Limits to the resilience of Australian forests and woodlands to drought. Water availability is a primary determinant of plant growth and the distribution of plant species and communities throughout the world. In Australia, climate change is predicted to result in increasing temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns, leading to more intense droughts in some areas. This project will examine the resilience of Australian forests and woodlands to drought under both current and future climate s ....Limits to the resilience of Australian forests and woodlands to drought. Water availability is a primary determinant of plant growth and the distribution of plant species and communities throughout the world. In Australia, climate change is predicted to result in increasing temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns, leading to more intense droughts in some areas. This project will examine the resilience of Australian forests and woodlands to drought under both current and future climate scenarios. The results of this work will feed into the new generation of dynamic global vegetation models, allowing for robust prediction of changes in the structure and productivity of Australian vegetation communities in the face of rapid climate change.Read moreRead less
Woodland response to elevated CO2 in free air carbon dioxide enrichment: does phosphorus limit the sink for Carbon? This project will determine if growth of Australian woodland trees is limited by phosphorus, and if that limitation means the woodland carbon sink is constrained from responding to rising atmospheric CO2. Assessing the CO2 sink capacity of native eucalypt woodland is central to meeting Australia's domestic and international carbon accounting commitments.
Understanding the survival of forests under drought . Droughts are predicted to become more extreme in the near future, with potentially devastating impacts on Australian forest ecosystems. This project aims to address key knowledge gaps in our understanding of how plants tolerate extreme drought stress and utilise this new knowledge to improve vegetation models suitable for assessing ecosystem vulnerability. We will use innovative experimental methodology to determine the processes by which wat ....Understanding the survival of forests under drought . Droughts are predicted to become more extreme in the near future, with potentially devastating impacts on Australian forest ecosystems. This project aims to address key knowledge gaps in our understanding of how plants tolerate extreme drought stress and utilise this new knowledge to improve vegetation models suitable for assessing ecosystem vulnerability. We will use innovative experimental methodology to determine the processes by which water transport breaks down in roots, stems and leaves and the mechanisms governing recovery from severe drought stress. The project will provide a deeper understanding of drought tolerance in trees, improved forecasting of risks to native vegetation, and enhanced management of native forest resources. Read moreRead less
The failure-threshold of leaves in drought. This project aims to reveal how specific water-stress thresholds damage the leaves of Australian crop and forest species during drought. Water stress affects agricultural productivity and plant survival in drought-prone regions such as Australia. Using optical and X-ray techniques, this project seeks to visualise and quantify the dynamic processes of damage and repair in leaves under stress. Anticipated outputs include a practical basis to predict drou ....The failure-threshold of leaves in drought. This project aims to reveal how specific water-stress thresholds damage the leaves of Australian crop and forest species during drought. Water stress affects agricultural productivity and plant survival in drought-prone regions such as Australia. Using optical and X-ray techniques, this project seeks to visualise and quantify the dynamic processes of damage and repair in leaves under stress. Anticipated outputs include a practical basis to predict drought-induced canopy death; identification of threats to ecologically sensitive plants; and selection and screening tools to improve the drought resilience of agriculturally important crop species.Read moreRead less
The metabolic footprint of plants. Plant roots "leak" 5-10% of the C fixed in photosynthesis. Surprisingly, we have a limited understanding of which compounds leak from roots.This project will identify the compounds leaking from roots and explore their function in tolerance of biotic and abiotic stress and implications for soil respiration.
Avoiding coral bleaching: investigation into the repair of damaged photosynthetic machinery in symbiotic algae (symbiodinium) within corals. Photosynthesis in symbiotic algae within corals is essential for a healthy alga-coral symbiotic relationship. This project will provide new insights into how symbiotic algae maintain higher photosynthetic performance in corals through elucidating the mechanism associated with the repair of photodamaged photosynthetic machinery.
