Australian plague locust population genetics and migratory behaviour. The project will allow improved monitoring and forecasting of locusts in Australia and thereby help prevent locust outbreaks. Benefits will arise directly through greater effectiveness in reducing locust damage to crops, and indirectly to Australian rural industry generally through the economic benefits of reduced losses and locust control costs. Environmental and social benefits will also arise from reduced, better targeted u ....Australian plague locust population genetics and migratory behaviour. The project will allow improved monitoring and forecasting of locusts in Australia and thereby help prevent locust outbreaks. Benefits will arise directly through greater effectiveness in reducing locust damage to crops, and indirectly to Australian rural industry generally through the economic benefits of reduced losses and locust control costs. Environmental and social benefits will also arise from reduced, better targeted use of chemical insecticides. This in turn can produce secondary economic benefits, e.g. through enhanced growth and profitability of the organic beef industry within the main locust-outbreak area. Read moreRead less
Developing a novel carbon negative fertiliser . Food security is vital to support our growing population. However, our increasing reliance on intensive farming systems necessitates increased fertiliser use, leading to increased water pollution and soil degradation - threatening both the Australian environment and food security. Increasing carbon storage capacity by soil and decreasing fertiliser use are two of the primary pathways for restoring the bio-support capacity of soils and reducing farm ....Developing a novel carbon negative fertiliser . Food security is vital to support our growing population. However, our increasing reliance on intensive farming systems necessitates increased fertiliser use, leading to increased water pollution and soil degradation - threatening both the Australian environment and food security. Increasing carbon storage capacity by soil and decreasing fertiliser use are two of the primary pathways for restoring the bio-support capacity of soils and reducing farming footprints. This innovative and first-of-its-kind project aims to develop a cost-effective, carbon negative fertiliser that reduces fertiliser inputs and increases soil carbon storageRead moreRead less
Reducing environmental footprint by improving phosphorous use efficiency. While modern agriculture relies heavily on the use of phosphorous fertilizers, most of them are not used by plants and lost in runoff, resulting in a massive environmental damage through contamination of waterways (termed eutrophication). This project takes advantage of an untapped resource - a unique collection of Tibetan wild barley genotypes, to reveal key traits that confer superior phosphorus use efficiency in wild ba ....Reducing environmental footprint by improving phosphorous use efficiency. While modern agriculture relies heavily on the use of phosphorous fertilizers, most of them are not used by plants and lost in runoff, resulting in a massive environmental damage through contamination of waterways (termed eutrophication). This project takes advantage of an untapped resource - a unique collection of Tibetan wild barley genotypes, to reveal key traits that confer superior phosphorus use efficiency in wild barley and identify appropriate candidate genes and their position on chromosomes for further incorporating these traits into commercial barley cultivars. This will reduce the environmental footprint of modern agricultural practices on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems without compromising food security.Read moreRead less
The Integrated Bio-economy Project and the Controlled Biosphere. This project aims to develop advanced controlled environment production systems (Controlled Biosphere) that exceed the industry standard for profitability, sustainability and climatic resilience. It will generate new knowledge and innovations in technology integration through a highly multi-disciplinary approach. The project outcomes will yield Techno-Economic and Life-Cycle Analyses, designs of the Controlled Biosphere and support ....The Integrated Bio-economy Project and the Controlled Biosphere. This project aims to develop advanced controlled environment production systems (Controlled Biosphere) that exceed the industry standard for profitability, sustainability and climatic resilience. It will generate new knowledge and innovations in technology integration through a highly multi-disciplinary approach. The project outcomes will yield Techno-Economic and Life-Cycle Analyses, designs of the Controlled Biosphere and supporting policy frameworks. The benefits of this project address worsening resource constraints (e.g. available fresh water, arable land, nutrients); By 2050 we will require 70% more food, and 80% greenhouse gas emissions reductions, to maintain economic, social, political and climate security.Read moreRead less
Mid-rotation diagnosis and management options for correction of water and nutrient deficiencies in plantation-grown eucalypts. This research will improve productivity of bluegum plantations by improving current diagnostic techniques (foliage and soil analysis) for nutrient disorders and the supply of water. Using a novel phloem sampling and analysis technique, we will develop a nutrient (e.g. N, P) and water diagnosis procedure that is quick, cheap, robust and reliable for field use. A major in ....Mid-rotation diagnosis and management options for correction of water and nutrient deficiencies in plantation-grown eucalypts. This research will improve productivity of bluegum plantations by improving current diagnostic techniques (foliage and soil analysis) for nutrient disorders and the supply of water. Using a novel phloem sampling and analysis technique, we will develop a nutrient (e.g. N, P) and water diagnosis procedure that is quick, cheap, robust and reliable for field use. A major innovation will be distinguishing the effects of shortages of water on growth from those of other growth influences. Overall, this project will provide a highly significant theoretical, conceptual and practical advance in mid-rotation, diagnostics for plantations with considerable commercial promise.Read moreRead less
Identification and isolation of new pharmaceutical opiate analogues: today's problems tomorrow's solutions. This project will identify and characterise the impurity profiles across opiate alkaloid production, which will enhance the development of manufacturing processes through the reduction of problem impurities and provide potential new drug substances from the isolation of other opiate derived concomitant species.
