The effect of dissolved organic matter on the toxicity and bioavailability of metals in tropical freshwater ecosystems. Mine waste materials in tropical Australia, including historical, current and future operations, represent one of the threats to the quality and biodiversity of tropical freshwater ecosystems. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is thought to influence metal toxicity. In order to adequately understand the risks of priority metals and metalloids from mining and other activities (eg. ....The effect of dissolved organic matter on the toxicity and bioavailability of metals in tropical freshwater ecosystems. Mine waste materials in tropical Australia, including historical, current and future operations, represent one of the threats to the quality and biodiversity of tropical freshwater ecosystems. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is thought to influence metal toxicity. In order to adequately understand the risks of priority metals and metalloids from mining and other activities (eg. urban development) to tropical freshwater ecosystems, it is essential that the role of DOC is quantified. The outcomes of this project will provide improved metal risk assessment methodologies; quantitative understanding of the relationship between DOC and the bioavailability and toxicity of key metals such arsenic, aluminium, cadmium, copper, uranium and zinc.Read moreRead less
Tracking warning signals across a variable landscape. This project aims to investigate how local environmental factors and predator communities affect warning colour expression across the Australian landscape. Warning colours protect toxic prey from predators who learn to associate the colours with an unpleasant taste. Theoretically, warning colours should not vary, but in nature we find appreciable and unexplained variation. This project will utilise Australia's excellent environmental and biod ....Tracking warning signals across a variable landscape. This project aims to investigate how local environmental factors and predator communities affect warning colour expression across the Australian landscape. Warning colours protect toxic prey from predators who learn to associate the colours with an unpleasant taste. Theoretically, warning colours should not vary, but in nature we find appreciable and unexplained variation. This project will utilise Australia's excellent environmental and biodiversity informatics infrastructure to inform the public and decision makers about the adaptability of animals to environmental change such as predator loss.Read moreRead less
Diagnosing coral health tipping points under accelerating coastal hypoxia. This project aims to unlock the role hypoxia plays in shaping the healthy functioning of corals over space and time. Climate change and land use development are rapidly deoxygenating shallow water coral reefs and amplifying hypoxia exposure, yet we have no knowledge of the oxygen thresholds that sustain ‘normal’ coral functioning, or the mechanisms corals’ employ to tolerate hypoxia. This project will couple advanced oxyg ....Diagnosing coral health tipping points under accelerating coastal hypoxia. This project aims to unlock the role hypoxia plays in shaping the healthy functioning of corals over space and time. Climate change and land use development are rapidly deoxygenating shallow water coral reefs and amplifying hypoxia exposure, yet we have no knowledge of the oxygen thresholds that sustain ‘normal’ coral functioning, or the mechanisms corals’ employ to tolerate hypoxia. This project will couple advanced oxygen sensing, metabolic physiology and functional genomics techniques to transform our understanding of how corals and their associated microbial communities respond to reduced oxygen conditions, which is essential to improve coral reef ecosystem management.Read moreRead less
Why are complex habitats more diverse? This project aims to develop and test theory for the ubiquitous relationship between habitat complexity and biodiversity. Whether in forests, grasslands, kelp forests or coral reefs, habitat complexity is increasingly being flattened by natural and human-based processes. The project will integrate novel three-dimensional habitat models with established ecological theory, and then validate the theory on coral reefs that have undergone disturbances with diffe ....Why are complex habitats more diverse? This project aims to develop and test theory for the ubiquitous relationship between habitat complexity and biodiversity. Whether in forests, grasslands, kelp forests or coral reefs, habitat complexity is increasingly being flattened by natural and human-based processes. The project will integrate novel three-dimensional habitat models with established ecological theory, and then validate the theory on coral reefs that have undergone disturbances with different effects on complexity (cyclones and bleaching). This project will significantly advance the predictive capacity of biodiversity risk assessments of these threatened ecosystems and potentially others worldwide.Read moreRead less
Tracking 3000 years of agricultural adaptation to the resource poor, climate sensitive and remote Solomon Islands using biomarkers and palaeoecology. Establishing research programs with Pacific neighbours benefits Australia's relations with Pacific Island countries generally. This project applies novel research methods to understanding human adaptations to long-term environmental and climatic fluctuations. It will address the National Research Priority goal of responding to climate variability b ....Tracking 3000 years of agricultural adaptation to the resource poor, climate sensitive and remote Solomon Islands using biomarkers and palaeoecology. Establishing research programs with Pacific neighbours benefits Australia's relations with Pacific Island countries generally. This project applies novel research methods to understanding human adaptations to long-term environmental and climatic fluctuations. It will address the National Research Priority goal of responding to climate variability by advancing our understanding of recent climate change in the Australia/Pacific region. It will show that Australian researchers can play a significant role in understanding the spread of humans across the Pacific, and the environmental adaptations required by populations in resource depleted environments. It will increase collaboration between research institutions focusing on the Australia/Pacific region.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100884
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,691.00
Summary
