Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354580
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Sustainable Futures through Understanding Past Human Responses to Environmental Change. This Network brings together researchers within archaeology and environmental sciences to develop cross-disciplinary and internationally comparative approaches to understanding past human responses to rapid environmental change. Integration of skills and perspectives from the Humanities and Sciences will create a generation of scholars able to work across different theoretical frameworks to formulate credible ....Sustainable Futures through Understanding Past Human Responses to Environmental Change. This Network brings together researchers within archaeology and environmental sciences to develop cross-disciplinary and internationally comparative approaches to understanding past human responses to rapid environmental change. Integration of skills and perspectives from the Humanities and Sciences will create a generation of scholars able to work across different theoretical frameworks to formulate credible responses to the challenge of creating sustainable societies in a changing world. Through a greater understanding of past societies' reactions to rapid environmental change, the Network will build on existing leading edge research and create a more informed guide to a sustainable future.Read moreRead less
Auger, Quantum Electro-Dynamics, Axions and New Technology. New technology developed by Australia, Sweden and the United States will be applied to major questions about the application of relativistic quantum mechanics to atomic structure and dynamics and spectroscopy, especially including critical issues in quantum electro-dynamics for atomic physics and applications. Discrepancies in quantum electro-dynamics have dominated international debate for decades, with claimed explanations annually fa ....Auger, Quantum Electro-Dynamics, Axions and New Technology. New technology developed by Australia, Sweden and the United States will be applied to major questions about the application of relativistic quantum mechanics to atomic structure and dynamics and spectroscopy, especially including critical issues in quantum electro-dynamics for atomic physics and applications. Discrepancies in quantum electro-dynamics have dominated international debate for decades, with claimed explanations annually failing to reveal the cause. Also a pattern of discrepancies has been seen at X-ray energies in first row metal atoms, with a similar sign and magnitude. A combined experimental an theoretical investigation will aim to reveal new light on these anomalies and serve to develop our understanding of the universe.Read moreRead less
Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components. This project aims to demonstrate how temperate evergreen forests could buffer against climate change. Soil respiration returns around half the carbon taken up by forests to the atmosphere. This project will characterise and quantify how microbes and roots in soils depend on temperature and substrate supply, and so predict how rising temperatures and drought will affect forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks. This project will ....Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components. This project aims to demonstrate how temperate evergreen forests could buffer against climate change. Soil respiration returns around half the carbon taken up by forests to the atmosphere. This project will characterise and quantify how microbes and roots in soils depend on temperature and substrate supply, and so predict how rising temperatures and drought will affect forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks. This project will resolve the roles of environmental drivers of soil respiration across forests; integrate mechanistic understanding of differing plant and microbial responses to temperature within a common modelling framework; and evaluate the implications of this knowledge in predictions of climatic impacts on terrestrial carbon cycling.Read moreRead less
A novel top-down approach to ecosystem management using multivariate foraging strategies of an iconic marine top-predator. Understanding predator aggregation patterns in relation to marine productivity is critical in designing ecosystem-level conservation plans for protecting marine habitats and species. The project aims to develop a new approach to measure prey abundance and availability in the marine ecosystem for the management of resources of top-predators. This will be of specific benefit i ....A novel top-down approach to ecosystem management using multivariate foraging strategies of an iconic marine top-predator. Understanding predator aggregation patterns in relation to marine productivity is critical in designing ecosystem-level conservation plans for protecting marine habitats and species. The project aims to develop a new approach to measure prey abundance and availability in the marine ecosystem for the management of resources of top-predators. This will be of specific benefit in areas where a strong need exists for conservation of prey species with economic importance too low to justify expensive at-sea research.Read moreRead less
Marine urban development: how can ecology inform the design of multifunctional artificial structures? This project aims to experimentally manipulate the design of artificial structures to achieve multipurpose ecological objectives. Artificial structures such as buildings and roads have featured in terrestrial urban landscapes for many years, but have only more recently begun encroaching on aquatic environments. Most marine artificial structures lack the innovative design solutions required to mi ....Marine urban development: how can ecology inform the design of multifunctional artificial structures? This project aims to experimentally manipulate the design of artificial structures to achieve multipurpose ecological objectives. Artificial structures such as buildings and roads have featured in terrestrial urban landscapes for many years, but have only more recently begun encroaching on aquatic environments. Most marine artificial structures lack the innovative design solutions required to mitigate their ecological impacts and provide essential ecosystem services such as pollution abatement. This project will investigate the efficacy of these designs with both classical measures of diversity and structure and novel measures of ecosystem function. The project aims to provide essential information to inform the design of future marine urban developments.Read moreRead less
