Planning for the adaptive management of wetland rehabilitation; Kanyapella Basin Case Study. Australia's ephemeral wetlands are being lost or degraded primarily through drainage. There is a pressing need to conserve the ecological character of remaining systems, and rehabilitate degraded ones. Rehabilitation is invariably constrained by water availability, community expectations and uncertainty about ecosystem responses to different water regimes. This project applies the adaptive management mod ....Planning for the adaptive management of wetland rehabilitation; Kanyapella Basin Case Study. Australia's ephemeral wetlands are being lost or degraded primarily through drainage. There is a pressing need to conserve the ecological character of remaining systems, and rehabilitate degraded ones. Rehabilitation is invariably constrained by water availability, community expectations and uncertainty about ecosystem responses to different water regimes. This project applies the adaptive management model to wetland rehabilitation. Adaptive management addresses uncertainty through experiments integrated into the rehabilitation process. It uses monitoring, and information feedback loops to inform current management actions. A generic model for the adaptive management of wetland rehabilitation will be developed which will predict responses to different re-wetting scenarios.Read moreRead less
Multi-Objective Optimal Operation of Urban Water Supply Systems. In recent past, there has been a significant shift away from development of new water resources to optimal operation of existing reservoir systems. This project aims to develop a decision support framework to determine optimum operating rules of existing reservoir systems that consider a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, with a strong focus on decision analysis of alternative operating rules. The results of the ....Multi-Objective Optimal Operation of Urban Water Supply Systems. In recent past, there has been a significant shift away from development of new water resources to optimal operation of existing reservoir systems. This project aims to develop a decision support framework to determine optimum operating rules of existing reservoir systems that consider a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, with a strong focus on decision analysis of alternative operating rules. The results of the project will enable water planners to manage their urban water systems efficiently and effectively under a range of long term and short term planning conditions including droughts, while reducing associated environmental impacts.Read moreRead less
Indicators of river condition: are they useful for environmental management? Indicators, that can be used to measure the condition of rivers, are an important part of environmental management but there has only been limited evaluation of their role and performance. Using the Index of Stream Condition (ISC) as an example, this project will explore the use of indicators in management tasks including: 1) assessing current condition; 2) detecting change; 3) providing early warning of a critical chan ....Indicators of river condition: are they useful for environmental management? Indicators, that can be used to measure the condition of rivers, are an important part of environmental management but there has only been limited evaluation of their role and performance. Using the Index of Stream Condition (ISC) as an example, this project will explore the use of indicators in management tasks including: 1) assessing current condition; 2) detecting change; 3) providing early warning of a critical change; and 4) priority setting. Through links with Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the outcomes of this project will improve indicator selection and use by catchment managers.Read moreRead less
Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from South East Queensland waterways and influence of wastewater discharges. Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most serious challenges facing mankind. Substantial emission reduction must be achieved, with responsibilities to be shared by all sectors. Rivers, estuaries and water storages contribute considerably to global nitrous oxide and methane emissions, much of which is anthropogenic contributed by urban and agricultural run-of ....Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from South East Queensland waterways and influence of wastewater discharges. Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most serious challenges facing mankind. Substantial emission reduction must be achieved, with responsibilities to be shared by all sectors. Rivers, estuaries and water storages contribute considerably to global nitrous oxide and methane emissions, much of which is anthropogenic contributed by urban and agricultural run-off and wastewater discharges. Through an in-depth study on several rivers, estuaries and reservoirs in South East Queensland, this project will provide data to enable reliable estimation of such emissions in Australia, and deliver knowledge and tool support for the development of strategic catchment management strategies.Read moreRead less
Restoring riverine ecosystems: effective model-based planning and monitoring. Australia's riverine ecosystems are considerably degraded and require efficient and immediate attention to restore them to a sustainable condition. Restoration activities at all levels will benefit from the development of a robust framework that will improve understanding of restoration responses at both species and ecosystem levels. This will in turn enhance substantially the ability of managers of restoration project ....Restoring riverine ecosystems: effective model-based planning and monitoring. Australia's riverine ecosystems are considerably degraded and require efficient and immediate attention to restore them to a sustainable condition. Restoration activities at all levels will benefit from the development of a robust framework that will improve understanding of restoration responses at both species and ecosystem levels. This will in turn enhance substantially the ability of managers of restoration projects to identify realistic goals and provide a context for rigorous evaluations of the effectiveness of management interventions. This will result in scarce resources for conservation being directed to efforts with the greatest ecological benefits for stressed Australian lowland rivers.Read moreRead less
