Southern Ocean aerosols: sources, sinks and impact on cloud properties. This project aims to provide fundamental process-level understanding of atmospheric aerosol processes over the Southern Ocean, a region that has a profound influence on the Australian and global climate and where climate models perform poorly. Comprehensive observations during 3 Southern Ocean voyages and land-based measurements will enhance our knowledge of aerosols and cloud formation in that region and provide much-needed ....Southern Ocean aerosols: sources, sinks and impact on cloud properties. This project aims to provide fundamental process-level understanding of atmospheric aerosol processes over the Southern Ocean, a region that has a profound influence on the Australian and global climate and where climate models perform poorly. Comprehensive observations during 3 Southern Ocean voyages and land-based measurements will enhance our knowledge of aerosols and cloud formation in that region and provide much-needed data for improving global climate models. Expected outcomes include more accurate seasonal and latitudinal representations of Southern Ocean aerosol populations, properties and sources. The main benefit includes improvements in weather forecasting and future climate projection for Australia and the Southern Hemisphere.Read moreRead less
Understanding spread in sea level rise projections. This project aims to investigate changes in water properties and ocean circulation mechanisms leading to intermodel spread in sea-level projections. Sea-level rise projections for this 21st century largely disagree in magnitude and spatial changes between climate models, particularly in hotspots. The expected outcomes will contribute towards more rigorous constraints on the likelihood of future warming and sea-level rise projections, and are al ....Understanding spread in sea level rise projections. This project aims to investigate changes in water properties and ocean circulation mechanisms leading to intermodel spread in sea-level projections. Sea-level rise projections for this 21st century largely disagree in magnitude and spatial changes between climate models, particularly in hotspots. The expected outcomes will contribute towards more rigorous constraints on the likelihood of future warming and sea-level rise projections, and are aligned with scientific deliverables required to address key questions in support of Australia’s climate change policy. They are also aligned with international scientific deliverables in support of the World Climate Research Programme Grand Challenge on Regional Sea Level Change and Coastal Impacts.Read moreRead less
Maternal effects and sex allocation: an integrated approach. This project will produce research of a high international standard combining a number of key fields in evolution and ecology. The team we have assembled provides a link between Australian-based researchers and leading overseas theoreticians facilitating integration between evolutionary theory and empirical research on the unique Australian fauna. Furthermore, while climate change is identified as a priority area for research, Australi ....Maternal effects and sex allocation: an integrated approach. This project will produce research of a high international standard combining a number of key fields in evolution and ecology. The team we have assembled provides a link between Australian-based researchers and leading overseas theoreticians facilitating integration between evolutionary theory and empirical research on the unique Australian fauna. Furthermore, while climate change is identified as a priority area for research, Australia typically lacks the history of long-term phenological monitoring that is required to understand climate change impacts. This project takes an important step towards addressing this shortcoming.Read moreRead less
Southern Ocean Sea Ice – what happened and what happens next? This project will adress our lack of confidence in future projections of sea ice around Antarctica by elucidating the mechanisms controlling sea ice in the Southern Ocean.
There is low confidence is current sea ice projections, limiting our ability to predict ice shelf melt and sea level rise.
This project will lead to a detailed understanding of the future of sea ice in the Southern Ocean, improving our understanding of ocean dynam ....Southern Ocean Sea Ice – what happened and what happens next? This project will adress our lack of confidence in future projections of sea ice around Antarctica by elucidating the mechanisms controlling sea ice in the Southern Ocean.
There is low confidence is current sea ice projections, limiting our ability to predict ice shelf melt and sea level rise.
This project will lead to a detailed understanding of the future of sea ice in the Southern Ocean, improving our understanding of ocean dynamics, ice shelf melt, and sea level rise.
