Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100338
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$457,155.00
Summary
Barking up the right trees – A microbial solution for our methane problem. This project aims to unveil the microbial diversity and metabolic capabilities of bark-dwelling microbial communities in Australian forests. Trees perform an important climatic function in sequestering atmospheric carbon, however the role of tree bark-associated microbiome in regulating other climate-active trace gasses such as methane, hydrogen and carbon monoxide is unknown. Combining cutting-edge molecular and biogeoch ....Barking up the right trees – A microbial solution for our methane problem. This project aims to unveil the microbial diversity and metabolic capabilities of bark-dwelling microbial communities in Australian forests. Trees perform an important climatic function in sequestering atmospheric carbon, however the role of tree bark-associated microbiome in regulating other climate-active trace gasses such as methane, hydrogen and carbon monoxide is unknown. Combining cutting-edge molecular and biogeochemical approaches, this project aims to characterise and quantify trace gas oxidation rates of forest bark microbiome. The anticipated outcomes include fundamental knowledge surrounding bark-associated microbial trace gas oxidation within global biogeochemical cycles, and insights into their response to climatic variables.Read moreRead less
Can animal dispersal inform fire management for species conservation? This project aims to improve fire management for environmental outcomes in northern Australia. It will address a key knowledge gap in our understanding of the effects of fire on biodiversity, relating to the spatial pattern of fire in the landscape. This is important because changing patterns of fire are not only a risk to humans but have major effects on our environment. This project will involve researchers, environmental ma ....Can animal dispersal inform fire management for species conservation? This project aims to improve fire management for environmental outcomes in northern Australia. It will address a key knowledge gap in our understanding of the effects of fire on biodiversity, relating to the spatial pattern of fire in the landscape. This is important because changing patterns of fire are not only a risk to humans but have major effects on our environment. This project will involve researchers, environmental managers and indigenous land owners to design better fire management strategies for biodiversity. The key benefits include new knowledge and tools to better manage fire and address one of our major environmental challenges, the decline of native wildlife in northern Australia.Read moreRead less
Are Secreted Proteins determinants of host range in ectomycorrhizal fungi? This project aims to understand the role of small secreted proteins in governing symbiotic fungal-host compatibility and determine the impact of environmental change on the role of these proteins. Using innovative approaches, this project expects to achieve these goals using comparative genomics, transcriptomic analyses and functional characterisation of these proteins within a keystone Australian ectomycorrhizal fungus. ....Are Secreted Proteins determinants of host range in ectomycorrhizal fungi? This project aims to understand the role of small secreted proteins in governing symbiotic fungal-host compatibility and determine the impact of environmental change on the role of these proteins. Using innovative approaches, this project expects to achieve these goals using comparative genomics, transcriptomic analyses and functional characterisation of these proteins within a keystone Australian ectomycorrhizal fungus. It is anticipated that outcomes of this project will add a critical component to the global effort in understanding the role of soil microbes in supporting the health of plants experiencing a variety of climactic conditions. This could provide significant benefits to informing management practices of forest ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100043
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$454,000.00
Summary
Kangaroos, feral herbivores and bushfires: Consequences for forest dynamics. This project aims to investigate the functional role of native and introduced herbivores in forest ecosystems using a powerful, highly replicated, herbivore exclosure experiment. This project expects to create new knowledge of the effects of mammalian herbivores, particularly kangaroos and invasive deer, on forest plants, soils and productivity. Expected outcomes include fundamental insights into above and belowground i ....Kangaroos, feral herbivores and bushfires: Consequences for forest dynamics. This project aims to investigate the functional role of native and introduced herbivores in forest ecosystems using a powerful, highly replicated, herbivore exclosure experiment. This project expects to create new knowledge of the effects of mammalian herbivores, particularly kangaroos and invasive deer, on forest plants, soils and productivity. Expected outcomes include fundamental insights into above and belowground interactions in forests, and an enhanced capacity to predict effects of changing herbivore populations across environmental gradients, and following bushfire. This should produce significant benefits for forest management in Australia, allowing informed, targeted, and pre-emptive management of invasive herbivore populations.Read moreRead less
Surviving the inferno: how threatened macropods survive catastrophic fire. This project aims to determine the impact of the catastrophic black summer fires of 2019/20 on threatened wallabies, including the parma wallaby (that had 70% of its entire distribution burnt) and the red-legged pademelon. Following these fires, wildlife across Australia has been decimated. This project expects to generate new knowledge by comparing burnt and unburnt areas before and after the fires to determine their imp ....Surviving the inferno: how threatened macropods survive catastrophic fire. This project aims to determine the impact of the catastrophic black summer fires of 2019/20 on threatened wallabies, including the parma wallaby (that had 70% of its entire distribution burnt) and the red-legged pademelon. Following these fires, wildlife across Australia has been decimated. This project expects to generate new knowledge by comparing burnt and unburnt areas before and after the fires to determine their impact on threatened wallaby conservation ecology. The expected outcomes of this project include improved understanding of the impact of fires on Australia's iconic wildlife. This should significantly improve our ability to reduce the risk on these species in future megafires. Read moreRead less
