Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100059
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
Dual frequency identification SONAR (DIDSON) facility for sampling benthic and pelagic fish populations. Many Australians enjoy marine and freshwater resources, and we are exploiting fisheries and waterways in particular at an increasing rate. Effective management of fisheries requires understanding the abundance and behavior of fish. This facility will provide novel acoustic video technology for researchers to count fishes and sharks near weirs, under wharves or logs, and within seagrass beds. ....Dual frequency identification SONAR (DIDSON) facility for sampling benthic and pelagic fish populations. Many Australians enjoy marine and freshwater resources, and we are exploiting fisheries and waterways in particular at an increasing rate. Effective management of fisheries requires understanding the abundance and behavior of fish. This facility will provide novel acoustic video technology for researchers to count fishes and sharks near weirs, under wharves or logs, and within seagrass beds. The dual frequency identification sonar (DIDSON) will also allow accurate and standardised study of fish movements in response to floods, algal blooms or re-stocking events without disturbing the fish or their habitats. This will enhance our understanding of the top-down control by fish of aquatic ecosystems that are directly adjacent to human activity.Read moreRead less
Linking fish recruitment and habitat use to ecosystem processes. Estuaries are transition zones between fresh and marine waters and form key nursery areas for fisheries. Understanding what makes an estuary a nursery area, and how dependent fish are on estuaries, is difficult because we lack vital information on fish recruitment and migrations. We will utilise chemical and genetic techniques to determine patterns of recruitment and migration of fish and link these patterns to biological character ....Linking fish recruitment and habitat use to ecosystem processes. Estuaries are transition zones between fresh and marine waters and form key nursery areas for fisheries. Understanding what makes an estuary a nursery area, and how dependent fish are on estuaries, is difficult because we lack vital information on fish recruitment and migrations. We will utilise chemical and genetic techniques to determine patterns of recruitment and migration of fish and link these patterns to biological characteristics of fish and physical variables of surrounding landscapes. Outcomes will provide managers with key landscape attributes than require conservation. Such information is vital for continued sustainability of fish and estuarine resources and will benefit rural coastal communities.Read moreRead less
Investigation of endocrine disruption in Australian aquatic environments. Water is a vital resource. The disposal of wastes is often associated with the release of contaminants like endocrine disruptors into the environment. These contaminants can impact the health of our waterways and lead to potential risks to fish populations and ultimately public health. The hazards resulting from endocrine disruptors have been well defined globally and to a lesser extent in Australia in the last decade, how ....Investigation of endocrine disruption in Australian aquatic environments. Water is a vital resource. The disposal of wastes is often associated with the release of contaminants like endocrine disruptors into the environment. These contaminants can impact the health of our waterways and lead to potential risks to fish populations and ultimately public health. The hazards resulting from endocrine disruptors have been well defined globally and to a lesser extent in Australia in the last decade, however we have very limited information about possible effects in Australian waterways or reservoirs. This research project will investigate the state of endocrine disruption in our waters. The knowledge gained will address this gap and provide a benefit to the national community, risk managers and importantly our waterways.Read moreRead less
Establishing an ecological basis for stocking density of Australian bass in freshwaters: Experimental field tests of a general numerical model. Large numbers of the Australian public go fishing, particularly in rivers and impoundments. Angling in these waterways provides a strong source of income for rural and regional communities. The stocking of native fish to support inland angling also sustains much of the aquaculture industry in western NSW and Queensland. This study will develop an optimal ....Establishing an ecological basis for stocking density of Australian bass in freshwaters: Experimental field tests of a general numerical model. Large numbers of the Australian public go fishing, particularly in rivers and impoundments. Angling in these waterways provides a strong source of income for rural and regional communities. The stocking of native fish to support inland angling also sustains much of the aquaculture industry in western NSW and Queensland. This study will develop an optimal approach to stocking Australian bass which is relevant for other stocked freshwater species, and will allow stocking to be undertaken in an environmentally responsible manner. This will both enhance the outcome of investment of public funds in stocking, and enhance the recreational fishing experience that is so important to rural regional communities.Read moreRead less
