Understanding and reversing the habitat shifts that have endangered the broad-headed snake. Extinction rates for vertebrate species are higher in southern Australia than almost anywhere else in the world, and saving endangered taxa is critical to biodiversity conservation. To do this effectively, researchers need to understand the processes that threaten wild populations, and to develop novel solutions to those problems in close collaboration with wildlife management authorities and other stake ....Understanding and reversing the habitat shifts that have endangered the broad-headed snake. Extinction rates for vertebrate species are higher in southern Australia than almost anywhere else in the world, and saving endangered taxa is critical to biodiversity conservation. To do this effectively, researchers need to understand the processes that threaten wild populations, and to develop novel solutions to those problems in close collaboration with wildlife management authorities and other stakeholders. This project will build such an understanding and collaboration, focusing on an endangered snake species. We propose ambitious landscape-scale field experiments that will simultaneously test hypotheses on threatening processes, and restore habitat quality to reverse population declines.Read moreRead less
Mid-rotation diagnosis and management options for correction of water and nutrient deficiencies in plantation-grown eucalypts. This research will improve productivity of bluegum plantations by improving current diagnostic techniques (foliage and soil analysis) for nutrient disorders and the supply of water. Using a novel phloem sampling and analysis technique, we will develop a nutrient (e.g. N, P) and water diagnosis procedure that is quick, cheap, robust and reliable for field use. A major in ....Mid-rotation diagnosis and management options for correction of water and nutrient deficiencies in plantation-grown eucalypts. This research will improve productivity of bluegum plantations by improving current diagnostic techniques (foliage and soil analysis) for nutrient disorders and the supply of water. Using a novel phloem sampling and analysis technique, we will develop a nutrient (e.g. N, P) and water diagnosis procedure that is quick, cheap, robust and reliable for field use. A major innovation will be distinguishing the effects of shortages of water on growth from those of other growth influences. Overall, this project will provide a highly significant theoretical, conceptual and practical advance in mid-rotation, diagnostics for plantations with considerable commercial promise.Read moreRead less
Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components. This project aims to demonstrate how temperate evergreen forests could buffer against climate change. Soil respiration returns around half the carbon taken up by forests to the atmosphere. This project will characterise and quantify how microbes and roots in soils depend on temperature and substrate supply, and so predict how rising temperatures and drought will affect forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks. This project will ....Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components. This project aims to demonstrate how temperate evergreen forests could buffer against climate change. Soil respiration returns around half the carbon taken up by forests to the atmosphere. This project will characterise and quantify how microbes and roots in soils depend on temperature and substrate supply, and so predict how rising temperatures and drought will affect forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks. This project will resolve the roles of environmental drivers of soil respiration across forests; integrate mechanistic understanding of differing plant and microbial responses to temperature within a common modelling framework; and evaluate the implications of this knowledge in predictions of climatic impacts on terrestrial carbon cycling.Read moreRead less
To grow or to store: Do plants hedge their bets? This project aims to resolve a long-standing question about the function of perennial plants: how much of the carbon taken up by photosynthesis is used immediately for growth, and how much is kept in reserve as insurance against future stress? This question is important to our understanding of how plants respond to stresses such as severe drought, and yet lack of data and theoretical modelling currently hampers our ability to answer it. By applyin ....To grow or to store: Do plants hedge their bets? This project aims to resolve a long-standing question about the function of perennial plants: how much of the carbon taken up by photosynthesis is used immediately for growth, and how much is kept in reserve as insurance against future stress? This question is important to our understanding of how plants respond to stresses such as severe drought, and yet lack of data and theoretical modelling currently hampers our ability to answer it. By applying novel data analysis and modelling tools to recent experimental results, the project plans to test hypotheses for how plants allocate carbon between growth and storage in response to stress. Insights from the project may underpin better management of Australia’s vulnerable ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Novel Chlorophylls and New Directions in Photosynthesis. Understanding how solar energy is used in photosynthesis is of global importance and will contribute to cutting-edge photosynthetic research by Australian scientists. We aim to discover how and why the key photosynthetic pigments, chlorophylls, are synthesised and used; this will provide new opportunities for breakthroughs in frontier technologies, such as photoelectric cells based on carbon rather than silicon. We aim to understand how no ....Novel Chlorophylls and New Directions in Photosynthesis. Understanding how solar energy is used in photosynthesis is of global importance and will contribute to cutting-edge photosynthetic research by Australian scientists. We aim to discover how and why the key photosynthetic pigments, chlorophylls, are synthesised and used; this will provide new opportunities for breakthroughs in frontier technologies, such as photoelectric cells based on carbon rather than silicon. We aim to understand how novel chlorophylls are used in a variety of important organisms in a range of ecological niches. The results will aid understanding of the effects of global climate change on coral reefs, in open-ocean systems and in other important biological communities.Read moreRead less
