Tree water use, bushfires, and the implications for urban and rural water supplies. After bushfires, regrowing trees in catchments may use water much faster than before the fire. This project will develop simple tests for whether this is the case for a particular area of forest, and why, and how such effects can be incorporated in planning for rural and urban water supplies.
Mineral content of leaves and the ratio of water loss to carbon gain: environmental and genetic controls and comparison with stable isotopic measures. The ash content of leaves has promise as a cheap screen of water-use efficiency or of 'vigour' in crop plants, but the underlying mechanisms are not understood. The underlying science is at the intersection of plant growth, water use and nutrition. This project will aid breeders in understanding the conditions under which the screen may work.
Interactive effects of salinity and nutrients: linking physiological processes with patterns in mangrove forest productivity. The proposed research will provide insight into physiological mechanisms that underpin mangrove productivity along salinity and aridity gradients, and determine how these factors affect plant responses to nutrient enrichment. Plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance will be identified, thereby assisting development of plant varieties suited to Australian cond ....Interactive effects of salinity and nutrients: linking physiological processes with patterns in mangrove forest productivity. The proposed research will provide insight into physiological mechanisms that underpin mangrove productivity along salinity and aridity gradients, and determine how these factors affect plant responses to nutrient enrichment. Plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance will be identified, thereby assisting development of plant varieties suited to Australian conditions. The results will also contribute to development of process-based models to better manage mangrove resources with climate change and increasing nutrient influx from urban or agricultural activities. Such models are essential for managing mangrove productivity for sustainable fisheries, and protecting the ecological well being of the coastal zone.Read moreRead less
Salinity tolerance along an aridity gradient: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function in mangroves. The proposed research will provide insight into the physiological and morphological features that control the productivity of mangrove forests across broad gradients in salinity and aridity. Central to this is this identification of plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance, which will assist in the development of plant varieties suited to Austra ....Salinity tolerance along an aridity gradient: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function in mangroves. The proposed research will provide insight into the physiological and morphological features that control the productivity of mangrove forests across broad gradients in salinity and aridity. Central to this is this identification of plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance, which will assist in the development of plant varieties suited to Australian conditions. The results will also contribute to development of process-based models to better predict the response of mangrove vegetation to changing climate. A deep understanding of the processes that influence the growth and survival of mangroves is of fundamental importance to sustainable fisheries and protection of wildlife reliant on coastal ecosystems. Read moreRead less
Testing climatic, physiological and hydrological assumptions underpinning water yield from montane forests. Water collected in dams and reservoirs remains the mainstay water resource for Australian cities, towns and industry. Overwhelmingly, that water is collected from forested catchments where the water balance of forest stands is dominated by the amount of water used by trees. Characterising tree water use, its response to changing climatic and nocturnal conditions, and other aspects of sta ....Testing climatic, physiological and hydrological assumptions underpinning water yield from montane forests. Water collected in dams and reservoirs remains the mainstay water resource for Australian cities, towns and industry. Overwhelmingly, that water is collected from forested catchments where the water balance of forest stands is dominated by the amount of water used by trees. Characterising tree water use, its response to changing climatic and nocturnal conditions, and other aspects of stand hydrology, are crucial to our ability to predict and model future water yields. Working in the Cotter catchment near Canberra and the upper Kiewa catchment in north-east Victoria, we aim to help the agencies responsible for water and catchment management to improve the security of their forecasts of water yield and their on-ground management. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101143
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,220.00
Summary
An electrophysiological insight into the role of chloroplasts in stomatal drought signalling. Drought implies a range of stresses with which plants have to cope. Drought is not only a domestic issue for Australian people who live in this dry continent but also significantly affects global food supply and drives climate change. Stomata guard cells exert major controls on global water and carbon cycles. Although the total stomatal pore area may be five per cent of a leaf surface, transpirational w ....An electrophysiological insight into the role of chloroplasts in stomatal drought signalling. Drought implies a range of stresses with which plants have to cope. Drought is not only a domestic issue for Australian people who live in this dry continent but also significantly affects global food supply and drives climate change. Stomata guard cells exert major controls on global water and carbon cycles. Although the total stomatal pore area may be five per cent of a leaf surface, transpirational water loss through the stomata contributes to 70 per cent of total agricultural water usage. As an environmental signal, drought regulates stomatal movements. This project seeks to understand the mechanisms of drought induced molecular retrograde signals and their regulation over stomata. The outcomes will aid the development of strategies for reducing water loss from crops.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL190100056
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,795,000.00
Summary
Smart Plants and Solutions for Enhancing Crop Resilience and Yield. The Fellowship aims to produce transformative solutions targeting crop resilience and food security. The chloroplast, the site of photosynthesis, regulates a suite of cellular processes that control photosynthesis, growth and drought resilience. It is expected that a first ever blueprint of the suite of communication networks used by the chloroplast will be discovered. I will use synthetic biology to rewire the network in order ....Smart Plants and Solutions for Enhancing Crop Resilience and Yield. The Fellowship aims to produce transformative solutions targeting crop resilience and food security. The chloroplast, the site of photosynthesis, regulates a suite of cellular processes that control photosynthesis, growth and drought resilience. It is expected that a first ever blueprint of the suite of communication networks used by the chloroplast will be discovered. I will use synthetic biology to rewire the network in order to generate 'smart plants' that are higher-yielding and more resilient in both good and bad seasons by precisely switching on and off resilience. Such re-imaginings of crop systems, inclusive of societal implications, will help chart the future of Australian agriculture.Read moreRead less
On the physiology of plant transpiration. This project aims to better understand plant transpiration. It is significant from both a basic and a practical perspective. It intends to solve a conundrum of the biophysics of the evaporative sites within leaves. That is, in dry air, the relative humidity of intercellular air spaces suggests much lower liquid water potentials than those typically measured. At a practical level, the failure to sustain transpiration in dry conditions leads to desiccation ....On the physiology of plant transpiration. This project aims to better understand plant transpiration. It is significant from both a basic and a practical perspective. It intends to solve a conundrum of the biophysics of the evaporative sites within leaves. That is, in dry air, the relative humidity of intercellular air spaces suggests much lower liquid water potentials than those typically measured. At a practical level, the failure to sustain transpiration in dry conditions leads to desiccation and tissue death, and plants differ in this vulnerability. The aim is to apply a novel nanoparticle technique to measure the water potential distribution within the leaf, identify hydraulic resilience attributes, and develop a modern theory of optimal transpiration under varying conditions.Read moreRead less