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How iron is cycled in Southern Ocean waters. This project aims to probe the Southern Ocean phytoplankton’s ability to take up and retain iron, using iron isotope tracer techniques. The Southern Ocean regulates Earth's climate, but the supply of iron to Southern Ocean surface waters is low, restricting the ability of phytoplankton to flourish and draw down carbon dioxide. The results are expected to reveal survival strategies of phytoplankton in this iron-poor environment and their potential abil ....How iron is cycled in Southern Ocean waters. This project aims to probe the Southern Ocean phytoplankton’s ability to take up and retain iron, using iron isotope tracer techniques. The Southern Ocean regulates Earth's climate, but the supply of iron to Southern Ocean surface waters is low, restricting the ability of phytoplankton to flourish and draw down carbon dioxide. The results are expected to reveal survival strategies of phytoplankton in this iron-poor environment and their potential ability to adapt to environmental change. This knowledge could be used to develop models to manage this climate-sensitive region.Read moreRead less
High resolution health assessment of Antarctic plants as climate changes. Declines in terrestrial ecosystem health as a result of a drying climate have been observed in some areas of East Antarctica. This project aims to determine if such changes are widespread. Since mosses, the dominant plants of Antarctica, preserve a record of past climate down their shoots they can be used as surrogates to study how both ecosystems and climate are changing at remote polar sites. Outcomes will include improv ....High resolution health assessment of Antarctic plants as climate changes. Declines in terrestrial ecosystem health as a result of a drying climate have been observed in some areas of East Antarctica. This project aims to determine if such changes are widespread. Since mosses, the dominant plants of Antarctica, preserve a record of past climate down their shoots they can be used as surrogates to study how both ecosystems and climate are changing at remote polar sites. Outcomes will include improved climate data for Antarctica, enabling more robust analysis of regional climate change, and development of ultrahigh-resolution techniques capable of non-destructively monitoring Antarctic ecosystem health. This research will advance ecosystem science and inform best practice in management of Antarctic biodiversity.Read moreRead less
The role of Eastern Antarctic polynyas in global ocean circulation. This project aims to study Antarctic polynyas, an important, but poorly observed marine habitat, which profoundly influence the global climate. The major water masses of the world's oceans are formed there, making a large contribution to the ocean heat and carbon dioxide uptake. This study will collect data on ocean properties to 2000m from polynyas in eastern Antarctica throughout the Antarctic winter. The outcomes will be the ....The role of Eastern Antarctic polynyas in global ocean circulation. This project aims to study Antarctic polynyas, an important, but poorly observed marine habitat, which profoundly influence the global climate. The major water masses of the world's oceans are formed there, making a large contribution to the ocean heat and carbon dioxide uptake. This study will collect data on ocean properties to 2000m from polynyas in eastern Antarctica throughout the Antarctic winter. The outcomes will be the provision of data of critical importance to oceanographic and climate studies.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100279
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$453,000.00
Summary
Did ocean circulation changes build the Antarctic ice sheet? The evolution of the Antarctic ice sheet, from its beginning 34 million years ago (Ma) until today, is critical to our understanding of future climate change. This project aims to improve climate and ocean model simulations of the early Oligocene (30 Ma) and middle Miocene (15 Ma), using higher resolution and more accurate paleogeography than has previously been done. Expected outcomes include improvements to paleoclimate reconstructio ....Did ocean circulation changes build the Antarctic ice sheet? The evolution of the Antarctic ice sheet, from its beginning 34 million years ago (Ma) until today, is critical to our understanding of future climate change. This project aims to improve climate and ocean model simulations of the early Oligocene (30 Ma) and middle Miocene (15 Ma), using higher resolution and more accurate paleogeography than has previously been done. Expected outcomes include improvements to paleoclimate reconstructions, better constraints on future climate change, and a better understanding of the impact of ocean eddies on Antarctic climate. These outcomes should strengthen Australia’s long-term program of climate modelling, and enable more effective climate adaptation, mitigation and risk management.Read moreRead less
What fungal features are key to developing environmental resilience? The aim of this project is to identify key mechanisms contributing to environmental resilience within the east Antarctic soil mycobiome. We will use cutting-edge approaches to perform comparative phenotypic and genomic analyses on cold-adapted fungi against temperate species counterparts. Intended outcomes include an enhanced capacity to contribute substantially to the fungal tree of life while gaining new knowledge on fungal a ....What fungal features are key to developing environmental resilience? The aim of this project is to identify key mechanisms contributing to environmental resilience within the east Antarctic soil mycobiome. We will use cutting-edge approaches to perform comparative phenotypic and genomic analyses on cold-adapted fungi against temperate species counterparts. Intended outcomes include an enhanced capacity to contribute substantially to the fungal tree of life while gaining new knowledge on fungal adaptations in a model ecosystem at the limits of life. Significant benefits