Linking individual traits, the gut microbiome and parasite load in wildlife. This project aims to apply principles of community ecology to the gut microbiome of an urban exploiter – the common brushtail possum - to reveal how animal traits influence individual variation in the load of gut parasites that cause disease in both humans and wildlife. By combining assays defining the behavioural and physiological states of individuals with sophisticated analyses of their gut microbiome, our project wi ....Linking individual traits, the gut microbiome and parasite load in wildlife. This project aims to apply principles of community ecology to the gut microbiome of an urban exploiter – the common brushtail possum - to reveal how animal traits influence individual variation in the load of gut parasites that cause disease in both humans and wildlife. By combining assays defining the behavioural and physiological states of individuals with sophisticated analyses of their gut microbiome, our project will provide a new, yet crucial, perspective on how and why diseases spread. Our discoveries will help understand and manage the burden of infectious diseases from parasites in and beyond our cities and across the human-wildlife interface; essential for improving human and wildlife health in an increasingly urbanised Australia.Read moreRead less
ARC Australia-New Zealand Research Network for Vegetation Function. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits, and in their relations to climate, soils and geography. Global generalizations are emerging. Vegetation Function network will reach from plant function into genomics and crop breeding, into palaeoecology and vegetation history, into landscape management for carbon, water and salinity outcomes, into forecasting future ecosystems under global change, and into phylogeny, ....ARC Australia-New Zealand Research Network for Vegetation Function. Plant species vary widely in quantitative functional traits, and in their relations to climate, soils and geography. Global generalizations are emerging. Vegetation Function network will reach from plant function into genomics and crop breeding, into palaeoecology and vegetation history, into landscape management for carbon, water and salinity outcomes, into forecasting future ecosystems under global change, and into phylogeny, ecoinformatics and evolutionary theory. Across this span, working groups will target nine identified opportunities for breakthrough research. Each research target needs input from two or more disciplines. Together, the nine targets link across disciplines, as a network that spans from genomic to planetary scales.Read moreRead less
How does your garden grow? Scaling functional traits to whole-plant growth. Understanding how the traits of leaves and stems influence plant growth is important because plant growth drives emergent ecosystem properties such as rates of water use and carbon and nitrogen cycling. The project will build a new understanding of trait-growth relationships, focusing on species from four Australian forest types.
ARC/NHMRC Research Network for Parasitology. The ARC Network for Parasitology will focus and coordinate Australia's world class fundamental, strategic and applied parasitology research. This targeted approach will raise Australia's standing in the field, assist in the community's understanding of parasitology and biosecurity and maintain and improve Australia's capacity for keeping its stock, crops, wildlife and people disease-free. On an international scale, the Network will work with other cou ....ARC/NHMRC Research Network for Parasitology. The ARC Network for Parasitology will focus and coordinate Australia's world class fundamental, strategic and applied parasitology research. This targeted approach will raise Australia's standing in the field, assist in the community's understanding of parasitology and biosecurity and maintain and improve Australia's capacity for keeping its stock, crops, wildlife and people disease-free. On an international scale, the Network will work with other countries to develop new technologies for the detection and eradication of parasites. This emphasis will not only protect Australia's borders but will assist our near neighbours and lead to the development of technologies with an economic benefit to Australia.