Do novel diets reshape wildlife microbiomes and resilience to stressors? This project aims to investigate how bacteria can assist wildlife in adapting to the accelerating threat of environmental change. Using an innovative, interdisciplinary approach this project expects to identify interactions between environmental change and the diet, microbial communities and stress resilience of wildlife, using the threatened Grey-headed flying fox as a model system. Expected outcomes include detailed under ....Do novel diets reshape wildlife microbiomes and resilience to stressors? This project aims to investigate how bacteria can assist wildlife in adapting to the accelerating threat of environmental change. Using an innovative, interdisciplinary approach this project expects to identify interactions between environmental change and the diet, microbial communities and stress resilience of wildlife, using the threatened Grey-headed flying fox as a model system. Expected outcomes include detailed understanding of the role of microbial communities in shaping wildlife adaptations and development of ecological interventions to enhance wildlife resilience in Australia and globally. Such outcomes may reveal opportunities for management strategies that safeguard threatened species and reduce human-wildlife conflicts.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100142
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$396,000.00
Summary
Elemental diagnostic of coral resilience to future reef climates. This project aims to integrate elemental stoichiometry, bio-elemental imaging and metabolomics to develop a common ‘elemental currency’ as an entirely new diagnostic of coral fitness. Coral reefs generate invaluable ecosystem services, but are on the verge of global collapse. Efforts to resolve coral traits that promote ecological resilience have been unable to integrate biological and environmental complexities of reef systems in ....Elemental diagnostic of coral resilience to future reef climates. This project aims to integrate elemental stoichiometry, bio-elemental imaging and metabolomics to develop a common ‘elemental currency’ as an entirely new diagnostic of coral fitness. Coral reefs generate invaluable ecosystem services, but are on the verge of global collapse. Efforts to resolve coral traits that promote ecological resilience have been unable to integrate biological and environmental complexities of reef systems into a unifying diagnostic of reef health. Natural extremes will provide the platform to identify key metabolic traits vital for future survival, to establish adaptive elemental signatures that can scale from organism to ecosystem. The project is expected to enhance capacity of marine managers and reef stakeholders to effectively manage and safeguard Australia’s reefs and the cultural and ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Learning in a changing world: Maternal effects on offspring development and behaviour. The impact of anthropogenic change on Australia's biodiversity is of grave concern. It is therefore vital to understand the capacity of Australian fauna to adapt and change, despite environmental challenges. This project aims to quantify the potential for birds to respond to environmental challenges, by programming offspring with adaptive developmental profiles. By quantifying the effects of maternal stress ov ....Learning in a changing world: Maternal effects on offspring development and behaviour. The impact of anthropogenic change on Australia's biodiversity is of grave concern. It is therefore vital to understand the capacity of Australian fauna to adapt and change, despite environmental challenges. This project aims to quantify the potential for birds to respond to environmental challenges, by programming offspring with adaptive developmental profiles. By quantifying the effects of maternal stress over two generations, this project aims to determine whether mothers have the ability to alter rates of evolutionary change by employing epigenetic mechanisms. Combining lab trials with field data it will determine the biological relevance of these effects to a common, but declining bird, with relevance across Australian avifauna.Read moreRead less
Growing up with global change. This project aims to quantify how native bird populations will respond to global warming. The project will investigate how vulnerable nestling birds are to high temperatures, and the impact of early-life heat stress on adult performance and fitness in the wild. Although growing animals are most sensitive to heat, and stress during early-life often has irreversible negative effects, we know very little about long-term consequences of early-life heat stress. The inte ....Growing up with global change. This project aims to quantify how native bird populations will respond to global warming. The project will investigate how vulnerable nestling birds are to high temperatures, and the impact of early-life heat stress on adult performance and fitness in the wild. Although growing animals are most sensitive to heat, and stress during early-life often has irreversible negative effects, we know very little about long-term consequences of early-life heat stress. The intended outcomes will increase our capacity to predict impacts of climate warming before population declines become evident. Improved predictions are beneficial to identify urgent threats and optimise conservation efforts.Read moreRead less
Early-life climate sensitivity: direct and indirect mechanisms. This project aims to investigate how climate change threatens animal populations by determining the mechanisms causing DNA damage (short telomeres) in nestling birds growing up in hot conditions. Telomeres are biomarkers of individual life expectancy, and short telomeres in young birds predict a decline in future population viability. Our project aims to determine the importance for heat-induced telomere shortening of: (1) nestling ....Early-life climate sensitivity: direct and indirect mechanisms. This project aims to investigate how climate change threatens animal populations by determining the mechanisms causing DNA damage (short telomeres) in nestling birds growing up in hot conditions. Telomeres are biomarkers of individual life expectancy, and short telomeres in young birds predict a decline in future population viability. Our project aims to determine the importance for heat-induced telomere shortening of: (1) nestling heat stress responses; (2) inheritance of heat-shortened sperm telomeres; and (3) parental buffering of heat effects. Expected benefits include enhanced reliability of climate change predictions and improved ability to identify climate change mitigation strategies before population declines are evident.Read moreRead less