Marine vessel wave wake: Ferry operations in sheltered waterways. This project aims to address one of the biggest risk factors to the Sydney ferry system, by ensuring the waves that new ferries generate are minimised. This would reduce the impact on other users of this busy waterway or damage to the surrounding infrastructure or environment. Modernising Sydney’s fleet of iconic passenger ferries is an integral part of the New South Wales Government’s long-term transport master plan. The project ....Marine vessel wave wake: Ferry operations in sheltered waterways. This project aims to address one of the biggest risk factors to the Sydney ferry system, by ensuring the waves that new ferries generate are minimised. This would reduce the impact on other users of this busy waterway or damage to the surrounding infrastructure or environment. Modernising Sydney’s fleet of iconic passenger ferries is an integral part of the New South Wales Government’s long-term transport master plan. The project is intended to predict the waves produced by any proposed ferry operation, allowing changes to be made to minimise waves during early planning stages. The new method for predicting the complex wave phenomenon is designed to provide more comprehensive and accurate assessments than conventional technologies.Read moreRead less
Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaire ....Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaired but must be developed to identify the causes of decline. The intended outcomes are improved sustainable water resource management within and among states, and improved natural resource policy development.Read moreRead less
Uncovering the genetic basis for saxitoxin production in Australian marine and freshwater systems: novel molecular tools for management. In Australia, toxic algal blooms have had a devastating impact on marine and freshwater resources. In collaboration with a biotechnology company, this project will use an innovative method to design a molecular genetic tool to monitor, research and potentially mitigate the effects of saxitoxin production on water supplies and aquaculture industries. In working ....Uncovering the genetic basis for saxitoxin production in Australian marine and freshwater systems: novel molecular tools for management. In Australia, toxic algal blooms have had a devastating impact on marine and freshwater resources. In collaboration with a biotechnology company, this project will use an innovative method to design a molecular genetic tool to monitor, research and potentially mitigate the effects of saxitoxin production on water supplies and aquaculture industries. In working with monitoring authorities throughout Australia, we will produce a specific, sensitive and cost-effective technology that will ultimately be applicable worldwide. 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
Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. This project aims to develop and apply new methods to scale forest water use from plot to catchment-level, using relationships between plot-level annual evapotranspiration and biophysical and biochemical properties of stands detectable by unmanned aircraft systems and other remote sensing platforms. Australia's water security depends on understanding how changes in forests from disturbance and ....Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. This project aims to develop and apply new methods to scale forest water use from plot to catchment-level, using relationships between plot-level annual evapotranspiration and biophysical and biochemical properties of stands detectable by unmanned aircraft systems and other remote sensing platforms. Australia's water security depends on understanding how changes in forests from disturbance and climate change influence catchment water yields. This project will estimate water yields over time and space in ungauged catchments with disturbed eucalypt forests. This research is expected to enable more effective risk mitigation and planning for augmentations; improved fire management strategies; and better water management of the Murray Darling Basin.Read moreRead less
Understanding the health effects of landscape burning and biomass smoke in Australian towns and cities. Bushfires are increasingly affecting Australian towns and cities directly and indirectly from episodes of severe air pollution. An approach to manage bushfires is to reduce fuel loads by setting planned fires under stable weather conditions, yet this strategy is controversial because of community concerns about ecological sustainability and negative health impacts from smoke. The relative im ....Understanding the health effects of landscape burning and biomass smoke in Australian towns and cities. Bushfires are increasingly affecting Australian towns and cities directly and indirectly from episodes of severe air pollution. An approach to manage bushfires is to reduce fuel loads by setting planned fires under stable weather conditions, yet this strategy is controversial because of community concerns about ecological sustainability and negative health impacts from smoke. The relative importance of air pollution from planned and unplanned bushfires vs. wood heaters, agricultural burning and other sources of air pollution will be determined. Our study will enable evidence-based bushfire smoke management, help formulate national air quality standards and shape policies regarding biomass smoke and bushfire management.Read moreRead less
