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
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989072
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
High throughput nitrogen analysis for ecological studies. Australian environments are unproductive partly because they contain little Nitrogen (N) and changes in atmospheric CO2 will exacerbate this. Furthermore, animals cannot extract all the N from the plants they eat. An assay has been developed that measures how much they can extract (available N) and it is intended to use it to measure habitat quality and the effects of climate change over large tracts of land. This requires thousands of ....High throughput nitrogen analysis for ecological studies. Australian environments are unproductive partly because they contain little Nitrogen (N) and changes in atmospheric CO2 will exacerbate this. Furthermore, animals cannot extract all the N from the plants they eat. An assay has been developed that measures how much they can extract (available N) and it is intended to use it to measure habitat quality and the effects of climate change over large tracts of land. This requires thousands of N analyses. The equipment we are requesting - a LECO combustion analyser, allows us to analyse samples quickly and safely and uses fewer chemicals and much less water than do traditional machines.Read moreRead less
Re-evaluating the role of tannins in Australian forest ecosystems. As atmospheric CO2 concentrations rise, eucalypts will respond by decreasing the amount of protein in the leaves and increasing the concentrations of toxins called tannins. Together this will have the effect of making the leaves harder for herbivores to eat and slower to break down on the forest floor. We have developed a new way of measuring these effects and will use it to show which eucalypt communities climate change will mo ....Re-evaluating the role of tannins in Australian forest ecosystems. As atmospheric CO2 concentrations rise, eucalypts will respond by decreasing the amount of protein in the leaves and increasing the concentrations of toxins called tannins. Together this will have the effect of making the leaves harder for herbivores to eat and slower to break down on the forest floor. We have developed a new way of measuring these effects and will use it to show which eucalypt communities climate change will most affect and so which forests will become less able to support fauna. Apart from contributing to the better management of Australian forests, this project also enhances the National Carbon Accounting System by measuring how tannins influence litter decomposition and explaining the link with leaf chemistry.Read moreRead less
States, Coalitions and Climate Change Governance. Australia will suffer a greater adverse effect from climate change than most other developed countries, yet it is also placed to do well as part of an effective global mitigation effort. The success of this mitigation effort will be crucially dependent on the co-operation of lead states. This project analyses the dynamics of climate change co-operation. It will have national benefit in helping Australia to understand the emerging coalitions that ....States, Coalitions and Climate Change Governance. Australia will suffer a greater adverse effect from climate change than most other developed countries, yet it is also placed to do well as part of an effective global mitigation effort. The success of this mitigation effort will be crucially dependent on the co-operation of lead states. This project analyses the dynamics of climate change co-operation. It will have national benefit in helping Australia to understand the emerging coalitions that will shape the future of climate change and how Australia might best mediate its influence internationally in order to secure effective climate change mitigation.Read moreRead less
Water availability, evaporative demand and climate change. Water availability is the balance between supply (i.e., rainfall) and evaporative demand. Rainfall is well studied but evaporative demand is not. The scientifically useful measure of evaporative demand is the rate of evaporation of water from a metal pan - called pan evaporation. Worldwide measurements show decreasing pan evaporation rate over the last 30-50 years. This project will for the first time make a detailed study of that phenom ....Water availability, evaporative demand and climate change. Water availability is the balance between supply (i.e., rainfall) and evaporative demand. Rainfall is well studied but evaporative demand is not. The scientifically useful measure of evaporative demand is the rate of evaporation of water from a metal pan - called pan evaporation. Worldwide measurements show decreasing pan evaporation rate over the last 30-50 years. This project will for the first time make a detailed study of that phenomenon using a new purpose-built evaporation pan. This will result in better information and policy advice about changes in water availability with climate change.Read moreRead less
