Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989608
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$190,000.00
Summary
The Heron Island Climate Change Observatory: An In-Situ Ocean Acidification and Carbonate Chemistry Monitoring Platform. Climate change and ocean acidification are widely recognized as key threats to Australia's natural ecosystems, yet we are currently ill-equipped to respond due to poor knowledge of the scale/nature of the impacts. The Heron Island Climate Change Observatory will establish key infrastructure that will rapidly improve our understanding of the impacts of ocean acidification whic ....The Heron Island Climate Change Observatory: An In-Situ Ocean Acidification and Carbonate Chemistry Monitoring Platform. Climate change and ocean acidification are widely recognized as key threats to Australia's natural ecosystems, yet we are currently ill-equipped to respond due to poor knowledge of the scale/nature of the impacts. The Heron Island Climate Change Observatory will establish key infrastructure that will rapidly improve our understanding of the impacts of ocean acidification which is important to local communities and the nation given that coral reefs support over $6 billion in revenue (and employ 60,000 people) each year. This critically important information is essential to the management and protection of Australia's coral reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef.
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Testing co-evolutionary processes driving venom diversity in tiger snakes. Testing co-evolutionary processes driving venom diversity in tiger snakes. This project aims to examine the geographic variation amongst tiger snakes in anatomy, ecology, and life history traits, and the relationship of these factors to venom toxins and production; and to evaluate the true pharmacological potential of tiger snake venom. This project will investigate the role of venom adaptation in long-term animal evoluti ....Testing co-evolutionary processes driving venom diversity in tiger snakes. Testing co-evolutionary processes driving venom diversity in tiger snakes. This project aims to examine the geographic variation amongst tiger snakes in anatomy, ecology, and life history traits, and the relationship of these factors to venom toxins and production; and to evaluate the true pharmacological potential of tiger snake venom. This project will investigate the role of venom adaptation in long-term animal evolution, by identifying rare venom transcripts involved in providing evolutionary potential for adaptation to environmental change. This is essential as continuing climatic and human-induced alteration of our environment affects southern Australia where many people live, work and interact with native wildlife. Anticipated outcomes are maximizing venom harvests and enhanced snakebite treatment capacity.Read moreRead less
A changing climate for calcification on the Great Barrier Reef: past, present and future. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a national and international icon, recognised through its inscription as a World Heritage Area and economic and social value to Australians. Maintenance of the GBR as we know it is now compromised by a rapidly changing climate. Ocean acidification, warming water temperatures and increased freshwater will progressively be detrimental to the fundamental reef-building process ....A changing climate for calcification on the Great Barrier Reef: past, present and future. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a national and international icon, recognised through its inscription as a World Heritage Area and economic and social value to Australians. Maintenance of the GBR as we know it is now compromised by a rapidly changing climate. Ocean acidification, warming water temperatures and increased freshwater will progressively be detrimental to the fundamental reef-building process of calcification. Informed policy and management strategies in a rapidly changing physical environment require determination, for short and long time frames, of the regional consequences and impacts of changing reef-building capacity.Read moreRead less
Long-term changes in Mackay Whitsunday water quality and connectivity between coral reefs and mangrove ecosystems. Declining water quality is implicated in the degradation of near-shore Great Barrier Reef (GBR) ecosystems. The goal of this project is to provide a definitive answer to the question of how GBR water quality has changed since European arrival (pre-1860). Using novel geochemical proxies in long-lived coral cores and innovative remote sensing techniques, we will develop quantitative h ....Long-term changes in Mackay Whitsunday water quality and connectivity between coral reefs and mangrove ecosystems. Declining water quality is implicated in the degradation of near-shore Great Barrier Reef (GBR) ecosystems. The goal of this project is to provide a definitive answer to the question of how GBR water quality has changed since European arrival (pre-1860). Using novel geochemical proxies in long-lived coral cores and innovative remote sensing techniques, we will develop quantitative histories of water quality and mangrove distribution change. This project will deliver the first integrated assessment of how coastal water quality and associated ecosystems have varied historically, which will be immediately applicable for long-term management of coastal ecosystems lining the GBR.Read moreRead less
Photosynthetic traits as “key performance indicators” of coral health. The objective of this project is to advance knowledge on the healthy functioning of the coral–algal symbiosis, which defines the response of coral reef ecosystems to worldwide environmental change. Current approaches to address this problem have linked coral health to algal symbiont diversity but have been unable to resolve the fundamental symbiont functional traits that govern this link – the “key performance indicators (KPI ....Photosynthetic traits as “key performance indicators” of coral health. The objective of this project is to advance knowledge on the healthy functioning of the coral–algal symbiosis, which defines the response of coral reef ecosystems to worldwide environmental change. Current approaches to address this problem have linked coral health to algal symbiont diversity but have been unable to resolve the fundamental symbiont functional traits that govern this link – the “key performance indicators (KPIs)”. This project plans to couple advanced physiological and functional genomics techniques to transform our understanding of how algal symbiont metabolic KPIs regulate coral growth and stress susceptibility. This may provide new diagnostic capability for the assessment of coral health and may enable us to improve coral reef ecosystem management.Read moreRead less
