Marine conservation planning for persistent coral reef communities: Incorporating connectivity and resilience. Australia's biological diversity underpins much of our economic wealth - for example the remarkable diversity of coral reefs fuels a multibillion dollar tourism industry. However, despite substantial efforts to conserve marine ecosystems, Australian coral reefs are at increasing risk from climate change related catastrophes. To counteract this trend, we must choose marine reserve networ ....Marine conservation planning for persistent coral reef communities: Incorporating connectivity and resilience. Australia's biological diversity underpins much of our economic wealth - for example the remarkable diversity of coral reefs fuels a multibillion dollar tourism industry. However, despite substantial efforts to conserve marine ecosystems, Australian coral reefs are at increasing risk from climate change related catastrophes. To counteract this trend, we must choose marine reserve networks using methods that account for the dynamic nature of climate change and reef community responses to maximise the persistence of reef biodiversity. The new theory and methods will enable us to create more effective and economically efficient marine reserve systems.Read moreRead less
Landscape-scale monitoring and adaptive management of woodland birds in the Mt Lofty Ranges. Despite the fundamental role of scientific monitoring in nature conservation, its research importance and potential is widely neglected. There is an urgent need to improve quantitative rigour, particularly to ensure adequate statistical power is achieved when monitoring at a landscape scale. We will apply new analytical tools to the problem of devising a powerful and flexible monitoring regime for a high ....Landscape-scale monitoring and adaptive management of woodland birds in the Mt Lofty Ranges. Despite the fundamental role of scientific monitoring in nature conservation, its research importance and potential is widely neglected. There is an urgent need to improve quantitative rigour, particularly to ensure adequate statistical power is achieved when monitoring at a landscape scale. We will apply new analytical tools to the problem of devising a powerful and flexible monitoring regime for a highly threatened woodland bird community in South Australia. Monitoring will be embedded within a decision-making framework with explicit links to local management agencies. Results will be broadly applicable across agricultural areas of Australia, where bird assemblages are in general decline.Read moreRead less
Conservation planning in a dynamic and uncertain world. Nature conservation planning is an emerging discipline at the interface of biological and mathematical sciences focused on designing conservation areas. We will improve existing tools for conservation planning, which almost always assume a static world, by developing theories and procedures for undertaking conservation planning in a dynamic and uncertain world. A risk assessment and decision-making framework will be developed so that a vari ....Conservation planning in a dynamic and uncertain world. Nature conservation planning is an emerging discipline at the interface of biological and mathematical sciences focused on designing conservation areas. We will improve existing tools for conservation planning, which almost always assume a static world, by developing theories and procedures for undertaking conservation planning in a dynamic and uncertain world. A risk assessment and decision-making framework will be developed so that a variety of landscape dynamics can be taken into account when planning reserves. This research will help to ensure that reserve networks designed in the future achieve their ultimate goal of the long-term persistence of biodiversity.Read moreRead less
The conservation of widely distributed species: implications of differences between western and eastern koala populations. Koalas are an iconic species in Australia, generating $2.5 billion in tourist income alone. This project will be a first to test cross-regional variations in koala-habitat relationships, with implications for conservation of other species occupying broad geographical ranges. It will also predict the effect of future climate change on western koala populations living at the ....The conservation of widely distributed species: implications of differences between western and eastern koala populations. Koalas are an iconic species in Australia, generating $2.5 billion in tourist income alone. This project will be a first to test cross-regional variations in koala-habitat relationships, with implications for conservation of other species occupying broad geographical ranges. It will also predict the effect of future climate change on western koala populations living at the margin of their ecological tolerances. It will provide regional natural resource management bodies and state conservation agencies with a sound ecological framework to conserve western koalas in the long term. Regional communities will benefit from involvement by incorporating new conservation knowledge into sub-catchment and property management planning.Read moreRead less
Enhancing native seed performance for minesite restoration and biodiversity conservation. The knowledge and practical outcomes generated from this project will facilitate more effective restoration of degraded native ecosystems through the return of a wider range of key understorey plant taxa and more efficient use of seed supplies. Availability of a broader suite of species will increase biodiversity, improve ecosystem resilience to change, and help in the conservation and recovery of nationall ....Enhancing native seed performance for minesite restoration and biodiversity conservation. The knowledge and practical outcomes generated from this project will facilitate more effective restoration of degraded native ecosystems through the return of a wider range of key understorey plant taxa and more efficient use of seed supplies. Availability of a broader suite of species will increase biodiversity, improve ecosystem resilience to change, and help in the conservation and recovery of nationally threatened taxa. By increasing the range of species with horticultural potential available for commercial propagation, it will also reduce the harvest of wild flowers. More efficient production and use of seed stocks will reduce the pressure on limited seed resources from seed harvesting.Read moreRead less
