Antarctic marine diatoms: Key to predicting the effects of global climate change on a temperature-sensitive ecosystem. This project aims to determine the effects of global climate change on Antarctic diatoms. Diatoms are a major component of the polar phytoplankton. They are sensitive to changes in their marine environment, detection of which is an essential part of the Antarctic climate change strategy. Understanding the environmental processes that cause natural variation in extant diatoms ....Antarctic marine diatoms: Key to predicting the effects of global climate change on a temperature-sensitive ecosystem. This project aims to determine the effects of global climate change on Antarctic diatoms. Diatoms are a major component of the polar phytoplankton. They are sensitive to changes in their marine environment, detection of which is an essential part of the Antarctic climate change strategy. Understanding the environmental processes that cause natural variation in extant diatoms will make it possible to reconstruct the response of fossil diatoms, preserved in marine sediments, to past climate change. This understanding is vital for predicting the effect of future anthropogenic warming on this ecosystem.Read moreRead less
PAST EAST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET AND GLOBAL SEA-LEVEL VARIATIONS. Unique fossil-bearing, open marine sediments occur inland from the modern Antarctic coastline. These were deposited when a now-glaciated Antarctic basin became a marine embayment, during intervals of significantly reduced ice sheet volume and elevated global sea-level in the past. Urgent palaeontological, sedimentological and geochemical research on these sediments are vital to provide: directly datable in situ evidence for major i ....PAST EAST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET AND GLOBAL SEA-LEVEL VARIATIONS. Unique fossil-bearing, open marine sediments occur inland from the modern Antarctic coastline. These were deposited when a now-glaciated Antarctic basin became a marine embayment, during intervals of significantly reduced ice sheet volume and elevated global sea-level in the past. Urgent palaeontological, sedimentological and geochemical research on these sediments are vital to provide: directly datable in situ evidence for major ice sheet retreat and global sea-level rise in the past; and quantifiable data concerning the environment during such events; an innovative opportunity to improve predictions of Antarctica's response to global warming and answer international debate about past Antarctic Ice Sheet stability.Read moreRead less
New Insights into the Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth. This project aims to provide new insights into the origin of life on Earth, life’s diversification through the Precambrian, and the co-evolution of life and early Earth environments. It will be discipline-leading in that it will take the study of early life to the sub-micrometre and hence sub-cellular level. This will facilitate new opportunities for identifying the types of life present during early Earth history, their metabolisms, c ....New Insights into the Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth. This project aims to provide new insights into the origin of life on Earth, life’s diversification through the Precambrian, and the co-evolution of life and early Earth environments. It will be discipline-leading in that it will take the study of early life to the sub-micrometre and hence sub-cellular level. This will facilitate new opportunities for identifying the types of life present during early Earth history, their metabolisms, cellular chemistry and interactions with their environment. This project aims to also provide new search engines and more robust assessment criteria for life on other planets, and help to resolve specific scientific controversies, for example, the validity of claims for cellular life from 3.5 billion-year-old rocks.Read moreRead less
Why our biota is unique: ecophysiological response, adaptive radiation and changing environments in Cainozoic Australia. We seek to resolve Cainozoic diversification and extinction patterns leading to the modern Australian biota. We propose a broad-scale, multi-disciplinary approach involving systematic palaeontology, palaeobiology, biostratigraphy, molecular and morphological systematics and physiology of modern organisms. For the first time, we will synthesise data on past climatic and environ ....Why our biota is unique: ecophysiological response, adaptive radiation and changing environments in Cainozoic Australia. We seek to resolve Cainozoic diversification and extinction patterns leading to the modern Australian biota. We propose a broad-scale, multi-disciplinary approach involving systematic palaeontology, palaeobiology, biostratigraphy, molecular and morphological systematics and physiology of modern organisms. For the first time, we will synthesise data on past climatic and environmental influences on the evolution of Australian plants, animals and community structure through time. This will provide a solid historical basis to develop management strategies for the Australian biota under different, future, climatic scenarios, and will also provide a biostratigraphic framework essential for high-resolution mineral and hydrocarbon exploration.Read moreRead less
Improved management of coastal plankton systems by ancient DNA technology. This project aims to assemble comprehensive long term Australian plankton records spanning 50 to 1000 years, by applying ancient DNA technology to dated sediment depth cores. Long-term data for Australian coastal and estuarine waters are sparse, so cannot be used for management of fisheries, tourism or urban development. Long-term records are essential to understand how disruptive algal and jellyfish blooms, introduced sp ....Improved management of coastal plankton systems by ancient DNA technology. This project aims to assemble comprehensive long term Australian plankton records spanning 50 to 1000 years, by applying ancient DNA technology to dated sediment depth cores. Long-term data for Australian coastal and estuarine waters are sparse, so cannot be used for management of fisheries, tourism or urban development. Long-term records are essential to understand how disruptive algal and jellyfish blooms, introduced species and increased human use of coastal resources affect dynamic plankton ecosystems. This project’s findings are expected to explore cyclical patterns, define range expansions and understand and manage how dynamic coastal ecosystems respond to multistressor anthropogenic change. Findings will improve understanding of how dynamic marine environments retain their biodiversity values and critical ecological functions.Read moreRead less
Does fire control vegetation in the Tasmanian World Heritage Area? Aims: This project aims to discriminate between competing explanations for vegetation patterns in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area: (a) fire (the legacy of Aboriginal burning), or (b) soil. We will do this through a novel, transdisciplinary research program.
Significance: The project expects to create new knowledge essential for achieving evidence-based fire management, as well as to advance a globally important ecol ....Does fire control vegetation in the Tasmanian World Heritage Area? Aims: This project aims to discriminate between competing explanations for vegetation patterns in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area: (a) fire (the legacy of Aboriginal burning), or (b) soil. We will do this through a novel, transdisciplinary research program.
Significance: The project expects to create new knowledge essential for achieving evidence-based fire management, as well as to advance a globally important ecological theory.
Outcomes: Expected outcomes include significantly strengthened fire science and fire management capacity in Tasmania.
Benefit: Benefits should include the protection of globally significant cultural, biological and landscape values that sustain the vibrant Tasmanian tourist economy.Read moreRead less
Fire, air, water and earth: Using fossils to discover the evolution of Australia’s open vegetation. How Australia came to be dominated by open, tough-leaved vegetation is an old but still highly controversial question, especially with recent developments in molecular biology that challenge paradigms established from the fossil record. The project will test this new molecular paradigm with innovative use of characteristics of fossil leaves to identify the timing and drivers of the evolution of Au ....Fire, air, water and earth: Using fossils to discover the evolution of Australia’s open vegetation. How Australia came to be dominated by open, tough-leaved vegetation is an old but still highly controversial question, especially with recent developments in molecular biology that challenge paradigms established from the fossil record. The project will test this new molecular paradigm with innovative use of characteristics of fossil leaves to identify the timing and drivers of the evolution of Australia’s open vegetation. The integration of new and rigorous evidence derived from living and fossil plants will provide the clearest evidence yet for the origins of Australian environments. This has ramifications for understanding plant responses to past and future climate changes.Read moreRead less
Capturing Proteus: 65 million years of ecosystem change revealed through evolution of Proteaceae in Australasia. By assessing past changes in the iconic Australian plant family Proteaceae, this research will show how the Australasian vegetation has responded to 65 million years of profound landscape and climate changes. This knowledge from the past will give important insights into how ecosystems can be expected to change under future climate scenarios.