Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100308
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$435,748.00
Summary
Effects of artificial light at night on coastal ecosystems. This project aims to determine the ecological effects of artificial light at night on coastal marine ecosystems. Artificial light at night is a pervasive stressor that disrupts a fundamental driver of ecological and evolutionary processes: natural light cycles. Using a holistic approach that combines field experiments and microbial ecology, this project will assess impacts of artificial light at multiple levels of biological and ecologi ....Effects of artificial light at night on coastal ecosystems. This project aims to determine the ecological effects of artificial light at night on coastal marine ecosystems. Artificial light at night is a pervasive stressor that disrupts a fundamental driver of ecological and evolutionary processes: natural light cycles. Using a holistic approach that combines field experiments and microbial ecology, this project will assess impacts of artificial light at multiple levels of biological and ecological organisation. Expected outcomes include new knowledge on how species interactions mediate functional changes in response to an emergent, global stressor. This should provide significant benefits, including enhanced management of coastal systems and the critical services and social benefits they provide.
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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
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
Tackling marine conservation issues at national and global scales. This project aims to collect and apply standardised underwater data on fishes, invertebrates and plants in an unprecedented global analysis of decadal change in rocky and coral reef ecosystems. Outcomes will include validation of global models of ocean warming and understanding of poorly known ecological impacts of recreational fisheries. A suite of data-informed recommendations developed through engagement across management, sci ....Tackling marine conservation issues at national and global scales. This project aims to collect and apply standardised underwater data on fishes, invertebrates and plants in an unprecedented global analysis of decadal change in rocky and coral reef ecosystems. Outcomes will include validation of global models of ocean warming and understanding of poorly known ecological impacts of recreational fisheries. A suite of data-informed recommendations developed through engagement across management, science and public sectors will benefit Australians by enabling improved sustainability of resource use. International benefits will propagate through increased data access, improvements in predictive models and the evidence base required for large-scale biodiversity-related policy reform.Read moreRead less
New tools to detect ecological effects of contaminants in estuaries. Identifying risks to estuarine environments from pollutants is difficult for environmental managers, who must choose between laboratory toxicity testing that is precise, but hard to generalise to field situations, and more realistic field-based monitoring, which is expensive, with a high signal to noise ratio. New molecular techniques may provide more options. Metabolomics can provide insights into the health of animals, and ec ....New tools to detect ecological effects of contaminants in estuaries. Identifying risks to estuarine environments from pollutants is difficult for environmental managers, who must choose between laboratory toxicity testing that is precise, but hard to generalise to field situations, and more realistic field-based monitoring, which is expensive, with a high signal to noise ratio. New molecular techniques may provide more options. Metabolomics can provide insights into the health of animals, and ecogenomics offers a way to rapidly assess the composition of an ecological community. These techniques offer great promise, but they must be cross-validated against existing methods to derive the best ’toolbox’. Working with Melbourne Water and CSIRO the investigators aim to do this using demonstration estuaries in Victoria.Read moreRead less
Balancing estuarine and societal health in a changing environment. This project aims to facilitate sustainable development in a fast-growing coastal region (Peel-Harvey, south-western Australia). By exploiting 30+ year data sets for this catchment-estuary system and integrating ecological, hydrological, biogeochemical, modelling and socio-economic expertise, this project seeks to link primary catchment drivers to estuarine health response (up to higher fauna), quantify estuarine ecological healt ....Balancing estuarine and societal health in a changing environment. This project aims to facilitate sustainable development in a fast-growing coastal region (Peel-Harvey, south-western Australia). By exploiting 30+ year data sets for this catchment-estuary system and integrating ecological, hydrological, biogeochemical, modelling and socio-economic expertise, this project seeks to link primary catchment drivers to estuarine health response (up to higher fauna), quantify estuarine ecological health and ecosystem services under historical and future scenarios, and test resilience across the human–natural system. Envisaged outcomes include evidence-based catchment planning solutions that optimise trade-offs between socio-economic development goals and minimal downstream impacts on estuarine health.Read moreRead less
