New multi-scale seed dispersal models for improved regional weed management. This project will exploit recent advances in ecological and atmospheric modelling with the aim to build improved models of seed dispersal across landscapes to anticipate weed spread. Damaging invasive plants are rapidly transforming landscapes and altering ecosystem function worldwide. The speed and direction of weed spread determines the success or failure of costly containment and control actions, however we lack the ....New multi-scale seed dispersal models for improved regional weed management. This project will exploit recent advances in ecological and atmospheric modelling with the aim to build improved models of seed dispersal across landscapes to anticipate weed spread. Damaging invasive plants are rapidly transforming landscapes and altering ecosystem function worldwide. The speed and direction of weed spread determines the success or failure of costly containment and control actions, however we lack the ability to adequately predict spread. New models that combine micrometeorological measurements, within-canopy turbulence and topographic variation in wind flows will be designed to better predict where dispersal will occur. In this project, these improved predictions are planned to be combined with decision models to direct the management of invasive species across entire landscapes.Read moreRead less
Understanding snow gum dieback for effective and integrated management. The project leverages recent research and infrastructure investments and our determined and collaborative team as it aims to: 1) assess the future geography of snow gum dieback in the high country and identify priority locations for pro-active management, 2) quantify the impact of snow gums on high country water and carbon budgets and thus the socio- economic and biodiversity values, and 3) determine options for mitigation. ....Understanding snow gum dieback for effective and integrated management. The project leverages recent research and infrastructure investments and our determined and collaborative team as it aims to: 1) assess the future geography of snow gum dieback in the high country and identify priority locations for pro-active management, 2) quantify the impact of snow gums on high country water and carbon budgets and thus the socio- economic and biodiversity values, and 3) determine options for mitigation. Dieback of our iconic snow gum forests is diminishing the ecological, hydrological and cultural values of the Australian Alps and will impact state and national water-supply and power-generation systems. Our research will inform Alps-wide management efforts designed for long-term success.Read moreRead less
Building resilient alpine environments with less snow. In this project, we aim to build resilience into alpine National Parks and Alpine Resorts to counter the effects of ongoing declines in snow. Alpine environments depend on snow to regulate water flows, insulate vegetation, control soil erosion and promote proper ecosystem functioning. How these processes will operate in a snow-free future is unknown. We will determine how and where snow characteristics drive soil water availability for plant ....Building resilient alpine environments with less snow. In this project, we aim to build resilience into alpine National Parks and Alpine Resorts to counter the effects of ongoing declines in snow. Alpine environments depend on snow to regulate water flows, insulate vegetation, control soil erosion and promote proper ecosystem functioning. How these processes will operate in a snow-free future is unknown. We will determine how and where snow characteristics drive soil water availability for plants and which plant species have the best adaptation and regeneration potential under extreme conditions such as heat, frost and drought. Benefits of the project include innovative land management and rehabilitation solutions, to safeguard Australia's alpine areas under changing environmental conditions.Read moreRead less
Drivers of phenotypic evolution in a vulnerable alpine ecosystem. This project aims to deliver a comprehensive, integrated understanding of the capacity for resilience and drivers of response of highly vulnerable alpine species and communities to climate change. The project aims to determine how communities of interacting alpine plants, soil invertebrates and microbes can cope with or evolve to novel climatic conditions. The mountains are water towers critical to power supply and Australia's agr ....Drivers of phenotypic evolution in a vulnerable alpine ecosystem. This project aims to deliver a comprehensive, integrated understanding of the capacity for resilience and drivers of response of highly vulnerable alpine species and communities to climate change. The project aims to determine how communities of interacting alpine plants, soil invertebrates and microbes can cope with or evolve to novel climatic conditions. The mountains are water towers critical to power supply and Australia's agricultural productivity. Understanding physiological tolerance and the potential for rapid evolutionary responses of plants, animals and communities is necessary to predict impacts of climate change on the future productivity of the vulnerable Australian Alps and to provide novel options for climate adaptation. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101611
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,040.00
Summary
Snow, shrub and climate feedbacks: impacts of shrub expansion in the Australian alpine zone. This project aims to understand the mechanisms promoting shrub expansion in alpine areas and the consequences of a shrub-dominated landscape in terms of shrubs as hydrological mediators and as biodiversity and ecosystem modifiers. Some shrub species trap wind-blown snow, thereby facilitating seedling survival through soil insulation and increases to meltwater. However, if adaptive and plastic responses t ....Snow, shrub and climate feedbacks: impacts of shrub expansion in the Australian alpine zone. This project aims to understand the mechanisms promoting shrub expansion in alpine areas and the consequences of a shrub-dominated landscape in terms of shrubs as hydrological mediators and as biodiversity and ecosystem modifiers. Some shrub species trap wind-blown snow, thereby facilitating seedling survival through soil insulation and increases to meltwater. However, if adaptive and plastic responses to climate change allows, shrub expansion will have significant negative impacts on alpine biodiversity and ecosystem function. This project will tease apart the interacting effects of snow, recruitment and adaptation to provide models of shrub increase and determine how shrubs modify alpine ecosystem processes and upper catchment hydrology.Read moreRead less