eGenomics - Next generation biomonitoring of threatened species. DNA is the molecule of life and exists everywhere in the environment as a largely untapped source of information on evolution, biodiversity, and ecosystem health. Our overriding aim is to start mining that information to benefit threatened species. Based on optimized ancient DNA methods, powerful sequencing technology, whole genome analyses, and RNA profiling, we present a novel and holistic framework for genetic biomonitoring. In ....eGenomics - Next generation biomonitoring of threatened species. DNA is the molecule of life and exists everywhere in the environment as a largely untapped source of information on evolution, biodiversity, and ecosystem health. Our overriding aim is to start mining that information to benefit threatened species. Based on optimized ancient DNA methods, powerful sequencing technology, whole genome analyses, and RNA profiling, we present a novel and holistic framework for genetic biomonitoring. In two parallel model systems we will study corals and reptiles to improve environmental detection while simultaneously obtaining information on their population health. This will foster more efficient conservation of endangered species that are of tremendous importance to our marine and terrestrial ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Pyrogenic carbon sequestration in Australian soils. Pyrogenic Carbon ('charcoal') is a poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle, important because it is resistant to degradation and hence has potential soil carbon sequestration benefits. This project applies a new technique (hydrogen pyrolysis), in combination with spectroscopic techniques, to quantify charcoal in a pan-Australian soil sample set, collected using uniform stratified sampling and preparation protocols. This will ena ....Pyrogenic carbon sequestration in Australian soils. Pyrogenic Carbon ('charcoal') is a poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle, important because it is resistant to degradation and hence has potential soil carbon sequestration benefits. This project applies a new technique (hydrogen pyrolysis), in combination with spectroscopic techniques, to quantify charcoal in a pan-Australian soil sample set, collected using uniform stratified sampling and preparation protocols. This will enable the mapping of soil charcoal stocks in relation to environmental and soil variables across Australia. The results will enable understanding of the controls on charcoal sequestration potential in Australian soils and contribute to efforts to quantify soil charcoal stocks and dynamics globally.Read moreRead less
Optimising biodiversity conservation in managed forest landscapes. How to meet human needs for timber while limiting harm to biodiversity is an urgent scientific goal. The project will address this challenge by quantifying the impacts of forestry systems and wildfire on mammal species. Novel network modelling of interactions among plants, animals, and environmental variables will establish cost-effective management improvements to maximise biodiversity values. A systematic conservation planning ....Optimising biodiversity conservation in managed forest landscapes. How to meet human needs for timber while limiting harm to biodiversity is an urgent scientific goal. The project will address this challenge by quantifying the impacts of forestry systems and wildfire on mammal species. Novel network modelling of interactions among plants, animals, and environmental variables will establish cost-effective management improvements to maximise biodiversity values. A systematic conservation planning approach will deliver spatially and temporally explicit solutions to balancing trade-offs between production and conservation taking into account dynamic impacts from climate change and fire. Outcomes will provide a foundation for policy changes to put theoretical solutions into practice.Read moreRead less
Unravelling soil carbon response to warming in fire-affected ecosystems. This project aims to reveal the continental pattern of soil carbon (C) response to warming in fire-affected ecosystems across Australia and to unravel the biogeochemical mechanisms underlying fire’s role in shaping the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. Fire has modified over 40% of the Earth’s land surface and wildfire frequency is predicted to increase under global warming. This project expects to generate new k ....Unravelling soil carbon response to warming in fire-affected ecosystems. This project aims to reveal the continental pattern of soil carbon (C) response to warming in fire-affected ecosystems across Australia and to unravel the biogeochemical mechanisms underlying fire’s role in shaping the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. Fire has modified over 40% of the Earth’s land surface and wildfire frequency is predicted to increase under global warming. This project expects to generate new knowledge on how fire influences soil-to-atmosphere C fluxes in a warmer climate using a multi-disciplinary approach. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capacity to predict the terrestrial ecosystem-to-atmosphere C fluxes and their feedbacks to climate under increasing frequency of fire using Earth-system models. Read moreRead less
Integrating fire and predator management to conserve threatened species. This project aims to empower land managers to better conserve Australia’s threatened native animals by developing decision-support approaches that facilitate integrated management of threatening processes. The project will use a combination of novel predictive models, field experiments and data syntheses to assist land managers to better conserve Australia’s threatened native fauna. This project will benefit biodiversity co ....Integrating fire and predator management to conserve threatened species. This project aims to empower land managers to better conserve Australia’s threatened native animals by developing decision-support approaches that facilitate integrated management of threatening processes. The project will use a combination of novel predictive models, field experiments and data syntheses to assist land managers to better conserve Australia’s threatened native fauna. This project will benefit biodiversity conservation by enabling more effective allocation of limited conservation resources.Read moreRead less