AirLIFT – an airborne active chlorophyll fluorescence sensing system for assessment of photosynthetic activity in plant canopies. Assessment of plant health and productivity is vital to ensure future food security of the global population under a changing climate. Chlorophyll fluorescence (CF), a signal emitted by green plants, can reveal this information. Although CF has revolutionised photosynthetic research, current measurements are limited to individual plants. Remote sensing of canopy CF is ....AirLIFT – an airborne active chlorophyll fluorescence sensing system for assessment of photosynthetic activity in plant canopies. Assessment of plant health and productivity is vital to ensure future food security of the global population under a changing climate. Chlorophyll fluorescence (CF), a signal emitted by green plants, can reveal this information. Although CF has revolutionised photosynthetic research, current measurements are limited to individual plants. Remote sensing of canopy CF is required for efficient management of agricultural crops, forests, and natural ecosystems and is crucial for accurate estimation of plant carbon assimilation and production. This project will deliver remote sensing technology to bridge the gap between leaf and canopy productivity and pave the way for understanding both artificial and solar induced canopy CF measured from space.Read moreRead less
Enabling Molecular Plant Breeding for Drought Adaptation Using Genome-to-Phenome Modelling Technologies. Effective molecular plant breeding for improved water productivity of sorghum would generate significant economic and social benefits for rural communities in NE Australia. There is a significant opportunity to expand the sorghum industry in the region. Despite the global financial crisis, global demand for meat continues to increase, generating strong demand from intensive livestock industri ....Enabling Molecular Plant Breeding for Drought Adaptation Using Genome-to-Phenome Modelling Technologies. Effective molecular plant breeding for improved water productivity of sorghum would generate significant economic and social benefits for rural communities in NE Australia. There is a significant opportunity to expand the sorghum industry in the region. Despite the global financial crisis, global demand for meat continues to increase, generating strong demand from intensive livestock industries for feed grain. Price is projected to return to high levels given continuing use of major feed grains for biofuel. A 10% increase in sorghum production would add net value of $48M annually, much via employment. The scientific content of this project positions Australia at the leading edge globally in this emerging research field. Read moreRead less
Phenotypic plasticity and plant water use in a changing climate: a multi-species, multi-site investigation. Plants are highly responsive to the conditions under which they grow, but the combination of conditions they experience will be altered under climate change. This research into plant responses to the novel environments posed by climate change will examine plasticity in water-use-traits to better predict native plant tolerance of climate change.
Interactive effects of salinity and nutrients: linking physiological processes with patterns in mangrove forest productivity. The proposed research will provide insight into physiological mechanisms that underpin mangrove productivity along salinity and aridity gradients, and determine how these factors affect plant responses to nutrient enrichment. Plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance will be identified, thereby assisting development of plant varieties suited to Australian cond ....Interactive effects of salinity and nutrients: linking physiological processes with patterns in mangrove forest productivity. The proposed research will provide insight into physiological mechanisms that underpin mangrove productivity along salinity and aridity gradients, and determine how these factors affect plant responses to nutrient enrichment. Plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance will be identified, thereby assisting development of plant varieties suited to Australian conditions. The results will also contribute to development of process-based models to better manage mangrove resources with climate change and increasing nutrient influx from urban or agricultural activities. Such models are essential for managing mangrove productivity for sustainable fisheries, and protecting the ecological well being of the coastal zone.Read moreRead less
Salinity tolerance along an aridity gradient: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function in mangroves. The proposed research will provide insight into the physiological and morphological features that control the productivity of mangrove forests across broad gradients in salinity and aridity. Central to this is this identification of plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance, which will assist in the development of plant varieties suited to Austra ....Salinity tolerance along an aridity gradient: linking physiological processes with morphological constraints on leaf function in mangroves. The proposed research will provide insight into the physiological and morphological features that control the productivity of mangrove forests across broad gradients in salinity and aridity. Central to this is this identification of plant traits that increase salt and drought tolerance, which will assist in the development of plant varieties suited to Australian conditions. The results will also contribute to development of process-based models to better predict the response of mangrove vegetation to changing climate. A deep understanding of the processes that influence the growth and survival of mangroves is of fundamental importance to sustainable fisheries and protection of wildlife reliant on coastal ecosystems. Read moreRead less
New functions for bioactive flavonoids in plants and mammals. We have discovered natural products with biological activity in plants and mammals. These molecules affect plant shape and development and the process of mammalian blood vessel formation. We seek to understand how these molecules work. More understanding is required before one can begin to utilise these molecules for possible beneficial agriculture or human health outcomes. Plant shape influences such things as yield or more drought-r ....New functions for bioactive flavonoids in plants and mammals. We have discovered natural products with biological activity in plants and mammals. These molecules affect plant shape and development and the process of mammalian blood vessel formation. We seek to understand how these molecules work. More understanding is required before one can begin to utilise these molecules for possible beneficial agriculture or human health outcomes. Plant shape influences such things as yield or more drought-resilient root systems. Importantly, we have discovered specific molecules that either promote or inhibit blood vessel formation. A better understanding of how these molecules work could lead to novel treatments for cancer or cardiovascular disease.Read moreRead less
What is the function of gamma-aminobutyric acid-gated anion channels in plants? The project will identify the molecular basis of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) signalling in plants. This is significant because GABA regulates proteins that release molecules involved in root-soil interactions, growth, and fertilisation. The project's discoveries will allow improvement of these agronomic traits that ultimately determine crop yield.