Linking terrestrial–aquatic fluxes to rectify the Australian carbon balance. This project aims to rectify the Australian carbon balance by determining the amount of terrestrial carbon that is lost to streams and rivers across the country. Through a novel integration of high-resolution hydrochemical and gas measurements, remote sensing and machine learning algorithms, the project intends to generate new knowledge about the links between terrestrial carbon sequestration and aquatic carbon export. ....Linking terrestrial–aquatic fluxes to rectify the Australian carbon balance. This project aims to rectify the Australian carbon balance by determining the amount of terrestrial carbon that is lost to streams and rivers across the country. Through a novel integration of high-resolution hydrochemical and gas measurements, remote sensing and machine learning algorithms, the project intends to generate new knowledge about the links between terrestrial carbon sequestration and aquatic carbon export. Expected outcomes include a refined estimate of the net carbon sequestration potential across Australian biomes and seasons. This should provide significant benefits such as avoiding misalignment of greenhouse gas abatement policies and advancing carbon cycling models and predictions.Read moreRead less
Growing up to be supersonic: bat echolocation origins and mechanics. This project aims to address the unresolved evolutionary origins of bat echolocation. Using a unique combination of development, evolution and novel engineering testing, this project expects to generate new insights into how features of the skull have evolved to allow bats to use their senses to interact with the environment. Expected outcomes include the identification of skull features that are unique to echolocating bats and ....Growing up to be supersonic: bat echolocation origins and mechanics. This project aims to address the unresolved evolutionary origins of bat echolocation. Using a unique combination of development, evolution and novel engineering testing, this project expects to generate new insights into how features of the skull have evolved to allow bats to use their senses to interact with the environment. Expected outcomes include the identification of skull features that are unique to echolocating bats and tests of how these relate to the frequency and detection range of sounds produced. Benefits include improved conservation planning for urban and rural bat populations, and potential commercial advances through engineering applications that mimic the biological process of echolocation. Read moreRead less
Ecosystem resilience of Shark Bay under changing ocean climate. This project aims to investigate the resilience of the Shark Bay World Heritage Site to projected climate change. This project will generate new knowledge for marine conservation through analyses of habitat loss on nutrient budgets and productivity in seagrass and microbialite ecosystems. Expected outcomes are an improved understanding of climate-driven shifts on ecosystem processes in Shark Bay, incorporating science-based evidence ....Ecosystem resilience of Shark Bay under changing ocean climate. This project aims to investigate the resilience of the Shark Bay World Heritage Site to projected climate change. This project will generate new knowledge for marine conservation through analyses of habitat loss on nutrient budgets and productivity in seagrass and microbialite ecosystems. Expected outcomes are an improved understanding of climate-driven shifts on ecosystem processes in Shark Bay, incorporating science-based evidence for better conservation and management. This will provide significant benefits by contributing to the future-proofing of Shark Bay’s World Heritage values to climate change, and more broadly by demonstrating the consequences of the continued tropicalisation of Australia’s coastline.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101611
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,040.00
Summary
Snow, shrub and climate feedbacks: impacts of shrub expansion in the Australian alpine zone. This project aims to understand the mechanisms promoting shrub expansion in alpine areas and the consequences of a shrub-dominated landscape in terms of shrubs as hydrological mediators and as biodiversity and ecosystem modifiers. Some shrub species trap wind-blown snow, thereby facilitating seedling survival through soil insulation and increases to meltwater. However, if adaptive and plastic responses t ....Snow, shrub and climate feedbacks: impacts of shrub expansion in the Australian alpine zone. This project aims to understand the mechanisms promoting shrub expansion in alpine areas and the consequences of a shrub-dominated landscape in terms of shrubs as hydrological mediators and as biodiversity and ecosystem modifiers. Some shrub species trap wind-blown snow, thereby facilitating seedling survival through soil insulation and increases to meltwater. However, if adaptive and plastic responses to climate change allows, shrub expansion will have significant negative impacts on alpine biodiversity and ecosystem function. This project will tease apart the interacting effects of snow, recruitment and adaptation to provide models of shrub increase and determine how shrubs modify alpine ecosystem processes and upper catchment hydrology.Read moreRead less
Non-equilibrium material phases. This project aims to synthesise and characterise exotic materials produced in the laboratory under conditions that replicate those inside planets and stars. Highly non-equilibrium processing methods are needed to find entirely new material forms of elements and compounds created under extreme pressure and temperature. The project will use its laser-based synthesis method to explore and understand the non-equilibrium pathways and develop new materials. Understandi ....Non-equilibrium material phases. This project aims to synthesise and characterise exotic materials produced in the laboratory under conditions that replicate those inside planets and stars. Highly non-equilibrium processing methods are needed to find entirely new material forms of elements and compounds created under extreme pressure and temperature. The project will use its laser-based synthesis method to explore and understand the non-equilibrium pathways and develop new materials. Understanding how these materials form could lead to the next materials revolution. This research will lead to materials that industry sectors can exploit for commercial benefits.Read moreRead less