Resource patchiness, dispersal and species co-occurrence: an experimental and levels-of-evidence approach in some lowland streams. Millions of dollars are being spent on rehabilitating river ecosystems that have often been highly simplified by human activities. It is important that such rehabilitation be well-grounded in sound ecological knowledge. We will test how the availability of essential resources of food and living space affect the identity and density of species present. We expect to p ....Resource patchiness, dispersal and species co-occurrence: an experimental and levels-of-evidence approach in some lowland streams. Millions of dollars are being spent on rehabilitating river ecosystems that have often been highly simplified by human activities. It is important that such rehabilitation be well-grounded in sound ecological knowledge. We will test how the availability of essential resources of food and living space affect the identity and density of species present. We expect to provide practical advice allowing managers to enhance biodiversity in streams surrounded by, and serving, agricultural areas. Likewise, we will be able to advise on the consequences of excessive water extraction on the likely success of such rehabilitation in rivers with highly variable flows.Read moreRead less
Spatial scale of influence of riparian and catchment land use on stream ecosystem health. Human activities at the landscape scale comprise one of the greatest threats to the ecological integrity of river ecosystems. Government and community groups across Australia are making significant efforts in riparian protection and rehabilitation in an attempt to improve the health of degraded waterways but are hampered in their goal to maximise the environmental gains for every dollar or unit effort inve ....Spatial scale of influence of riparian and catchment land use on stream ecosystem health. Human activities at the landscape scale comprise one of the greatest threats to the ecological integrity of river ecosystems. Government and community groups across Australia are making significant efforts in riparian protection and rehabilitation in an attempt to improve the health of degraded waterways but are hampered in their goal to maximise the environmental gains for every dollar or unit effort invested. The proposed research on understanding the spatial scale of influence of land use and the aggregative effects on stream ecosystems will provide a robust framework to assess various options and optimise benefits from management actions. Read moreRead less
Change ecology - gaining broad-scale, timely biodiversity knowledge in a time of uncertainty. Australians are confronted daily with the consequences of changes wrought by human over-exploitation of natural resources. Our capacity to track and respond to change is very limited and slow. Thus, rapid deterioration of ecologically important aspects is detected late and is not reflective of the general state because knowledge is derived from small-scale measurements that are difficult to generalize. ....Change ecology - gaining broad-scale, timely biodiversity knowledge in a time of uncertainty. Australians are confronted daily with the consequences of changes wrought by human over-exploitation of natural resources. Our capacity to track and respond to change is very limited and slow. Thus, rapid deterioration of ecologically important aspects is detected late and is not reflective of the general state because knowledge is derived from small-scale measurements that are difficult to generalize. We will build a capacity for providing large-scale knowledge of vegetation condition and flow-on effects on biodiversity, which also will allow us to make informed assessments of the ecological consequences of some existing (climate change, drying) and imminent (biofuel plantings) drivers of change.Read moreRead less
Urban salinity in Kalgoorlie-Boulder: Causes, extent and treatment through revegetation - a pilot study for Australian rural towns. The National Land and Water Resources Audit suggests that salinity will threaten 200 towns in Australia by 2050. The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has a salinity problem caused by shallow, saline groundwater. This project will: (a) document and map the extent and causes of salinity, (b) determine whether salinity can be controlled through improved surface drainage an ....Urban salinity in Kalgoorlie-Boulder: Causes, extent and treatment through revegetation - a pilot study for Australian rural towns. The National Land and Water Resources Audit suggests that salinity will threaten 200 towns in Australia by 2050. The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has a salinity problem caused by shallow, saline groundwater. This project will: (a) document and map the extent and causes of salinity, (b) determine whether salinity can be controlled through improved surface drainage and revegetation, and (c) conduct adaptation trials of ornamental trees and shrubs for tolerance to salt, waterlogging and inundation. The work will be conducted in partnership with the City Council and local Urban Landcare Group. Outcomes will be disseminated through WA's Rural Towns Program, national conferences and scientific papers.