxic cyanobacterium that causes problem blooms in Australian waters and worldwide. The effects of environmental conditions on physiological processes in Nodularia are poorly understood and information on the effects on macromolecular synthesis and photosynthesis in Nodularia is limited. This project is of fundamental biological importance, making a major contribution to under ....Effects of environmental factors on ecophysiological performance in the toxic cyanobacterium Nodularia. Nodularia is a toxic cyanobacterium that causes problem blooms in Australian waters and worldwide. The effects of environmental conditions on physiological processes in Nodularia are poorly understood and information on the effects on macromolecular synthesis and photosynthesis in Nodularia is limited. This project is of fundamental biological importance, making a major contribution to understanding the impacts of environmental conditions on the physiological performance and ecology of Nodularia. The research has significance, both nationally and internationally, for the prediction of algal blooms in coastal and estuarine ecosystems, and will increase our knowledge of the factors controlling growth and toxicity of Nodularia worldwide. Read moreRead less