Sediment-derived scenarios of wetland status and change, the Lower River Murray, SA. River Murray wetlands changed early in European settlement so the pre-impact conditions are invisible to managers relying on anecdote or monitoring. Baseline conditions of wetlands can be derived from ecological archives preserved in sediments. Fossil diatom assemblages, reflective of past water quality, and other fossils, will be exhumed from sediment sequences to reconstruct wetland conditions. The integration ....Sediment-derived scenarios of wetland status and change, the Lower River Murray, SA. River Murray wetlands changed early in European settlement so the pre-impact conditions are invisible to managers relying on anecdote or monitoring. Baseline conditions of wetlands can be derived from ecological archives preserved in sediments. Fossil diatom assemblages, reflective of past water quality, and other fossils, will be exhumed from sediment sequences to reconstruct wetland conditions. The integration of multiple indicators of the past will generate graphic re-enactments of natural wetland dynamics. These will provide a vision for community and government on-ground managers enabling them to perceive appropriate targets for wetland state and so generate measures to work towards sustainable conditions.Read moreRead less
Retrospective ecological character assessment for a review of Ramsar status of The Coorong, SA. Integrated analyses of the chemical and biological remains contained in the sediments of the Coorong will provide for a reconstruction of ecological change and variability over the last several thousand years. Detailed analyses of the recent sediments will measure how the condition of the Coorong has departed from this natural background and so provide an audit of human impact on the last wetland in t ....Retrospective ecological character assessment for a review of Ramsar status of The Coorong, SA. Integrated analyses of the chemical and biological remains contained in the sediments of the Coorong will provide for a reconstruction of ecological change and variability over the last several thousand years. Detailed analyses of the recent sediments will measure how the condition of the Coorong has departed from this natural background and so provide an audit of human impact on the last wetland in the Murray darling Basin. This evidence will directly inform the determination of the ecological character of this Ramsar listed, national ecological asset and steer its management for a sustainable future. Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354582
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
Australia-NZ Network for Vegetation Function and Futures. Plants shape our landscapes and drive ecosystem processes from local to global scale. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits. Global datasets about functional variation are emerging, with Australian and NZ leadership. A network would be supported in both Australia and NZ and with strong links elsewhere. It would target seven ambitious but achievable research developments. Each of them demands intensive conversation be ....Australia-NZ Network for Vegetation Function and Futures. Plants shape our landscapes and drive ecosystem processes from local to global scale. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits. Global datasets about functional variation are emerging, with Australian and NZ leadership. A network would be supported in both Australia and NZ and with strong links elsewhere. It would target seven ambitious but achievable research developments. Each of them demands intensive conversation between separate disciplines. Networking across all seven strands will create a broader linkage, spanning across palaeobiology, ecosystem function, vegetation structure, global change, ecophysiology, phylogeny, genomics, ecoinformatics and evolutionary theory.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing the historical frequency and intensity of Australian droughts: A multi-species dendrochronological approach. Drought directly and indirectly impacts every Australian. Severe droughts devastate rural communities, lead to increased water restrictions and bushfire activity, slows the national economy and threatens diverse ecosystems. Our research will improve understanding of where, when, and how intensely droughts have occurred across eastern Australia in the past. The results will ....Reconstructing the historical frequency and intensity of Australian droughts: A multi-species dendrochronological approach. Drought directly and indirectly impacts every Australian. Severe droughts devastate rural communities, lead to increased water restrictions and bushfire activity, slows the national economy and threatens diverse ecosystems. Our research will improve understanding of where, when, and how intensely droughts have occurred across eastern Australia in the past. The results will provide unique insights into the processes that generate Australian droughts and how future droughts might be anticipated. The results will provide farmers, hydrologists, and policy-makers with better data on long-term variability in water supplies to improve local, regional, and national water planning initiatives and infrastructure development.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing past population dynamics to understand human and climatic impacts in prehistory. More than 100 species have become extinct since humans first colonised Australia, and over 1000 are considered threatened. This research will determine the factors most strongly governing the interaction between humans and native fauna in Australia over the last 46 millennia. Our approach is powerful and novel because it will effectively draw together multidisciplinary evidence on natural resource exp ....Reconstructing past population dynamics to understand human and climatic impacts in prehistory. More than 100 species have become extinct since humans first colonised Australia, and over 1000 are considered threatened. This research will determine the factors most strongly governing the interaction between humans and native fauna in Australia over the last 46 millennia. Our approach is powerful and novel because it will effectively draw together multidisciplinary evidence on natural resource exploitation and habitat alteration by ancient people, and the influence of dramatic climatic shifts on the Australian biota. Information on past biological responses to environmental change is critical to properly contextualising the current impact, and long-term consequences of, threats such as global warming, habitat loss and invasive species.Read moreRead less
