Transforming Cultural & Natural Resource Management workforce capabilities. This project aims to implement a transformative program of transdisciplinary cultural and natural resource management and workforce development research in Northern Australia’s Arnhem Plateau region. This project expects to create new knowledge in the areas of cultural knowledges, wildfire, feral animal, invasive plants, mine-site rehabilitation, and climate change, as well as Indigenous training effectiveness. Expected ....Transforming Cultural & Natural Resource Management workforce capabilities. This project aims to implement a transformative program of transdisciplinary cultural and natural resource management and workforce development research in Northern Australia’s Arnhem Plateau region. This project expects to create new knowledge in the areas of cultural knowledges, wildfire, feral animal, invasive plants, mine-site rehabilitation, and climate change, as well as Indigenous training effectiveness. Expected outcomes of the project include practical learnings for application in broader Indigenous community/First Nations capability and supportive policy development contexts. The expected benefits are a long-term platform for enhancing cultural and environmental landscape management and sustainable employment opportunities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100599
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Forecasting ecosystem collapse and recovery by tracking networks of species. This project aims to assess and predict ecosystem decline by measuring change in networks of interacting species. Efforts to prevent ecosystem collapse are failing. A focus on managing individual species ignores the fact that ecosystems function because species have complex associations with one another and the environment. This project will use methods from social networks, food-web theory and web-searching behaviour, ....Forecasting ecosystem collapse and recovery by tracking networks of species. This project aims to assess and predict ecosystem decline by measuring change in networks of interacting species. Efforts to prevent ecosystem collapse are failing. A focus on managing individual species ignores the fact that ecosystems function because species have complex associations with one another and the environment. This project will use methods from social networks, food-web theory and web-searching behaviour, to discover symptoms of declining ecosystems and find robust metrics that diagnose change in networks of co-occurring species. The intended outcome is to clarify the relationship between species interactions, co-occurrence and ecosystem decline, knowledge critical to ecosystem recovery.Read moreRead less
Bio-Acoustic Observatory: Engaging Birdwatchers to Monitor Biodiversity by Collaboratively Collecting and Analysing Big Audio Data. This project will research how to crowd-source the collection and analysis of environmental animal sounds (for example, birds, frogs). This will enable a bio-acoustic observatory which provides a scalable, objective and permanent record of the environment, something hitherto impossible. The project will investigate how to engage the community of birdwatchers to exte ....Bio-Acoustic Observatory: Engaging Birdwatchers to Monitor Biodiversity by Collaboratively Collecting and Analysing Big Audio Data. This project will research how to crowd-source the collection and analysis of environmental animal sounds (for example, birds, frogs). This will enable a bio-acoustic observatory which provides a scalable, objective and permanent record of the environment, something hitherto impossible. The project will investigate how to engage the community of birdwatchers to extend their pastime online with new kinds of interactive tools to enable collaborative analysis of big audio data, and new kinds of birding experiences. Outcomes will be: new approaches to physical/virtual engagement in human-computer interaction; new approaches to analysing big data; a new validated ecological monitoring technique and concepts for sustainable knowledge generation communities.Read moreRead less
How effective are environmental flows? Novel approaches for monitoring and assessing ecological responses to large-scale flow alteration. Australia has begun a multi-billion dollar program to return water to stressed rivers as environmental flows. However, during times of unprecedented water scarcity, such an investment in the environment can be controversial because the ecological benefits of released water are mostly poorly understood. This project will demonstrate the effectiveness of environ ....How effective are environmental flows? Novel approaches for monitoring and assessing ecological responses to large-scale flow alteration. Australia has begun a multi-billion dollar program to return water to stressed rivers as environmental flows. However, during times of unprecedented water scarcity, such an investment in the environment can be controversial because the ecological benefits of released water are mostly poorly understood. This project will demonstrate the effectiveness of environmental flows, and promote greater understanding of the links between flow patterns and river health. The project will build upon existing knowledge to create a sound framework for planning, monitoring, and evaluation of environmental watering decisions across regional Australia, greatly improving our ability to sustainably manage rivers into the future.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100200
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$385,279.00
Summary
Characterising changes in Australia’s vegetation for biomass monitoring, carbon accounting and fire hazard mapping. To reduce the uncertainties in estimating and predicting vegetation biomass and to aid in the development of climate change strategies, this project will formulate and explore the first detailed long term aboveground vegetation biomass carbon record for Australia using a series of satellite passive microwave instruments. The spatiotemporal variation in biomass carbon over past deca ....Characterising changes in Australia’s vegetation for biomass monitoring, carbon accounting and fire hazard mapping. To reduce the uncertainties in estimating and predicting vegetation biomass and to aid in the development of climate change strategies, this project will formulate and explore the first detailed long term aboveground vegetation biomass carbon record for Australia using a series of satellite passive microwave instruments. The spatiotemporal variation in biomass carbon over past decades will be investigated to better understand how it responds to changing climate and human activities. Such information will allow more accurate estimation of future vegetation dynamics and carbon storage. Moreover, an enhanced bushfire danger index that incorporates aboveground biomass information will be developed to more precisely predict the potential damage.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE170100033
