Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0346454
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
Native plant mesocosm facility. Mesocosms allow ecological processes to be studied at scales intermediate between the field and laboratory. We will establish a native plant mesocosm, allowing us to accurately manipulate environmental factors such as soil moisture, mineral nutrients and temperature. This will enable us to assess how plants adjust resource allocation patterns and determine genotypic and phenotypic responses to varying environmental conditions. Such research will provide insight in ....Native plant mesocosm facility. Mesocosms allow ecological processes to be studied at scales intermediate between the field and laboratory. We will establish a native plant mesocosm, allowing us to accurately manipulate environmental factors such as soil moisture, mineral nutrients and temperature. This will enable us to assess how plants adjust resource allocation patterns and determine genotypic and phenotypic responses to varying environmental conditions. Such research will provide insight into how native plants persist in and adapt to changing environmental conditions. The facility will strengthen existing collaboration with NSW NPWS, enhance post-graduate and post-doctoral training, and provide improved conservation and management outcomes for native plants.Read moreRead less
Connecting ecological processes controlling variation across spatial scales. Large variability in numbers and types of animals from place to place and time to time characterizes many ecological systems, particularly on the rocky shores along our coasts. It confuses interpretation and hampers predictions about conservation, impacts and climatic change. This programme is a systematic experimental analysis of the major causes of variance (availability of suitable habitat and food, influences of w ....Connecting ecological processes controlling variation across spatial scales. Large variability in numbers and types of animals from place to place and time to time characterizes many ecological systems, particularly on the rocky shores along our coasts. It confuses interpretation and hampers predictions about conservation, impacts and climatic change. This programme is a systematic experimental analysis of the major causes of variance (availability of suitable habitat and food, influences of weather) on the animals and indirectly on their food. The research will unravel the interacting influences that operate over several spatial scales to cause variability in local diversity. This will radically increase our capacity to sustain our coastal fauna.Read moreRead less
The cost of a meal: life-history consequences of foraging mode in fur seals and sea lions. Australia's two fur seal species are currently experiencing population increases throughout their range as they recover from the over-exploitation of the commercial sealing era (18-19th centuries) whereas the Australian sea lion population is decreasing (or stable but low) throughout its range and is considered vulnerable. Understanding the mechanisms which determine foraging efficiency in fur seals and s ....The cost of a meal: life-history consequences of foraging mode in fur seals and sea lions. Australia's two fur seal species are currently experiencing population increases throughout their range as they recover from the over-exploitation of the commercial sealing era (18-19th centuries) whereas the Australian sea lion population is decreasing (or stable but low) throughout its range and is considered vulnerable. Understanding the mechanisms which determine foraging efficiency in fur seals and sea lions will have implications for the management of these species, which are likely to experience increasing interactions with fisheries activities. The results of this research will assist in the development of policies to ensure the environmentally sustainable use of marine resources. Read moreRead less
Long-term changes in Mackay Whitsunday water quality and connectivity between coral reefs and mangrove ecosystems. Declining water quality is implicated in the degradation of near-shore Great Barrier Reef (GBR) ecosystems. The goal of this project is to provide a definitive answer to the question of how GBR water quality has changed since European arrival (pre-1860). Using novel geochemical proxies in long-lived coral cores and innovative remote sensing techniques, we will develop quantitative h ....Long-term changes in Mackay Whitsunday water quality and connectivity between coral reefs and mangrove ecosystems. Declining water quality is implicated in the degradation of near-shore Great Barrier Reef (GBR) ecosystems. The goal of this project is to provide a definitive answer to the question of how GBR water quality has changed since European arrival (pre-1860). Using novel geochemical proxies in long-lived coral cores and innovative remote sensing techniques, we will develop quantitative histories of water quality and mangrove distribution change. This project will deliver the first integrated assessment of how coastal water quality and associated ecosystems have varied historically, which will be immediately applicable for long-term management of coastal ecosystems lining the GBR.Read moreRead less
Drought and Salinity Tolerance in Metal Hyperaccumulating Plants: A Functional Role for the Metals? A few plant species can ?hyperaccumulate? metal ions to 100-1000 times the concentrations seen in ?normal? plants. Just why these plants have evolved such an extreme response to metalliferous soils remains an enigma. Many of the hyperaccumulators so far described are endemic to xeric environments, or saline soils prone to rapid drying. We hypothesize that the metals might act as osmotica, enha ....Drought and Salinity Tolerance in Metal Hyperaccumulating Plants: A Functional Role for the Metals? A few plant species can ?hyperaccumulate? metal ions to 100-1000 times the concentrations seen in ?normal? plants. Just why these plants have evolved such an extreme response to metalliferous soils remains an enigma. Many of the hyperaccumulators so far described are endemic to xeric environments, or saline soils prone to rapid drying. We hypothesize that the metals might act as osmotica, enhancing plant survival during water stress. This will be tested for Australian native and non-native hyperaccumulator plants. The study will clarify our understanding of the evolutionary significance of hyperaccumulation, and has important applications for extracting metals from contaminated soils.Read moreRead less
Do larval fish leave the reef to avoid parasites? Although fundamental to understanding the community structure of reef fishes, why fish larvae migrate to the open ocean remains controversial. Traditional explanations are that it results in dispersal, avoidance of predators, and increased food. Recent work on the Great Barrier Reef, however, suggests avoiding reef-based micropredatory parasites may be more important. To determine if this so, we will investigate the effect of parasites on larval ....Do larval fish leave the reef to avoid parasites? Although fundamental to understanding the community structure of reef fishes, why fish larvae migrate to the open ocean remains controversial. Traditional explanations are that it results in dispersal, avoidance of predators, and increased food. Recent work on the Great Barrier Reef, however, suggests avoiding reef-based micropredatory parasites may be more important. To determine if this so, we will investigate the effect of parasites on larval fish condition, performance, and susceptibility to micropredators; whether larval fish are vulnerable to reef-based micropredators; the effects of micropredators on fish settlement patterns; and whether larval fish that don't migrate have adaptations to avoid micropredators.Read moreRead less
The role of early life history on the survival of coral reef fishes - opening the Black Box. A fundamental unanswered question in marine ecology and fisheries management is - what influences the number of individuals that survive the larval phase to join a reef population? Theoretical studies show that small changes in the quality of offspring can lead to large changes in the numbers surviving the larval phase. What aspects of offspring quality determine who survives is largely unknown. We use ....The role of early life history on the survival of coral reef fishes - opening the Black Box. A fundamental unanswered question in marine ecology and fisheries management is - what influences the number of individuals that survive the larval phase to join a reef population? Theoretical studies show that small changes in the quality of offspring can lead to large changes in the numbers surviving the larval phase. What aspects of offspring quality determine who survives is largely unknown. We use a multidisciplinary approach to explore what influences the quality of offspring spawned by adults, and whether offspring traits prior to or at hatching determine the identity of individuals that survive to join the reproductive population.Read moreRead less