High quality and robust energy conversion systems for distribution networks. This project aims to protect distribution networks by reducing harmonics and electromagnetic Interference generated by modern power electronics equipment. Due to global demand for energy savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the utilisation of renewable energy sources and efficient loads using power electronics technology in distribution networks is increasing. Aspects of this technology are highly complex ....High quality and robust energy conversion systems for distribution networks. This project aims to protect distribution networks by reducing harmonics and electromagnetic Interference generated by modern power electronics equipment. Due to global demand for energy savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the utilisation of renewable energy sources and efficient loads using power electronics technology in distribution networks is increasing. Aspects of this technology are highly complex and not well understood and the robustness of existing and future power grids will be affected. The project will minimise risk factors associated with high frequency noise and resonances in low voltage grids both of which are very important for power electronics manufacturers and utility companies in Australia.Read moreRead less
Spatial prioritization in the context of climate change and unforeseen opportunities: maximizing conservation outcomes in Gondwana Link. The economic wealth of Australia is underpinned by its remarkable biological diversity. However, land and water degradation are eroding Australia's natural asset base and climate change is expected to magnify these impacts. Given limited funds for biodiversity conservation, we need to maximise the benefits of our investment in natural resource management. This ....Spatial prioritization in the context of climate change and unforeseen opportunities: maximizing conservation outcomes in Gondwana Link. The economic wealth of Australia is underpinned by its remarkable biological diversity. However, land and water degradation are eroding Australia's natural asset base and climate change is expected to magnify these impacts. Given limited funds for biodiversity conservation, we need to maximise the benefits of our investment in natural resource management. This research will deliver approaches and tools to ensure that we maximise the protection of biological diversity in the context of a changing world climate and a limited budget. We will share the results of our research with decision makers, scientists, and the general public.Read moreRead less
Restoration of Fragmented Brigalow Landscapes for Conservation: Evaluating Alternative Futures in a Changing Climate. Appropriate management and restoration of Australia's endangered brigalow communities will prove critical for the conservation of the nation's biodiversity assets. The Brigalow Belt South supports disproportionately high numbers of threatened fauna species. This research will provide regional, state and national natural resource management organisations with the ability to conser ....Restoration of Fragmented Brigalow Landscapes for Conservation: Evaluating Alternative Futures in a Changing Climate. Appropriate management and restoration of Australia's endangered brigalow communities will prove critical for the conservation of the nation's biodiversity assets. The Brigalow Belt South supports disproportionately high numbers of threatened fauna species. This research will provide regional, state and national natural resource management organisations with the ability to conserve threatened and unique brigalow fauna in the long-term. Regional communities will benefit as the tool will be used for multiple uses ranging from advising regional landholders on optimal management of native vegetation on their properties to maximising the value of regional landscape restoration projects.Read moreRead less
Towards a Landscape Conservation Culture - broadening the spatio-temporal scope of ecological studies to anticipate change in Australian forested ecosystems. This project in south-western Australia develops an integrated framework to interpret knowledge about landscape processes and future trajectories of species and assemblages at different spatio-temporal scales. A synthesis of data obtained through repeated biological surveys and remote sensing, with spatial data handled through GIS is used i ....Towards a Landscape Conservation Culture - broadening the spatio-temporal scope of ecological studies to anticipate change in Australian forested ecosystems. This project in south-western Australia develops an integrated framework to interpret knowledge about landscape processes and future trajectories of species and assemblages at different spatio-temporal scales. A synthesis of data obtained through repeated biological surveys and remote sensing, with spatial data handled through GIS is used in an explanatory modeling approach to make predictions under different disturbance regimes. Models built from combined spatial layers exhibiting continuous variation in environmental variables will provide area-class maps at different scales, allowing the portrayal of uncertainty associated with vegetation units - a considerable innovation over maps depicting homogenous discrete zones.Read moreRead less
Are frogs in fragmented lowland rainforest especially susceptible to both disease and climate change? On a world scale, amphibian declines have been especially severe in Australia. Major causes of amphibian declines here are disease and habitat destruction. Our project will significantly advance our knowledge of frogs in coastal lowland rainforest. These frogs are a key to understanding the evolution of disease resistance to the amphibian disease fungus, and they are also likely to experience ....Are frogs in fragmented lowland rainforest especially susceptible to both disease and climate change? On a world scale, amphibian declines have been especially severe in Australia. Major causes of amphibian declines here are disease and habitat destruction. Our project will significantly advance our knowledge of frogs in coastal lowland rainforest. These frogs are a key to understanding the evolution of disease resistance to the amphibian disease fungus, and they are also likely to experience severe impacts from climate change. Thus, studies in this region will allow us to better understand the mechanisms responsible for frog declines in Australia. Also, this project will be useful to industries constructing infrastructure in rainforest, allowing an assessment of the impacts of works on already stressed frog populations. Read moreRead less