The failure-threshold of leaves in drought. This project aims to reveal how specific water-stress thresholds damage the leaves of Australian crop and forest species during drought. Water stress affects agricultural productivity and plant survival in drought-prone regions such as Australia. Using optical and X-ray techniques, this project seeks to visualise and quantify the dynamic processes of damage and repair in leaves under stress. Anticipated outputs include a practical basis to predict drou ....The failure-threshold of leaves in drought. This project aims to reveal how specific water-stress thresholds damage the leaves of Australian crop and forest species during drought. Water stress affects agricultural productivity and plant survival in drought-prone regions such as Australia. Using optical and X-ray techniques, this project seeks to visualise and quantify the dynamic processes of damage and repair in leaves under stress. Anticipated outputs include a practical basis to predict drought-induced canopy death; identification of threats to ecologically sensitive plants; and selection and screening tools to improve the drought resilience of agriculturally important crop species.Read moreRead less
Eddy-resolving global ocean-sea ice modelling. Eddy-resolving global ocean-sea ice modelling. This project aims to develop a world-class global ocean-sea ice model framework through a nationwide consortium. The resulting high resolution models are expected to provide the foundation for the next decade of Australian ocean-sea ice modelling capacity. This research should lead to improved ocean and sea ice prediction, ocean reanalyses, and climate projections, enhancing Australia's capacity to pred ....Eddy-resolving global ocean-sea ice modelling. Eddy-resolving global ocean-sea ice modelling. This project aims to develop a world-class global ocean-sea ice model framework through a nationwide consortium. The resulting high resolution models are expected to provide the foundation for the next decade of Australian ocean-sea ice modelling capacity. This research should lead to improved ocean and sea ice prediction, ocean reanalyses, and climate projections, enhancing Australia's capacity to predict the ocean state on timescales of days to decades. This is expected to yield efficiencies in shipping, marine search and rescue and naval operations, and increase the accuracy of projected future changes in climate, sea level, ocean ecosystems and the cryosphere.Read moreRead less
Bushfire smoke and the relationship between human and landscape health. A team of landscape ecologists, environmental chemists and public health specialists will determine the ecological causes and adverse health effects of different levels of bushfire smoke in Darwin. Darwin is an ideal setting for this research because the only source of air pollution is the high incidence of controlled and uncontrolled bushfires during the dry season causing variable air quality: a preliminary study found a ....Bushfire smoke and the relationship between human and landscape health. A team of landscape ecologists, environmental chemists and public health specialists will determine the ecological causes and adverse health effects of different levels of bushfire smoke in Darwin. Darwin is an ideal setting for this research because the only source of air pollution is the high incidence of controlled and uncontrolled bushfires during the dry season causing variable air quality: a preliminary study found a link between smoke pollution levels and asthma. The findings of the proposed research will contribute to improved fire management practices to reduce injurious smoke pollution events and contribute to setting appropriate national air quality standards.Read moreRead less
ARC Australia-New Zealand Research Network for Vegetation Function. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits, and in their relations to climate, soils and geography. Global generalizations are emerging. Vegetation Function network will reach from plant function into genomics and crop breeding, into palaeoecology and vegetation history, into landscape management for carbon, water and salinity outcomes, into forecasting future ecosystems under global change, and into phylogeny, ....ARC Australia-New Zealand Research Network for Vegetation Function. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits, and in their relations to climate, soils and geography. Global generalizations are emerging. Vegetation Function network will reach from plant function into genomics and crop breeding, into palaeoecology and vegetation history, into landscape management for carbon, water and salinity outcomes, into forecasting future ecosystems under global change, and into phylogeny, ecoinformatics and evolutionary theory. Across this span, working groups will target nine identified opportunities for breakthrough research. Each research target needs input from two or more disciplines. Together, the nine targets link across disciplines, as a network that spans from genomic to planetary scales.Read moreRead less