to the Royal Botanical Gardens and Domain Trust is delivery on their mission to quantify and qualify fungal biodiversity, and building of a restore and renew program that will inform future management and restoration of Australian ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Pelagic ecosystem linkages in a changing Southern Ocean. Our study, which aims to better describe and understand the ecology of the vast Ocean to the south of Australia, will provide the information that will assist in managing this region in an era of change. Many species are of significant conservation concern, others are recovering from previous harvesting, some are being harvested and all will be affected by a changing climate. Understanding the ecosystem linkages and the way in which the p ....Pelagic ecosystem linkages in a changing Southern Ocean. Our study, which aims to better describe and understand the ecology of the vast Ocean to the south of Australia, will provide the information that will assist in managing this region in an era of change. Many species are of significant conservation concern, others are recovering from previous harvesting, some are being harvested and all will be affected by a changing climate. Understanding the ecosystem linkages and the way in which the physical environment affects the distribution and abundance of key ecosystem components will allow us to better manage the system and to predict the effects of future climate change. Read moreRead less
An econometric analysis of the effects of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation in Australia. This project will help to 'strengthen Australia's economic fabric' by improving our understanding of the effect of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation. This is important because boosting fertility and labour force participation are both seen as ways of mitigating the economic burden of population ageing, thereby helping Austra ....An econometric analysis of the effects of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation in Australia. This project will help to 'strengthen Australia's economic fabric' by improving our understanding of the effect of family benefit policies on fertility, saving and labour force participation. This is important because boosting fertility and labour force participation are both seen as ways of mitigating the economic burden of population ageing, thereby helping Australia to 'age well, age productively' in a national sense. Also, achieving a desired level of national saving is a medium term goal of government economic policy. Hence it is important to understand the interaction of saving, fertility and labour force participation in order to develop compatible and effective economic policies.Read moreRead less
Mapping Antarctic climate change in space and time using mosses as biological proxies. This project will use polar mosses as sentinels for climate change to determine the extent to which change is already affecting Antarctica and enable development of more robust global climate models. Novel remote sensing methods will be developed to identify biodiversity most at risk from climate change thus maintaining Antarctic treaty obligations.
Diatom lipids to reveal sea-ice history in remote Antarctic regions. This project aims to understand seasonal Antarctic sea-ice extent using molecular, geochemical, elemental and genomic characteristics of specific marine phytoplankton (diatoms). Little is known of the seasonal sea-ice variation and the position of the summer sea-ice extent a million years before satellite records, but this information is critical to determining air-sea gas exchange and ecosystem food web regulation. This projec ....Diatom lipids to reveal sea-ice history in remote Antarctic regions. This project aims to understand seasonal Antarctic sea-ice extent using molecular, geochemical, elemental and genomic characteristics of specific marine phytoplankton (diatoms). Little is known of the seasonal sea-ice variation and the position of the summer sea-ice extent a million years before satellite records, but this information is critical to determining air-sea gas exchange and ecosystem food web regulation. This project will unite geochemical and biological approaches to provide the data to improve past Antarctic ecosystem and climate models where sea-ice data is missing. Studying diatom biomarkers in deep sea cores from Australia’s Southern Ocean will redefine knowledge of Antarctic climate and provide data necessary to improve global ecosystem and climate models.Read moreRead less
Risks of rapid ocean warming at the Antarctic continental margin. This project aims to comprehensively understand the interconnected processes by which oceanic heat is circulated towards Antarctica. The risk of rapid ocean warming at the Antarctic margin is profound, with change already detected via deep ocean warming, land-ice melt, and ice shelf collapse. Yet this region remains poorly understood, with only limited observations due to both a harsh environment and a lack of standard data stream ....Risks of rapid ocean warming at the Antarctic continental margin. This project aims to comprehensively understand the interconnected processes by which oceanic heat is circulated towards Antarctica. The risk of rapid ocean warming at the Antarctic margin is profound, with change already detected via deep ocean warming, land-ice melt, and ice shelf collapse. Yet this region remains poorly understood, with only limited observations due to both a harsh environment and a lack of standard data streams. This project will use high-resolution global and regional ocean/sea-ice models to examine mechanisms for rapid warming of Antarctic continental shelf waters via both large-scale drivers and fine-scale processes, including mesoscale eddies, tide-topography interactions, and bottom boundary flows. This work will better constrain future rates of ice melt around Antarctica by providing vital knowledge of the ocean processes, dynamics, and feedbacks relating to warm water intrusion onto the Antarctic continental shelf.Read moreRead less