Sustainable development in southwestern Victoria: construction of a baseline palaeoecological record for assessment of past and future human-environment interactions. A detailed, continuous, sediment-based, multi-proxy palaeoenvironment record, will be constructed to contribute to the goals of the innovative, community-based Lake Condah Sustainability Development Project that are informed management and heritage listing of the Mt Eccles lava flow region, southwestern Victoria. The record, coveri ....Sustainable development in southwestern Victoria: construction of a baseline palaeoecological record for assessment of past and future human-environment interactions. A detailed, continuous, sediment-based, multi-proxy palaeoenvironment record, will be constructed to contribute to the goals of the innovative, community-based Lake Condah Sustainability Development Project that are informed management and heritage listing of the Mt Eccles lava flow region, southwestern Victoria. The record, covering at least the last 20,000 years, is designed to (a) provide a dated framework for understanding past human-environment relationships, especially the development of a unique Aboriginal complex hunter-gatherer society based on aquaculture, (b) an historical basis for fire management of a nationally important vegetation community and (c) the provision of a palaeoclimate record of global significance.Read moreRead less
Long-term natural ecological consequences of disturbance on coral reefs: the benthic foraminifera perspective. The tropical coastline of Australia encompasses world-renowned coral reefs (Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Marine Park). Even these reefs are not pristine and are increasingly susceptible to disturbance from human impact. The long-term ecological effects of disturbance on reef communities cannot be experimentally determined; but natural experiments from the fossil record provide mech ....Long-term natural ecological consequences of disturbance on coral reefs: the benthic foraminifera perspective. The tropical coastline of Australia encompasses world-renowned coral reefs (Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Marine Park). Even these reefs are not pristine and are increasingly susceptible to disturbance from human impact. The long-term ecological effects of disturbance on reef communities cannot be experimentally determined; but natural experiments from the fossil record provide mechanisms to ensure that managers of Australia's reefs have critical information on how past disturbance frequency and intensity has affected coral reef communities. This information will help ensure the continuation of ecosystem goods and services from Australia's high diversity coral reefs.Read moreRead less
The role of natural selection in macroevolution: a case study examining convergence of form and function in marine predator guilds. Darwin's theory of evolution natural selection is one of the most successful in the history of science and provides the framework for modern biology: however, areas of debate or uncertainty are often misinterpreted by non-scientists as indication of fundamental flaws in the theory. New 'hi-tech' tools provide the opportunity to re-examine these areas, and also to de ....The role of natural selection in macroevolution: a case study examining convergence of form and function in marine predator guilds. Darwin's theory of evolution natural selection is one of the most successful in the history of science and provides the framework for modern biology: however, areas of debate or uncertainty are often misinterpreted by non-scientists as indication of fundamental flaws in the theory. New 'hi-tech' tools provide the opportunity to re-examine these areas, and also to demonstrate the process of science to the public. The new tool is Computational Biomechanics, the future of studying biological form, and this project will further develop the leading role of Australian research in this technology which has applications for palaeontology, environmental management, medical science, and the next generation of engineering using 'biomaterials'.Read moreRead less
Human Impact and Environmental Change in the Lower Yangtze Delta, China. Based upon a combination of sediment-based proxies of palaeoenvironmental conditions this project attempts to link existing models of geomorphological and climatic variability for the Yangtze Delta to cultural changes evident in archaeological and historical records. The Yangtze valley was the home of agriculture in Asia and hence for the beginnings of village life and Chinese culture. The delta region has prograded over 10 ....Human Impact and Environmental Change in the Lower Yangtze Delta, China. Based upon a combination of sediment-based proxies of palaeoenvironmental conditions this project attempts to link existing models of geomorphological and climatic variability for the Yangtze Delta to cultural changes evident in archaeological and historical records. The Yangtze valley was the home of agriculture in Asia and hence for the beginnings of village life and Chinese culture. The delta region has prograded over 100 km since the early Holocene and there is a well- preserved succession of Neolithic and modern cultures across its surface. The project investigates the relative impact of Holocene river migration, sealevel and climate change on societies, and also the relative impact of societies on vegetation, eutrophication and erosion while the region was converted to an anthropogenic landscape. The results will enable models of human-environmental interactions to be compared with those developed for
Europe, Africa, Australia and the Middle East.Read moreRead less
Traditional Owner-led restoration of urban billabongs. This Indigenous scientist led project aims to investigate the past and present fire, flooding and vegetation dynamics of urban billabongs through paleoenvironmental assays (sediment cores) and field surveys of vegetation, faunal and water quality responses to cultural burns and floods. In partnership with Melbourne Water and Traditional Owners, this innovative project intends to develop and combine historical and contemporary ecological and ....Traditional Owner-led restoration of urban billabongs. This Indigenous scientist led project aims to investigate the past and present fire, flooding and vegetation dynamics of urban billabongs through paleoenvironmental assays (sediment cores) and field surveys of vegetation, faunal and water quality responses to cultural burns and floods. In partnership with Melbourne Water and Traditional Owners, this innovative project intends to develop and combine historical and contemporary ecological and Indigenous peoples’ knowledge and apply it to better manage culturally and ecologically significant billabongs in one of Australia’s largest cities. This project expects to provide a template for effective Traditional Owner-led restoration and management of our threatened urban wetlands.Read moreRead less