Australian savannah landscapes: past, present and future. Australian savannahs are productive and culturally and biologically significant landscapes but are vulnerable to climate change. The project will determine savannah function (carbon and water balance) for the present and assess how sensitive they have been to past climate variability. The project will then address how they may respond to future climate change.
Either side of the Big Wet: the future resilience of south-eastern Australia's biota. Australia must develop strategies for managing its biodiversity under climate changes expected to occur under projected Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emission scenarios. The project will furnish comprehensive data on the response of plants and animals to the break in the Big Dry (1997-2009) in 2010-11 and evaluate how predict biotic components will cope with future climates.
Are evolutionary refugia traps for endemic species? This project aims to determine whether species that have small geographic ranges and which live in historically stable refugia have evolved narrow climatic tolerances. The project will compare such species with more widespread, related species living in the same areas and combine field- and lab-based estimates of physiological tolerances with genomic estimates of population history and diversity. The expected outcome is to test the prediction f ....Are evolutionary refugia traps for endemic species? This project aims to determine whether species that have small geographic ranges and which live in historically stable refugia have evolved narrow climatic tolerances. The project will compare such species with more widespread, related species living in the same areas and combine field- and lab-based estimates of physiological tolerances with genomic estimates of population history and diversity. The expected outcome is to test the prediction from evolutionary theory that small-range, refugial species are intrinsically more sensitive to climatic change. The project expects to provide improved guidance for ecological management of biodiversity hotspots.Read moreRead less
Cross-cultural institution-building and development interventions: linking applied and critical approaches. This project will examine cross-cultural institutions created in the context of development, planning and management interventions. The proposed collaboration will support two APAI scholars to research the social and cultural processes whereby such institutions engage local communities in resource mapping, planning and decision-making. One scholar will work in East Timor, the other in the ....Cross-cultural institution-building and development interventions: linking applied and critical approaches. This project will examine cross-cultural institutions created in the context of development, planning and management interventions. The proposed collaboration will support two APAI scholars to research the social and cultural processes whereby such institutions engage local communities in resource mapping, planning and decision-making. One scholar will work in East Timor, the other in the Northern Territory. A key objective is to combine applied and critical approaches in expanding our understanding of the interactions that takes place between external agencies and local communities. The research will contribute to the improved design and implementation of initiatives for managing local resources.Read moreRead less
Integrative assessment of disturbance and land-use change on total greenhouse gas balance and nutrient cycling in savanna ecosystems. Climate change and variability is expected to have an impact on the NT environment and economy. This project will enable NT specific calibrations of climate variability-land use models, such as the National Carbon Accounting System. The NT Government will have access to a high quality database and calibrated models relating to greenhouse gas emissions as a functio ....Integrative assessment of disturbance and land-use change on total greenhouse gas balance and nutrient cycling in savanna ecosystems. Climate change and variability is expected to have an impact on the NT environment and economy. This project will enable NT specific calibrations of climate variability-land use models, such as the National Carbon Accounting System. The NT Government will have access to a high quality database and calibrated models relating to greenhouse gas emissions as a function of land use change. The project will improve estimates and management of GHG and provide a basis for the NT to potentially exploit future carbon-trading initiatives or GHG abatement schemes as fundamental data describing emissions as a function of land use will be available. This is of national significance given the size of the savanna biome in Australia.Read moreRead less
Demographic consequences of Asian disasters: family dynamics, social capital and migration patterns. This study of the long term demographic consequences of Asian disasters will contribute to development of more effective governmental policies on disaster mitigation, preparedness and reconstruction/recovery, thus assisting to reduce the human and material losses from natural disasters.
A Multi-setting Intervention To Reduce Sedentary Behaviour, Promote Physical Activity And Improve Childrens Health
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$860,343.00
Summary
Sedentary behaviours and physical inactivity play a major role in the rising prevalence of obesity among children in Australia. This intervention study will take place in the school and family settings which play a critical role in shaping children's health behaviours. The objective is to determine whether a 2-year behavioural intervention reduces sedentary behaviour and promotes physical activity and results in improved health among 8-9 year old children.
Rescuing Carl Strehlow's Indigenous cultural heritage legacy: the neglected German tradition of Arandic ethnography. In collaboration with Arrernte and Luritja speakers, this project will result in the translation of Carl Strehlow’s 10,000 word German dictionary and other major, unavailable cultural heritage materials and at the same time incorporate the work of the neglected tradition of German humanistic anthropology into scholarship on Central Australia.
ARC Research Network for Understanding and Managing Australian Biodiversity. Biodiversity research is strong in Australia but is highly uncoordinated and, along with recent major breakthroughs in both theory and techniques, has highlighted the need for a Network to properly integrate research and focus it on the most appropriate scale. This Network aims to bring together a diverse spectrum of highly experienced and early career researchers to pool their ideas and expertise to allow them to deter ....ARC Research Network for Understanding and Managing Australian Biodiversity. Biodiversity research is strong in Australia but is highly uncoordinated and, along with recent major breakthroughs in both theory and techniques, has highlighted the need for a Network to properly integrate research and focus it on the most appropriate scale. This Network aims to bring together a diverse spectrum of highly experienced and early career researchers to pool their ideas and expertise to allow them to determine how best to describe Australia's current biodiversity and the biological and environmental history leading up to the present. A major outcome will be the ability to predict the impacts of environmental change on biodiversity to assist management decisions across Australia, with lessons of global importance.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560895
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$854,354.00
Summary
A new-generation gas-source radiocarbon system for integrated environmental and archaeological research. An ultra-sensitive radiocarbon analysis system, proposed here, is central to new, multi-institution research into past fluctuations of Australia's climate, natural resources and ecosystems. Focussed on the 40,000 years of human presence, the research is an integrated approach to changes of earth systems in the Australian region.The equipment is a single-stage accelerator mass spectrometer (SS ....A new-generation gas-source radiocarbon system for integrated environmental and archaeological research. An ultra-sensitive radiocarbon analysis system, proposed here, is central to new, multi-institution research into past fluctuations of Australia's climate, natural resources and ecosystems. Focussed on the 40,000 years of human presence, the research is an integrated approach to changes of earth systems in the Australian region.The equipment is a single-stage accelerator mass spectrometer (SSAMS) with an innovative gas-fed ion source and automated gas-handling system, with simpler processing and smaller samples than present AMS facilities. Future developments include automated multi-sample handling and coupling to microprobe and chromatographic analysers for microscale radiocarbon analysis of complex substances.Read moreRead less