Bio-optical model of Antarctic sea-ice algae photosynthesis. Antarctica contains no permanent human population; however the impact of climate change is being observed. Sea-ice is slowly becoming less thick and covering smaller areas of the Southern Ocean. Algae grow on the underside of this sea-ice which feed krill, which in turn support most of the Antarctic food web. Understanding how changes in sea-ice and snow thickness will change the productivity of Antarctica will have significant implica ....Bio-optical model of Antarctic sea-ice algae photosynthesis. Antarctica contains no permanent human population; however the impact of climate change is being observed. Sea-ice is slowly becoming less thick and covering smaller areas of the Southern Ocean. Algae grow on the underside of this sea-ice which feed krill, which in turn support most of the Antarctic food web. Understanding how changes in sea-ice and snow thickness will change the productivity of Antarctica will have significant implications to our management of this wilderness. Knowledge of how sea-ice algae responds to changes in light can be incorporated in climate change models.Read moreRead less
How do plants cope with temporal variability in water and nutrients? Australia's climate and weather are temporally variable, yet we know little of how Australia's flora is affected by temporally variable vs constant supplies of water and nutrients. In addition, climate change will affect our flora by, among other things, increasing temporal variability in water and nutrient availability. This program of research will provide basic data on growth responses to variable vs. constant water and nu ....How do plants cope with temporal variability in water and nutrients? Australia's climate and weather are temporally variable, yet we know little of how Australia's flora is affected by temporally variable vs constant supplies of water and nutrients. In addition, climate change will affect our flora by, among other things, increasing temporal variability in water and nutrient availability. This program of research will provide basic data on growth responses to variable vs. constant water and nutrient availability. Hence, results will be directly applicable to predicting the effects of climate change on growth, species' distribution and community composition. This research will also improve our basic understanding of limitations to photosynthesis, transpiration and nutrient uptake/assimilation.Read moreRead less
High temperature limits of leaf function. In arid and semi-arid central Australia, Acacia spp. dominate the over-storey, but this shifts to Eucalyptus and Corymbia spp. in more mesic coastal regions. Areas of central Australia are extremely hot, dry and sunny, and it is this combination of stresses that likely excludes Eucalyptus spp. from many landforms. There has been little research on high temperature tolerance of Acacia and Eucalyptus, despite the putative importance of this stress, in co ....High temperature limits of leaf function. In arid and semi-arid central Australia, Acacia spp. dominate the over-storey, but this shifts to Eucalyptus and Corymbia spp. in more mesic coastal regions. Areas of central Australia are extremely hot, dry and sunny, and it is this combination of stresses that likely excludes Eucalyptus spp. from many landforms. There has been little research on high temperature tolerance of Acacia and Eucalyptus, despite the putative importance of this stress, in combination with other stresses, in limiting species? distributions. Our program of collaborative research will examine the tolerance of Acacia and Eucalyptus to a combination of high temperatures, drought and high light.Read moreRead less
Novel oxygen sensing tools for monitoring the effects of dredging on Australian seagrass communities. Seagrass meadows sustain marine biodiversity and the fishing industries on Australian coasts. Dredging of ports and shipping channels is contributing to their rapid global decline. The project will use state-of-the-art technologies in bio-optics and genomics to create a toolkit for seagrass managers to make informed decisions to safeguard seagrass meadows.
Salinity tolerance along an aridity gradient: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function in mangroves. The proposed research will provide insight into the physiological and morphological features that control the productivity of mangrove forests across broad gradients in salinity and aridity. Central to this is this identification of plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance, which will assist in the development of plant varieties suited to Austra ....Salinity tolerance along an aridity gradient: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function in mangroves. The proposed research will provide insight into the physiological and morphological features that control the productivity of mangrove forests across broad gradients in salinity and aridity. Central to this is this identification of plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance, which will assist in the development of plant varieties suited to Australian conditions. The results will also contribute to development of process-based models to better predict the response of mangrove vegetation to changing climate. A deep understanding of the processes that influence the growth and survival of mangroves is of fundamental importance to sustainable fisheries and protection of wildlife reliant on coastal ecosystems. Read moreRead less
Leaf respiration under drought: a global perspective. Predicting future net carbon exchange is necessary for better management of vegetation resources by Australia. Incorporating the responses of plant respiration to drought and temperature is crucial for predicting future rates of net carbon exchange. Using laboratory and field studies, this research will develop an understanding of how water availability and temperature impact on plant respiration of a broad range of economically important and ....Leaf respiration under drought: a global perspective. Predicting future net carbon exchange is necessary for better management of vegetation resources by Australia. Incorporating the responses of plant respiration to drought and temperature is crucial for predicting future rates of net carbon exchange. Using laboratory and field studies, this research will develop an understanding of how water availability and temperature impact on plant respiration of a broad range of economically important and ecologically relevant plant species. Equations will be formulated that will improve how modellers calculate drought-dependent variations in plant respiration (and thus plant productivity), thereby improving predictions for a future, warmer world.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100073
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$280,000.00
Summary
High-throughput sample preparation robotics to enable emerging large-scale plant genomics, metabolomics and proteomics research. Discovering and breeding plants that are best suited for new environmental conditions requires the analysis of many samples to discover the underlying genes, metabolites and proteins. The project will build two robotic instruments that will facilitate the rapid grinding and extraction of plant tissues to facilitate these discoveries across Australia.
Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling gr ....Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling growth and survival. The expected outcome is to provide practical advice to restoration practitioners about the importance of matching the provenance of seed source to planting sites, and opportunities for selecting provenances pre-adapted to predicted future climatic conditions at planting sites.Read moreRead less
Resilient and adaptable urban landscapes: low input woody meadows. Cities around the world are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in urban green spaces. This project aims to improve the quality of low input public landscapes and make our cities more liveable. Typical low maintenance plantings have low diversity, visual appeal and function. This project expects to develop a novel low-cost and resilient approach to urban greening by utilising Australian shrublands as templates for woody mea ....Resilient and adaptable urban landscapes: low input woody meadows. Cities around the world are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in urban green spaces. This project aims to improve the quality of low input public landscapes and make our cities more liveable. Typical low maintenance plantings have low diversity, visual appeal and function. This project expects to develop a novel low-cost and resilient approach to urban greening by utilising Australian shrublands as templates for woody meadows. Through interdisciplinary research and collaborations with eight Partner Organisations, the expected outcomes include knowledge and skill sharing for widespread adoption of resilient, management-friendly woody meadows to enhance and expand urban green spaces in Australia and around the world. Read moreRead less
Peridinin-chlorophyll-protein complex: unravelling the unique photosynthetic apparatus of dinoflagellates in response to climatic variation. Dinoflagellates sustain the food chain. They live in coral and in ice, and also create toxic algal blooms. This project will dissect the unique photosynthetic machinery of these organisms to learn how they adapt and thrive in extreme environments. This new knowledge will predict how dinoflagellate-based ecosystems will respond to future climate change.