Stable isotopes in marsupials: reconstruction of environmental change in Australia. This project will establish the application of stable isotope analysis of marsupial bones for the reconstruction of past environments, a key area to advance Australian prehistory. On a continental scale, it will establish the relationship between stable isotopes (C, O, N) in bones and environmental factors (e.g., plant distribution, humidity, temperature); on a local scale, the relationship between stable isotope ....Stable isotopes in marsupials: reconstruction of environmental change in Australia. This project will establish the application of stable isotope analysis of marsupial bones for the reconstruction of past environments, a key area to advance Australian prehistory. On a continental scale, it will establish the relationship between stable isotopes (C, O, N) in bones and environmental factors (e.g., plant distribution, humidity, temperature); on a local scale, the relationship between stable isotopes and aboriginal land management. The project will provide a late Quaternary environmental reconstruction along a transect from the coastal regions in South Australia into the Lake Eyre Basin and explore the methodological limitations at sites with long fossil records.Read moreRead less
Change ecology - gaining broad-scale, timely biodiversity knowledge in a time of uncertainty. Australians are confronted daily with the consequences of changes wrought by human over-exploitation of natural resources. Our capacity to track and respond to change is very limited and slow. Thus, rapid deterioration of ecologically important aspects is detected late and is not reflective of the general state because knowledge is derived from small-scale measurements that are difficult to generalize. ....Change ecology - gaining broad-scale, timely biodiversity knowledge in a time of uncertainty. Australians are confronted daily with the consequences of changes wrought by human over-exploitation of natural resources. Our capacity to track and respond to change is very limited and slow. Thus, rapid deterioration of ecologically important aspects is detected late and is not reflective of the general state because knowledge is derived from small-scale measurements that are difficult to generalize. We will build a capacity for providing large-scale knowledge of vegetation condition and flow-on effects on biodiversity, which also will allow us to make informed assessments of the ecological consequences of some existing (climate change, drying) and imminent (biofuel plantings) drivers of change.Read moreRead less
A multidisciplinary research program to assess limiting factors and predict impacts of climate change for endangered Australian orchids. Climate change poses a significant threat to biodiversity. Australian sexually deceptive orchids are dependent on obligate and specialised interactions with pollinators and fungi. Consequently, they may face a high risk of extinction if climate change uncouples these interactions. Thus orchids provide an important bio-indicator of change. The tools and expertis ....A multidisciplinary research program to assess limiting factors and predict impacts of climate change for endangered Australian orchids. Climate change poses a significant threat to biodiversity. Australian sexually deceptive orchids are dependent on obligate and specialised interactions with pollinators and fungi. Consequently, they may face a high risk of extinction if climate change uncouples these interactions. Thus orchids provide an important bio-indicator of change. The tools and expertise developed will contribute directly to the conservation of endangered Australian orchids, and will take into account the risks of climate change. The project will contribute to the priority research goals of sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity as well as responding to climate change and variability. The project will also provide high quality, cross-disciplinary training.Read moreRead less
Uncovering the evolutionary history of Australasian marsupials: combining molecular phylogenetics and ecological inference. Marsupials are symbolic of the uniqueness of Australia's biological systems and there is widespread public interest in their natural history. Yet we know little of the evolutionary mechanisms that have shaped their biodiversity. This is a critical problem when considered in the context of Australian marsupials having suffered the highest extinction rate of any continental m ....Uncovering the evolutionary history of Australasian marsupials: combining molecular phylogenetics and ecological inference. Marsupials are symbolic of the uniqueness of Australia's biological systems and there is widespread public interest in their natural history. Yet we know little of the evolutionary mechanisms that have shaped their biodiversity. This is a critical problem when considered in the context of Australian marsupials having suffered the highest extinction rate of any continental mammal fauna over the past 200 years. This project will make a major contribution to understanding the origins, timescale and ecological nature of Australasian marsupial evolution. In doing so, it will inform conservation strategy, promote Australasian marsupials as a model system for studying faunal coevolution and develop widely applicable bioinformatic tools.Read moreRead less