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing landscapes for biodiversity: From predictive modelling to future scenarios. Many landscapes around the world have been effectively denuded of natural vegetation, causing precipitous declines in native biodiversity. Mitigation of such effects in the near/medium-term future requires substantial ecological advice. We will employ our skills developed in modelling distributions of species across landscapes based on terrain, soils and climate to assess alternative landscape-reconstructi ....Reconstructing landscapes for biodiversity: From predictive modelling to future scenarios. Many landscapes around the world have been effectively denuded of natural vegetation, causing precipitous declines in native biodiversity. Mitigation of such effects in the near/medium-term future requires substantial ecological advice. We will employ our skills developed in modelling distributions of species across landscapes based on terrain, soils and climate to assess alternative landscape-reconstruction scenarios. This links use of existing data sets for initial modelling, a validation phase for testing model reliability and for refining models, and a subsequent GIS-based modelling phase in which alternative options for reconstructing landscapes are evaluated for their effectiveness in sustaining landscape-scale native biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Leaf economics, and the acquisition and use of water and nitrogen for photosynthesis. Successful and sustainable management of both natural and human-modified ecosystems flows from advances in our understanding of the fundamentals of plant ecology. Improved understanding of acquisition and use of water and nutrients by plants should lead not only to better management in the present day, but better-founded management decisions under possible future scenarios such as global warming, higher atmosph ....Leaf economics, and the acquisition and use of water and nitrogen for photosynthesis. Successful and sustainable management of both natural and human-modified ecosystems flows from advances in our understanding of the fundamentals of plant ecology. Improved understanding of acquisition and use of water and nutrients by plants should lead not only to better management in the present day, but better-founded management decisions under possible future scenarios such as global warming, higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations or altered rainfall regimes. High-impact publications resulting from this project will sustain Australian leadership in environmental plant biology.Read moreRead less
Models for biodiversity futures for massively altered agricultural landscapes. Problems with soil and water and declines in native biodiversity have been linked to clearance of native vegetation. We consider future landscapes with substantially more native vegetation than at present to deal with these natural resource problems. Plantings will be slow to mature so optimal planning for landscape revegetation must consider how long it will take for the new vegetation to provide suitable habitat, bo ....Models for biodiversity futures for massively altered agricultural landscapes. Problems with soil and water and declines in native biodiversity have been linked to clearance of native vegetation. We consider future landscapes with substantially more native vegetation than at present to deal with these natural resource problems. Plantings will be slow to mature so optimal planning for landscape revegetation must consider how long it will take for the new vegetation to provide suitable habitat, both at patch and landscape scales. We will develop an optimization framework incorporating models of vegetation maturation and biotic responses to aid designs for placement and scheduling of replantings to give the best outcomes for biodiversity management given constraints on amounts of retired area and costs of implementation.Read moreRead less
More bang for your carbon buck: carbon, biodiversity and water balance consequences of whole-catchment carbon farming. Farming carbon via tree plantings on pasture land is becoming increasingly common to address the effects of climate change. This activity is likely to produce dramatic changes in Australia's rural landscapes, but we have little knowledge of likely effects on crucial ecosystem services and attributes such as stream water yields and biodiversity. This project will investigate the ....More bang for your carbon buck: carbon, biodiversity and water balance consequences of whole-catchment carbon farming. Farming carbon via tree plantings on pasture land is becoming increasingly common to address the effects of climate change. This activity is likely to produce dramatic changes in Australia's rural landscapes, but we have little knowledge of likely effects on crucial ecosystem services and attributes such as stream water yields and biodiversity. This project will investigate the relationship between tree cover, carbon uptake, water yield and biodiversity. The outcomes will allow government agencies, landowners and carbon farming groups to better evaluate the effects of different landscape planning options and contribute to effective long-term planning for multiple goals.Read moreRead less
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
Our rural wealth: using functional responses of native fauna to predict conservation values of agricultural landscapes. The aim of this project is to develop and test a new approach for assessing the conservation value of agricultural landscapes in Australia. It is based on identifying the functional responses of the fauna to the extent and pattern of native vegetation and types and intensity of agricultural land-uses in whole landscapes. Different response types will be interpreted in relatio ....Our rural wealth: using functional responses of native fauna to predict conservation values of agricultural landscapes. The aim of this project is to develop and test a new approach for assessing the conservation value of agricultural landscapes in Australia. It is based on identifying the functional responses of the fauna to the extent and pattern of native vegetation and types and intensity of agricultural land-uses in whole landscapes. Different response types will be interpreted in relation to ecological characteristics of species. We will use this knowledge to predict the status of birds and mammals in novel landscapes in three bioregions, and test the predictions by field studies. This new landscape-level approach will help land managers assess present agricultural environments as well as evaluate scenarios for future changes in land-use.Read moreRead less