Building insights of our largest terrestrial carbon sink: rangelands soils. Rangelands soils represent Australia’s largest carbon sink. Yet, little is known about their potential for carbon sequestration or their vulnerability to climate and environmental change. This project leverages investments in national terrestrial observation platforms and integrates previous research outputs to develop new methods to measure and build understanding of soil carbon composition and dynamics in rangeland eco ....Building insights of our largest terrestrial carbon sink: rangelands soils. Rangelands soils represent Australia’s largest carbon sink. Yet, little is known about their potential for carbon sequestration or their vulnerability to climate and environmental change. This project leverages investments in national terrestrial observation platforms and integrates previous research outputs to develop new methods to measure and build understanding of soil carbon composition and dynamics in rangeland ecosystems. Under a framework that connects detailed measurements and small-scale processes, with machine-learning, data-model assimilation and large-scale next-generation biogeochemical modelling, it’ll allow more accurate predictions of soil carbon change and better decision-making to guide sustainable rangelands management.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100040
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$450,000.00
Summary
Integrated Greenhouse Gas Measurement System (IGMS) for monitoring agricultural emissions at field to regional scales. Measurement of greenhouse gases is critical to Australia’s obligations to reduce carbon emissions. The measurement facility will provide urgently needed accurate emission data from Australian agriculture to establish emission baselines and develop methods to extend the point-scale measurements to whole farm, regional and national scales.
Net Zero Precincts: an interdisciplinary approach to decarbonising cities. This project aims to help cities and urban regions reach net zero emissions by taking the precinct as an optimal scale for urban transition. This project expects to co-create a new approach grounded in transition management and design anthropology. This will be tested in an action-oriented case study in the Monash Technology Precinct through three Living Lab experiments across energy, mobility and buildings. Expected outc ....Net Zero Precincts: an interdisciplinary approach to decarbonising cities. This project aims to help cities and urban regions reach net zero emissions by taking the precinct as an optimal scale for urban transition. This project expects to co-create a new approach grounded in transition management and design anthropology. This will be tested in an action-oriented case study in the Monash Technology Precinct through three Living Lab experiments across energy, mobility and buildings. Expected outcomes include a validated approach for net zero transitions that delivers to the real-life experiences of the precinct community of business, government, knowledge institutes and civil society. This should provide significant benefits to industry seeking to enhance community engagement for accelerating urban transitions.
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Aqueous fluids in the deep earth. This project aims to improve our understanding of the role of fluids in controlling exchanges between the deep Earth, shallow rocks, and atmosphere. The project expects to investigate some of the key weaknesses in the thermodynamic models that are used to predict the behaviour of sulphur, carbon and metals in fluids at high pressure and temperature by using recent advances in computational and experimental (geo)chemistry. Integrated in large-scale geodynamic mod ....Aqueous fluids in the deep earth. This project aims to improve our understanding of the role of fluids in controlling exchanges between the deep Earth, shallow rocks, and atmosphere. The project expects to investigate some of the key weaknesses in the thermodynamic models that are used to predict the behaviour of sulphur, carbon and metals in fluids at high pressure and temperature by using recent advances in computational and experimental (geo)chemistry. Integrated in large-scale geodynamic models, the more reliable predictions will provide a more realistic assessment of the role of sulphur in controlling metal endowment and atmospheric chemistry through geological times. This should provide a useful guide for mineral exploration and planetary science.Read moreRead less
Ecosystem resilience of Shark Bay under changing ocean climate. This project aims to investigate the resilience of the Shark Bay World Heritage Site to projected climate change. This project will generate new knowledge for marine conservation through analyses of habitat loss on nutrient budgets and productivity in seagrass and microbialite ecosystems. Expected outcomes are an improved understanding of climate-driven shifts on ecosystem processes in Shark Bay, incorporating science-based evidence ....Ecosystem resilience of Shark Bay under changing ocean climate. This project aims to investigate the resilience of the Shark Bay World Heritage Site to projected climate change. This project will generate new knowledge for marine conservation through analyses of habitat loss on nutrient budgets and productivity in seagrass and microbialite ecosystems. Expected outcomes are an improved understanding of climate-driven shifts on ecosystem processes in Shark Bay, incorporating science-based evidence for better conservation and management. This will provide significant benefits by contributing to the future-proofing of Shark Bay’s World Heritage values to climate change, and more broadly by demonstrating the consequences of the continued tropicalisation of Australia’s coastline.Read moreRead less
Climate Change, Industrial Structure and the Knowledge Economy: Key Issues for an Effective Response on Greenhouse Gases. The objectives of this project are to undertake a major, long term study of the impact of global structural change on greenhouse gas emissions and on climate change, and to develop a detailed knowledge base concerning trade in embodied emissions. It is hoped that the knowledge generated will both inform global responses to this vital problem and contribute to the continuing d ....Climate Change, Industrial Structure and the Knowledge Economy: Key Issues for an Effective Response on Greenhouse Gases. The objectives of this project are to undertake a major, long term study of the impact of global structural change on greenhouse gas emissions and on climate change, and to develop a detailed knowledge base concerning trade in embodied emissions. It is hoped that the knowledge generated will both inform global responses to this vital problem and contribute to the continuing development of effective responses within Australia. The output - a book and many papers - will be directed in part to contribute to the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report.Read moreRead less
Evolution in tooth and claw: exploring the relationship between the radiation of marsupial herbivores and late Cenozoic climate change. Establishing how animals responded to past environmental changes is essential for understanding the ecology of modern species and managing them in light of contemporary climatic trends. By applying several novel analytical methods this project will unravel the links between the radiation of Australian marsupials and key stages in climatic evolution.
