Red listing ecosystems - testing the new global standard for conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Lists are critical for setting conservation priorities. These include a well-tested species Red List protocol, and a new global standard for Red-listing ecosystems. This project will test the new global standard across a range of marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, developing powerful new tools and guidelines for application.
Assessing the ecosystem-wide risks of threatened species translocation. Assessing the ecosystem-wide risks of threatened species translocation. This project aims to develop the first quantitative risk assessment framework to improve decisions about moving threatened species to new places. Moving threatened plants and animals to new environments, or reintroducing them where they previously persisted, is a growing focus of conservation. Moving species can have unanticipated effects on other specie ....Assessing the ecosystem-wide risks of threatened species translocation. Assessing the ecosystem-wide risks of threatened species translocation. This project aims to develop the first quantitative risk assessment framework to improve decisions about moving threatened species to new places. Moving threatened plants and animals to new environments, or reintroducing them where they previously persisted, is a growing focus of conservation. Moving species can have unanticipated effects on other species in the ecosystem. Although the International Union for Conservation of Nature deems ecosystem-wide risk assessments essential for conservation translocations, no framework exists to assess these risks and inform these decisions. New tools for assessing the risks of conservation translocations are expected to improve global and local conservation outcomes.Read moreRead less
A general theory for ecological trait-strategy dimensions. This project aims to bridge the gap in understanding of ecological strategies between plant and animal ecology, globally, using ants. It will test how environmental change influences the success of species, based on ecological strategies, and the consequences for ecosystem function. This project is expected to make a significant contribution to generality and prediction in ecology. Expected outcomes of this project include theory deve ....A general theory for ecological trait-strategy dimensions. This project aims to bridge the gap in understanding of ecological strategies between plant and animal ecology, globally, using ants. It will test how environmental change influences the success of species, based on ecological strategies, and the consequences for ecosystem function. This project is expected to make a significant contribution to generality and prediction in ecology. Expected outcomes of this project include theory development and application and enhanced global networks of trait researchers. Intended benefits include improved ecological theory, an enhanced capacity to predict how global change will affect organisms and increased understanding of the cascading effects of changes for ecosystem function.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100904
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Connections between imperfect detection and ecological inference. This project is designed to resolve whether or when it is important to account for imperfect detection when modelling communities of species. Robust conservation and environmental decisions require reliable estimates of biodiversity, yet current modelling methods may be biased because they fail to account for the imperfect detection of species. Improving the models requires good understanding about levels and patterns of species d ....Connections between imperfect detection and ecological inference. This project is designed to resolve whether or when it is important to account for imperfect detection when modelling communities of species. Robust conservation and environmental decisions require reliable estimates of biodiversity, yet current modelling methods may be biased because they fail to account for the imperfect detection of species. Improving the models requires good understanding about levels and patterns of species detectability, which is currently lacking. The project intends to bridge this gap by producing a global synthesis of species detectability across taxa, geographical regions and survey methods. The project then aims to evaluate the performance and limitations of existing and emerging community modelling methods in ecology to enable better biodiversity conservation decisions.Read moreRead less
Cascading effects of Australia's ecological extinctions on biodiversity and ecosystem function. The current rate of species extinctions is so extensive that it has been described as the “sixth mass extinction”. In Australian ecosystems, extinctions and declines of mammals have been dramatic, with formerly abundant species now “ecologically extinct”, meaning they are too rare to continue to play important ecological roles. The loss of entire functional guilds may have cascading effects on biodive ....Cascading effects of Australia's ecological extinctions on biodiversity and ecosystem function. The current rate of species extinctions is so extensive that it has been described as the “sixth mass extinction”. In Australian ecosystems, extinctions and declines of mammals have been dramatic, with formerly abundant species now “ecologically extinct”, meaning they are too rare to continue to play important ecological roles. The loss of entire functional guilds may have cascading effects on biodiversity and ecosystem function. This project uses a multi-scalar experimental approach to investigate the broader impacts of mammal declines on Australian ecosystems, accounting for interactions with climate. The outcomes will include new insights into the pre-European state of Australian ecosystems and more realistic targets for ecosystem restoration.Read moreRead less
Consequences of temporal community turnover. This project aims to understand how environmental change affects compensatory dynamics of species. Species numbers do not change over time in local ecological communities, but species composition is changing at an unprecedented level across the globe. The implications of these compensatory dynamics for the resilience of ecological communities and how they affect ecosystems are important for community ecology and conservation. This project could reveal ....Consequences of temporal community turnover. This project aims to understand how environmental change affects compensatory dynamics of species. Species numbers do not change over time in local ecological communities, but species composition is changing at an unprecedented level across the globe. The implications of these compensatory dynamics for the resilience of ecological communities and how they affect ecosystems are important for community ecology and conservation. This project could reveal the functional consequences of temporal community change, contributing new insights into the effects of environmental change especially on soil ecosystems.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: DE120102221
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Investigating the susceptibility of native vegetation edges to alien plant invasion: a quantitative study to help prevent and control invasive species. Alien plant invasion is a major threat to biodiversity in national parks and nature reserves. Determining the relative influence of plant characteristics, number of alien plant seeds and availability of light, water and nutrients on weed invasion will indicate what prevention and control strategies should be used to combat invasive plants.