Novel, Cost-Effective Methods for Measuring Methane Emissions from Grazing Livestock. Agriculture is second only to energy generation as a source of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia. Methane from cattle and sheep constitute 60% of these agricultural emissions. Their abatement is a win-win goal for the agricultural industry, reducing greenhouse emissions while increasing food efficiency. This project will develop a novel, cost- and-labour efficient method for on-farm measurements of the emis ....Novel, Cost-Effective Methods for Measuring Methane Emissions from Grazing Livestock. Agriculture is second only to energy generation as a source of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia. Methane from cattle and sheep constitute 60% of these agricultural emissions. Their abatement is a win-win goal for the agricultural industry, reducing greenhouse emissions while increasing food efficiency. This project will develop a novel, cost- and-labour efficient method for on-farm measurements of the emissions of methane from free-grazing cattle and sheep in their undisturbed environment. The method will be used to assess the dependence of methane emissions on factors such as diet and the efficacy of proposed methods for abatement of methane emissions, as well as providing improved data to the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.Read moreRead less
Building resilient alpine environments with less snow. In this project, we aim to build resilience into alpine National Parks and Alpine Resorts to counter the effects of ongoing declines in snow. Alpine environments depend on snow to regulate water flows, insulate vegetation, control soil erosion and promote proper ecosystem functioning. How these processes will operate in a snow-free future is unknown. We will determine how and where snow characteristics drive soil water availability for plant ....Building resilient alpine environments with less snow. In this project, we aim to build resilience into alpine National Parks and Alpine Resorts to counter the effects of ongoing declines in snow. Alpine environments depend on snow to regulate water flows, insulate vegetation, control soil erosion and promote proper ecosystem functioning. How these processes will operate in a snow-free future is unknown. We will determine how and where snow characteristics drive soil water availability for plants and which plant species have the best adaptation and regeneration potential under extreme conditions such as heat, frost and drought. Benefits of the project include innovative land management and rehabilitation solutions, to safeguard Australia's alpine areas under changing environmental conditions.Read moreRead less
Advanced cryobanking for recalcitrant-seeded Australian rainforest plants. This project aims to develop an interdisciplinary research alliance to enhance the efficiency of ecological restoration for recalcitrant Australian rainforest plant species. The project expects to provide fundamental knowledge to target two major impediments to cryostorage of recalcitrant-seeded native species: desiccation sensitivity with relatively large size, and active metabolism and precocious germination. These attr ....Advanced cryobanking for recalcitrant-seeded Australian rainforest plants. This project aims to develop an interdisciplinary research alliance to enhance the efficiency of ecological restoration for recalcitrant Australian rainforest plant species. The project expects to provide fundamental knowledge to target two major impediments to cryostorage of recalcitrant-seeded native species: desiccation sensitivity with relatively large size, and active metabolism and precocious germination. These attributes severely limit the time available for effective use of collected germplasm for long-term storage. A combination of biochemical, biophysical and molecular simulation approaches will be used to optimise cryopreservation of a wide range of endangered Australian rainforest species. This should provide significant benefits such as enabling conservation agencies to greatly enhance their ability to preserve the unique Australian rainforest flora, particularly given current threats due to habitat loss and global warming.Read moreRead less
Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling gr ....Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling growth and survival. The expected outcome is to provide practical advice to restoration practitioners about the importance of matching the provenance of seed source to planting sites, and opportunities for selecting provenances pre-adapted to predicted future climatic conditions at planting sites.Read moreRead less