Novel habitat quality assessment to inform the development of recreational boating infrastructure. As Australians migrate towards the coast, the demand for recreational boating facilities such as moorings and marinas is increasing rapidly. These structures can remove habitat and fragment the seascape in a similar manner to roads and clearings in forest and grasslands. Coastal infrastructure can also reduce the quality of existing habitats and their full impact must be assessed if the diversity a ....Novel habitat quality assessment to inform the development of recreational boating infrastructure. As Australians migrate towards the coast, the demand for recreational boating facilities such as moorings and marinas is increasing rapidly. These structures can remove habitat and fragment the seascape in a similar manner to roads and clearings in forest and grasslands. Coastal infrastructure can also reduce the quality of existing habitats and their full impact must be assessed if the diversity and function of coastal seascapes is to be conserved. This project aims to use a combination of novel modelling, surveys, and large experiments to understand how threatened seagrass, fish, and sediment habitats are altered in human modified seascapes, and to assess the success of habitat restoration following the removal of boating structures.Read moreRead less
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
Refining Restoration Ecology: Is Range of Historical Variability an appropriate concept to guide ecosystem management and restoration? Ecosystem restoration is an urgent task in many Australian landscapes. Range of Historical Variability (RHV) theory provides an influential but largely untested framework to guide restoration activities. We will test the RHV proposition that biodiversity conservation is enhanced if the structure of altered ecosystems is restored within the pre-settlement range. P ....Refining Restoration Ecology: Is Range of Historical Variability an appropriate concept to guide ecosystem management and restoration? Ecosystem restoration is an urgent task in many Australian landscapes. Range of Historical Variability (RHV) theory provides an influential but largely untested framework to guide restoration activities. We will test the RHV proposition that biodiversity conservation is enhanced if the structure of altered ecosystems is restored within the pre-settlement range. Plants, vertebrates and invertebrates will be compared between ?unrestored? Callitris woodlands dominated by post-settlement regrowth, and ?restored? stands where regrowth has been reduced within the RHV. This will be the first test of RHV theory to encompass a range of taxonomic and functional groups at both local and landscape scales.Read moreRead less
Fire severity, habitat heterogeneity and life histories. Resolving the persistence ability of plants in frequently fired landscapes. The wise management of Australia's biodiversity has major economic and social benefits for the nation through the provision of ecosystem services, bio-products and tourism. Fire is a pivotal environmental factor that will continue to influence plant biodiversity in fire-prone ecosystems. Inappropriate fire regimes, however, threaten biodiversity through disruption ....Fire severity, habitat heterogeneity and life histories. Resolving the persistence ability of plants in frequently fired landscapes. The wise management of Australia's biodiversity has major economic and social benefits for the nation through the provision of ecosystem services, bio-products and tourism. Fire is a pivotal environmental factor that will continue to influence plant biodiversity in fire-prone ecosystems. Inappropriate fire regimes, however, threaten biodiversity through disruption of life cycles. If too many or too few fires occur in an area this can lead to decline and extinction of plant and animal species. This research will provide a risk-assessment tool for the management of biodiversity to reverse population declines and prevent extinctions.
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Apex predator control of nutrient dynamics. This project aims to understand the mechanisms through which predators can control ecosystem nutrient dynamics. Ecology has been dominated for decades by the top-down/bottom-up paradigm. The project will use experiments and remote sensing observations to examine the spatial structure of feedback loops between a top predator and nutrient cycles. The expected outcome is a mechanistic and scalable understanding of the spatial distribution of nutrients and ....Apex predator control of nutrient dynamics. This project aims to understand the mechanisms through which predators can control ecosystem nutrient dynamics. Ecology has been dominated for decades by the top-down/bottom-up paradigm. The project will use experiments and remote sensing observations to examine the spatial structure of feedback loops between a top predator and nutrient cycles. The expected outcome is a mechanistic and scalable understanding of the spatial distribution of nutrients and push ecosystems towards alternate states. The project will provide innovative approaches to scale-up ecological data that can be used to inform the decisions of policy makers and land managers.Read moreRead less
Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. This project aims to develop a novel, integrated socio-ecological approach for connecting landscapes and communities for the recovery of threatened koala populations on the New South Wales far north coast. This should increase understanding of how local landholders and land managers respond to koala recovery programs and why they respond positively and b ....Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. This project aims to develop a novel, integrated socio-ecological approach for connecting landscapes and communities for the recovery of threatened koala populations on the New South Wales far north coast. This should increase understanding of how local landholders and land managers respond to koala recovery programs and why they respond positively and become engaged for the long-term. The intended outcome is a spatial prioritisation framework for species recovery that integrates social and ecological values, and increased global knowledge of how to recover declining wildlife populations.Read moreRead less
