Improving the success of hybrid living shorelines for coastal protection. This project aims to improve the success of hybrid living shorelines that combine the restoration of mangroves and oysters with engineered structures to enhance restoration outcomes and coastal hazard resilience. It expects to generate new knowledge on the effectiveness of innovative coastal-manager-led solutions that have not yet been robustly evaluated. Expected outcomes of this project include delivery of the technical ....Improving the success of hybrid living shorelines for coastal protection. This project aims to improve the success of hybrid living shorelines that combine the restoration of mangroves and oysters with engineered structures to enhance restoration outcomes and coastal hazard resilience. It expects to generate new knowledge on the effectiveness of innovative coastal-manager-led solutions that have not yet been robustly evaluated. Expected outcomes of this project include delivery of the technical guidelines needed to practically design and implement nature-based coastal protection at scale. This should provide significant socio-economic and environmental benefits through improving Australia’s capacity to adapt to increased erosion and flood risk caused by climate change and coastal urbanisation.Read moreRead less
Ocean currents and genetic connectedness in a complex archipelago. To what extent are marine coastal communities ?open?, i.e. how often do the oceans carry larvae far from their point of spawning, and what influence does such ocean transport have on the spread of genetic information? These are some of the most fundamental questions of biological oceanography; the project will provide new answers by using an extremely detailed genetic data set from the Houtman Abrolhos Islands off Western Austra ....Ocean currents and genetic connectedness in a complex archipelago. To what extent are marine coastal communities ?open?, i.e. how often do the oceans carry larvae far from their point of spawning, and what influence does such ocean transport have on the spread of genetic information? These are some of the most fundamental questions of biological oceanography; the project will provide new answers by using an extremely detailed genetic data set from the Houtman Abrolhos Islands off Western Australian together with an advanced numerical ocean model especially suited to that environment and developed in Australia.Read moreRead less
Dynamic assessment of threats to marine megafauna in face of global change. This project aims to develop a global approach to synthesise global tracking datasets and deliver near real-time diagnostics on risks for marine megafauna at a global scale pushing forward a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management to improve conservation. This project expects to increase our understanding of how marine megafauna movements vary with environmental changes and how much they overlap with threatenin ....Dynamic assessment of threats to marine megafauna in face of global change. This project aims to develop a global approach to synthesise global tracking datasets and deliver near real-time diagnostics on risks for marine megafauna at a global scale pushing forward a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management to improve conservation. This project expects to increase our understanding of how marine megafauna movements vary with environmental changes and how much they overlap with threatening global human activities. Expected outcomes will demonstrate how big data in marine telemetry can be synthesised and translated into ecologically significant behaviours. This should provide significant benefits to address global scientific and societal problems highlighted in the Australian science and research priorities.Read moreRead less
Turf Wars: fighting the new battle facing blue forests. This project aims to use ecological models and field experiments to uncover drivers and critical thresholds for turf expansion. Habitat loss is a leading threat to goods and services from the oceans. Globally, kelp forests are collapsing and being replaced by persistent unwanted algal ‘turfs’. Understanding of this habitat shift is rudimentary, and solutions to mitigate the impacts virtually non-existent. Through stress experiments and geno ....Turf Wars: fighting the new battle facing blue forests. This project aims to use ecological models and field experiments to uncover drivers and critical thresholds for turf expansion. Habitat loss is a leading threat to goods and services from the oceans. Globally, kelp forests are collapsing and being replaced by persistent unwanted algal ‘turfs’. Understanding of this habitat shift is rudimentary, and solutions to mitigate the impacts virtually non-existent. Through stress experiments and genomic analyses, this project aims to discover resilient kelps that promote forest persistence under stress. By expanding our understanding of critical habitat transitions, and exploring new solutions, this project aims to enhance our capacity to respond to the ongoing degradation of Australia’s Great Southern Reef.Read moreRead less
Global threats to kelp forests from heatwaves, herbivores and diseases. This project aims to understand the mechanisms behind climate-mediated declines in kelp. Ocean warming causes the collapse of valuable temperate kelp forests globally and on both sides of Australia, but it is unknown if this is because of direct physiological effects from temperature or the indirect effects of changes in species interactions. This project will compare the direct effects of marine heatwaves to the indirect ef ....Global threats to kelp forests from heatwaves, herbivores and diseases. This project aims to understand the mechanisms behind climate-mediated declines in kelp. Ocean warming causes the collapse of valuable temperate kelp forests globally and on both sides of Australia, but it is unknown if this is because of direct physiological effects from temperature or the indirect effects of changes in species interactions. This project will compare the direct effects of marine heatwaves to the indirect effects of range-shifting tropical herbivores and pathogens for the kelp forests of the Great Southern Reef, one of Australia’s largest coastal ecosystems. This project will generate knowledge underpinning adaptation strategies for these critical ecosystems, and could enhance the capacity to respond to degradation of these natural assets.Read moreRead less
