Mammal declines in northern Australia: science for conservation and recovery. Australia’s unique mammal fauna is a rich biological heritage for the nation. It provides a wealth of ecosystem services, and many mammal species have special cultural or aesthetic value. However, our mammals are sadly depleted, and we already have the worst record of recent mammal extinction of any nation. Preventing further mammal extinctions, and managing environments to allow declined mammals to recover, will be of ....Mammal declines in northern Australia: science for conservation and recovery. Australia’s unique mammal fauna is a rich biological heritage for the nation. It provides a wealth of ecosystem services, and many mammal species have special cultural or aesthetic value. However, our mammals are sadly depleted, and we already have the worst record of recent mammal extinction of any nation. Preventing further mammal extinctions, and managing environments to allow declined mammals to recover, will be of great benefit to Australian biodiversity and to the ecosystem processes and human values that depend on it.Read moreRead less
Increasing sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) recruitment in regional Western Australia through mammal conservation. The highly prized sandalwood is the basis of an industry that employs over 100 people and generates $12 million export income annually in regional WA. Natural recruitment of sandalwood is poor. This project will build on research, conducted by Murdoch University and the Forest Products Commission, that indicates natural recruitment of the tree is greatly enhance in the presence of nat ....Increasing sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) recruitment in regional Western Australia through mammal conservation. The highly prized sandalwood is the basis of an industry that employs over 100 people and generates $12 million export income annually in regional WA. Natural recruitment of sandalwood is poor. This project will build on research, conducted by Murdoch University and the Forest Products Commission, that indicates natural recruitment of the tree is greatly enhance in the presence of native rat-kangaroos who cache the seeds. This project will train an APA(I) postgraduate through an industry based project that will evaluate increased recruitment of sandalwood by native mammal caching. Many of these mammals are Conservation Dependent or Threatened with extinction.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989062
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$450,000.00
Summary
Airborne hyper-spectral scanning for advanced monitoring and assessment of vegetation and water properties. The proposed infrastructure will give Australian researchers the most advanced capabilities available world-wide in airborne remote sensing of the environment. By combining hyper-spectral scanning, with full wave-form resolving Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), microwave scanning and sythetic aperture RADAR, flown simultaneously on the most cost-efficient and technologically advanced re ....Airborne hyper-spectral scanning for advanced monitoring and assessment of vegetation and water properties. The proposed infrastructure will give Australian researchers the most advanced capabilities available world-wide in airborne remote sensing of the environment. By combining hyper-spectral scanning, with full wave-form resolving Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), microwave scanning and sythetic aperture RADAR, flown simultaneously on the most cost-efficient and technologically advanced research aircraft, it will be possible to assess and monitor a wide range of parameters not accessible to airborne methods before.Read moreRead less
Conservation management of seed-eating birds in the tropical savannas. Biodiversity loss in the savannas indicates unsustainable management. This research will enhance our abilities to effectively manage Australia's tropical savannas, as well as contributing to several State and Territory, Commonwealth and international obligations to maintain biodiversity. Understanding the processes underlying current declines will also make the effects of future management or environment changes easier to pre ....Conservation management of seed-eating birds in the tropical savannas. Biodiversity loss in the savannas indicates unsustainable management. This research will enhance our abilities to effectively manage Australia's tropical savannas, as well as contributing to several State and Territory, Commonwealth and international obligations to maintain biodiversity. Understanding the processes underlying current declines will also make the effects of future management or environment changes easier to predict. Retaining threatened species can benefit remote and regional communities through tourism, and also through the extra employment required to implement the management prescriptions that will be developed from this research.Read moreRead less
Is reintroduction of soil foraging animals critical for the restoration of degraded semi-arid woodlands? Locally-extinct animals are important, not only for their intrinsic value, but because they are thought to be essential for maintaining and restoring healthy ecosystems. This project will give us valuable insights into how ecosystems may have functioned prior to the loss of native animals, and how ecosystems can be restored when the animals are reintroduced. Our research will provide Australi ....Is reintroduction of soil foraging animals critical for the restoration of degraded semi-arid woodlands? Locally-extinct animals are important, not only for their intrinsic value, but because they are thought to be essential for maintaining and restoring healthy ecosystems. This project will give us valuable insights into how ecosystems may have functioned prior to the loss of native animals, and how ecosystems can be restored when the animals are reintroduced. Our research will provide Australian Wildlife Conservancy with the knowledge they need to continue their reintroductions, and information that encourages land managers to adopt strategies to ensure the survival of reintroduced animals outside of formal reserves. Read moreRead less
Assessing long term change in rangeland health and building models for change, using historical photos and monitoring data. Long-term photo sites and vegetation data will be used to make an assessment of change over the last few decades in the arid pastoral rangelands of Western Australia.
