An innovative approach to maximising catchment water yield in a changing climate. Australia is facing a crisis in water availability and management within many of the continent's major cities and the Murray-Darling and Sydney Basins. Risk to water resources will also be exacerbated by climate change. Past solutions of increasing water supply by building dams are no longer easily implemented because of the significant environmental consequences. To maximise yield, better management of current res ....An innovative approach to maximising catchment water yield in a changing climate. Australia is facing a crisis in water availability and management within many of the continent's major cities and the Murray-Darling and Sydney Basins. Risk to water resources will also be exacerbated by climate change. Past solutions of increasing water supply by building dams are no longer easily implemented because of the significant environmental consequences. To maximise yield, better management of current resources is required, dependent on understanding what factors affect water yield and how they may be better manipulated. This project innovatively integrates ecological and hydrological processes by modelling the expression of water use by vegetation and its management and water availability at fine resolutions.Read moreRead less
Corporate and institutional strategies for climate change: An international comparative study. Drawing on 'best practice' from US and European countries, the project will improve corporate Australia's capacity for sustainability by developing a framework that integrates climate change issues into corporate strategy. By integrating perspectives from market, state and civil society actors, the research's multi-stakeholder approach also addresses community concerns about climate change. The find ....Corporate and institutional strategies for climate change: An international comparative study. Drawing on 'best practice' from US and European countries, the project will improve corporate Australia's capacity for sustainability by developing a framework that integrates climate change issues into corporate strategy. By integrating perspectives from market, state and civil society actors, the research's multi-stakeholder approach also addresses community concerns about climate change. The findings will help enhance our understanding of the challenges and opportunities resulting from the introduction of Australia's first national emissions scheme in 2010.Read moreRead less
Managing Ecosystem Change in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. Protected areas are the primary mechanism for conserving Australia's unique biodiversity. Of added significance are areas of biodiversity recognised as World Heritage Areas, such as the GBMWA. Climate, pest species and altered fire regimes potentially diminish their ecological values but some of these anthropogenic threats can be managed. Effective management depends on spatially-explicit understanding that allows prior ....Managing Ecosystem Change in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. Protected areas are the primary mechanism for conserving Australia's unique biodiversity. Of added significance are areas of biodiversity recognised as World Heritage Areas, such as the GBMWA. Climate, pest species and altered fire regimes potentially diminish their ecological values but some of these anthropogenic threats can be managed. Effective management depends on spatially-explicit understanding that allows priorities to be set and management objectives identified and tested. This research will develop a model for determining management priorities for large protected areas, meeting State, National and International obligations. Significant conservation benefits will accrue along with social, economic and human well-being benefits.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354740
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
CaGaWaLo: regulation of carbon gain and water loss by woody vegetation. Trees and shrubs are widely perceived as central to solving problems of national and international significance. Seed funding is sought to facilitate establishment of a research network focused on their ability to sequester carbon and transmit water to the atmosphere. The proposed network is broadly based in plant physiology and ecology and contains a strong cross-section of leading international expertise in relevant sub- ....CaGaWaLo: regulation of carbon gain and water loss by woody vegetation. Trees and shrubs are widely perceived as central to solving problems of national and international significance. Seed funding is sought to facilitate establishment of a research network focused on their ability to sequester carbon and transmit water to the atmosphere. The proposed network is broadly based in plant physiology and ecology and contains a strong cross-section of leading international expertise in relevant sub-disciplines. By leveraging the huge pool of international expertise and focusing on a range of scales (from molecular to biosphere scales), this network will yield new ideas and approaches that will produce outputs and outcomes of national significance.Read moreRead less
Integrated Carbon Accounting and Information Management Systems. The aim of this project is to integrate environmental science and information technology to enhance carbon accounting management. The project is significant because it will provide for the first time a mechanism by which potential investors in forestry/carbon sequestration programs will be able to acquire online advice on what trees and soil types are most compatible, when and how to plant. This project will provide an interactive ....Integrated Carbon Accounting and Information Management Systems. The aim of this project is to integrate environmental science and information technology to enhance carbon accounting management. The project is significant because it will provide for the first time a mechanism by which potential investors in forestry/carbon sequestration programs will be able to acquire online advice on what trees and soil types are most compatible, when and how to plant. This project will provide an interactive web based program to calculate the environmental and economic value of such an investment, assess current market trends and access to scientists, brokers, current legislation and applicable publications.Read moreRead less
