Improving water market outcomes through a better understanding of market behaviour. The issue of water resources and their sustainable use is probably the most important issue facing the rural sector. The water reform process and its aim to secure water for the environment will cause economic and social pain and result in structural change within the irrigation sector. Properly functioning water markets will play an instrumental role in facilitating this process by providing water for the envir ....Improving water market outcomes through a better understanding of market behaviour. The issue of water resources and their sustainable use is probably the most important issue facing the rural sector. The water reform process and its aim to secure water for the environment will cause economic and social pain and result in structural change within the irrigation sector. Properly functioning water markets will play an instrumental role in facilitating this process by providing water for the environment and allowing water to move between competing resources. This study will enable policy makers and water managers to optimise the positive outcome of water markets and increase the likely success of programs to purchase environmental water.Read moreRead less
Innovation in agricultural sector Green House Gas abatement in NSW. This project aims to develop a land sector greenhouse gas abatement, food production and environmental economics model for NSW. We expect to identify innovation in carbon payment policy and brokerage business models to achieve agricultural GHG abatement, while simultaneously improving sustainability. Expected outcomes include evaluation of the innovations of expert landholders, related businesses and governments to find ways to ....Innovation in agricultural sector Green House Gas abatement in NSW. This project aims to develop a land sector greenhouse gas abatement, food production and environmental economics model for NSW. We expect to identify innovation in carbon payment policy and brokerage business models to achieve agricultural GHG abatement, while simultaneously improving sustainability. Expected outcomes include evaluation of the innovations of expert landholders, related businesses and governments to find ways to influence land use decisions. This should provide significant benefits to landholders, governments involved in land management and the public through increased productivity, profitability, biodiversity and ecosystem health in the context of future climate, agricultural commodity and carbon market uncertainties.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354677
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems through integrated assessment and modelling. Australia must take the lead internationally in sustainability assessment and management; it hosts both the problems and expertise, and is proactive in integrating research and management. This Initiative unites, for the first time, leading researchers from all relevant disciplines to advance our knowledge for achieving sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems (STARS). The intended network can produce a ....Sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems through integrated assessment and modelling. Australia must take the lead internationally in sustainability assessment and management; it hosts both the problems and expertise, and is proactive in integrating research and management. This Initiative unites, for the first time, leading researchers from all relevant disciplines to advance our knowledge for achieving sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems (STARS). The intended network can produce assessments, strategies and policy directions that are objective, adaptive and inclusive. It can evaluate trade-offs between sustainability strategies, integrating research and outcomes, making them accessible to managers. It will build a coordinated research capability that directly supports Australia's goal of ecologically sustainable development. Read moreRead less
Environmental Genomics: Mining, climate change, water, crime and health. The new Environmental Genomics approach will employ high-powered genome sequencing systems to perform some of the first detailed genetic studies of Australian environments. The resulting high-resolution data will comprise a genetic audit, providing essential information for the accurate measurement of climate and environmental change. This method will dramatically improve the speed, and power of environmental impact assessm ....Environmental Genomics: Mining, climate change, water, crime and health. The new Environmental Genomics approach will employ high-powered genome sequencing systems to perform some of the first detailed genetic studies of Australian environments. The resulting high-resolution data will comprise a genetic audit, providing essential information for the accurate measurement of climate and environmental change. This method will dramatically improve the speed, and power of environmental impact assessments, permitting responsible resource development with major benefits to industry and the economy. It will also create new tools to improve water management and quality, biosecurity, forensics/policing and human health, as reflected by the diverse range of industry partners supporting this project.Read moreRead less
