Improved biomonitoring of urban freshwater ecosystems using DNA barcodes. This project aims to provide rapid diagnostic detection of environmental change in aquatic ecosystems at reduced cost. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) can transform monitoring of aquatic ecosystems by identifying many species in multiple biological samples. This project aims to use NGS technology to identify macroinvertebrate species as biological indicators in urban freshwater ecosystems to provide more rapid, sensitive ....Improved biomonitoring of urban freshwater ecosystems using DNA barcodes. This project aims to provide rapid diagnostic detection of environmental change in aquatic ecosystems at reduced cost. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) can transform monitoring of aquatic ecosystems by identifying many species in multiple biological samples. This project aims to use NGS technology to identify macroinvertebrate species as biological indicators in urban freshwater ecosystems to provide more rapid, sensitive and cost-effective monitoring compared to traditional methods. The project uses DNA barcodes that identify species to detect species in samples processed with NGS. The project also plans to use previously collected samples to explore species diversity and detect indicator species.Read moreRead less
E. coli as an indicator of faecal contamination in the Australian context. The goal of this research is to improve our ability to use Escherichia coli as an indicator of water quality by determining the extent to which non-faecal sources of E. coli contribute to coliform counts and to develop a method to differentiate non-faecal E. coli from those that are faecal derived.
Coral resilience and the optimal management of biodiversity. This project aims to examine the resilience of coral biodiversity to disturbances and build on recently developed genomic resources to explore the genotypic traits that confer thermal tolerance. The project will research how coral biodiversity responds to climatic disturbances; the potential for acclimation and adaptation; and the best ways to monitor, manage and restore biodiversity. The project is expected to generate tangible outcom ....Coral resilience and the optimal management of biodiversity. This project aims to examine the resilience of coral biodiversity to disturbances and build on recently developed genomic resources to explore the genotypic traits that confer thermal tolerance. The project will research how coral biodiversity responds to climatic disturbances; the potential for acclimation and adaptation; and the best ways to monitor, manage and restore biodiversity. The project is expected to generate tangible outcomes and strategies to optimise the management of Australia’s coral biodiversity while engaging the public through museum-based outreach, in collaboration with government, regulatory sectors and an industry group. Read moreRead less
Subterranean invertebrate communities of arid zone Western Australia: diversity, assessment and food-web structure. The diverse and unique subterranean fauna associated with aquifers of the Western Australia arid zone is potentially threatened by water extraction, mining and other human impacts. This project aims to apply a powerful combination of molecular genetic analyses and compound specific isotope analyses to study, for the first time, the food web structure and source of energy of these g ....Subterranean invertebrate communities of arid zone Western Australia: diversity, assessment and food-web structure. The diverse and unique subterranean fauna associated with aquifers of the Western Australia arid zone is potentially threatened by water extraction, mining and other human impacts. This project aims to apply a powerful combination of molecular genetic analyses and compound specific isotope analyses to study, for the first time, the food web structure and source of energy of these groundwater ecosystems. The project aims to also develop novel procedures for monitoring their biodiversity using environmental DNA within the groundwater. The results will provide crucial information for the management of groundwater, and conservation of their associated ecosystems, and significantly improve the rigour of long-term environmental monitoring.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100777
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
New technology for accurate freshwater biodiversity assessment using environmental DNA. This project will develop a new biodiversity monitoring tool for identifying freshwater fish species without their capture or observation, using environmental DNA (faeces, urine and skin cells) extracted from water samples. This new tool will be used to survey for all fish species in freshwater ecosystems in southwestern Australia, a biodiversity hotspot.