Silicon: a novel solution to reduce water use and pest damage in wheat. The project aims to improve Australian wheat production by increasing drought resilience and reducing reliance on pesticides. This is achieved by incorporating amorphous silicon (Si), an abundant national resource. Si uptake by wheat has been proven to alleviate stress from drought and pests, but mechanisms and agronomic feasibility remain to be fully assessed. The project will deliver a mechanistic understanding of how Si a ....Silicon: a novel solution to reduce water use and pest damage in wheat. The project aims to improve Australian wheat production by increasing drought resilience and reducing reliance on pesticides. This is achieved by incorporating amorphous silicon (Si), an abundant national resource. Si uptake by wheat has been proven to alleviate stress from drought and pests, but mechanisms and agronomic feasibility remain to be fully assessed. The project will deliver a mechanistic understanding of how Si alleviates stress in wheat, from gene to farm scale, providing cost-benefit analysis and a best–practice toolbox for implementation by farmers. Outcomes are anticipated to provide a cheaper and more environmentally sustainable solution to issues of water scarcity and yield losses to pests in Australia’s leading crop.Read moreRead less
Sex determination in dragons: Genetics, epigenetics and environment. This project aims to discover the master sex-determining gene in a reptile, how that gene is differentially regulated in males and females and by temperature, and to identify evolutionary drivers of transitions between genetic and environmental sex determination. In many reptiles, like mammals, chromosomes determine sex. In others, the temperature at which their eggs are incubated determines sex. This project will study how tem ....Sex determination in dragons: Genetics, epigenetics and environment. This project aims to discover the master sex-determining gene in a reptile, how that gene is differentially regulated in males and females and by temperature, and to identify evolutionary drivers of transitions between genetic and environmental sex determination. In many reptiles, like mammals, chromosomes determine sex. In others, the temperature at which their eggs are incubated determines sex. This project will study how temperature reverses chromosomal sex determination in dragon lizards. This could show how climatic extremes affect the biology of climate sensitive reptiles, and understand their vulnerability to climate change.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560868
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$552,475.00
Summary
SHRIMP SI - Microscale stable-isotope analysis in the Earth Sciences. Stable-isotope variations of elements such as oxygen, carbon, and sulphur, preserve the most profound records of environmental conditions during the geological, biological, and climatic evolution of Earth and planets. We will build a stable isotope ion microprobe (SHRIMP SI) to examine extraterrestrial and terrestrial systems in unprecedented detail. In terrestrial applications, the main issue is accuracy at the 0.01 percent ....SHRIMP SI - Microscale stable-isotope analysis in the Earth Sciences. Stable-isotope variations of elements such as oxygen, carbon, and sulphur, preserve the most profound records of environmental conditions during the geological, biological, and climatic evolution of Earth and planets. We will build a stable isotope ion microprobe (SHRIMP SI) to examine extraterrestrial and terrestrial systems in unprecedented detail. In terrestrial applications, the main issue is accuracy at the 0.01 percent level for 20-micron spots, which we can apply to studies of development of life on Earth, climatic records, weathering, and formation of ore bodies. Sample return missions of solar wind and comets will provide unique samples related to the formation of our solar system.Read moreRead less