New approach to sensitivity assessment of complex simulation models for environmental management. The aims are (1) to develop new techniques that improve and extend the capabilities of sensitivity analysis of large and complex computer models for environmental management; and (2) with the industry partners, to test these techniques on models for salinity management in the Murray-Darling Basin. The project's significance is in providing new techniques able to answer a range of model users? questi ....New approach to sensitivity assessment of complex simulation models for environmental management. The aims are (1) to develop new techniques that improve and extend the capabilities of sensitivity analysis of large and complex computer models for environmental management; and (2) with the industry partners, to test these techniques on models for salinity management in the Murray-Darling Basin. The project's significance is in providing new techniques able to answer a range of model users? questions at acceptable computational cost, for complex models with outputs measured in a wide variety of ways. The outcomes will be new sensitivity assessment tools and experience of their use in an environmental application of great importance to Australia.Read moreRead less
Can dispersed, catchment-scale, urban stormwater retention restore stream ecosystems? This project is a world-first, catchment-scale, experimental test of the benefits of new stormwater treatment approaches to stream health. The project, a collaboration with Melbourne Water and the Shire of Yarra Ranges, integrates river, urban stormwater and water resource management for multiple benefits. It should accelerate the uptake of smart, sustainable technologies in stormwater use and management, and ....Can dispersed, catchment-scale, urban stormwater retention restore stream ecosystems? This project is a world-first, catchment-scale, experimental test of the benefits of new stormwater treatment approaches to stream health. The project, a collaboration with Melbourne Water and the Shire of Yarra Ranges, integrates river, urban stormwater and water resource management for multiple benefits. It should accelerate the uptake of smart, sustainable technologies in stormwater use and management, and identify better investment strategies for urban water and river management. The robust testing of the effect of new treatment design objectives by a catchment-scale experiment will have a strong impact on research in stream ecology and urban water management.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354677
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems through integrated assessment and modelling. Australia must take the lead internationally in sustainability assessment and management; it hosts both the problems and expertise, and is proactive in integrating research and management. This Initiative unites, for the first time, leading researchers from all relevant disciplines to advance our knowledge for achieving sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems (STARS). The intended network can produce a ....Sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems through integrated assessment and modelling. Australia must take the lead internationally in sustainability assessment and management; it hosts both the problems and expertise, and is proactive in integrating research and management. This Initiative unites, for the first time, leading researchers from all relevant disciplines to advance our knowledge for achieving sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems (STARS). The intended network can produce assessments, strategies and policy directions that are objective, adaptive and inclusive. It can evaluate trade-offs between sustainability strategies, integrating research and outcomes, making them accessible to managers. It will build a coordinated research capability that directly supports Australia's goal of ecologically sustainable development. Read moreRead less
Systemic and adaptive water governance: lessons for Australia from China and South Africa. The way we manage catchments under climate change is one of Australia’s major public policy challenges. This project will give new direction to catchment management by developing a science-policy linked, systemic and adaptive water governance mechanism. By recommending policy options for more sustainable water use and creating favourable social-institutional factors for the implementation of these policy o ....Systemic and adaptive water governance: lessons for Australia from China and South Africa. The way we manage catchments under climate change is one of Australia’s major public policy challenges. This project will give new direction to catchment management by developing a science-policy linked, systemic and adaptive water governance mechanism. By recommending policy options for more sustainable water use and creating favourable social-institutional factors for the implementation of these policy options in two Australian catchment authorities through comparative and parallel research in China and South Africa. This project directly addresses the national priority goals of “Water - a critical resource” and “Responding to climate change”. This project will also stress Australia's important role in this globally significant issue. Read moreRead less
Synthesising prior information for ecological research and management. While using existing information to design studies and compare results, ecologists rarely use existing information in their analyses. We will combine the results of previous ecological studies to summarise the existing information. We will test how well the traits of plants and animals can be predicted from previous research, and the benefit of this existing information for environmental management. By taking advantage of the ....Synthesising prior information for ecological research and management. While using existing information to design studies and compare results, ecologists rarely use existing information in their analyses. We will combine the results of previous ecological studies to summarise the existing information. We will test how well the traits of plants and animals can be predicted from previous research, and the benefit of this existing information for environmental management. By taking advantage of the wealth of previous ecological research, our project can save time and money for ecological research by scientists and environmental management by federal and state agencies. This will fundamentally change the way that ecology is conducted.Read moreRead less