Molecular mechanisms of spectral extension in photosynthesis: the substitution and formation of the novel pigment chlorophyll d. This project builds on new discoveries of novel chlorophylls and how their spectral properties are fine-tuned in photosynthetic bacteria. We will focus on how key photopigments, the chlorophylls, are biosynthesised, including their enzyme structures, mechanisms and regulatory elements. Understanding the power of natural selection on spectral extension in photosynthesis ....Molecular mechanisms of spectral extension in photosynthesis: the substitution and formation of the novel pigment chlorophyll d. This project builds on new discoveries of novel chlorophylls and how their spectral properties are fine-tuned in photosynthetic bacteria. We will focus on how key photopigments, the chlorophylls, are biosynthesised, including their enzyme structures, mechanisms and regulatory elements. Understanding the power of natural selection on spectral extension in photosynthesis will shed light on the evolutionary development of photopigments, and will allow us explore the possibilities for the production of new pigments in solar energy research.Read moreRead less
Lags and legacies: antecedent effects on grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide. This project aims to assess how past conditions influence grassland responses to the rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. High CO2 concentrations should stimulate productivity but in grasslands this is rarely realised because other, mostly unknown, factors constrain the response. By synthesising data from past experiments, this project aims to determine exactly why grasslands fail to realise the ....Lags and legacies: antecedent effects on grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide. This project aims to assess how past conditions influence grassland responses to the rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. High CO2 concentrations should stimulate productivity but in grasslands this is rarely realised because other, mostly unknown, factors constrain the response. By synthesising data from past experiments, this project aims to determine exactly why grasslands fail to realise the full productivity benefits of increased CO2 and when this will happen. This should improve predictions of carbon exchange and indicating the best direction for climate change adaptation measures.Read moreRead less
Ecological consequences of hydrodynamic disturbances. The Great Barrier Reef is synonymous with Australia to many people worldwide. Consequently, it is of paramount importance to our national tourism industry. As stewards of this unique ecosystem, we are responsible for ensuring its persistence under not only present, but also future climate scenarios. To do so requires the tools for predicting the ecological impacts of physical disturbance that this project will develop. Because of its global s ....Ecological consequences of hydrodynamic disturbances. The Great Barrier Reef is synonymous with Australia to many people worldwide. Consequently, it is of paramount importance to our national tourism industry. As stewards of this unique ecosystem, we are responsible for ensuring its persistence under not only present, but also future climate scenarios. To do so requires the tools for predicting the ecological impacts of physical disturbance that this project will develop. Because of its global significance, this work will continue to generate high-impact publications that will increase the international research profile of Australia. Finally, this project will generate collaborations with top researchers worldwide and will provide high quality training to postgraduate students.
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Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL190100003
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,108,997.00
Summary
A unified dynamic vegetation model for Australia. This project aims to synthesise current theory and data to develop a predictive, process-based model for Australian vegetation dynamics in response to environmental change. The existing theory and data are extensive, but fragmented. This project will deliver a crucial missing link in Australian ecosystem science, unifying these data in an integrative quantitative framework that can identify the critical limiting factors for different vegetation t ....A unified dynamic vegetation model for Australia. This project aims to synthesise current theory and data to develop a predictive, process-based model for Australian vegetation dynamics in response to environmental change. The existing theory and data are extensive, but fragmented. This project will deliver a crucial missing link in Australian ecosystem science, unifying these data in an integrative quantitative framework that can identify the critical limiting factors for different vegetation types, and predict their dynamics and resilience. It will transform our understanding of Australian vegetation form and function, and place it in a global context, with significant ongoing benefits for land management, fire management, agriculture and conservation.Read moreRead less
Testing the importance of large-scale climate factors to plant community assembly following land-use change. This project will examine the native plant species and functional diversity of Australia's rain forest communities to create a predictive framework of how plant communities recover following deforestation. Such a framework is key to focusing conservation efforts in degraded and multi-use landscapes.