The Prediction and Analysis of Complex Morphology in Coastal Environments. Coastal features, incorporating river, tide and wave induced flows and associated sediment transport, represent highly complex systems. At present it is impossible to analyse anything but the simplest forms, yet it is often necessary to determine their overall properties and behaviour in engineering analysis and design. The aim of the project is to develop and verify a modelling approach using the concept of entropy and a ....The Prediction and Analysis of Complex Morphology in Coastal Environments. Coastal features, incorporating river, tide and wave induced flows and associated sediment transport, represent highly complex systems. At present it is impossible to analyse anything but the simplest forms, yet it is often necessary to determine their overall properties and behaviour in engineering analysis and design. The aim of the project is to develop and verify a modelling approach using the concept of entropy and an efficient optimisation algorithm to allow key properties of complex coastal systems to be determined. The proposal represents an innovative approach to the coastal modelling problem that would overcome significant limitations of current morphological models.Read moreRead less
Sediment capture and deposition processes in coastal lagoons. Intermittently closed and open lagoons and lakes are an increasing problem for coastal managers around Australia: they can limit fish migration, and lead to degraded water quality and an increased risk of flooding. The Murray mouth, for example, closed in 1981 and still exists in a congested state. Closure would have disastrous consequences for the area in general and the Coorong in particular, with significant damage to Australia's e ....Sediment capture and deposition processes in coastal lagoons. Intermittently closed and open lagoons and lakes are an increasing problem for coastal managers around Australia: they can limit fish migration, and lead to degraded water quality and an increased risk of flooding. The Murray mouth, for example, closed in 1981 and still exists in a congested state. Closure would have disastrous consequences for the area in general and the Coorong in particular, with significant damage to Australia's environmental reputation. An optimised dredging operation at the mouth (currently costing $4.6 m annually), together with better management of river discharges, will have the potential to improve conditions in the area. Read moreRead less
Integrated, interactive and systematic Marine Protected Area design for sustainability of South Australian marine environments: A GIS-based, spatial optimisation approach. This project aims to enhance MPA design in SA by integrating systematic conservation plannning (SCP), spatial optimisation and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). New, integrated Integer Programming (IP) models will be built based on established SCP principles and nationally agreed marine conservation criteria. The IP models ....Integrated, interactive and systematic Marine Protected Area design for sustainability of South Australian marine environments: A GIS-based, spatial optimisation approach. This project aims to enhance MPA design in SA by integrating systematic conservation plannning (SCP), spatial optimisation and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). New, integrated Integer Programming (IP) models will be built based on established SCP principles and nationally agreed marine conservation criteria. The IP models will be tightly coupled with the GIS to create an interactive Spatial Decision Support Tool (SDSS) for systematic MPA design - the first of its kind. The SDSS will enable real-time, systematic MPA design and will provide flexible design options for a comprehensive, adequate, representative and efficient MPA system for SA.Read moreRead less
Sediment-derived scenarios of wetland status and change, the Lower River Murray, SA. River Murray wetlands changed early in European settlement so the pre-impact conditions are invisible to managers relying on anecdote or monitoring. Baseline conditions of wetlands can be derived from ecological archives preserved in sediments. Fossil diatom assemblages, reflective of past water quality, and other fossils, will be exhumed from sediment sequences to reconstruct wetland conditions. The integration ....Sediment-derived scenarios of wetland status and change, the Lower River Murray, SA. River Murray wetlands changed early in European settlement so the pre-impact conditions are invisible to managers relying on anecdote or monitoring. Baseline conditions of wetlands can be derived from ecological archives preserved in sediments. Fossil diatom assemblages, reflective of past water quality, and other fossils, will be exhumed from sediment sequences to reconstruct wetland conditions. The integration of multiple indicators of the past will generate graphic re-enactments of natural wetland dynamics. These will provide a vision for community and government on-ground managers enabling them to perceive appropriate targets for wetland state and so generate measures to work towards sustainable conditions.Read moreRead less
Retrospective ecological character assessment for a review of Ramsar status of The Coorong, SA. Integrated analyses of the chemical and biological remains contained in the sediments of the Coorong will provide for a reconstruction of ecological change and variability over the last several thousand years. Detailed analyses of the recent sediments will measure how the condition of the Coorong has departed from this natural background and so provide an audit of human impact on the last wetland in t ....Retrospective ecological character assessment for a review of Ramsar status of The Coorong, SA. Integrated analyses of the chemical and biological remains contained in the sediments of the Coorong will provide for a reconstruction of ecological change and variability over the last several thousand years. Detailed analyses of the recent sediments will measure how the condition of the Coorong has departed from this natural background and so provide an audit of human impact on the last wetland in the Murray darling Basin. This evidence will directly inform the determination of the ecological character of this Ramsar listed, national ecological asset and steer its management for a sustainable future. 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
