Optimising fire management for a resilient future. Optimising fire management for a resilient future. This project aims to quantify how changes in fire frequency, fire season, invasive weeds and climate interact to affect native species’ persistence. Fire risk management is a conundrum for agencies responsible both for protection of life and property and biodiversity conservation. Global change factors (rainfall decline, warming, invasive species, ecosystem fragmentation) interact with changes i ....Optimising fire management for a resilient future. Optimising fire management for a resilient future. This project aims to quantify how changes in fire frequency, fire season, invasive weeds and climate interact to affect native species’ persistence. Fire risk management is a conundrum for agencies responsible both for protection of life and property and biodiversity conservation. Global change factors (rainfall decline, warming, invasive species, ecosystem fragmentation) interact with changes in fire regime (interval and season) associated with prescribed burning to affect native species’ regeneration capacity. Anticipated outcomes are fuel reduction burning policy and management changes that balance and minimise risk of fire to economy, society and biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Designing green spaces for biodiversity and human well-being. Designing green spaces for biodiversity and human well-being . This project aims to determine mechanisms linking urban design to socio-ecological benefits from green spaces. Ecological restoration in urban green space could attract more biodiversity into urban environments, reduce maintenance costs, provide market advantage for the development industry and improve a sense of place for residents. However, how best to encourage biodiver ....Designing green spaces for biodiversity and human well-being. Designing green spaces for biodiversity and human well-being . This project aims to determine mechanisms linking urban design to socio-ecological benefits from green spaces. Ecological restoration in urban green space could attract more biodiversity into urban environments, reduce maintenance costs, provide market advantage for the development industry and improve a sense of place for residents. However, how best to encourage biodiversity using urban design is poorly understood, and little is known about how green spaces create health and well-being. This project will alter levels of green space design explanatory variables in modular experimental plots, in both Royal Park, the City of Melbourne’s largest public green space, and Melbourne’s CBD; conduct biodiversity and human wellbeing experiments; and develop urban design recommendations that support biodiversity and human wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101226
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,071.00
Summary
Success and the city: biodiversity responses in urban environments. This project aims to quantify the species traits and environmental conditions that enable wildlife to persist in an increasingly urbanised world. Through developing and testing a framework linking unprecedented urban expansion and biodiversity change, this project will identify favourable conditions that support biodiversity in the face of global urbanisation. Project outcomes will inform appropriate real-world management action ....Success and the city: biodiversity responses in urban environments. This project aims to quantify the species traits and environmental conditions that enable wildlife to persist in an increasingly urbanised world. Through developing and testing a framework linking unprecedented urban expansion and biodiversity change, this project will identify favourable conditions that support biodiversity in the face of global urbanisation. Project outcomes will inform appropriate real-world management actions and equip scientists, policy-makers and planners with tools to forecast the persistence of biodiversity in Australian cities. By discovering the attributes species need to survive city life this project will help prevent future catastrophic declines of global biodiversity in our increasingly urbanised world.Read moreRead less
Beyond green facades: integrating ecology and architecture. This project aims to develop a novel architectural paradigm that embeds ecological science, working with nature to design cities that are more resilient to environmental upheavals. Methods aim to overcome substantial theoretical and technical challenges to embedding quantitative ecology into architectural design processes, including the development of new approaches for measuring and evaluating biodiversity benefits of alternative urban ....Beyond green facades: integrating ecology and architecture. This project aims to develop a novel architectural paradigm that embeds ecological science, working with nature to design cities that are more resilient to environmental upheavals. Methods aim to overcome substantial theoretical and technical challenges to embedding quantitative ecology into architectural design processes, including the development of new approaches for measuring and evaluating biodiversity benefits of alternative urban designs, from the building to landscape scale. Expected outcomes include enhanced capacity for the built form to address biodiversity considerations through nature-based solutions. The case study designs developed in this project should represent a template for more habitable, liveable, sustainable cities.Read moreRead less
Monitoring organic matter in drinking water systems using fluorescence spectroscopy: improved early warning, process optimisation and water quality. Climate change is contributing to elevated organic matter (OM) concentrations in drinking water supplies. If insufficiently treated, OM can lead to unacceptable concentrations of disinfection by-products, considered to be potential carcinogens, as well as taste and odour problems and bacterial re-growth in the distribution system. Currently availabl ....Monitoring organic matter in drinking water systems using fluorescence spectroscopy: improved early warning, process optimisation and water quality. Climate change is contributing to elevated organic matter (OM) concentrations in drinking water supplies. If insufficiently treated, OM can lead to unacceptable concentrations of disinfection by-products, considered to be potential carcinogens, as well as taste and odour problems and bacterial re-growth in the distribution system. Currently available on-line monitoring techniques give limited information regarding the nature of OM; however, fluorescence spectroscopy has shown promise in this regard. Hence, this project aims to provide an on-line monitoring protocol utilising fluorescence to aid utilities in their provision of safe drinking water, thus addressing the National Research Priority goal water – a critical resource.Read moreRead less
