Integrated Farm Modelling to Improve Resilience and Sustainable Prosperity. This project aims to improve farm resilience, farm management, and economic decision-making in Australia and internationally. It expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge to integrate our understanding of agro-ecosystems and innovative tools to assess their status and manage their operations more effectively. Expected outcomes include the ability to inform farmers, bankers, and land managers about the trade-off ....Integrated Farm Modelling to Improve Resilience and Sustainable Prosperity. This project aims to improve farm resilience, farm management, and economic decision-making in Australia and internationally. It expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge to integrate our understanding of agro-ecosystems and innovative tools to assess their status and manage their operations more effectively. Expected outcomes include the ability to inform farmers, bankers, and land managers about the trade-offs between resilience and efficiency on farms. This should provide significant benefits, including the ability to minimize financial risks to farmers and banks, allow better investment decisions, and achieve sustainable long-term outcomes for both private and public well-being.Read moreRead less
How does temperature affect complex life histories? A Cost Theory approach. This proposal seeks to understand how temperature affects the relative costs of early life history stages, from
development, through to energy independence for a diverse array of taxa, from seaweeds, to plants to
vertebrates. The proposed research seeks to test the predictions of a new framework, Developmental Cost
Theory, and extend this theory to include germination (for plants) and metamorphosis for animals. The antic ....How does temperature affect complex life histories? A Cost Theory approach. This proposal seeks to understand how temperature affects the relative costs of early life history stages, from
development, through to energy independence for a diverse array of taxa, from seaweeds, to plants to
vertebrates. The proposed research seeks to test the predictions of a new framework, Developmental Cost
Theory, and extend this theory to include germination (for plants) and metamorphosis for animals. The anticipated
goals are to provide clear predictions regarding which species are likely to thrive or suffer under continued global
warming, and a valuable framework for understanding how temperature shapes the life histories of organisms,
including those that are important from an ecological or agricultural perspective.Read moreRead less
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
Early-life climate sensitivity: direct and indirect mechanisms. This project aims to investigate how climate change threatens animal populations by determining the mechanisms causing DNA damage (short telomeres) in nestling birds growing up in hot conditions. Telomeres are biomarkers of individual life expectancy, and short telomeres in young birds predict a decline in future population viability. Our project aims to determine the importance for heat-induced telomere shortening of: (1) nestling ....Early-life climate sensitivity: direct and indirect mechanisms. This project aims to investigate how climate change threatens animal populations by determining the mechanisms causing DNA damage (short telomeres) in nestling birds growing up in hot conditions. Telomeres are biomarkers of individual life expectancy, and short telomeres in young birds predict a decline in future population viability. Our project aims to determine the importance for heat-induced telomere shortening of: (1) nestling heat stress responses; (2) inheritance of heat-shortened sperm telomeres; and (3) parental buffering of heat effects. Expected benefits include enhanced reliability of climate change predictions and improved ability to identify climate change mitigation strategies before population declines are evident.Read moreRead less
The basis of oyster resilience to global environmental change. This project aims to investigate the impact of global environmental change on the survival of Australia’s oyster industry, by combining the science of genetics, physiology and ecology to identify already resilient oysters. Through the first complete understanding of resilience in oysters, including the trade-offs they have made in other fitness traits, the project develops new capacities to 'climate and future-proof' our natural oyst ....The basis of oyster resilience to global environmental change. This project aims to investigate the impact of global environmental change on the survival of Australia’s oyster industry, by combining the science of genetics, physiology and ecology to identify already resilient oysters. Through the first complete understanding of resilience in oysters, including the trade-offs they have made in other fitness traits, the project develops new capacities to 'climate and future-proof' our natural oyster populations and the Australian oyster industry, to enable the restoration of degraded oyster habitats. This project will ensure the future of an iconic and economically important national industry and food source and contribute to preserving the critical cultural links of Indigenous Australians with their lands.Read moreRead less
Social Network Analysis: Social Media, Peer Effects and the Environment. The aims of this proposal are to better understand the role of networks in different activities such as social media, education, crime and environment-friendly behaviour. The project expects to help inform the design and practice of policies for education and environmental authorities, police and media markets. Social networks are pervasive in Australia. The project tackles issues of criminal gangs in Australian cities, the ....Social Network Analysis: Social Media, Peer Effects and the Environment. The aims of this proposal are to better understand the role of networks in different activities such as social media, education, crime and environment-friendly behaviour. The project expects to help inform the design and practice of policies for education and environmental authorities, police and media markets. Social networks are pervasive in Australia. The project tackles issues of criminal gangs in Australian cities, the political system and environment-friendly behaviours. This project is at the frontier of work in the economics of networks, with expected outcomes to include new models and methods to better understand the impact of social networks. Benefits include clear policy recommendations to improve welfare in Australian society.Read moreRead less
Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling gr ....Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling growth and survival. The expected outcome is to provide practical advice to restoration practitioners about the importance of matching the provenance of seed source to planting sites, and opportunities for selecting provenances pre-adapted to predicted future climatic conditions at planting sites.Read moreRead less
New Insights on Modelling Time Trends with Panel Data: Theory and Practice. This project aims to tackle important challenges in time trend modelling by taking advantage of panel data structures. This project expects to propose flexible models in time trend modelling to retrieve reliable inference. The expected outcomes include innovative econometric models and methods that have a wide range of applications, and are particularly suited for empirical problems within large and complex systems. This ....New Insights on Modelling Time Trends with Panel Data: Theory and Practice. This project aims to tackle important challenges in time trend modelling by taking advantage of panel data structures. This project expects to propose flexible models in time trend modelling to retrieve reliable inference. The expected outcomes include innovative econometric models and methods that have a wide range of applications, and are particularly suited for empirical problems within large and complex systems. This will provide significant benefits to all fields in which data displays any form of trending behaviour. The proposed model is used to evaluate the economic consequences of climate change and global housing market contagion, which provide strong evidence-based insights to the environmental and economic policies in Australia.Read moreRead less
Multi-service assessment of intertidal treatment wetlands. This project aims to investigate the use of constructed intertidal wetlands to reduce nitrogen pollution while providing co-benefits including carbon sequestration and biodiversity. This research will generate a holistic assessment of the services, disservices, and cost-effectiveness of intertidal treatment wetlands compared to traditional wastewater treatment approaches. Expected outcomes include a full-scale multi-disciplinary environm ....Multi-service assessment of intertidal treatment wetlands. This project aims to investigate the use of constructed intertidal wetlands to reduce nitrogen pollution while providing co-benefits including carbon sequestration and biodiversity. This research will generate a holistic assessment of the services, disservices, and cost-effectiveness of intertidal treatment wetlands compared to traditional wastewater treatment approaches. Expected outcomes include a full-scale multi-disciplinary environmental and economic assessment of a constructed treatment wetland in a new urban development, providing industry and government partners the knowledge required to broaden uptake of intertidal wetlands as a cost-effective solution to growing levels of coastal anthropogenic pollution.Read moreRead less