Linking individual traits, the gut microbiome and parasite load in wildlife. This project aims to apply principles of community ecology to the gut microbiome of an urban exploiter – the common brushtail possum - to reveal how animal traits influence individual variation in the load of gut parasites that cause disease in both humans and wildlife. By combining assays defining the behavioural and physiological states of individuals with sophisticated analyses of their gut microbiome, our project wi ....Linking individual traits, the gut microbiome and parasite load in wildlife. This project aims to apply principles of community ecology to the gut microbiome of an urban exploiter – the common brushtail possum - to reveal how animal traits influence individual variation in the load of gut parasites that cause disease in both humans and wildlife. By combining assays defining the behavioural and physiological states of individuals with sophisticated analyses of their gut microbiome, our project will provide a new, yet crucial, perspective on how and why diseases spread. Our discoveries will help understand and manage the burden of infectious diseases from parasites in and beyond our cities and across the human-wildlife interface; essential for improving human and wildlife health in an increasingly urbanised Australia.Read moreRead less
Manipulating foraging by mammalian herbivores with plant odours. This project aims to reveal how mammalian herbivores exploit leaf odour to detect plants while foraging. Insects track plant odour to find host plants, yet how mammalian herbivores use olfaction to forage and how this can be harnessed is unknown. This project will provide new perspectives on foraging ecology, and will pioneer novel ways to help protect plants using chemical camouflage, and to help protect animals from road collisio ....Manipulating foraging by mammalian herbivores with plant odours. This project aims to reveal how mammalian herbivores exploit leaf odour to detect plants while foraging. Insects track plant odour to find host plants, yet how mammalian herbivores use olfaction to forage and how this can be harnessed is unknown. This project will provide new perspectives on foraging ecology, and will pioneer novel ways to help protect plants using chemical camouflage, and to help protect animals from road collisions by attracting them to safety.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100884
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,691.00
Summary
Do novel diets reshape wildlife microbiomes and resilience to stressors? This project aims to investigate how bacteria can assist wildlife in adapting to the accelerating threat of environmental change. Using an innovative, interdisciplinary approach this project expects to identify interactions between environmental change and the diet, microbial communities and stress resilience of wildlife, using the threatened Grey-headed flying fox as a model system. Expected outcomes include detailed under ....Do novel diets reshape wildlife microbiomes and resilience to stressors? This project aims to investigate how bacteria can assist wildlife in adapting to the accelerating threat of environmental change. Using an innovative, interdisciplinary approach this project expects to identify interactions between environmental change and the diet, microbial communities and stress resilience of wildlife, using the threatened Grey-headed flying fox as a model system. Expected outcomes include detailed understanding of the role of microbial communities in shaping wildlife adaptations and development of ecological interventions to enhance wildlife resilience in Australia and globally. Such outcomes may reveal opportunities for management strategies that safeguard threatened species and reduce human-wildlife conflicts.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100479
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$453,582.00
Summary
Delivering defences: using fungi to enhance plant resistance to herbivory. This project will identify how the diversity of beneficial fungi in the soil is affected by agricultural management, and will reveal how these fungi govern the ability of plants to defend themselves from insect herbivores. Through innovative field surveys and experimentation, this project will generate new knowledge in the key areas of soil ecology and plant defence. This will allow us to exploit these soil fungi to enhan ....Delivering defences: using fungi to enhance plant resistance to herbivory. This project will identify how the diversity of beneficial fungi in the soil is affected by agricultural management, and will reveal how these fungi govern the ability of plants to defend themselves from insect herbivores. Through innovative field surveys and experimentation, this project will generate new knowledge in the key areas of soil ecology and plant defence. This will allow us to exploit these soil fungi to enhance crop protection while simultaneously conserving soil ecosystems. Effectively boosting plant defence in this way will reduce reliance on ecologically damaging pesticides, promote soil biodiversity, and ensure the sustainability of crop production into the future. Read moreRead less