Fine-scale responses of freshwater fish to environmental flows in arid-zone rivers and wetlands. The community is demanding that river health be improved to sustainable levels through increased river flows. This will come through the efficient use of available environmental water that supports the ecology of Australia's river systems. This project will substantially inform the operational management of water for native fish populations and other organisms to specific wetlands and will guide the ....Fine-scale responses of freshwater fish to environmental flows in arid-zone rivers and wetlands. The community is demanding that river health be improved to sustainable levels through increased river flows. This will come through the efficient use of available environmental water that supports the ecology of Australia's river systems. This project will substantially inform the operational management of water for native fish populations and other organisms to specific wetlands and will guide the delivery of environmental flows to maintain native fish stocks. The project will help management of declining fish populations and more generally wetlands by improving our understanding of the role of environmental flows.Read moreRead less
How do soils grow? Modelling soil development in the landscape. This project addresses the fundamental environmental issue of land degradation in Australia. The environment is both sensitive and diverse with uses from intensive agriculture, grazing, to large scale industrial. This project will build a model that will enable us to understand how soil forms and landscape evolves with time, to reconstruct the history of soil. The model will allow us to make the Australian populous aware of the frag ....How do soils grow? Modelling soil development in the landscape. This project addresses the fundamental environmental issue of land degradation in Australia. The environment is both sensitive and diverse with uses from intensive agriculture, grazing, to large scale industrial. This project will build a model that will enable us to understand how soil forms and landscape evolves with time, to reconstruct the history of soil. The model will allow us to make the Australian populous aware of the fragility of soil formation. This will lead to greater social awareness of our precarious position on the Australian landscape.Read moreRead less
The propagation of gravity currents over complex terrain. Dust storms, volcanic eruptions, rivers rushing sediment into lakes and seas, and spillages of toxic liquids and gases, are all examples of environmental problems that can occur, and when they do, they threaten both wild life and human communities. This project involves research that will provide quantitative understanding of key processes in these problems from which reliable software will be built to predict their consequences. The soft ....The propagation of gravity currents over complex terrain. Dust storms, volcanic eruptions, rivers rushing sediment into lakes and seas, and spillages of toxic liquids and gases, are all examples of environmental problems that can occur, and when they do, they threaten both wild life and human communities. This project involves research that will provide quantitative understanding of key processes in these problems from which reliable software will be built to predict their consequences. The software will produce an animation of dust containing fluids moving over a landscape of arbitrary complexity.Read moreRead less
Maintenance of Australia's soil resource - water, microbial diversity and function. Water availability is the major limitation to biological activity in semi-arid regions of Australia. We aim to quantify the dynamic relationships between organic matter cycling, microbial diversity and function in relation to seasonality, drought and land management. This will lead to a comprehensive understanding of how water mediates the diversity of soil organisms and their associated functions. This is of sp ....Maintenance of Australia's soil resource - water, microbial diversity and function. Water availability is the major limitation to biological activity in semi-arid regions of Australia. We aim to quantify the dynamic relationships between organic matter cycling, microbial diversity and function in relation to seasonality, drought and land management. This will lead to a comprehensive understanding of how water mediates the diversity of soil organisms and their associated functions. This is of specific relevance to maintaining biodiversity within the unique soil ecosystems that have developed under Australian climatic conditions.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0561233
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$434,000.00
Summary
State-of-the-Art Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility. This proposal seeks funds for the purchase and installation of a state-of-the-art 400 MHz Wide-Bore Solid-State NMR spectrometer. Research projects utilising this euipment will benefit from the ability to probe the structure of solid samples that are difficult to characterise in any other way. These materials represent advances in nanotechnology, new materials and will impact on the analysis of environmental contaminants in pota ....State-of-the-Art Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility. This proposal seeks funds for the purchase and installation of a state-of-the-art 400 MHz Wide-Bore Solid-State NMR spectrometer. Research projects utilising this euipment will benefit from the ability to probe the structure of solid samples that are difficult to characterise in any other way. These materials represent advances in nanotechnology, new materials and will impact on the analysis of environmental contaminants in potable water supplies, with a particular Australian focus on the identification of compounds formed as by-products during disinfection processes.
The upgraded facility will be the only one of its kind in Western Australia.
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Mechanisms of heavy metals sequestration and immobilization by goethite in multi-element environments. The research project will achieve critical goals of protecting river and ground water, and soil environments from toxic waste emissions from abandoned mine sites and acid sulphate soils. It will help in fomulating strategies to overcome the problems of environmentally significant heavy metals in contaminated soil environments.