Ecology and conservation of a unique, threatened guanophilic invertebrate community. This project aims to study the biology and ecology of a unique assemblage of insects and other invertebrates that live specifically in bat guano at Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Area. The caves are a major ecotourism and research location because of their world famous Pliestocene fossils, and because one cave is a critical breeding site for the large bentwing bat, Miniopterus s. bassianii. The guano cave, whic ....Ecology and conservation of a unique, threatened guanophilic invertebrate community. This project aims to study the biology and ecology of a unique assemblage of insects and other invertebrates that live specifically in bat guano at Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Area. The caves are a major ecotourism and research location because of their world famous Pliestocene fossils, and because one cave is a critical breeding site for the large bentwing bat, Miniopterus s. bassianii. The guano cave, which contains numerous endemic invertebrates, is potentially threatened by both direct and indirect human impacts. The results of this research will form the basis of a long-term management strategy to conserve this diverse community.Read moreRead less
European impact on Eastern Australian coastal lakes: understanding pre-impact conditions and post-settlement modification. Coastal lakes are vulnerable to European impact, yet little is known about how they have been altered in the last 200 years. For example: Are blue-green algal blooms a natural occurrence in coastal lakes? How long have freshwater lakes been isolated from the ocean? Preliminary results indicate that, at key sites, blue-green algae were more abundant before European settlement ....European impact on Eastern Australian coastal lakes: understanding pre-impact conditions and post-settlement modification. Coastal lakes are vulnerable to European impact, yet little is known about how they have been altered in the last 200 years. For example: Are blue-green algal blooms a natural occurrence in coastal lakes? How long have freshwater lakes been isolated from the ocean? Preliminary results indicate that, at key sites, blue-green algae were more abundant before European settlement and that coastal lakes thought to be permanently fresh have been exposed to the ocean within the past 200 years. By documenting change at representative sites, the project will identify which lake types are most vulnerable to impact. Results from the project will ensure that costly restoration efforts are not misplaced.Read moreRead less
Understanding marine biodiversity across vast spatial scales. Large-scale studies of biodiversity are frequently recommended by ecologists, but their costs are prohibitive. More efficient, yet accurate, sampling and analytical procedures are needed. This proposal will provide new quantitative knowledge on patterns of diversity of marine species (fish & invertebrates) from local to regional scales across southern Australia and northern New Zealand. An innovative feature of this research is the c ....Understanding marine biodiversity across vast spatial scales. Large-scale studies of biodiversity are frequently recommended by ecologists, but their costs are prohibitive. More efficient, yet accurate, sampling and analytical procedures are needed. This proposal will provide new quantitative knowledge on patterns of diversity of marine species (fish & invertebrates) from local to regional scales across southern Australia and northern New Zealand. An innovative feature of this research is the contribution of new ecological information with novel analytical procedures to identify the consequences of using more cost-effective techniques on quantifying patterns of biodiversity. This understanding is fundamental to the on-going advancement of ecology and conservation biology.Read moreRead less
Using a battery of tests to evaluate the potential toxicity of remediated and unremediated soils and dusts contaminated with metals. An in vitro model simulating the intact and immature infant intestinal epithelium will be used to determine the changes in solubility and uptake of metals following in situ remediation processes. The earthworm and bacterial luminescence toxicity tests indicate the ecotoxicity of contaminated soils.
Many garden soils, household dusts, and industrial sites are conta ....Using a battery of tests to evaluate the potential toxicity of remediated and unremediated soils and dusts contaminated with metals. An in vitro model simulating the intact and immature infant intestinal epithelium will be used to determine the changes in solubility and uptake of metals following in situ remediation processes. The earthworm and bacterial luminescence toxicity tests indicate the ecotoxicity of contaminated soils.
Many garden soils, household dusts, and industrial sites are contaminated with lead, cadmium, and other metals. These pose a risk to human health, especially of children, and ecosystem health
These tests will be applied to prioritise sites where metal contamination exists and to evaluate the effectiveness of remediation techniques in reducing metal uptake and toxicity.Read moreRead less