Pushing the envelope: does range size limit eucalypt tolerance to warming? This project aims to characterise the biogeographic constraints on the physiological flexibility of eucalypts to accommodate climate warming. Do temperature tolerances of diverse taxa vary predictably with native geographic range sizes and climate of origin? In addressing this question, the project expects to generate new knowledge on the comparative physiological responses of diverse eucalypt taxa to warming and heat wav ....Pushing the envelope: does range size limit eucalypt tolerance to warming? This project aims to characterise the biogeographic constraints on the physiological flexibility of eucalypts to accommodate climate warming. Do temperature tolerances of diverse taxa vary predictably with native geographic range sizes and climate of origin? In addressing this question, the project expects to generate new knowledge on the comparative physiological responses of diverse eucalypt taxa to warming and heat waves using controlled-environment studies and a unique facility at Western Sydney University for heat wave studies of large trees. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capacity to predict carbon exchange and growth responses of native trees to climate warming over large geographic scales.Read moreRead less
Epigenetic effects of environmental thyroid disruption. Anthropogenic impacts increasingly disrupt hormone-mediated responses to environmental change. The project aims to determine the interactive effects of climate warming, light-at-night, and plastic pollution on thyroid hormone signalling, and test whether these effects are passed between generations epigenetically. Epigenetic effects of endocrine disruption are one of the most important emerging conservation threats. Mathematical modelling o ....Epigenetic effects of environmental thyroid disruption. Anthropogenic impacts increasingly disrupt hormone-mediated responses to environmental change. The project aims to determine the interactive effects of climate warming, light-at-night, and plastic pollution on thyroid hormone signalling, and test whether these effects are passed between generations epigenetically. Epigenetic effects of endocrine disruption are one of the most important emerging conservation threats. Mathematical modelling of experimental data will help to predict how animals respond to anthropogenic impacts, and to acquire the tools necessary to maintain ecosystem function and services. The project will therefore have environmental benefits, as well as social benefits stemming from international collaborations and training.Read moreRead less
The role of epigenetics in conferring resilience to environmental change. This project aims to determine whether epigenetic mechanisms confer resilience to environmental change in natural populations. Understanding epigenetic mechanisms is significant because they can mediate compensatory responses by animals to rapid environmental change. This project intends to link molecular changes to ecological outcomes to determine rapid remodeling of phenotypes to maintain fitness in variable environments ....The role of epigenetics in conferring resilience to environmental change. This project aims to determine whether epigenetic mechanisms confer resilience to environmental change in natural populations. Understanding epigenetic mechanisms is significant because they can mediate compensatory responses by animals to rapid environmental change. This project intends to link molecular changes to ecological outcomes to determine rapid remodeling of phenotypes to maintain fitness in variable environments. The project would benefit Australia’s research capacity and training, and the efficacy of conserving our natural environment.Read moreRead less
Finding damage thresholds in pyrethrum to optimise crop profitability. This project aims to use a new vascular approach to develop a quantitative stress tolerance framework for the crop species pyrethrum, defining the risks to plant production of water, heat and frost stress. Using novel optical and x-ray technology, this project seeks to pinpoint damaging stress thresholds and combine this knowledge with crop monitoring technology in a way that will allow crop managers to avoid damaging stress ....Finding damage thresholds in pyrethrum to optimise crop profitability. This project aims to use a new vascular approach to develop a quantitative stress tolerance framework for the crop species pyrethrum, defining the risks to plant production of water, heat and frost stress. Using novel optical and x-ray technology, this project seeks to pinpoint damaging stress thresholds and combine this knowledge with crop monitoring technology in a way that will allow crop managers to avoid damaging stress events. The intended outcome is to enable the pyrethrum industry, and ultimately a diversity of crop managers, to better utilise new advances in monitoring technology to maximise the benefits of irrigation such that yields are high relative to water use and damage by stress is avoided. Immediate beneficiaries will be the pyrethrum industry, but the research will provide a model, applicable to the multitude of irrigated crops in Australia. Read moreRead less