Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100701
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$386,006.00
Summary
Managing the effects of disturbance on coral reef biodiversity: modelling starfish outbreaks in a changing world
. Coral communities of the Great Barrier Reef are facing multiple disturbances, in particular the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci (A. planci) that can occur as large-scale outbreaks. This project aims to provide innovative guidance in support of the management of A. planci, based on a metapopulation modelling framework broadly applicable to the control of mar ....Managing the effects of disturbance on coral reef biodiversity: modelling starfish outbreaks in a changing world
. Coral communities of the Great Barrier Reef are facing multiple disturbances, in particular the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci (A. planci) that can occur as large-scale outbreaks. This project aims to provide innovative guidance in support of the management of A. planci, based on a metapopulation modelling framework broadly applicable to the control of marine pests. Expected outcomes include the identification of the environmental triggers of A. planci outbreaks; the identification of target reefs and critical thresholds of management intervention needed to limit the impact of A. planci under different climate and land use scenarios; and future forecasts of coral and fish biodiversity under these scenarios.Read moreRead less
The Norfolk Island Carbon and Health Evaluation Program: a case study of personal carbon trading for reducing obesity and greenhouse gas emissions. This project tests a system of Personal Carbon Trading for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving health. Carbon credit cards given to everyone on Norfolk Island are designed to financially reward people for reducing energy use (fuel and fatty food mainly) by increasing walking/cycling and improving nutrition to improve health
Methane uptake of forest soils. This project will provide a detailed understanding of capacity of soils in Australia to sequester the greenhouse gas methane. It will identify the main factors and processes controlling methane uptake in soils and improve predictive models will allow us to predict methane uptake in the future.
Rhizosphere mediation of soil greenhouse gas fluxes with climate change. Increasingly extreme heat waves, droughts and floods contribute major uncertainties in predicting natural land-based climate change mitigation. This project will quantify current and future greenhouse gas absorption in a managed grassland ecosystem, and the new knowledge will contribute to carbon emissions offsets in climate change accounting schemes. We will conduct this research using a manipulative field experiment, cont ....Rhizosphere mediation of soil greenhouse gas fluxes with climate change. Increasingly extreme heat waves, droughts and floods contribute major uncertainties in predicting natural land-based climate change mitigation. This project will quantify current and future greenhouse gas absorption in a managed grassland ecosystem, and the new knowledge will contribute to carbon emissions offsets in climate change accounting schemes. We will conduct this research using a manipulative field experiment, controlled laboratory incubations, microbial gene analysis and mechanistic modelling to provide new insights into future potential climate change mitigation by soils.Read moreRead less
Modelling the potential of large-scale revegetation to reduce the impacts of climate change in semi-arid Australia. This project will contribute to Australia's capacity to respond to climate change and to the ecologically sustainable management of our natural resources. It will provide a comprehensive understanding of the potential of large-scale revegetation to moderate climate change, and to identify limitations to adaptation.
A novel approach for assessing environmental flows using satellite data. This project will determine how ecosystems respond to environmental flow by linking flooding history with vegetation responses, using remote sensing, climate data layers, spatial statistics, models of environmental flows and ecological theory. Beneficiaries will include water and land managers in Australia.
Managing agricultural landscapes to maximise biodiversity gains: the case of the regent parrot. This project provides crucial knowledge to achieve an Environmentally Sustainable Australia (National Research Priority) and meets a principal aim of the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development-to develop sustainable agriculture while protecting the biological resources on which they depend. We achieve this through a novel approach linking production targets and conservation trade-o ....Managing agricultural landscapes to maximise biodiversity gains: the case of the regent parrot. This project provides crucial knowledge to achieve an Environmentally Sustainable Australia (National Research Priority) and meets a principal aim of the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development-to develop sustainable agriculture while protecting the biological resources on which they depend. We achieve this through a novel approach linking production targets and conservation trade-offs with agricultural landscape design and management. This information will underpin the development of policies to improve the environmental performance of Australian agriculture, ensure farming enterprises maximise benefits obtained from native ecosystems, and guarantee profitable and viable rural industries.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
Ecohydrologic functioning of ephemeral streams. This project aims to increase understanding of how surface-groundwater interactions sustain vegetation associated with ephemeral streams. One of the biggest problems faced by mining and regional development in arid regions is how to protect ecological and heritage values of ephemeral streams by minimising impacts of water abstraction and surplus discharge. The project will use environmental tracers, coupled with assessment of vegetation water use a ....Ecohydrologic functioning of ephemeral streams. This project aims to increase understanding of how surface-groundwater interactions sustain vegetation associated with ephemeral streams. One of the biggest problems faced by mining and regional development in arid regions is how to protect ecological and heritage values of ephemeral streams by minimising impacts of water abstraction and surplus discharge. The project will use environmental tracers, coupled with assessment of vegetation water use and numerical modelling, to assess resilience of ephemeral streams to changes in flows resulting from mining activities and climate-related shifts in recharge. Expected outcomes of the project include providing appropriate context for evaluating and adapting management to conserve scarce water resources. This project should significantly contribute to the sustainable management of both mineral and groundwater resources.Read moreRead less
Applying macroecology to assist in the management of Kakadu National Park. The ecological integrity of Kakadu National Park is threatened by fires, weeds, and feral animals. To help tackle these problems, we will develop a cost-effective, culturally appropriate, park-wide monitoring system based on changes in the boundaries of closed forests, woodland and grassland. We will gauge the effect of broad-scale land management interventions, and predict the consequences of future change. The findings ....Applying macroecology to assist in the management of Kakadu National Park. The ecological integrity of Kakadu National Park is threatened by fires, weeds, and feral animals. To help tackle these problems, we will develop a cost-effective, culturally appropriate, park-wide monitoring system based on changes in the boundaries of closed forests, woodland and grassland. We will gauge the effect of broad-scale land management interventions, and predict the consequences of future change. The findings of this study will be transferable to other landscape settings in Australia and overseas. It will contribute to debates about the ecological consequences of current land management practices and how these compare with past Aboriginal land management.Read moreRead less