Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP170104634

Funded Activity Summary

Do microbial and plant diversity interact to regulate multifunctionality? This project aims to quantify the relative contribution of plant and microbial communities and their interactions on the rate, stability and resilience of ecosystem functions. Plant and soil microbial communities contribute to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, driving key processes such as carbon and nutrient cycling. This project will adapt established theories which indicate that greater plant diversity improves ecosystem functions, stability and recovery. The expected outcome is a unifying framework for determining variation in functions across different ecosystem types and environmental disturbance such as rapid climate change.The insight gained into vulnerable ecosystems will help stakeholders (government, conservation, land management) to prioritise the focus on conservation and reduce risks to ecosystem services.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 30-06-2017

End Date: 30-12-2020

Funding Scheme: Discovery Projects

Funding Amount: $396,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Terrestrial Ecology | Ecosystem Function | Ecological Applications | Soil Biology |

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

Sparseland, Permanent Grassland and Arid Zone Soils | Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Urban and Industrial Environments | Sustainability Indicators

Other Keywords

Ecological Applications | Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Urban and Industrial Environments | Ecosystem Function | Soil Biology | Sparseland, Permanent Grassland and Arid Zone Soils | Sustainability Indicators | Terrestrial Ecology

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