Why isn’t the world full of mistletoe? An integrative approach to understanding dispersal, recruitment and distribution of parasitic plants. Parasitic plants are less affected by resource constraints than other plants, but they are characteristically rare in undisturbed habitats?an apparent paradox that challenges current thinking about ecological constraints. To determine which factors limit recruitment and distribution of parasitic plants, we will conduct integrative research on two mistleto ....Why isn’t the world full of mistletoe? An integrative approach to understanding dispersal, recruitment and distribution of parasitic plants. Parasitic plants are less affected by resource constraints than other plants, but they are characteristically rare in undisturbed habitats?an apparent paradox that challenges current thinking about ecological constraints. To determine which factors limit recruitment and distribution of parasitic plants, we will conduct integrative research on two mistletoes and a sandalwood in a structurally simple semi-arid shrubland, combining experimental germination trials and chemical analyses of hosts with ecological studies of seed vectors in a spatially-explicit framework. This study will also yield powerful insights into the general mechanisms underlying the relationships between life-history traits, species distributions and resource availability in dynamic landscapes.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101226
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,071.00
Summary
Success and the city: biodiversity responses in urban environments. This project aims to quantify the species traits and environmental conditions that enable wildlife to persist in an increasingly urbanised world. Through developing and testing a framework linking unprecedented urban expansion and biodiversity change, this project will identify favourable conditions that support biodiversity in the face of global urbanisation. Project outcomes will inform appropriate real-world management action ....Success and the city: biodiversity responses in urban environments. This project aims to quantify the species traits and environmental conditions that enable wildlife to persist in an increasingly urbanised world. Through developing and testing a framework linking unprecedented urban expansion and biodiversity change, this project will identify favourable conditions that support biodiversity in the face of global urbanisation. Project outcomes will inform appropriate real-world management actions and equip scientists, policy-makers and planners with tools to forecast the persistence of biodiversity in Australian cities. By discovering the attributes species need to survive city life this project will help prevent future catastrophic declines of global biodiversity in our increasingly urbanised world.Read moreRead less
Managing tree densities in western New South Wales: development of a process-based model to predict woodland dynamics. This project will enhance woodland management in inland NSW by: (1) advancing our understanding of factors controlling woodland dynamics and (2) refining predictions of the effects of landuse scenarios on long-term vegetation dynamics. Outcomes will assist policy development and on-ground decision making by natural resource managers. Results will be used by managers of biodivers ....Managing tree densities in western New South Wales: development of a process-based model to predict woodland dynamics. This project will enhance woodland management in inland NSW by: (1) advancing our understanding of factors controlling woodland dynamics and (2) refining predictions of the effects of landuse scenarios on long-term vegetation dynamics. Outcomes will assist policy development and on-ground decision making by natural resource managers. Results will be used by managers of biodiversity, salinity, erosion, tree clearing, silviculture, rehabilitation and protected areas. Our findings will reduce conflicting perceptions about past and future vegetation changes in regional areas, thereby advancing uptake of sustainability plans to ensure long-term social, economic and environmental benefits for an environmentally sustainable Australia.Read moreRead less
Mistletoe as a keystone resource---an experimental test. My recent synthesis of known interactions between animals and mistletoe suggests that mistletoe functions as a keystone resource, influencing diversity patterns in forested ecosystems worldwide. This project tests the keystone hypothesis explicitly for woodland communities using landscape-scale manipulation. In 40 woodland remnants, all mistletoes will be removed from 20, with subsequent seasonal censuses of woodland birds, arboreal mars ....Mistletoe as a keystone resource---an experimental test. My recent synthesis of known interactions between animals and mistletoe suggests that mistletoe functions as a keystone resource, influencing diversity patterns in forested ecosystems worldwide. This project tests the keystone hypothesis explicitly for woodland communities using landscape-scale manipulation. In 40 woodland remnants, all mistletoes will be removed from 20, with subsequent seasonal censuses of woodland birds, arboreal marsupials and butterflies. Incorporating data on spatial and temporal variation in fruit, nectar and arthropod availability, this study represents a model system for understanding the ecosystem-wide role of ecological keystones and the influence of resource distribution on diversity patterns in fragmented habitats generally.Read moreRead less