Understanding the health effects of landscape burning and biomass smoke in Australian towns and cities. Bushfires are increasingly affecting Australian towns and cities directly and indirectly from episodes of severe air pollution. An approach to manage bushfires is to reduce fuel loads by setting planned fires under stable weather conditions, yet this strategy is controversial because of community concerns about ecological sustainability and negative health impacts from smoke. The relative im ....Understanding the health effects of landscape burning and biomass smoke in Australian towns and cities. Bushfires are increasingly affecting Australian towns and cities directly and indirectly from episodes of severe air pollution. An approach to manage bushfires is to reduce fuel loads by setting planned fires under stable weather conditions, yet this strategy is controversial because of community concerns about ecological sustainability and negative health impacts from smoke. The relative importance of air pollution from planned and unplanned bushfires vs. wood heaters, agricultural burning and other sources of air pollution will be determined. Our study will enable evidence-based bushfire smoke management, help formulate national air quality standards and shape policies regarding biomass smoke and bushfire management.Read moreRead less
Bushfire smoke and the relationship between human and landscape health. A team of landscape ecologists, environmental chemists and public health specialists will determine the ecological causes and adverse health effects of different levels of bushfire smoke in Darwin. Darwin is an ideal setting for this research because the only source of air pollution is the high incidence of controlled and uncontrolled bushfires during the dry season causing variable air quality: a preliminary study found a ....Bushfire smoke and the relationship between human and landscape health. A team of landscape ecologists, environmental chemists and public health specialists will determine the ecological causes and adverse health effects of different levels of bushfire smoke in Darwin. Darwin is an ideal setting for this research because the only source of air pollution is the high incidence of controlled and uncontrolled bushfires during the dry season causing variable air quality: a preliminary study found a link between smoke pollution levels and asthma. The findings of the proposed research will contribute to improved fire management practices to reduce injurious smoke pollution events and contribute to setting appropriate national air quality standards.Read moreRead less
Protecting Australia's pine plantations from exotic pests and climate change. This project will protect pine plantations (representing 57% of Australia's $3.3 billion pa forestry industry) from the dual threat of exotic pests and climate change. Sirex wood wasp has been well controlled until the recent, unprecedented, increase of ips bark beetles. The ips beetle is now disrupting biological control of sirex by its feeding activity so work is required to understand and combat this effect. The wor ....Protecting Australia's pine plantations from exotic pests and climate change. This project will protect pine plantations (representing 57% of Australia's $3.3 billion pa forestry industry) from the dual threat of exotic pests and climate change. Sirex wood wasp has been well controlled until the recent, unprecedented, increase of ips bark beetles. The ips beetle is now disrupting biological control of sirex by its feeding activity so work is required to understand and combat this effect. The work is made more urgent by looming climate change because storm-damage, drought and heat stressed trees are especially vulnerable to sirex attack. It is estimated that this novel pest management approach could save the industry at least $188 million pa based on a conservative estimate of reducing losses by 10%.Read moreRead less
Understanding and manipulating stress physiology of eucalypt seedlings to improve survival and growth. Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens are the major species being established to meet the 2020 Vision (Anon 1999) of trebling Australia's plantation estate. Seedling mortality and/or reduced growth after planting, linked to the transition from ideal growing conditions in the nursery to stressful conditions (high drought and browsing risk) at the planting sites, significantly increase the costs of ....Understanding and manipulating stress physiology of eucalypt seedlings to improve survival and growth. Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens are the major species being established to meet the 2020 Vision (Anon 1999) of trebling Australia's plantation estate. Seedling mortality and/or reduced growth after planting, linked to the transition from ideal growing conditions in the nursery to stressful conditions (high drought and browsing risk) at the planting sites, significantly increase the costs of plantation production. By investigating physiological mechanisms of seedlings and their responses to drought and browsing stress during establishment in the field, methods for the production of seedlings acclimated to drought or browsing stress will be developed. The research outcomes will help maximise the financial return on over $28 M per annum being invested by the 8 project partners in seedling production and planting over 80, 000 ha per year for the next 19 years to meet the requirements of Vision 2020.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC150100004
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,630,239.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. This training centre aims to build capacity to transform the Australian forest products sector by providing advanced training and research. In particular, it aims to train a workforce capable of improving resource utilisation and creating value at all stages along the forest-to-building supply chain. This should allow the sector to exploit emerging markets in the use of renewable materials. The centre’s partners range fr ....ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. This training centre aims to build capacity to transform the Australian forest products sector by providing advanced training and research. In particular, it aims to train a workforce capable of improving resource utilisation and creating value at all stages along the forest-to-building supply chain. This should allow the sector to exploit emerging markets in the use of renewable materials. The centre’s partners range from forest managers to architects and engineers, to ensure a flow of information from forest to design and manufacture. The centre’s research, and the industry-ready graduates produced, should increase industry productivity, profitability and sustainability, and enable increased returns from Australia’s forests.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
Conserving biodiversity in timber production forests. Intensified forestry to meet rising demand for timber is placing biodiversity at risk. The aim of this project is to develop and field-test a novel framework to reconcile forest conservation with production. The project seeks to resolve whether intensive forestry coupled with a large reserve network produces better biodiversity outcomes than less intensive forestry with fewer reserves. I will integrate abundances of plant and animal species w ....Conserving biodiversity in timber production forests. Intensified forestry to meet rising demand for timber is placing biodiversity at risk. The aim of this project is to develop and field-test a novel framework to reconcile forest conservation with production. The project seeks to resolve whether intensive forestry coupled with a large reserve network produces better biodiversity outcomes than less intensive forestry with fewer reserves. I will integrate abundances of plant and animal species with forest industry timber yield data in a uniquely suited landscape. Survey results will be synthesised with global data on biodiversity responses to forestry. This research will benefit the forest industry by providing guidelines that improve conservation outcomes while maintaining timber yield.Read moreRead less
Linking plant genetics and chemistry to maximise tree production in the softwood industry. This project aims to test a ‘gene to plantation’ approach for the management of pests in softwood forestry. The project aims to focus on the stripping of bark from Pinus radiata trees by mammals: a major threat to tree productivity in many regions of Australia and an economic burden for forestry companies. The project aims to use a wide complement of P. radiata germplasm to link genetics, bark defensive ch ....Linking plant genetics and chemistry to maximise tree production in the softwood industry. This project aims to test a ‘gene to plantation’ approach for the management of pests in softwood forestry. The project aims to focus on the stripping of bark from Pinus radiata trees by mammals: a major threat to tree productivity in many regions of Australia and an economic burden for forestry companies. The project aims to use a wide complement of P. radiata germplasm to link genetics, bark defensive chemistry and susceptibility to damage. It aims to identify genotypes with increased resistance, unravel defensive tree traits, screen for genetic markers and identify specific gene regions correlated with trait variation, and examine cross-correlations with other major tree productivity traits.Read moreRead less