The results from this project will enhance projections of sea ice, and therefore also ice shelf melt and sea level rise. Improved sea level projections will aid policy decisions for coastal communities.Read moreRead less
Detecting and deciphering extinction dynamics under environmental change. This project aims to improve knowledge of extinction processes and impacts. It will use high-performance computing and museum collections to disentangle the ecological mechanisms that were integral in the initial decline and later extinction of Australia's unique mammals. Its significance is that it will establish the historical ranges and past population trajectories of Australian threatened mammals, pinpointing the combi ....Detecting and deciphering extinction dynamics under environmental change. This project aims to improve knowledge of extinction processes and impacts. It will use high-performance computing and museum collections to disentangle the ecological mechanisms that were integral in the initial decline and later extinction of Australia's unique mammals. Its significance is that it will establish the historical ranges and past population trajectories of Australian threatened mammals, pinpointing the combinations of ecological characteristics and threats that most affect risk of extinction from environmental change. Expected outcomes and benefits are new data and verified models to enrich conservation research and inform evidence-based solutions to better protect and recover some of Australia’s most threatened species.Read moreRead less
Australia's variable rainfall - how dry or wet can it really get? Australia’s rainfall is extremely variable, which means existing weather records are too short to calculate the true risk posed by droughts and floods. This project aims to quantify how naturally variable the rainfall coming from the Indo-Pacific mid-latitudes is, allowing recent rainfall extremes and future projections to be assessed in a long-term context. This project expects to produce new estimates of atmospheric moisture bud ....Australia's variable rainfall - how dry or wet can it really get? Australia’s rainfall is extremely variable, which means existing weather records are too short to calculate the true risk posed by droughts and floods. This project aims to quantify how naturally variable the rainfall coming from the Indo-Pacific mid-latitudes is, allowing recent rainfall extremes and future projections to be assessed in a long-term context. This project expects to produce new estimates of atmospheric moisture budgets between Australia and Antarctica based on a novel, 1000-year length reconstruction of moisture-bearing southern Indian Ocean storms. This new information is critically needed by water managers so that they can properly calculate (and ultimately prepare for) the worst of Australia’s rainfall-related risks.Read moreRead less
Genetic architecture of species divergence and hybridisation in eucalypts. Eucalypts are an icon of Australia and are of great economic and ecological significance to the nation. They are the most widely planted hardwood trees in the world, but Australia is the centre of origin of most species and the custodian of this important native bioresource. Understanding the evolutionary processes that shape diversity in this internationally significant genus is important for its long-term management a ....Genetic architecture of species divergence and hybridisation in eucalypts. Eucalypts are an icon of Australia and are of great economic and ecological significance to the nation. They are the most widely planted hardwood trees in the world, but Australia is the centre of origin of most species and the custodian of this important native bioresource. Understanding the evolutionary processes that shape diversity in this internationally significant genus is important for its long-term management and conservation. This project links to large international initiatives currently underway for high-density mapping and sequencing of the eucalypt genome, to enhance the flow of information gained back to Australia for scientific, economic and environmental benefit.Read moreRead less
Genetics of species differentiation and hybridisation in Eucalyptus. Eucalypts are an icon of Australia and of great economic and ecological significance. This project will use genomic technologies to provide novel insights into the evolutionary processes that shape diversity in this genus. This will contribute to the development of better conservation and management practices for this valuable genetic resource.
Effects of maternal foraging success and oceanographic variation on offspring behaviour and survival in the southern elephant seal. Juvenile survival is the key determinant of mammalian population performance, but the proximate determinants of this have rarely been established in large, long-lived predators. Southern elephant seals, with their concentrated lactation effort and marked separation of energy acquisition (at-sea foraging) and expenditure (on-land lactation) provide an ideal model for ....Effects of maternal foraging success and oceanographic variation on offspring behaviour and survival in the southern elephant seal. Juvenile survival is the key determinant of mammalian population performance, but the proximate determinants of this have rarely been established in large, long-lived predators. Southern elephant seals, with their concentrated lactation effort and marked separation of energy acquisition (at-sea foraging) and expenditure (on-land lactation) provide an ideal model for investigating these factors. In this study, we investigate the partitioning of pre-partum performance (fat acquired in mothers) relative to spatial-temporal variation in ocean productivity and the effect of this expenditure on offspring condition and survival. Here, the final missing link of energy transfer and its effects on offspring will be a major outcome of this project.Read moreRead less
Dynamic resilience and stability properties of marine systems: the importance of environment-engineer feedbacks in kelp forests. Kelp forests form complex habitats that support diverse, productive and economically important food-webs. This project will determine whether healthy kelp forests engineer their environment to make conditions more suitable for their continued recruitment and survivorship, thus increasing their stability and resilience in response to anthropogenic threats.