Sustaining Australia's Marine Fisheries: Modelling and Managing Highly Migratory Fish Stocks of the Indian and Western and Central Pacific Oceans. The research program will enable Australia to sustainably use key marine resources by modelling and developing management strategies for tuna and billfish of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The interdisciplinary research program will (1) develop a set of hypotheses about the critical variables and positive and negative feedbacks of highly migratory fis ....Sustaining Australia's Marine Fisheries: Modelling and Managing Highly Migratory Fish Stocks of the Indian and Western and Central Pacific Oceans. The research program will enable Australia to sustainably use key marine resources by modelling and developing management strategies for tuna and billfish of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The interdisciplinary research program will (1) develop a set of hypotheses about the critical variables and positive and negative feedbacks of highly migratory fish stocks, (2) model the ecological and economic systems of tuna and billfish in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and (3), link the models to a framework to adaptively manage the resources in a multilateral context while ensuring their long-term sustainability.Read moreRead less
Integrating Economic Valuation and Water Quality Modelling for Improving Management of Coastal Catchments. This project will apply and integrate water quality models and economic assessment techniques to assist policy makers and catchment managers balance competing development pressures and environmental concerns in coastal catchments. The research is fundamental to underpinning the sustainable management of coastal catchments which provide major economic, environmental and community benefits. T ....Integrating Economic Valuation and Water Quality Modelling for Improving Management of Coastal Catchments. This project will apply and integrate water quality models and economic assessment techniques to assist policy makers and catchment managers balance competing development pressures and environmental concerns in coastal catchments. The research is fundamental to underpinning the sustainable management of coastal catchments which provide major economic, environmental and community benefits. The project will provide robust tools to predict water quality impacts under a range of conditions and it will develop techniques for the economic valuation of market and non-market impacts. The project will demonstrate the integration of water quality and economic modelling and how it can influence policy and investment in conservation and remediation.Read moreRead less
Guiding early silvicultural interventions through predicting canopy and crown dynamics in plantations of sub-tropical eucalypts. This project aims to establish the scientific basis for silvicultural treatments of eucalypt plantations for clear wood production. While eucalypt plantations in north-eastern NSW have dramatically increased in recent times, the knowledge base for the production clear, branch-free wood from the tree species used does not exist. A physiological, mechanistic understandin ....Guiding early silvicultural interventions through predicting canopy and crown dynamics in plantations of sub-tropical eucalypts. This project aims to establish the scientific basis for silvicultural treatments of eucalypt plantations for clear wood production. While eucalypt plantations in north-eastern NSW have dramatically increased in recent times, the knowledge base for the production clear, branch-free wood from the tree species used does not exist. A physiological, mechanistic understanding of crown and canopy dynamics as well as branch shedding will form the scientific foundation for stand manipulations such as pruning and thinning to enhance wood quality. Project outcomes will provide the basis for a stand management simulation model for the most important eucalypt species.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence - Innovative science for sustainable management of coral reef biodiversity. Our vision is to apply enabling technologies to capture the national benefit arising from research excellence. The Centre has enormous capacity to provide economic, cultural, environmental and social benefits for Australia. The coral reefs of Australia, particularly the Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo Reef, and Lord Howe Island World Heritage Area are Australian national icons, of great economic, so ....ARC Centre of Excellence - Innovative science for sustainable management of coral reef biodiversity. Our vision is to apply enabling technologies to capture the national benefit arising from research excellence. The Centre has enormous capacity to provide economic, cultural, environmental and social benefits for Australia. The coral reefs of Australia, particularly the Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo Reef, and Lord Howe Island World Heritage Area are Australian national icons, of great economic, social, and aesthetic value to this country. In collaboration with our Partners, we will be the premier providers of the scientific expertise that underpins the management of Australian reefs, which is vital for the sustainable use of biodiversity goods and services (e.g. by the tourist industry, fisheries, and recreational users).Read moreRead less
Improving water market outcomes through a better understanding of market behaviour. The issue of water resources and their sustainable use is probably the most important issue facing the rural sector. The water reform process and its aim to secure water for the environment will cause economic and social pain and result in structural change within the irrigation sector. Properly functioning water markets will play an instrumental role in facilitating this process by providing water for the envir ....Improving water market outcomes through a better understanding of market behaviour. The issue of water resources and their sustainable use is probably the most important issue facing the rural sector. The water reform process and its aim to secure water for the environment will cause economic and social pain and result in structural change within the irrigation sector. Properly functioning water markets will play an instrumental role in facilitating this process by providing water for the environment and allowing water to move between competing resources. This study will enable policy makers and water managers to optimise the positive outcome of water markets and increase the likely success of programs to purchase environmental water.Read moreRead less