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Salinity tolerance along an aridity gradient: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function in mangroves. The proposed research will provide insight into the physiological and morphological features that control the productivity of mangrove forests across broad gradients in salinity and aridity. Central to this is this identification of plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance, which will assist in the development of plant varieties suited to Austra ....Salinity tolerance along an aridity gradient: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function in mangroves. The proposed research will provide insight into the physiological and morphological features that control the productivity of mangrove forests across broad gradients in salinity and aridity. Central to this is this identification of plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance, which will assist in the development of plant varieties suited to Australian conditions. The results will also contribute to development of process-based models to better predict the response of mangrove vegetation to changing climate. A deep understanding of the processes that influence the growth and survival of mangroves is of fundamental importance to sustainable fisheries and protection of wildlife reliant on coastal ecosystems. Read moreRead less
Photosynthetic traits as “key performance indicators” of coral health. The objective of this project is to advance knowledge on the healthy functioning of the coral–algal symbiosis, which defines the response of coral reef ecosystems to worldwide environmental change. Current approaches to address this problem have linked coral health to algal symbiont diversity but have been unable to resolve the fundamental symbiont functional traits that govern this link – the “key performance indicators (KPI ....Photosynthetic traits as “key performance indicators” of coral health. The objective of this project is to advance knowledge on the healthy functioning of the coral–algal symbiosis, which defines the response of coral reef ecosystems to worldwide environmental change. Current approaches to address this problem have linked coral health to algal symbiont diversity but have been unable to resolve the fundamental symbiont functional traits that govern this link – the “key performance indicators (KPIs)”. This project plans to couple advanced physiological and functional genomics techniques to transform our understanding of how algal symbiont metabolic KPIs regulate coral growth and stress susceptibility. This may provide new diagnostic capability for the assessment of coral health and may enable us to improve coral reef ecosystem management.Read moreRead less
The Macroderma initiative: conserving ghost bats and informing development. This project aims to improve methods for capturing biological information required for environmental assessments of highly mobile species and enable strategic environmental planning in Northern Australia. Using Australia’s iconic ghost bat as a focus, the project will test and apply emerging technologies to obtain key information on a species’ population status and its critical resources to inform assessments of ecologic ....The Macroderma initiative: conserving ghost bats and informing development. This project aims to improve methods for capturing biological information required for environmental assessments of highly mobile species and enable strategic environmental planning in Northern Australia. Using Australia’s iconic ghost bat as a focus, the project will test and apply emerging technologies to obtain key information on a species’ population status and its critical resources to inform assessments of ecological impacts of industry development. Important benefits of the project include information and tools for streamlining development approvals and accurately assessing risks to threatened species to improve outcomes for both our economy and our natural environment.Read moreRead less
Understanding the koala microbiome: unlocking the secrets of koala health and dietary specialisation, and successful husbandry and translocation. This project aims to discover how the composition and function of koala gastrointestinal microbial communities differ in space and time in response to the varying nutritional quality and chemical composition of koala diets. Using detailed chemical analysis, cutting edge metagenomic and bioinformatic pipelines and powerful approaches to study enzyme fun ....Understanding the koala microbiome: unlocking the secrets of koala health and dietary specialisation, and successful husbandry and translocation. This project aims to discover how the composition and function of koala gastrointestinal microbial communities differ in space and time in response to the varying nutritional quality and chemical composition of koala diets. Using detailed chemical analysis, cutting edge metagenomic and bioinformatic pipelines and powerful approaches to study enzyme functions in the koala’s gut, the investigators aims to reveal the role of microbes in detoxification of plant toxins and degradation of recalcitrant fibre fractions. The outcomes aim to facilitate the use of faecal transplants to improve digestive function for translocated and rehabilitated koalas, enhancing options for koala management and conservation.Read moreRead less
E. coli as an indicator of faecal contamination in the Australian context. The goal of this research is to improve our ability to use Escherichia coli as an indicator of water quality by determining the extent to which non-faecal sources of E. coli contribute to coliform counts and to develop a method to differentiate non-faecal E. coli from those that are faecal derived.
Smart management of disinfectant in chloraminated water-supply systems. Smart management of disinfectant in chloraminated water-supply systems. This project aims to develop an adaptive, real-time control system for managing disinfectant residuals in chloraminated water supply systems. While chloramine delivers microbiologically safe drinking water in warmer climates and in long distribution systems, it is largely unpredictable, costs water utilities millions of dollars annually, and has uncertai ....Smart management of disinfectant in chloraminated water-supply systems. Smart management of disinfectant in chloraminated water-supply systems. This project aims to develop an adaptive, real-time control system for managing disinfectant residuals in chloraminated water supply systems. While chloramine delivers microbiologically safe drinking water in warmer climates and in long distribution systems, it is largely unpredictable, costs water utilities millions of dollars annually, and has uncertain benefits. This project’s control system will be guided by quantitative models formulated from multi-pronged, fundamental experiments. The project will quantify microbial chloramine decay and determine mechanisms to increase predictability. The project will develop and demonstrate a real-time control technology which delivered microbiologically safe, cost-efficient drinking water to people in warmer climates, despite warming climate and increasing population.Read moreRead less