A novel approach to tracking estuarine food chains: combined use of fatty acid and stable isotope biomarkers. Fatty acid biomarkers provide promising novel tracers for studying estuarine food chains. Stable isotopes, commonly employed in food chain studies, lack specificity to allow easy determination of feeding relationships. Different primary producers are characterised by unique fatty acid sequences. This study will thoroughly evaluate the applicability of fatty acid biomarkers in tracking ....A novel approach to tracking estuarine food chains: combined use of fatty acid and stable isotope biomarkers. Fatty acid biomarkers provide promising novel tracers for studying estuarine food chains. Stable isotopes, commonly employed in food chain studies, lack specificity to allow easy determination of feeding relationships. Different primary producers are characterised by unique fatty acid sequences. This study will thoroughly evaluate the applicability of fatty acid biomarkers in tracking both natural and human-impacted estuarine food chains. By developing a new approach of combining the advantages of fatty acid bioamrkers and stable isotopes in studying estuarine trophodynamics, this study will provide essential information for the management of estuarine biotic resources.Read moreRead less
Influence of Marine Protected Areas on ecosystem resilience and ecological processes. Australia is implementing a national representative system of marine protected areas (MPAs). The aims of the MPAs include ensuring ecological viability, maintaining ecological processes, and protecting biodiversity. The ability of MPAs to achieve these aims, however, is based largely on theory rather than empirical evidence. Implementation of MPAs is often controversial as it may cause economic hardship to comm ....Influence of Marine Protected Areas on ecosystem resilience and ecological processes. Australia is implementing a national representative system of marine protected areas (MPAs). The aims of the MPAs include ensuring ecological viability, maintaining ecological processes, and protecting biodiversity. The ability of MPAs to achieve these aims, however, is based largely on theory rather than empirical evidence. Implementation of MPAs is often controversial as it may cause economic hardship to communities dependent on fishing. Our project will benefit environmental managers by determining if and how MPAs influence biodiversity, ecological processes, and ecosystem services and resilience. It will benefit the wider community by providing the rigorous scientific evidence in favour of MPAs that is demanded by stakeholders.Read moreRead less
ARC Australia-New Zealand Research Network for Vegetation Function. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits, and in their relations to climate, soils and geography. Global generalizations are emerging. Vegetation Function network will reach from plant function into genomics and crop breeding, into palaeoecology and vegetation history, into landscape management for carbon, water and salinity outcomes, into forecasting future ecosystems under global change, and into phylogeny, ....ARC Australia-New Zealand Research Network for Vegetation Function. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits, and in their relations to climate, soils and geography. Global generalizations are emerging. Vegetation Function network will reach from plant function into genomics and crop breeding, into palaeoecology and vegetation history, into landscape management for carbon, water and salinity outcomes, into forecasting future ecosystems under global change, and into phylogeny, ecoinformatics and evolutionary theory. Across this span, working groups will target nine identified opportunities for breakthrough research. Each research target needs input from two or more disciplines. Together, the nine targets link across disciplines, as a network that spans from genomic to planetary scales.Read moreRead less
Heterogeneity and ecosystem function: The role of microphytobenthos and macrofauna in inducing spatial variability in biogeochemical processes and fluxes. Human disturbances such as eutrophication (nutrient enrichment) increasingly threaten the sustainable use of Australia's coastal seas. Management of threats such as eutrophication are usually based on observations at large spatial scales, but ecological processes underpinning nutrient dynamics occur at much smaller scales. This multi-disciplin ....Heterogeneity and ecosystem function: The role of microphytobenthos and macrofauna in inducing spatial variability in biogeochemical processes and fluxes. Human disturbances such as eutrophication (nutrient enrichment) increasingly threaten the sustainable use of Australia's coastal seas. Management of threats such as eutrophication are usually based on observations at large spatial scales, but ecological processes underpinning nutrient dynamics occur at much smaller scales. This multi-disciplinary study will examine the relationship between processes mediated by small organisms (microscopic algae and burrowing animals), and large-scale nutrient dynamics pattern on sheltered coasts. Modern technologies will be used for monitoring the micro-scale processes, allowing models to be constructed to benefit both scientists and policy-makers alike.Read moreRead less