The ARC Earth System Science Research Network. The ARC Earth System Science Network incorporates data collectors, modellers and impacts researchers to address the impacts of climate change and variability on Human, biological and physical systems. Our capacity to adapt to changes in water availability, agricultural productivity, the likelihood of species extinctions, and risks to human health will be enhanced through the Network's use of frontier technologies. The enhanced capacity to use data a ....The ARC Earth System Science Research Network. The ARC Earth System Science Network incorporates data collectors, modellers and impacts researchers to address the impacts of climate change and variability on Human, biological and physical systems. Our capacity to adapt to changes in water availability, agricultural productivity, the likelihood of species extinctions, and risks to human health will be enhanced through the Network's use of frontier technologies. The enhanced capacity to use data and model the Earth System will allow policymakers to make more informed decisions with regard to water, biodiversity, human health, industry and agriculture sustainability; thereby enhancing the national capacity to respond to climate change and variability and securing our common interest.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354594
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
The Australian Climate System Network. The climate system integrates the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, biosphere, land-surface and the fluxes of energy, water and biogeochemical quantities between these elements. Changes in climate affect Australia dramatically: for example, the cost of the recent drought exceeded $10 billion. To enable internationally competitive climate system research, networking is required to enhance our national capability and our international connectivity. We will expl ....The Australian Climate System Network. The climate system integrates the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, biosphere, land-surface and the fluxes of energy, water and biogeochemical quantities between these elements. Changes in climate affect Australia dramatically: for example, the cost of the recent drought exceeded $10 billion. To enable internationally competitive climate system research, networking is required to enhance our national capability and our international connectivity. We will explore the establishment of a Climate System Network by facilitating communication between Universities, government agencies and CRCs. The Climate System Network will enable new climate-related questions relating to the sustainability of the Australian physical and Human environments to be explored.Read moreRead less
Palaeoclimatic and environmental significance of major Late Quaternary drainage contributions and disruptions in the Lake Eyre basin. This study will advance our knowledge of the most remarkable floods ever known to have occurred in Australia. They were associated with a vast aquatic ecosystem in what today is the barren northern end of the Flinders Ranges, a region of desert dunes and salt lakes. Remarkably, such wet conditions appear to have coincided with episodes of megafaunal extinction and ....Palaeoclimatic and environmental significance of major Late Quaternary drainage contributions and disruptions in the Lake Eyre basin. This study will advance our knowledge of the most remarkable floods ever known to have occurred in Australia. They were associated with a vast aquatic ecosystem in what today is the barren northern end of the Flinders Ranges, a region of desert dunes and salt lakes. Remarkably, such wet conditions appear to have coincided with episodes of megafaunal extinction and with the human occupation of Australia. The results will provide valuable information with which to better understand the the main global drivers of episodes of profound wetness and dryness in Australian climate. Read moreRead less
How green were our deserts? Evidence for Late Quaternary climate change and the source of water in the Lake Eyre basin. This project addresses the National Research Priority of Environmentally Sustainable Australia by examining evidence for what has controlled climate change and variable runoff in the vast Lake Eyre basin. It will provide evidence for why Australia, presently the world's driest inhabited continent, has as recently as medieval times supported large lakes holding many cubic kilome ....How green were our deserts? Evidence for Late Quaternary climate change and the source of water in the Lake Eyre basin. This project addresses the National Research Priority of Environmentally Sustainable Australia by examining evidence for what has controlled climate change and variable runoff in the vast Lake Eyre basin. It will provide evidence for why Australia, presently the world's driest inhabited continent, has as recently as medieval times supported large lakes holding many cubic kilometres of fresh water adjacent to the now-barren Flinders Ranges. It will show if this water had a tropical or temperate source, fundamental information for understanding Australia's past climate, and allow predictions of future climate to be based on firm evidence.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775739
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$135,000.00
Summary
Environmental Research Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (ERIRMS). The projects supported by this facility are esential to: sustainable management of Sydney's surface and groundwater; understanding food webs and trophic interactions in Sydney Harbour and elsewhere on the eastern seaboard; developing predictive models for the impacts of climate change on Australia's forests, especially carbon sequestration and water yield; understanding the trade-offs involved in managing fire risks through prescr ....Environmental Research Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (ERIRMS). The projects supported by this facility are esential to: sustainable management of Sydney's surface and groundwater; understanding food webs and trophic interactions in Sydney Harbour and elsewhere on the eastern seaboard; developing predictive models for the impacts of climate change on Australia's forests, especially carbon sequestration and water yield; understanding the trade-offs involved in managing fire risks through prescribed burning, especially trade-offs involving carbon and water; and understanding and predicting air quality and the effects of emissions from cars, industry, fires and natural sources.
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