Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101486
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,000.00
Summary
Animal groups as mobile sensor networks. This project aims to provide biologically inspired solutions to the problems faced by mobile sensor networks. Mobile sensor networks provide a powerful new tool in environmental monitoring and surveillance, however, designing them to be energy efficient while not sacrificing information detection remains a challenge. By immersing animal groups into dynamically changing virtual environments this project will design new efficient mobile sensor networks. The ....Animal groups as mobile sensor networks. This project aims to provide biologically inspired solutions to the problems faced by mobile sensor networks. Mobile sensor networks provide a powerful new tool in environmental monitoring and surveillance, however, designing them to be energy efficient while not sacrificing information detection remains a challenge. By immersing animal groups into dynamically changing virtual environments this project will design new efficient mobile sensor networks. The project is expected to provide solutions to mobile sensor network limitations, benefitting areas including robotics, environmental monitoring and defence.Read moreRead less
From individuals to mass organisation: aggregation, synchronisation and collective movement in locusts. By combining field biology, robotics and mathematics, this project will determine how animals flock or swarm and, in particular, how locust nymphs control their collective movement over their lifetime. The mathematical models derived during the project will be directly applied to controlling outbreaks of locusts in Australia, South and North Africa.
Critical flux paths influencing ecological processes in an urban estuary. This study will focus on the roles of benthic algae, denitrification and consumers on nutrient fluxes and planktonic production in the Swan River estuary, Western Australia. A 5-year research program of measurements and numerical modelling has identified these processes as poorly quantified, critical to the estuary trophic status, and essential data in order to accurately predict potential impacts of remediation strategie ....Critical flux paths influencing ecological processes in an urban estuary. This study will focus on the roles of benthic algae, denitrification and consumers on nutrient fluxes and planktonic production in the Swan River estuary, Western Australia. A 5-year research program of measurements and numerical modelling has identified these processes as poorly quantified, critical to the estuary trophic status, and essential data in order to accurately predict potential impacts of remediation strategies. We will validate the impacts of denitrification through in situ measurements, review data on higher order consumers, and use this information in a numerical model to understand the interactions of biogeochemical fluxes, plant, animal and microbial communities, and transport processes in the estuary.Read moreRead less
Setting rehabilitation targets for regulated floodplain wetlands: linking system structure and function. Limited understanding of ecosystem processes in floodplain wetlands impedes adaptive management strategies for combating the decline in aquatic productivity and biodiversity. This project addresses three knowledge gaps critical for effective floodplain wetland management: 1) hierarchical spatial and temporal patterns of structural diversity; 2) correspondence between patterns of structural d ....Setting rehabilitation targets for regulated floodplain wetlands: linking system structure and function. Limited understanding of ecosystem processes in floodplain wetlands impedes adaptive management strategies for combating the decline in aquatic productivity and biodiversity. This project addresses three knowledge gaps critical for effective floodplain wetland management: 1) hierarchical spatial and temporal patterns of structural diversity; 2) correspondence between patterns of structural diversity, rates of system production, and food web structure, and 3) conceptual models of relationships between hydrologic regime and wetland structure and function. The project will improve understanding of the impacts of regulation on floodplain wetlands, contribute to adaptive management, and set rehabilitation targets for delivery of environmental flows for ecosystem sustainability.Read moreRead less
Factors controlling marine food webs: consumer vs. nutrient limitation of mobile invertebrates and algae. An understanding of the strength of interactions in marine food webs is crucial to predicting change in coastal habitats due to human activities. The outcomes of this research will indicate the relative importance of changes in nutrient inputs from terrestrial runoff (eutrophication) and predation pressures (via overfishing) - both of which may strongly affect the structure of marine habitat ....Factors controlling marine food webs: consumer vs. nutrient limitation of mobile invertebrates and algae. An understanding of the strength of interactions in marine food webs is crucial to predicting change in coastal habitats due to human activities. The outcomes of this research will indicate the relative importance of changes in nutrient inputs from terrestrial runoff (eutrophication) and predation pressures (via overfishing) - both of which may strongly affect the structure of marine habitats - on an extremely abundant and diverse component of coastal marine habitats.Read moreRead less
Boxing clever: artificial nest boxes as a conservation and research tool. Saving endangered species increasingly requires proactive management. This project presents an innovative and practical solution to save an iconic Australian species, while also providing the scientific foundation for the development of a novel Australian-based commercial product that will be used to protect and restore Australian biodiversity.