Solving the mystery of ultra luminous fast radio burst emission . Fast Radio Bursts are a recently discovered inexplicable astronomical phenomenon whose millisecond-timescale emission is generated by regions less than 300 kilometres across yet so luminous it is visible at cosmological distances. Using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder we have already localised these bursts, which made the front cover of Science, and recently used them to find the missing baryonic matter in the Uni ....Solving the mystery of ultra luminous fast radio burst emission . Fast Radio Bursts are a recently discovered inexplicable astronomical phenomenon whose millisecond-timescale emission is generated by regions less than 300 kilometres across yet so luminous it is visible at cosmological distances. Using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder we have already localised these bursts, which made the front cover of Science, and recently used them to find the missing baryonic matter in the Universe. Next, we will scrutinise these bursts at three nanosecond time resolution, reaching the timescale necessary to probe the mechanism by which their ultra-luminous radiation is generated. This project will reveal previously inaccessible properties of the radiation to unlock the secrets of how they are produced.Read moreRead less
Relativistic Particles in Star-Forming Galaxies. This project aims to understand how galactic evolution is shaped by the relativistic particles known as cosmic rays that fill interstellar space. We understand only poorly how cosmic rays interact with non-relativistic interstellar matter, which in turn limits our understanding of how they affect galaxies. The project seeks to resolve this question by calculating how cosmic ray-matter interaction gives rise to light and neutrinos that we can obser ....Relativistic Particles in Star-Forming Galaxies. This project aims to understand how galactic evolution is shaped by the relativistic particles known as cosmic rays that fill interstellar space. We understand only poorly how cosmic rays interact with non-relativistic interstellar matter, which in turn limits our understanding of how they affect galaxies. The project seeks to resolve this question by calculating how cosmic ray-matter interaction gives rise to light and neutrinos that we can observe using current and future telescopes, enabling us to use observations from these telescopes to solve the problem of cosmic ray-matter interaction. This would resolve the question of how cosmic rays shape galaxy evolution, and thus represent a substantial advance in the theory of galaxy formation.Read moreRead less
Detecting cosmic rays using precision radio imaging. This project's aim is to identify the source of the highest-energy particles in nature, cosmic rays, and discover new physical processes at energies unreachable by the Large Hadron Collider.
It will do this by using the Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope to detect the sub-microsecond pulses from cosmic ray interactions in the Earth's atmosphere. The project's intended outcome is a sample of thousands of cosmic ray events, and a new tec ....Detecting cosmic rays using precision radio imaging. This project's aim is to identify the source of the highest-energy particles in nature, cosmic rays, and discover new physical processes at energies unreachable by the Large Hadron Collider.
It will do this by using the Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope to detect the sub-microsecond pulses from cosmic ray interactions in the Earth's atmosphere. The project's intended outcome is a sample of thousands of cosmic ray events, and a new technique to analyse the structure within them.
The anticipated benefits are the establishment of the Murchison Widefield Array as a world-leading instrument for astroparticle physics, new knowledge of high-energy astro and particle physics, and advances and training in fast signal processing methods.Read moreRead less
The role of radiation and cosmic rays in galaxy formation. This project aims to solve the enduring question about galaxy formation of why galaxies are so inefficient at turning gas into stars. This project will investigate two possible agents for this inefficiency, the pressures exerted by starlight photons and the relativistic cosmic rays produced by supernovae, using a combination of numerical simulations, basic physical analysis, and comparison to observations. The expected outcome will be a ....The role of radiation and cosmic rays in galaxy formation. This project aims to solve the enduring question about galaxy formation of why galaxies are so inefficient at turning gas into stars. This project will investigate two possible agents for this inefficiency, the pressures exerted by starlight photons and the relativistic cosmic rays produced by supernovae, using a combination of numerical simulations, basic physical analysis, and comparison to observations. The expected outcome will be a greatly improved understanding of the physics of the interaction of radiation and cosmic rays with star-forming interstellar gas. This will help complete the picture of how galaxies like our own came to be, and will provide tools for both future simulations and the interpretation of observations.Read moreRead less
The galactic centre: a laboratory for starburst galaxies. The Milky Way's centre is one of its most captivating regions; here star-formation, and potentially, the region's supermassive black hole, inject enormous amounts of energy and drive a powerful wind of plasma and cosmic rays above the galactic plane. This project will elucidate these processes and help us understand other galactic nuclei.