Global change in the sub-antarctic - Temperature response of vascular plant species from Macquarie and Heard Islands. The aim is to understand how subantarctic and alpine plant species that have evolved, respectively, in equable and highly variable temperature regimes will respond to increase in temperature resulting from global warming and climate change. The proposed project will identify species that are likely to benefit from, or are vulnerable to, rising temperatures. Processes underlying a ....Global change in the sub-antarctic - Temperature response of vascular plant species from Macquarie and Heard Islands. The aim is to understand how subantarctic and alpine plant species that have evolved, respectively, in equable and highly variable temperature regimes will respond to increase in temperature resulting from global warming and climate change. The proposed project will identify species that are likely to benefit from, or are vulnerable to, rising temperatures. Processes underlying adaptation and acclimation of plant growth to increasing temperature will also be identified. These results will be significant for conservation of biodiversity and management of Australia's unique subantarctic and alpine flora.Read moreRead less
Elucidating the interactions between drought tolerance and photoprotection in plants. The 2002-03 drought cost Australia in the order of $10Billion and 70,000 jobs. Associated with reduced rainfall is increased sunlight irradiance, which exacerbates the reduction in crop yield due to the combined damage of a water deficit and oxidative damage caused by the excess light. Plants have networks of responses to minimise damage due to drought and excess light. We have identified a novel class of genes ....Elucidating the interactions between drought tolerance and photoprotection in plants. The 2002-03 drought cost Australia in the order of $10Billion and 70,000 jobs. Associated with reduced rainfall is increased sunlight irradiance, which exacerbates the reduction in crop yield due to the combined damage of a water deficit and oxidative damage caused by the excess light. Plants have networks of responses to minimise damage due to drought and excess light. We have identified a novel class of genes that optimise or alter different aspects of these networks and we wish to define the nature of that optimisation to determine how it could be transfered to crop plants.Read moreRead less
Australia's Distinctive Succulent Flora. The project plans to investigate why Australia, the driest vegetated continent, has no landscape dominated by large succulents but nevertheless supports a distinctive, diverse and widespread succulent flora. Focusing on terrestrial succulents and epiphytic orchids, the project plans to explore the evolution, assembly and biodiversity of Australia’s succulent flora, evaluating the roles of genetic composition, photosynthetic physiology, aridity, fire, soil ....Australia's Distinctive Succulent Flora. The project plans to investigate why Australia, the driest vegetated continent, has no landscape dominated by large succulents but nevertheless supports a distinctive, diverse and widespread succulent flora. Focusing on terrestrial succulents and epiphytic orchids, the project plans to explore the evolution, assembly and biodiversity of Australia’s succulent flora, evaluating the roles of genetic composition, photosynthetic physiology, aridity, fire, soil nutrients and salinity in its historical expansion, and assessing the resilience of the assemblages to changing climate. Of particular interest will be how the most water-use efficient type of photosynthesis, crassulacean acid metabolism, is expressed across the succulent landscape.Read moreRead less