From Biodiversity to Health: Performing the first genetic audits of Australia. This project will establish a new technology for the rapid measurement of environmental biodiversity, whether that be in natural resources such as forests, or pathogens in water supplies or hospitals. The method is fast, low-cost and will provide much higher resolution than current methods. It will provide some of the first ever comprehensive environmental impact assessments, permitting responsible resource developmen ....From Biodiversity to Health: Performing the first genetic audits of Australia. This project will establish a new technology for the rapid measurement of environmental biodiversity, whether that be in natural resources such as forests, or pathogens in water supplies or hospitals. The method is fast, low-cost and will provide much higher resolution than current methods. It will provide some of the first ever comprehensive environmental impact assessments, permitting responsible resource development with major benefits to industry and the economy. It also provides a common platform for government agencies, from Department of Environment and Heritage to the Federal Police, and will create new tools to improve water management, biosecurity, forensics/policing and human health, as reflected by the wide range of industry partners supporting the project.Read moreRead less
Water Scarcity and rural social hardship - can water markets alleviate the problem? Present review of water resources within catchments of the Murray-Darling Basin will result in reduced access to water for consumptive use with consequential significant socio-economic and community impacts. Water markets are seen as major instruments to assist farmers in managing this process and thereby minimize the impact within rural communities. However, research has identified several barriers to trade an ....Water Scarcity and rural social hardship - can water markets alleviate the problem? Present review of water resources within catchments of the Murray-Darling Basin will result in reduced access to water for consumptive use with consequential significant socio-economic and community impacts. Water markets are seen as major instruments to assist farmers in managing this process and thereby minimize the impact within rural communities. However, research has identified several barriers to trade and several future research needs. This project addresses five of these issues by providing insight into three community barriers to trade as well as a framework for ongoing monitoring, analyses and reporting of market outcomes and impacts to assist adaptive policy development.Read moreRead less
Development and implementation of biodiversity information for sustainable management of South Australian groundwater. Clean potable water is one of the most important resources for human health and a successful economy. Increasingly, subterranean aquifers are used for storage and recovery of water. These aquifers contain dynamic ecosystems, but little is known about species composition or about the importance of the presence of various species for water quality. We will use the latest laborator ....Development and implementation of biodiversity information for sustainable management of South Australian groundwater. Clean potable water is one of the most important resources for human health and a successful economy. Increasingly, subterranean aquifers are used for storage and recovery of water. These aquifers contain dynamic ecosystems, but little is known about species composition or about the importance of the presence of various species for water quality. We will use the latest laboratory techniques and DNA identification methods to provide a template for determining ground water diversity and food web dynamics throughout Australia. This project will lead to a better understanding of how to manage ground water in a sustainable manner.Read moreRead less
Establishing baseline ecological conditions for the Lower Lakes, South Australia: the applications of palaeoecology to sustainable resource management. The Lower Lakes of the Murray River are in a critical ecological state due to record low water levels. Management of these lakes needs to integrate water security demands with maintaining healthy ecosystem functions. Proposed management options such as allowing seawater incursion and the construction of a weir to impede freshwater flows are based ....Establishing baseline ecological conditions for the Lower Lakes, South Australia: the applications of palaeoecology to sustainable resource management. The Lower Lakes of the Murray River are in a critical ecological state due to record low water levels. Management of these lakes needs to integrate water security demands with maintaining healthy ecosystem functions. Proposed management options such as allowing seawater incursion and the construction of a weir to impede freshwater flows are based on assumptions about what the Lakes were like naturally (pre-European). This study will reconstruct environmental variability within the Lower Lakes over the past 7000 years, concentrating on salinity to document the extent of marine incursion, and pH to examine the impacts of acid sulphate release from exposed sediments during low flow events. 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
Fish Jenga: metapopulation management for coastal river fish. This project aims to address the escalating threats to coastal freshwater fish from drought, fire, and other disturbances. The project expects to generate new knowledge on contemporary distributions of NSW coastal freshwater fishes, and will develop models of population dynamics to explore the consequences of alternative water management and disturbance scenarios. The expected outcome of the project is to revolutionise management by r ....Fish Jenga: metapopulation management for coastal river fish. This project aims to address the escalating threats to coastal freshwater fish from drought, fire, and other disturbances. The project expects to generate new knowledge on contemporary distributions of NSW coastal freshwater fishes, and will develop models of population dynamics to explore the consequences of alternative water management and disturbance scenarios. The expected outcome of the project is to revolutionise management by replacing the current practice of managing river basins separately, with a framework that accounts for among-basin linkages that are essential for the long-term persistence of fish populations. Significant benefits include more efficient use of water resources and improved conservation outcomes for native fish.Read moreRead less