Seagrass tolerance of oil spills - scaling of pollution impacts. Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services (such as sediment stabilisation and habitat provision) in Australian coastal waters. The contribution of pollutants to current seagrass decline is poorly understood. The Australian shipping industry is the 5th largest in the world but there is very little data on the impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons on intertidal seagrasses and hence no information for coastal resource managers to use in ....Seagrass tolerance of oil spills - scaling of pollution impacts. Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services (such as sediment stabilisation and habitat provision) in Australian coastal waters. The contribution of pollutants to current seagrass decline is poorly understood. The Australian shipping industry is the 5th largest in the world but there is very little data on the impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons on intertidal seagrasses and hence no information for coastal resource managers to use in decision-making in the event of an oil spill. This project will assess the relative toxicities of a number of petroleum hydrocarbons on Australian seagrass species to provide necessary data for the development of effective management practice.Read moreRead less
Environmental Genomics: Mining, climate change, water, crime and health. The new Environmental Genomics approach will employ high-powered genome sequencing systems to perform some of the first detailed genetic studies of Australian environments. The resulting high-resolution data will comprise a genetic audit, providing essential information for the accurate measurement of climate and environmental change. This method will dramatically improve the speed, and power of environmental impact assessm ....Environmental Genomics: Mining, climate change, water, crime and health. The new Environmental Genomics approach will employ high-powered genome sequencing systems to perform some of the first detailed genetic studies of Australian environments. The resulting high-resolution data will comprise a genetic audit, providing essential information for the accurate measurement of climate and environmental change. This method will dramatically improve the speed, and power of environmental impact assessments, permitting responsible resource development with major benefits to industry and the economy. It will also create new tools to improve water management and quality, biosecurity, forensics/policing and human health, as reflected by the diverse range of industry partners supporting this project.Read moreRead less
Using biodiesel cleanup agents to reduce impacts on mangroves and tidal wetland ecosystems from oil spills. This Linkage project will demonstrate Australia's commitment towards minimisation of the ecological impacts of key pollutants like oil in the marine environment. It will also advance Australia's leadership position in the management of oil spill remediation and will, through the robust partnership developed with Australian Maritime Safety Authority build a skilled team better able to respo ....Using biodiesel cleanup agents to reduce impacts on mangroves and tidal wetland ecosystems from oil spills. This Linkage project will demonstrate Australia's commitment towards minimisation of the ecological impacts of key pollutants like oil in the marine environment. It will also advance Australia's leadership position in the management of oil spill remediation and will, through the robust partnership developed with Australian Maritime Safety Authority build a skilled team better able to respond effectively when such disasters occur. The challenge is to maintain this research focus and create some stability and continuity of the knowledge and experiences gained at the University of Queensland. Significantly the project will provide career-oriented research training opportunities in a field that clearly underpins National Research Priorities. Read moreRead less
The Australian historic shipwreck protection project: the in situ preservation and reburial of a colonial trader - Clarence (1850). The project will use cutting-edge technology to study and preserve an early colonial shipwreck at risk and develop a world-class strategy for the reburial and preservation of endangered historic shipwrecks. The project will help develop new national policy and technical guidelines for site managers of historic shipwrecks and offer new insights into colonial shipbuil ....The Australian historic shipwreck protection project: the in situ preservation and reburial of a colonial trader - Clarence (1850). The project will use cutting-edge technology to study and preserve an early colonial shipwreck at risk and develop a world-class strategy for the reburial and preservation of endangered historic shipwrecks. The project will help develop new national policy and technical guidelines for site managers of historic shipwrecks and offer new insights into colonial shipbuilding.Read moreRead less
Novel habitat quality assessment to inform the development of recreational boating infrastructure. As Australians migrate towards the coast, the demand for recreational boating facilities such as moorings and marinas is increasing rapidly. These structures can remove habitat and fragment the seascape in a similar manner to roads and clearings in forest and grasslands. Coastal infrastructure can also reduce the quality of existing habitats and their full impact must be assessed if the diversity a ....Novel habitat quality assessment to inform the development of recreational boating infrastructure. As Australians migrate towards the coast, the demand for recreational boating facilities such as moorings and marinas is increasing rapidly. These structures can remove habitat and fragment the seascape in a similar manner to roads and clearings in forest and grasslands. Coastal infrastructure can also reduce the quality of existing habitats and their full impact must be assessed if the diversity and function of coastal seascapes is to be conserved. This project aims to use a combination of novel modelling, surveys, and large experiments to understand how threatened seagrass, fish, and sediment habitats are altered in human modified seascapes, and to assess the success of habitat restoration following the removal of boating structures.Read moreRead less
Testing the waters: impacts of contaminants on ecosystem structure and function in urban waterways. To ensure that people can swim, catch fish and enjoy the beauty of urban waterways we need to be able to predict the effects of more than one stressor at a time. This project will determine how nutrients and metals affect our waterways. Findings will help prioritise management actions that protect biodiversity and human uses of these systems.
Salty gas: the ecological risk of saline effluents from coal seam gas and other hydrocarbon resources. The objective of this project is to predict the effect of saline water produced from coal and coal seam gas extraction activities on freshwater systems. The findings will assist decisions on whether to permit discharge of such waste water, and if permitted under what conditions (e.g. water quality criteria) so as to prevent environment damage.
Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaire ....Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaired but must be developed to identify the causes of decline. The intended outcomes are improved sustainable water resource management within and among states, and improved natural resource policy development.Read moreRead less