Nitrogen characteristics of plant communities along the North Australian Tropical Transect (NATT). It has become evident that biosphere processes need to be addressed at a global scale to understand global changes. Continental transects analyse ecosystem processes in a global context. The North Australian Tropical Transect (Darwin to Tennant Creek) represents 25% of Australia's vegetation. Biogeological research is underway on NATT ecosystems. Nitrogen availability strongly affects ecosystem pro ....Nitrogen characteristics of plant communities along the North Australian Tropical Transect (NATT). It has become evident that biosphere processes need to be addressed at a global scale to understand global changes. Continental transects analyse ecosystem processes in a global context. The North Australian Tropical Transect (Darwin to Tennant Creek) represents 25% of Australia's vegetation. Biogeological research is underway on NATT ecosystems. Nitrogen availability strongly affects ecosystem productivity, and is of major interest as nitrogen pollution threatens the biosphere. In Australia, nitrogen levels are generally low, but overall knowledge is limited. An integrated ecophysiological approach will relate soil and plant nitrogen characteristics, and provide an analysis of nitrogen relations along NATT. Results will be linked to existing NATT and international transect research.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