Biogeography of avian mating systems: polyandry, reverse-plumage dimorphism, and sexual selection in Cape York and New Guinea eclectus parrots. Current sexual selection theory explains how one sex can be strongly sexually selected through competition or mate choice, or how sexual selection can push both sexes in the same direction through mutual mate choice. However, the strong and independent sexual selection in both sexes of eclectus parrot is unique amongst birds, and poses a major challenge ....Biogeography of avian mating systems: polyandry, reverse-plumage dimorphism, and sexual selection in Cape York and New Guinea eclectus parrots. Current sexual selection theory explains how one sex can be strongly sexually selected through competition or mate choice, or how sexual selection can push both sexes in the same direction through mutual mate choice. However, the strong and independent sexual selection in both sexes of eclectus parrot is unique amongst birds, and poses a major challenge to existing theory. Here I propose novel field experiments and biogeographical comparisons of populations in Cape York and New Guinea that, when combined with molecular techniques and spectro-radiometry, will identify the elements of competition and mate choice responsible for their extraordinary reverse plumage dimorphism.Read moreRead less
Interspecific communication and the evolution of alarm calls in birds. There are probably more papers on vocal communication in some individual European and American species of birds than there are on all Australian species combined. Our work will contribute to redressing this imbalance by carrying out detailed studies on acoustic communication in a major group of Australian songbirds (scrubwrens, fairy-wrens, honeyeaters and allies), while at the same time addressing an unsolved general problem ....Interspecific communication and the evolution of alarm calls in birds. There are probably more papers on vocal communication in some individual European and American species of birds than there are on all Australian species combined. Our work will contribute to redressing this imbalance by carrying out detailed studies on acoustic communication in a major group of Australian songbirds (scrubwrens, fairy-wrens, honeyeaters and allies), while at the same time addressing an unsolved general problem in call design first identified 50 years ago in European songbirds. Specifically, we will test whether different prey species have repeatedly evolved 'hawk' alarm calls of similar structure, and whether such evolution could be due to benefits of having similar calls when communicating with other prey species. Read moreRead less
Communication and predation in scrubwrens: alarm calls and eavesdropping. Animal behaviour, including acoustic communication, is shaped by the risk of being killed by predators. Many animals give alarm calls, potentially warning others of danger, and all face the risk that calls intended for conspecifics might be overheard by predators. We will use observations and playback experiments on birds to test what information is conveyed in alarm calls, and measure the risk of predators eavesdropping o ....Communication and predation in scrubwrens: alarm calls and eavesdropping. Animal behaviour, including acoustic communication, is shaped by the risk of being killed by predators. Many animals give alarm calls, potentially warning others of danger, and all face the risk that calls intended for conspecifics might be overheard by predators. We will use observations and playback experiments on birds to test what information is conveyed in alarm calls, and measure the risk of predators eavesdropping on the calls of young birds. Such work has never before been carried out on wild birds, and will contribute to the understanding of non-human communication about the environment and the design of signals.Read moreRead less
What is the genetic relationship between attractiveness, fighting ability and fertilization success in field crickets? The persistence of extravagant male sexual features like horns and bright colours remains a puzzle. There are many theoretical explanations but empirical tests are still rare. This study, which uses selective breeding, will provide insight into the genetic basis of male sexual attractiveness and dominance. Although focused on an endemic field cricket the potential results have w ....What is the genetic relationship between attractiveness, fighting ability and fertilization success in field crickets? The persistence of extravagant male sexual features like horns and bright colours remains a puzzle. There are many theoretical explanations but empirical tests are still rare. This study, which uses selective breeding, will provide insight into the genetic basis of male sexual attractiveness and dominance. Although focused on an endemic field cricket the potential results have wider implications. They may be applicable to many animals of importance to the community, including livestock, domesticated animals, pests and native wildlife. All these animals are subject to selection pressure created by humans. This study will help us understand how selection on one trait (e.g. weight) may influence the evolution of another (e.g. lifespan).Read moreRead less
Reef Breath Testing (RBT): exhaled volatile-gas biomarkers of coral health. This Project aims to uncover volatile gas "fingerprints" of coral reef taxa and how they are diagnostic of healthy reef functioning over space and time. All organisms emit distinct volatile gases via physiological fine-tuning and signalling as their environments change. Whilst coral reef taxa and coral reefs are hotspots for volatile gas emissions, which gases are produced, when and why, is entirely unexplored. This proj ....Reef Breath Testing (RBT): exhaled volatile-gas biomarkers of coral health. This Project aims to uncover volatile gas "fingerprints" of coral reef taxa and how they are diagnostic of healthy reef functioning over space and time. All organisms emit distinct volatile gases via physiological fine-tuning and signalling as their environments change. Whilst coral reef taxa and coral reefs are hotspots for volatile gas emissions, which gases are produced, when and why, is entirely unexplored. This project unites a multidisciplinary team of experts to, for the first time, couple volatile gas assessment, metabolic physiology and functional genomics techniques to transform understanding of how key volatile gases underpin coral resilience to stress and disease, which is essential to improve coral reef ecosystem management.Read moreRead less