Enhancing plant photosynthesis by engineering the carbon dioxide (CO2)-fixing enzyme Rubisco. Improving the ability of crops to use water, sunlight and fertiliser more efficiently would have economic benefits for Australia and ease the environmental impacts associated with agricultural practices. Photosynthesis research has confirmed that such improvements are theoretically possible by enhancing the efficiency of the protein, Rubisco, which initiates the conversion of carbon dioxide into carbon ....Enhancing plant photosynthesis by engineering the carbon dioxide (CO2)-fixing enzyme Rubisco. Improving the ability of crops to use water, sunlight and fertiliser more efficiently would have economic benefits for Australia and ease the environmental impacts associated with agricultural practices. Photosynthesis research has confirmed that such improvements are theoretically possible by enhancing the efficiency of the protein, Rubisco, which initiates the conversion of carbon dioxide into carbon compounds required for growth. The biotechnological research proposed here uses unique capabilities to improve our understanding of structural features in Rubisco that influence its assembly and functional efficiency in plants. This knowledge will pave the way for transplanting more efficient Rubisco into crops to improve their growth.Read moreRead less
Response and vulnerability of tropical rainforest plants to experimental drought. This project will assess the vulnerability of rainforest plants to a large-scale experimental drought in the Daintree rainforest of north Queensland, using a canopy crane to access all vertical forest layers. This will provide a unique opportunity to understand how rainforests could be affected by future climate change.
Global change: Rainforest responses to experimental drought. How will rainforests respond if droughts increase in the future? In a globally unique experiment, this project will examine how Australian tropical rainforests are affected by a large-scale experimental drought, using a canopy crane to assess plant responses at all vertical forest levels. It will contrast demographic and physiological responses of an array of plant species and functional groups between experimental and control plots wh ....Global change: Rainforest responses to experimental drought. How will rainforests respond if droughts increase in the future? In a globally unique experiment, this project will examine how Australian tropical rainforests are affected by a large-scale experimental drought, using a canopy crane to assess plant responses at all vertical forest levels. It will contrast demographic and physiological responses of an array of plant species and functional groups between experimental and control plots where tree growth, composition, soil water and atmospheric exchange have been monitored since 1999. Drought responses of key species and functional groups will be compared with their distributions across regional rainfall gradients to yield crucial insights into the potential impacts of future climate change on rainforests.Read moreRead less
Ecophysiological limitations that affect water and carbon balance within large tree canopies: a comparative investigation. Supply of water to forest canopies is a major control of hydrological, atmospheric and biotic processes that impinge on groundwater stability, catchment yield, the fate of pollutants and plant productivity. Fundamental aspects of water transport and distribution within plant tissues remain obscured by conflicting experimental data and conflicting theoretical models that des ....Ecophysiological limitations that affect water and carbon balance within large tree canopies: a comparative investigation. Supply of water to forest canopies is a major control of hydrological, atmospheric and biotic processes that impinge on groundwater stability, catchment yield, the fate of pollutants and plant productivity. Fundamental aspects of water transport and distribution within plant tissues remain obscured by conflicting experimental data and conflicting theoretical models that describe physiological functioning.
Potential hydraulic constraints to the exchange of water and carbon between leaf and atmosphere require investigation before accurate models and informed decisions can be made with respect to the role of forests in biosphere-atmosphere processes. I will use large trees to investigate physiological and morphological determinants of hydraulic function and consider relationships between tree size, water requirements and water supply.
This project will foster comparative analyses of hydraulic functioning in large angiosperm and conifer species to elucidate universal principles that relate form to function and explain relationships between trees and their environment.
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Tree water use and amelioration of dryland salinity. Dryland salinity is a huge problem for large areas of Australia. One proposal for ameliorating dryland salinity is to plant trees in upslope sites in the landscape. Such planted forests reduce movement of water through the landscape, thereby reducing mobilisation and discharge of stored salts downslope onto agricultural and sensitive riparian areas. This project will investigate tree water use in a native forest, compare it with a planted fo ....Tree water use and amelioration of dryland salinity. Dryland salinity is a huge problem for large areas of Australia. One proposal for ameliorating dryland salinity is to plant trees in upslope sites in the landscape. Such planted forests reduce movement of water through the landscape, thereby reducing mobilisation and discharge of stored salts downslope onto agricultural and sensitive riparian areas. This project will investigate tree water use in a native forest, compare it with a planted forest in the same location and investigate fundamental relationships among climate, tree size, canopy area and water use. The outcome of this project is a deep mechanistic understanding of the efficacy of trees for salinity abatement.Read moreRead less
Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling gr ....Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling growth and survival. The expected outcome is to provide practical advice to restoration practitioners about the importance of matching the provenance of seed source to planting sites, and opportunities for selecting provenances pre-adapted to predicted future climatic conditions at planting sites.Read moreRead less
Devising ecologically sustainable restoration programs for degraded rural landscapes by integrating landscape ecology, genetics and ecophysiology. Concern about tree decline in rural landscape is widespread, and disturbingly climate change is predicted to exacerbate this problem. Past ill-considered tree plantings have proven to be economically wasteful, achieved limited ecological resilience and negligible improvement of biodiversity values. Using Tasmania as a 'model system', we will advance t ....Devising ecologically sustainable restoration programs for degraded rural landscapes by integrating landscape ecology, genetics and ecophysiology. Concern about tree decline in rural landscape is widespread, and disturbingly climate change is predicted to exacerbate this problem. Past ill-considered tree plantings have proven to be economically wasteful, achieved limited ecological resilience and negligible improvement of biodiversity values. Using Tasmania as a 'model system', we will advance this problem by undertaking research to determine how seedling establishment, tree growth, carbon storage and water use are influenced by landscape setting, management history, climate change, species type and local varieties. This research will provide a much needed evidence to devise ecologically sustainable tree-plantings in southern Australia.Read moreRead less
The role of drought-stress and insect attack on rainforest plant health. This project aims to examine the vulnerability of tropical plants to drought and insect attack in a large-scale field experiment. We will pioneer a new research approach that focuses on the causes and stages of decline in plant health prior to death, in order to identify the characteristics of plant species that make them more susceptible to drought and insect attack. Expected outcomes of this project include an improved ca ....The role of drought-stress and insect attack on rainforest plant health. This project aims to examine the vulnerability of tropical plants to drought and insect attack in a large-scale field experiment. We will pioneer a new research approach that focuses on the causes and stages of decline in plant health prior to death, in order to identify the characteristics of plant species that make them more susceptible to drought and insect attack. Expected outcomes of this project include an improved capacity to predict the function and composition of future forests. This project will provide significant benefits to communities concerned with the direct and indirect effects of droughts in protected areas, forestry reserves and agriculture. Read moreRead less
Cell wall invertase regulates fruit and seed development through sugar signals, sugar transporters and plasmodesmal gating. This project seeks to understand the molecular and cellular events controlling carbohydrate allocation in fruit and seed by focusing the coupling between sugar metabolism and transport using tomato as a model. The information generated may provide technological opportunities to improve fruit and seed development hence, crop yield.
Mechanisms regulating plant cell expansion: assessing the role of aquaporins and sugar signalling. This project seeks to understand the role of water channel genes in controlling water flow into expanding plant cells by using cotton fibre as a model cell. Water flow plays critical roles in plant growth, hence yield. The information generated may provide technological opportunities for improving water flow and utilization, hence, crop yield.