Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100248
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$368,600.00
Summary
Annotating unknown microbial gene functions with organic matter change. This project intends to develop a new method for determining the function of microbial genomes. Microbes are all pervasive on Earth. It is now possible to routinely sequence microbial genomes. However, the function of most genes encoded on these genomes remains elusive, severely limiting our understanding of most ecosystems. This project seeks to develop new methods to assign function to uncharacterised genes, by correlating ....Annotating unknown microbial gene functions with organic matter change. This project intends to develop a new method for determining the function of microbial genomes. Microbes are all pervasive on Earth. It is now possible to routinely sequence microbial genomes. However, the function of most genes encoded on these genomes remains elusive, severely limiting our understanding of most ecosystems. This project seeks to develop new methods to assign function to uncharacterised genes, by correlating changes in metabolite abundance with gene expression in a model permafrost thaw peatland. Determining the function of uncharacterised genes has widespread implications for microbial ecology and its numerous real-world applications, from determining soil greenhouse gas emissions to understanding human intestinal flora.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100870
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$342,000.00
Summary
Unravelling the microbial mechanisms of soil nitrous oxide emissions. Soil ecosystems are believed to be the most dominant sources of global nitrous oxide emissions. However, mitigations of nitrous oxide are strongly hindered by lack of knowledge on microbial mechanisms underpinning its production. This project aims to integrate a range of advanced approaches to identify the key nitrogen cycling genes as best predictors of nitrous oxide in field studies, to disentangle relative contribution of m ....Unravelling the microbial mechanisms of soil nitrous oxide emissions. Soil ecosystems are believed to be the most dominant sources of global nitrous oxide emissions. However, mitigations of nitrous oxide are strongly hindered by lack of knowledge on microbial mechanisms underpinning its production. This project aims to integrate a range of advanced approaches to identify the key nitrogen cycling genes as best predictors of nitrous oxide in field studies, to disentangle relative contribution of microbial pathways to nitrous oxide in glasshouse and microcosm studies, and to validate these findings across various land-use types in Australia and China. This will provide a critical framework incorporating microbial data into the nitrous oxide prediction models for better mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.Read moreRead less
Advancing knowledge of microbial symbioses underpinning coral health and reef resilience and predicting their responses to climate change. Coral reefs are complex, diverse ecosystems in which microbial communities form associations with host corals. However, the roles these associations play in coral stress responses are unknown. This project unlocks the black-box of coral microbial complexity and determines how the reef’s smallest members have the greatest influence on reef health.
Safeguarding coral reef fisheries for future food security. This Fellowship aims to address the vulnerability of coral reef fisheries in Australia and the Indo-Pacific by identifying fishery targets that benefit human nutrition and will persist despite declining coral habitats and rising water temperature. This project will advance knowledge on coral and fish responses to increasingly frequent marine heatwaves, using novel methodologies rooted in ecological modelling, experimental marine biology ....Safeguarding coral reef fisheries for future food security. This Fellowship aims to address the vulnerability of coral reef fisheries in Australia and the Indo-Pacific by identifying fishery targets that benefit human nutrition and will persist despite declining coral habitats and rising water temperature. This project will advance knowledge on coral and fish responses to increasingly frequent marine heatwaves, using novel methodologies rooted in ecological modelling, experimental marine biology and climate forecasting. Expected outcomes include (i) a comprehensive toolbox for improved management of coral reefs and associated fisheries in Australia and beyond, and (ii) an integrated socio-ecological model for predicting coral reef fishery responses under environmental change.Read moreRead less
A Changing Climate on the Great Barrier Reef: Present and Future Implications. The Great Barrier Reef is fundamental to the economy of Australia. This national and international icon needs to be preserved in the face of a changing world to ensure on-going sustainability of our marine resources. Ocean acidification, warming water temperatures, increased freshwater disrupt the sensitive symbiotic association of corals the major structure building organisms of reefs. Understanding how these enviro ....A Changing Climate on the Great Barrier Reef: Present and Future Implications. The Great Barrier Reef is fundamental to the economy of Australia. This national and international icon needs to be preserved in the face of a changing world to ensure on-going sustainability of our marine resources. Ocean acidification, warming water temperatures, increased freshwater disrupt the sensitive symbiotic association of corals the major structure building organisms of reefs. Understanding how these environmental stressors result in the decrease in coral health is fundamental to prevent loss of our coral reefs and an important step towards preserving them for future generations.Read moreRead less
Integrating biomechanics and ecology: moving from an individual- to population-level understanding of the effects of environmental change. Coral reefs, a key Australian resource, face an uncertain future due to environmental change. Up to now, environmental change research has focused on the individual level, severely limiting our predictive capacity. This project will develop a novel 'first principle' approach to solve this shortcoming and make population-level predictions possible.
Eco-evolutionary consequences of evolutionary shifts in body size. This project aims to understand the biological consequences of evolutionary shifts in body size at three levels of biological organisation: individuals, populations, and communities. Human-mediated body size declines in natural animal populations are a new emerging threat to the function of ecosystems, but few studies have explored the consequences of such declines. This project will use the tractability of the study species to d ....Eco-evolutionary consequences of evolutionary shifts in body size. This project aims to understand the biological consequences of evolutionary shifts in body size at three levels of biological organisation: individuals, populations, and communities. Human-mediated body size declines in natural animal populations are a new emerging threat to the function of ecosystems, but few studies have explored the consequences of such declines. This project will use the tractability of the study species to discover how evolutionary shifts in body size alter biological processes. This project can expand understanding of the biological consequences of ongoing worldwide declines in body size in animals.Read moreRead less
Determining how plant populations will respond to climate change. It is widely predicted that global climate change will result in extinctions, invasions and disruption of the ecosystem services plants provide. In order to manage or adapt to these consequences of changing climate we need accurate forecasts of where suitable conditions for sustainable plant populations will occur. This project will enable better forecasts of where and how fast plant populations will expand or contract in response ....Determining how plant populations will respond to climate change. It is widely predicted that global climate change will result in extinctions, invasions and disruption of the ecosystem services plants provide. In order to manage or adapt to these consequences of changing climate we need accurate forecasts of where suitable conditions for sustainable plant populations will occur. This project will enable better forecasts of where and how fast plant populations will expand or contract in response to climate change. New population modelling methods which integrate plant survival, growth and reproduction along environmental gradients, together with field studies at unprecedented national and international scales, will enable better forecasts of future locations for plant dependent industries and environmental services.Read moreRead less
Climate change, larval dispersal and patterns of connectivity in coral metapopulations. Patterns of connectivity among coral populations are virtually unknown and these patterns are likely to change with changing climate. This project will test how temperature and pH will change patterns of coral dispersal in order to assist the design of an effective marine reserve network throughout the Great Barrier Reef.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101263
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Assessing the impact of global environmental change on the nutritional ecology of marsupial and insect folivores of Eucalyptus. Higher atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are predicted to alter plant nutrient and toxin content, while higher ambient temperatures may compromise the abilities of animals to metabolise plant toxins. This project will assess how climate change scenarios are likely to impact native marsupials and insects that rely on eucalypt leaves for food.