Assessing linkages across arid zone estuarine landscapes. We aim to understand the degree of connectivity between the terrestrial environment and estuaries in the arid tropics of Australia. We will investigate the impact of terrestrial-estuarine linkages on near shore food webs, which include a diverse fauna, some of which are commercially important. Human activities in the land-ocean interface have to have the capacity to alter greatly the timing, magnitude, and composition of inputs from water ....Assessing linkages across arid zone estuarine landscapes. We aim to understand the degree of connectivity between the terrestrial environment and estuaries in the arid tropics of Australia. We will investigate the impact of terrestrial-estuarine linkages on near shore food webs, which include a diverse fauna, some of which are commercially important. Human activities in the land-ocean interface have to have the capacity to alter greatly the timing, magnitude, and composition of inputs from watersheds to estuaries, thereby greatly altering the function of estuaries. The results of this project will fill a gap in our knowledge of how arid zone estuaries function, and will contribute to developing management strategies needed to maintain estuary productivity.Read moreRead less
Bioinvasions: the interactive effects of propagule pressure and pollution. The successful establishment of species outside their native range is an increasingly frequent occurrence and can cause reductions in biodiversity and ecosystem disruption. Bioinvasions may also cause public health risks and damage to agriculture and fisheries. Nowhere is the accelerating pace of bioinvasions more dramatic than in ports and harbours. This project will determine the effects of pollution on invasion in a ma ....Bioinvasions: the interactive effects of propagule pressure and pollution. The successful establishment of species outside their native range is an increasingly frequent occurrence and can cause reductions in biodiversity and ecosystem disruption. Bioinvasions may also cause public health risks and damage to agriculture and fisheries. Nowhere is the accelerating pace of bioinvasions more dramatic than in ports and harbours. This project will determine the effects of pollution on invasion in a marine system. This project is in the national interest because it will identify mechanisms through which the invasion of exotic species are encouraged and assist in the identification and prioritisation of effective management strategies to prevent invasion.Read moreRead less
Biotic connectivity within the temperate Australian marine protected area network at three levels of biodiversity, communities, populations and genes. Project outcomes will improve management of coastal biodiversity through a multi-state collaboration of managers, marine ecologists, population geneticists and taxonomists. Sites most needed within marine protected area (MPA) networks for maintaining resilience of populations across seascapes will be identified, including sites with exceptional en ....Biotic connectivity within the temperate Australian marine protected area network at three levels of biodiversity, communities, populations and genes. Project outcomes will improve management of coastal biodiversity through a multi-state collaboration of managers, marine ecologists, population geneticists and taxonomists. Sites most needed within marine protected area (MPA) networks for maintaining resilience of populations across seascapes will be identified, including sites with exceptional endemism or key roles in dispersal of larvae. The ecological efficacy of the temperate Australian MPA network will be assessed through analysis of long-term ecological datasets and further development of a novel 'remote sensing' methodology, whereby surveys are undertaken by volunteer divers across much greater spatial and temporal scales than could be studied by dedicated scientific dive teams.Read moreRead less
LIZARD SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND THE INFLUENCE OF PARASITES. We ask why stable social group living in animals, with well documented benefits, is relatively rare. One cost is the enhanced opportunity for parasite and disease transmission among group members. We will explore, for a lizard, the impact of group living on parasite infections, and the costs of infection. We expect to produce observational and experimental results with an unusual level of detail, and with a fresh taxonomic perspective to in ....LIZARD SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND THE INFLUENCE OF PARASITES. We ask why stable social group living in animals, with well documented benefits, is relatively rare. One cost is the enhanced opportunity for parasite and disease transmission among group members. We will explore, for a lizard, the impact of group living on parasite infections, and the costs of infection. We expect to produce observational and experimental results with an unusual level of detail, and with a fresh taxonomic perspective to influence debate in this central area of behavioural ecology. We will also produce new information on behavioural ecology of Australian fauna, important for conservation management and ecotourism.Read moreRead less