Marine heatwaves drive loss of genetic diversity and selection in kelps. This project aims to unravel where and when marine heatwaves drive loss of genetic diversity and rapid directional selection in kelp forests. Although the devastating ecological impacts of marine heatwaves are well studied, empirical understanding of how marine heatwaves impact underlying evolutionary processes including adaptive capacity and resilience is lacking. This research will use a powerful combination of innovative ....Marine heatwaves drive loss of genetic diversity and selection in kelps. This project aims to unravel where and when marine heatwaves drive loss of genetic diversity and rapid directional selection in kelp forests. Although the devastating ecological impacts of marine heatwaves are well studied, empirical understanding of how marine heatwaves impact underlying evolutionary processes including adaptive capacity and resilience is lacking. This research will use a powerful combination of innovative heatwave analyses, cutting-edge genomics and physiological experiments to fill these knowledge gaps and represents a step change in our understanding of how kelp respond and adapt in multi-stressor seascapes. Results will pave the way for development of novel mitigation strategies to future-proof marine management. Read moreRead less
Effect of deep-sea drilling on sustainability of deep-sea ecosystems. Offshore oil and gas production makes a significant contribution to the Australian economy and enhances our energy security. Australia's vast deep-sea reserves of hydrocarbons lie on the NW Shelf and in Bass Strait, ecological 'hot spots' that are extremely vulnerable to the impact of exploration, extraction and production. Using deep-sea equipment, we will conduct the field experiments that are essential to understanding the ....Effect of deep-sea drilling on sustainability of deep-sea ecosystems. Offshore oil and gas production makes a significant contribution to the Australian economy and enhances our energy security. Australia's vast deep-sea reserves of hydrocarbons lie on the NW Shelf and in Bass Strait, ecological 'hot spots' that are extremely vulnerable to the impact of exploration, extraction and production. Using deep-sea equipment, we will conduct the field experiments that are essential to understanding these ecosystems and the impact of deep-sea structures. Our advances will produce data and develop methodologies that will make Australia a world leader in reconciling our deep-sea energy and environmental needs.Read moreRead less
Environmental DNA: Integration of new methods to enhance marine management. Environmental DNA: Integration of new methods to enhance marine management. This project aims to develop new environmental DNA (eDNA)-based methods of managing humanity’s impact on valuable marine resources. eDNA preserved in seawater provides a lens to study and monitor marine biota and ecosystems. This project will work with fisheries managers and the environmental consulting sector, and focus on sites in the Kimberley ....Environmental DNA: Integration of new methods to enhance marine management. Environmental DNA: Integration of new methods to enhance marine management. This project aims to develop new environmental DNA (eDNA)-based methods of managing humanity’s impact on valuable marine resources. eDNA preserved in seawater provides a lens to study and monitor marine biota and ecosystems. This project will work with fisheries managers and the environmental consulting sector, and focus on sites in the Kimberley, Cocos-Keeling Islands, Fremantle and Deep-sea oil/gas sites to demonstrate the value of eDNA methods in best-practice monitoring. A multi-proxy toolkit (including eDNA) that can audit and baseline marine biota could make balancing conservation and sustainable exploitation achievable. Anticipated outcomes are improved management and monitoring of fisheries, ports and offshore oil/gas sites.Read moreRead less
Restoring blue forests with green gravel. This proposal aims to progress a novel marine restoration technique (green gravel) from concept to application. This is significant because it will overcome key challenges currently hindering success of kelp forest restoration and provide scalable and practical solutions to future-proof kelp forests against climate and anthropogenic stress. Outcomes include progression of marine restoration from science to practice and into policy through local and globa ....Restoring blue forests with green gravel. This proposal aims to progress a novel marine restoration technique (green gravel) from concept to application. This is significant because it will overcome key challenges currently hindering success of kelp forest restoration and provide scalable and practical solutions to future-proof kelp forests against climate and anthropogenic stress. Outcomes include progression of marine restoration from science to practice and into policy through local and global communication. Benefits include strong local and global alliances to scale up kelp restoration and reverse habitat degradation and associated economic loss.Read moreRead less
Resolving the role of kelp in blue carbon cycles to enable management. We aim to uncover how kelp forests contribute to carbon storage, biodiversity enhancement and nutrient mitigation in Australia. We will combine mapping and modelling to identify local variation in kelp carbon stocks and sequestration potential and verify kelp carbon export to deep ocean sinks through genetic tracing in seawater and sediments. Co-benefits will be identified through nutrient experiments and reef surveys. We wil ....Resolving the role of kelp in blue carbon cycles to enable management. We aim to uncover how kelp forests contribute to carbon storage, biodiversity enhancement and nutrient mitigation in Australia. We will combine mapping and modelling to identify local variation in kelp carbon stocks and sequestration potential and verify kelp carbon export to deep ocean sinks through genetic tracing in seawater and sediments. Co-benefits will be identified through nutrient experiments and reef surveys. We will also assess the risk that calcification and production of halogenic gas within the kelp forest could offset its climate mitigation potential. Project outcomes will enable management to consider kelp ecosystem services broadly and optimize our capacity to meet current emission reduction and biodiversity commitments.Read moreRead less