More than a Roof Overhead: Meeting the Need for a Sustainable Housing System in Remote Indigenous Communities. Many Indigenous Australians live in substandard and over-crowded accommodation, and experience poor health, education, family stability and child-safety outcomes as a result. The lack of improvement in this situation is largely due to levels of funding and approaches to construction and management inadequate to the scale of the problem. This situation is changing and new funding and po ....More than a Roof Overhead: Meeting the Need for a Sustainable Housing System in Remote Indigenous Communities. Many Indigenous Australians live in substandard and over-crowded accommodation, and experience poor health, education, family stability and child-safety outcomes as a result. The lack of improvement in this situation is largely due to levels of funding and approaches to construction and management inadequate to the scale of the problem. This situation is changing and new funding and policies are being established. The researchers will work alongside housing providers and selected Indigenous communities in Western Australia and Northern Territory to develop procurement, construction and housing management practices that will meet the critical need for more affordable, appropriate and sustainable housing.Read moreRead less
Quantifying tree and soil respiration and their responses to global change. The Australian Greenhouse Office, as well as independent analysis, recognizes that belowground processes must be better quantified if Australia's contributions to atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GG) are to be firmly based. A major issue is the lack of dedicated research focused on soil and plant root emissions of GG and, in particular, a lack of testing of methodologies suited to Australian soils and con ....Quantifying tree and soil respiration and their responses to global change. The Australian Greenhouse Office, as well as independent analysis, recognizes that belowground processes must be better quantified if Australia's contributions to atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GG) are to be firmly based. A major issue is the lack of dedicated research focused on soil and plant root emissions of GG and, in particular, a lack of testing of methodologies suited to Australian soils and conditions. This project will address these concerns. We will also be addressing the clear need for further training of PhD qualified researchers in the field of climate change. Read moreRead less
Non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions in afforested ecosystems in southeastern Australia - fluxes, processes and regional budget. There are no data available about the extent of emissions of the non-CO2 greenhouse gases nitrous oxide and methane from soils of forest ecosystems in Australia and the current methodolgy to quantify these emissions contains high uncertainties. Using the latest technology available we propose to i) measure emission rates of afforested ecosystems for non-CO2 greenhouse gase ....Non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions in afforested ecosystems in southeastern Australia - fluxes, processes and regional budget. There are no data available about the extent of emissions of the non-CO2 greenhouse gases nitrous oxide and methane from soils of forest ecosystems in Australia and the current methodolgy to quantify these emissions contains high uncertainties. Using the latest technology available we propose to i) measure emission rates of afforested ecosystems for non-CO2 greenhouse gases in relation to previous land-use in southeastern Australia, ii) identify the processes controlling the emissions, iii) use the obtained data to calibrate a biogeochemical model, and iv) use the model to estimate regional inventories for non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions in southeastern Australia.Read moreRead less
Analysis of Possible Rules for Interstate Water Trading by the Australian Capital Territory. Rules will be studied and modelled for allowing ACT water trading with other states, within an agreed abstraction cap. The aim is to find administrative, constraining and price-setting rules that maximise the economic gain of trading to Australia, bearing in mind environmental constraints, infrastructure costs, transaction costs, and equity. Innovative challenges for the rules will be allowing ACT to se ....Analysis of Possible Rules for Interstate Water Trading by the Australian Capital Territory. Rules will be studied and modelled for allowing ACT water trading with other states, within an agreed abstraction cap. The aim is to find administrative, constraining and price-setting rules that maximise the economic gain of trading to Australia, bearing in mind environmental constraints, infrastructure costs, transaction costs, and equity. Innovative challenges for the rules will be allowing ACT to sell water now but buy it back later, thus providing for long term population growth; and handling the differences between ACT's spare storage capacity and urban uses, and the downstream irrigation uses with which trade is most likely.Read moreRead less
Integrating measures of Indigenous land management effectiveness. Land management is the fastest growing Indigenous employment sector in Australia yet methods for assessing its effectiveness are poorly developed. This project will work with Indigenous land managers and their major environmental service delivery partners to develop and agree on measures of land management effectiveness to meet multiple objectives.