Reintroduction of ecosystem engineers as a woodland restoration tool. Can we help restore woodlands by reintroducing extinct native mammals? Through a strategic partnership combining innovative research and conservation action, this project will investigate how returning extinct 'ecosystem engineers' could be used as a tool for restoring healthy temperate woodland ecosystems.
Modelling dynamics in spatial ecology. This project addresses how birth, death and movement drive patterns of plants and animals in space and time. We aim to apply and extend dynamical statistical models grounded in theory. Dynamical models are needed for us to understand how species and ecological communities respond to environmental change and disturbance including bushfires, climate change and extremes and species invasion. Using data from forest plots and animal movement, we aim to understan ....Modelling dynamics in spatial ecology. This project addresses how birth, death and movement drive patterns of plants and animals in space and time. We aim to apply and extend dynamical statistical models grounded in theory. Dynamical models are needed for us to understand how species and ecological communities respond to environmental change and disturbance including bushfires, climate change and extremes and species invasion. Using data from forest plots and animal movement, we aim to understand influences on individuals and species, and how to use that to generate robust predictions. The project is expected to produce statistical models and software for use by ecologists. This should help predict, and manage, ecological impacts of environmental change and disturbances.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101316
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$368,174.00
Summary
Protecting prey from predators using sensory tactics. This project aims to develop new approaches to prevent the extinction of threatened native species from invasive predators, such as rats, pigs, cats and foxes. Many native species are hard to see but vulnerable to being found by predators with powerful senses of smell and hearing. By harnessing the sensory cues of prey that predators use when hunting, this project expects to discover olfactory and auditory techniques that prevent predators fi ....Protecting prey from predators using sensory tactics. This project aims to develop new approaches to prevent the extinction of threatened native species from invasive predators, such as rats, pigs, cats and foxes. Many native species are hard to see but vulnerable to being found by predators with powerful senses of smell and hearing. By harnessing the sensory cues of prey that predators use when hunting, this project expects to discover olfactory and auditory techniques that prevent predators finding threatened species. In doing so, the project intends to provide new perspectives on how animals find food using multiple senses, and lead the recovery of threatened species in areas where predators remain within Australia and globally. Read moreRead less
The right information on time to restore tropical peatlands. This project aims to develop new tools to help environmental managers collect and rapidly share critical information to plan and evaluate restoration interventions that seek to reverse environmental degradation of tropical peatlands and curb megafires. Megafires that burn degraded peatlands generate significant carbon emissions, and transboundary air pollution that adversely affects the health and livelihoods of millions of people. Thi ....The right information on time to restore tropical peatlands. This project aims to develop new tools to help environmental managers collect and rapidly share critical information to plan and evaluate restoration interventions that seek to reverse environmental degradation of tropical peatlands and curb megafires. Megafires that burn degraded peatlands generate significant carbon emissions, and transboundary air pollution that adversely affects the health and livelihoods of millions of people. This project will improve restoration planning and evaluation to strategically restore degraded peatlands, with immediate focus on Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, but with application to many other regions.Read moreRead less
Bringing back Australia's lost woodland biodiversity: towards strategic multi-species reintroductions. Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinction of any continent on the planet. This has reduced biodiversity and compromised many important ecological processes. What is the best way to re-build depauperate mammal communities with multi-species reintroductions? What effects do multi-species reintroductions have on recipient ecosystems? This project aims to explore these questions by reintr ....Bringing back Australia's lost woodland biodiversity: towards strategic multi-species reintroductions. Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinction of any continent on the planet. This has reduced biodiversity and compromised many important ecological processes. What is the best way to re-build depauperate mammal communities with multi-species reintroductions? What effects do multi-species reintroductions have on recipient ecosystems? This project aims to explore these questions by reintroducing three mammal species to a critically endangered temperate woodland: a carnivore (the eastern quoll), an insectivore (yellow-footed antechinus), and a herbivore (the eastern chestnut mouse). Results from this sequenced multi-species reintroduction experiment will have broad applicability to ecosystem restoration in Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less