Smart metering founding a holistic evidence-based performance evaluation framework and demand forecasting model for diversified water supply schemes. The Australian water industry faces the challenge of catering for the potable water demand of a rapidly expanding population with reduced reliability on supply imposed by an increasingly variable climate. Diversified water supply schemes (DWSS) incorporating decentralised systems or reuse sources are touted as a means to handle the inherent weaknes ....Smart metering founding a holistic evidence-based performance evaluation framework and demand forecasting model for diversified water supply schemes. The Australian water industry faces the challenge of catering for the potable water demand of a rapidly expanding population with reduced reliability on supply imposed by an increasingly variable climate. Diversified water supply schemes (DWSS) incorporating decentralised systems or reuse sources are touted as a means to handle the inherent weaknesses of centralised urban water supply schemes by potentially drawing 30-50 per cent less demand on their reserves. This research study will provide evidence to support the implementation of best practice DWSS based on an evidence based holistic assessment of their performance considering potable water savings, capital and operation costs, energy demand, as well as environmental and community impacts.Read moreRead less
Impacts of pharmaceuticals and personal care products on Australian aquatic ecosystems. Pharmaceutical and personal care products (e.g. antihistamines, caffeine, antibiotics) have recently been shown to suppress rates of the critical processes providing food resources to fish and insects, threatening viability of aquatic ecosystems. Using novel methods, this project will investigate acute and longer term impacts of these chemicals.
Improved monitoring of aquatic pollutants in national water resources. Clean water is predicted to become the world’s most valuable asset during this century, necessitating the improved monitoring of Australia’s limited water resources. Using a new and integrated monitoring approach, this project expects to develop and implement novel passive sampling technologies to monitor a range of water pollutants, specifically toxic ionised organic chemicals of emerging concern. The outcomes of this projec ....Improved monitoring of aquatic pollutants in national water resources. Clean water is predicted to become the world’s most valuable asset during this century, necessitating the improved monitoring of Australia’s limited water resources. Using a new and integrated monitoring approach, this project expects to develop and implement novel passive sampling technologies to monitor a range of water pollutants, specifically toxic ionised organic chemicals of emerging concern. The outcomes of this project will create cost-effective tools to advance the detection of emerging chemicals in drinking, ground, surface and waste waters. The technology will benefit millions of Australians by safeguarding essential water resources.Read moreRead less
Assessing absolute sustainability of global cities. The project aims to create a quantitative modelling framework for assessing the absolute sustainability of cities by combining global multi-region input-output analysis with the 'safe and just space' concept for human development. The model will allow assessment of the full supply chain environmental and social impacts of urban economic activities against biophysical planetary limits as well as social foundation thresholds defined in the litera ....Assessing absolute sustainability of global cities. The project aims to create a quantitative modelling framework for assessing the absolute sustainability of cities by combining global multi-region input-output analysis with the 'safe and just space' concept for human development. The model will allow assessment of the full supply chain environmental and social impacts of urban economic activities against biophysical planetary limits as well as social foundation thresholds defined in the literature. The project will advance sustainability science methodology and will greatly benefit worldwide initiatives for urban sustainability. Case studies on Australian cities will assess where interventions can be most practically, realistically and effectively implemented.Read moreRead less
Conserving native wildlife during urbanisation: the effectiveness of biodiversity-friendly urban design and construction practices. Urbanisation has many negative effects upon native wildlife and their habitats, but biodiversity-friendly urban design and construction practices may greatly reduce these impacts. This study will examine the effectiveness of such measures at sustaining wildlife at sites of urban development, and will therefore produce significant benefits for local residents and the ....Conserving native wildlife during urbanisation: the effectiveness of biodiversity-friendly urban design and construction practices. Urbanisation has many negative effects upon native wildlife and their habitats, but biodiversity-friendly urban design and construction practices may greatly reduce these impacts. This study will examine the effectiveness of such measures at sustaining wildlife at sites of urban development, and will therefore produce significant benefits for local residents and the broader Australian community. Healthy natural ecosystems in urban areas provide many services to the public, reduce the need for costly management, and improve the livelihood of residents living in greener environments. This study will enhance all these community benefits through a detailed examination of the effectiveness of biodiversity-friendly urban development measures.Read moreRead less