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
Testing climatic, physiological and hydrological assumptions underpinning water yield from montane forests. Water collected in dams and reservoirs remains the mainstay water resource for Australian cities, towns and industry. Overwhelmingly, that water is collected from forested catchments where the water balance of forest stands is dominated by the amount of water used by trees. Characterising tree water use, its response to changing climatic and nocturnal conditions, and other aspects of sta ....Testing climatic, physiological and hydrological assumptions underpinning water yield from montane forests. Water collected in dams and reservoirs remains the mainstay water resource for Australian cities, towns and industry. Overwhelmingly, that water is collected from forested catchments where the water balance of forest stands is dominated by the amount of water used by trees. Characterising tree water use, its response to changing climatic and nocturnal conditions, and other aspects of stand hydrology, are crucial to our ability to predict and model future water yields. Working in the Cotter catchment near Canberra and the upper Kiewa catchment in north-east Victoria, we aim to help the agencies responsible for water and catchment management to improve the security of their forecasts of water yield and their on-ground management. Read moreRead less
Understanding the koala microbiome: unlocking the secrets of koala health and dietary specialisation, and successful husbandry and translocation. This project aims to discover how the composition and function of koala gastrointestinal microbial communities differ in space and time in response to the varying nutritional quality and chemical composition of koala diets. Using detailed chemical analysis, cutting edge metagenomic and bioinformatic pipelines and powerful approaches to study enzyme fun ....Understanding the koala microbiome: unlocking the secrets of koala health and dietary specialisation, and successful husbandry and translocation. This project aims to discover how the composition and function of koala gastrointestinal microbial communities differ in space and time in response to the varying nutritional quality and chemical composition of koala diets. Using detailed chemical analysis, cutting edge metagenomic and bioinformatic pipelines and powerful approaches to study enzyme functions in the koala’s gut, the investigators aims to reveal the role of microbes in detoxification of plant toxins and degradation of recalcitrant fibre fractions. The outcomes aim to facilitate the use of faecal transplants to improve digestive function for translocated and rehabilitated koalas, enhancing options for koala management and conservation.Read moreRead less
Cover crops that decrease phosphorus (P) transport from agricultural soils by increasing the efficiency of P fertiliser application. The aim of this project is to develop cover crop practices for the heavily fertilised potato cropping soils of the Robertson district that will minimise erosion and runoff of water potentially rich in phosphorus (P), thereby resulting in significant improvements in the environmental management of this sensitive catchment area. The cover crops will: (i) improve infi ....Cover crops that decrease phosphorus (P) transport from agricultural soils by increasing the efficiency of P fertiliser application. The aim of this project is to develop cover crop practices for the heavily fertilised potato cropping soils of the Robertson district that will minimise erosion and runoff of water potentially rich in phosphorus (P), thereby resulting in significant improvements in the environmental management of this sensitive catchment area. The cover crops will: (i) improve infiltration, decrease erosion, and off-site transport of P; (ii)increase access to accumulated soil P, making it available to a subsequent potato crop, thus decreasing the P loading of the soil; and (iii) have a biofumigation effect that will reduce the use of soil fumigants.
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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
Seagrass tolerance of oil spills - scaling of pollution impacts. Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services (such as sediment stabilisation and habitat provision) in Australian coastal waters. The contribution of pollutants to current seagrass decline is poorly understood. The Australian shipping industry is the 5th largest in the world but there is very little data on the impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons on intertidal seagrasses and hence no information for coastal resource managers to use in ....Seagrass tolerance of oil spills - scaling of pollution impacts. Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services (such as sediment stabilisation and habitat provision) in Australian coastal waters. The contribution of pollutants to current seagrass decline is poorly understood. The Australian shipping industry is the 5th largest in the world but there is very little data on the impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons on intertidal seagrasses and hence no information for coastal resource managers to use in decision-making in the event of an oil spill. This project will assess the relative toxicities of a number of petroleum hydrocarbons on Australian seagrass species to provide necessary data for the development of effective management practice.Read moreRead less
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
Development of environmentally-friendly bioinsecticides for control of Australian crop pests. Insect pests cause over $3 billion of damage each year to Australian crops. Current insecticides are becoming less effective, and they often have adverse environmental impacts. This project aims to develop a new generation of environmentally-friendly insecticides that can be used to control insect pests on farms and around the home and garden.
Optimising plant populations for ecological restoration and resilience. When choosing individual plants for restoration populations, there is potentially a trade-off between maximising genetic diversity (‘adaptability’) and selection for desirable properties (‘adaptation’). This project aims to develop pioneering methods to quantify this trade-off, and facilitate the design of optimised populations, with a focus on two Australian rainforest trees that are being impacted by myrtle rust infection: ....Optimising plant populations for ecological restoration and resilience. When choosing individual plants for restoration populations, there is potentially a trade-off between maximising genetic diversity (‘adaptability’) and selection for desirable properties (‘adaptation’). This project aims to develop pioneering methods to quantify this trade-off, and facilitate the design of optimised populations, with a focus on two Australian rainforest trees that are being impacted by myrtle rust infection: Rhodamnia argentea and Rhodamnia rubescens. By studying the genetic variation in each species, and how this relates to myrtle rust resistance and climate, this project aims to design populations that are genetically diverse, maximally resistant to myrtle rust, and adapted to future climate.Read moreRead less