Fauna, fuel and fire: effects of animals on bushfire risk. This project aims to determine the extent that animals influence fire regimes through effects on fuel load and characteristics. Minimising the risk of large, severe bushfires, while conserving native species is one of the greatest challenges facing managers of fire-prone ecosystems globally. Using a powerful combination of landscape-scale field observations, experimental manipulations of animal densities, and modelling, the project expec ....Fauna, fuel and fire: effects of animals on bushfire risk. This project aims to determine the extent that animals influence fire regimes through effects on fuel load and characteristics. Minimising the risk of large, severe bushfires, while conserving native species is one of the greatest challenges facing managers of fire-prone ecosystems globally. Using a powerful combination of landscape-scale field observations, experimental manipulations of animal densities, and modelling, the project expects to quantify interactions between animals, bushfire fuel and fire regimes in south eastern Australian forests, woodlands and scrublands. This evidence should benefit the design of integrated, efficient, and complementary strategies for fire and fauna management in Australia’s extensive fire-prone ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Impacts of global environmental change on biodiversity of tropical savannas. This project aims to predict the biodiversity consequences of a global trend of increasing woody cover in tropical savannas. Believed to be driven by a combination of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration, climate change and management actions including fire suppression and cattle grazing. Expected outcomes are the integration of a range of modelling approaches to predict long-term impacts of environmental change on sa ....Impacts of global environmental change on biodiversity of tropical savannas. This project aims to predict the biodiversity consequences of a global trend of increasing woody cover in tropical savannas. Believed to be driven by a combination of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration, climate change and management actions including fire suppression and cattle grazing. Expected outcomes are the integration of a range of modelling approaches to predict long-term impacts of environmental change on savanna biodiversity and the identification of land-use and management strategies to best mitigate these impacts. Likely benefits are an improved understanding of trade-offs between alternative land-uses in the savannas, including biodiversity conservation, fire management for carbon credits, and cattle grazing.Read moreRead less
Reversing the loss of Leadbeater’s Possum habitat: An integrated stand- and landscape-scale approach to accelerating habitat development. Rapid loss of habitat threatens the Leadbeater's possum with extinction before the end of this century. This project aims to develop a range of stand-scale silvicultural prescriptions to accelerate the development of the key features of Leadbeater's possum habitat: large, hollow-bearing trees and a relatively dense Acacia mid-storey. These aim to then inform l ....Reversing the loss of Leadbeater’s Possum habitat: An integrated stand- and landscape-scale approach to accelerating habitat development. Rapid loss of habitat threatens the Leadbeater's possum with extinction before the end of this century. This project aims to develop a range of stand-scale silvicultural prescriptions to accelerate the development of the key features of Leadbeater's possum habitat: large, hollow-bearing trees and a relatively dense Acacia mid-storey. These aim to then inform landscape-scale management planning scenarios developed in conjunction with the Partner Organisations, DEPI and VicForests, to identify spatially and temporally explicit strategies for modifying forest management practices in the key areas of Leadbeater's possum habitat. The outcome aims to be an empirically based landscape-scale management plan to maximise the long-term viability of Leadbeater's possum.Read moreRead less
Accelerating species richness gains and carbon sequestration in secondary regrowth in north Queensland. Tropical abandoned lands offer important opportunities to increase carbon storage and conserve biodiversity. However, natural forest regeneration is slow and frequently inhibited by woody weeds. The project will involve a collaboration between eminent tropical biologists and the carbon-industry to devise innovative strategies to accelerate restoration of degraded land.
Surviving the inferno: how threatened macropods survive catastrophic fire. This project aims to determine the impact of the catastrophic black summer fires of 2019/20 on threatened wallabies, including the parma wallaby (that had 70% of its entire distribution burnt) and the red-legged pademelon. Following these fires, wildlife across Australia has been decimated. This project expects to generate new knowledge by comparing burnt and unburnt areas before and after the fires to determine their imp ....Surviving the inferno: how threatened macropods survive catastrophic fire. This project aims to determine the impact of the catastrophic black summer fires of 2019/20 on threatened wallabies, including the parma wallaby (that had 70% of its entire distribution burnt) and the red-legged pademelon. Following these fires, wildlife across Australia has been decimated. This project expects to generate new knowledge by comparing burnt and unburnt areas before and after the fires to determine their impact on threatened wallaby conservation ecology. The expected outcomes of this project include improved understanding of the impact of fires on Australia's iconic wildlife. This should significantly improve our ability to reduce the risk on these species in future megafires. Read moreRead less