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$900,000.00
Summary
Australian Acoustic Observatory: A network to monitor biodiversity. This project aims to create a terrestrial acoustic sensor network comprising 450 listening stations across Australia. Acoustic sensing transforms environmental science by recording vocal species 24/7, providing spatial and temporal data for ecosystem monitoring and research. Australia has leading research expertise in this emerging field, which is relevant to its fragile and mega-diverse environment. This project is expected to ....Australian Acoustic Observatory: A network to monitor biodiversity. This project aims to create a terrestrial acoustic sensor network comprising 450 listening stations across Australia. Acoustic sensing transforms environmental science by recording vocal species 24/7, providing spatial and temporal data for ecosystem monitoring and research. Australia has leading research expertise in this emerging field, which is relevant to its fragile and mega-diverse environment. This project is expected to enable and develop continental scale environmental monitoring, and the data generated will be made freely available to all online, enabling new science in understanding ecosystems, long-term environmental change, data visualisation and acoustic science.Read moreRead less
A global standard for the status of Wetlands of International Importance. The project will develop and test a new global standard for the assessment and reporting on ecological condition of internationally important wetlands, listed under the Ramsar Convention. It has four aims: establishment of a strategic adaptive management and governance framework, a meta-analysis of the 2,303 internationally listed wetlands, development of a protocol for assessment and prediction and delivering a digital re ....A global standard for the status of Wetlands of International Importance. The project will develop and test a new global standard for the assessment and reporting on ecological condition of internationally important wetlands, listed under the Ramsar Convention. It has four aims: establishment of a strategic adaptive management and governance framework, a meta-analysis of the 2,303 internationally listed wetlands, development of a protocol for assessment and prediction and delivering a digital reporting platform for effective management. The project is significant because it tackles the decline of freshwater ecosystems, by targeting the most prominent wetlands. It also assists state and national governments to meet their obligations under the Ramsar Convention and most importantly guides more effective management.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100101
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$417,068.00
Summary
Assessing risks to coastal ecosystems with new earth observation models. This project aims to quantify and diagnose the causes of declines in the world’s coastal wetland ecosystems. Unprecedented rates of loss have been reported in many coastal ecosystems, but there is a lack of knowledge regarding their distribution, status and trajectory at the global scale. The project will integrate earth observation, machine-learning and ecosystem risk assessment methods to deliver new high-resolution time- ....Assessing risks to coastal ecosystems with new earth observation models. This project aims to quantify and diagnose the causes of declines in the world’s coastal wetland ecosystems. Unprecedented rates of loss have been reported in many coastal ecosystems, but there is a lack of knowledge regarding their distribution, status and trajectory at the global scale. The project will integrate earth observation, machine-learning and ecosystem risk assessment methods to deliver new high-resolution time-series data, quantitative knowledge on the influence of social, economic and environmental factors on ecosystem loss, and predictions of different future states of coastal ecosystems. Key benefits include an improved ability to monitor and manage coastal ecosystems in Australia and globally.Read moreRead less
Acoustics for Large Scale Biodiversity Assessment. Aims: This project will investigate using automated acoustic recording to efficiently census biodiversity assessment at a continental scale.
Significance: To generate new techniques for analysing environmental acoustic data and assessing Australian biodiversity, verified empirical estimates of biodiversity, an understanding of causes of variation in biodiversity.
Expected outcomes: methods for large-scale and accurate assessment of biodiversity ....Acoustics for Large Scale Biodiversity Assessment. Aims: This project will investigate using automated acoustic recording to efficiently census biodiversity assessment at a continental scale.
Significance: To generate new techniques for analysing environmental acoustic data and assessing Australian biodiversity, verified empirical estimates of biodiversity, an understanding of causes of variation in biodiversity.
Expected outcomes: methods for large-scale and accurate assessment of biodiversity, enhanced capacity to detect causes of variation in biodiversity, open-source software tools for analysing environmental audio data, biodiversity datasets.
Benefits: measuring and understanding biodiversity change, allowing enhanced management, conservation, and use of Australian natural resources.
Read moreRead less
Ecosystem risk assessment. This project aims to develop a type-based framework for the world's ecosystems, and undertake the first broad-scale global risk assessment for ecosystems. It will include detailed Australian risk assessments and scenario analyses to develop sustainable management of ecosystem services and climate adaptation strategies. The outcomes include a global-scale framework for classifying terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, the first global Red List of Ecosystems and ....Ecosystem risk assessment. This project aims to develop a type-based framework for the world's ecosystems, and undertake the first broad-scale global risk assessment for ecosystems. It will include detailed Australian risk assessments and scenario analyses to develop sustainable management of ecosystem services and climate adaptation strategies. The outcomes include a global-scale framework for classifying terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, the first global Red List of Ecosystems and identified priorities for protecting remaining wild ecosystems and restoring those that have suffered degradation. This will help meet UN Sustainable Development Goals to improve human well-being globally.Read moreRead less