The aims are to: make a judgement about whether the changes have been positive or negative (for particular value systems); make a case for causality; explore links between vegetation data and soil surface, ....Assessing long term change in rangeland health and building models for change, using historical photos and monitoring data. Long-term photo sites and vegetation data will be used to make an assessment of change over the last few decades in the arid pastoral rangelands of Western Australia.
The aims are to: make a judgement about whether the changes have been positive or negative (for particular value systems); make a case for causality; explore links between vegetation data and soil surface, biodiversity and remotely-sensed data; and contribute to the building of models of expected change.
Outcomes will include the meeting of national and international conventions and strategies, and an increased ability of the pastoral industry to access international markets.
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The roles of invasive ants in urban ecosystem dynamics and restoration. The potential impacts of invasive ants are recognised worldwide, and we know that invasive ant species are already present in heavily disturbed areas in southern Australia, particularly in urban settlements. However, as yet, we have very little information on the actual and potential impacts of invasive ants on ecosystem processes. Urban bushland is seen as an important conservation and amenity resource, and there are incre ....The roles of invasive ants in urban ecosystem dynamics and restoration. The potential impacts of invasive ants are recognised worldwide, and we know that invasive ant species are already present in heavily disturbed areas in southern Australia, particularly in urban settlements. However, as yet, we have very little information on the actual and potential impacts of invasive ants on ecosystem processes. Urban bushland is seen as an important conservation and amenity resource, and there are increasing efforts to manage and restore these areas. This project aims to elucidate the likely impact of invasive ants on the maintenance and restoration of urban bushland, and hence provide guidance as to whether management and restoration needs to include invasive ant control. Read moreRead less
Setting and achieving realistic restoration goals in human-dominated ecosystems. Federal and state programs and community and NGO activities increasingly focus on ecosystem restoration as a tool in conservation and natural resource management. Clearer understanding of ecosystem dynamics and better articulation of realistic restoration goals can lead to much improved restoration success and better investment of government and private funds. This project will provide a better understanding of ecos ....Setting and achieving realistic restoration goals in human-dominated ecosystems. Federal and state programs and community and NGO activities increasingly focus on ecosystem restoration as a tool in conservation and natural resource management. Clearer understanding of ecosystem dynamics and better articulation of realistic restoration goals can lead to much improved restoration success and better investment of government and private funds. This project will provide a better understanding of ecosystem dynamics both under current conditions and also as influenced by future environmental changes. The contribution to the theoretical and conceptual development of the field of restoration ecology will increase the profile of Australian science and enhance our reputation as leaders in this field. Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL0992007
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,000,000.00
Summary
Intervention ecology: managing ecosystems in the 21st century. The research will tackle fundamental issues relating to how we manage and restore ecosystems in Australia (and worldwide) in the face of rapid environmental change, an issue recognised as being of increasingly pressing importance. It will provide a better understanding of ecosystem dynamics in the face of future environmental changes, and develop an approach that considers different forms of management intervention, how these might b ....Intervention ecology: managing ecosystems in the 21st century. The research will tackle fundamental issues relating to how we manage and restore ecosystems in Australia (and worldwide) in the face of rapid environmental change, an issue recognised as being of increasingly pressing importance. It will provide a better understanding of ecosystem dynamics in the face of future environmental changes, and develop an approach that considers different forms of management intervention, how these might be triggered and what the ecological and social consequences might be. This will contribute both to the theoretical and conceptual development of ecology, restoration ecology and conservation biology and to policy and management in Australia and elsewhere.Read moreRead less
Successful rehabilitation of species-rich heathlands after mining for heavy minerals. The Eneabba sandplains are located in one of the world's 25 'hotspots' for biodiversity and part of it is mined for heavy minerals. We seek to evaluate the ecology of rehabilitated minesites by comparing their species composition, spatial arrangement, functional attributes and response to experimental fire with that of the surrounding heathlands. This will enable us to gauge the new system's resilience to fire ....Successful rehabilitation of species-rich heathlands after mining for heavy minerals. The Eneabba sandplains are located in one of the world's 25 'hotspots' for biodiversity and part of it is mined for heavy minerals. We seek to evaluate the ecology of rehabilitated minesites by comparing their species composition, spatial arrangement, functional attributes and response to experimental fire with that of the surrounding heathlands. This will enable us to gauge the new system's resilience to fire and recommend corrective measures necessary to modify the pathway of restoration of the post-mining ecosystems as required. Because we take spatial relations and disturbance into account our approach is innovative and relevant to restoration ecology generally.Read moreRead less