New approaches to understanding the forces driving convergent evolution. This project aims to address the evolutionary biology question of what drives convergent evolution of morphological phenotypes. Leveraging previous research on the phylogenetics of Australian reptiles and amphibians, the project will apply new methodological and analytical tools for quantifying and evaluating morphological diversity in a phylogenetic context. The project expects to test the influence of climate, habitat and ....New approaches to understanding the forces driving convergent evolution. This project aims to address the evolutionary biology question of what drives convergent evolution of morphological phenotypes. Leveraging previous research on the phylogenetics of Australian reptiles and amphibians, the project will apply new methodological and analytical tools for quantifying and evaluating morphological diversity in a phylogenetic context. The project expects to test the influence of climate, habitat and evolutionary history on driving convergent morphological evolution across multiple independent animal groups. The project will address fundamental theories on convergent evolution and will improve public awareness of Australia’s unique animals and their history.Read moreRead less
Phenotypic diversity dynamics at a continental scale. This project aims to build on previous research on the phylogenetics of Australian vertebrate animals to apply sophisticated new methodological and analytical tools for modelling species diversification. Australia is famous for the great diversity and uniqueness of its plants and animals, due in part to 40 million years of relative isolation. The project plans to test the influence of historical climate and habitat shifts on morphological evo ....Phenotypic diversity dynamics at a continental scale. This project aims to build on previous research on the phylogenetics of Australian vertebrate animals to apply sophisticated new methodological and analytical tools for modelling species diversification. Australia is famous for the great diversity and uniqueness of its plants and animals, due in part to 40 million years of relative isolation. The project plans to test the influence of historical climate and habitat shifts on morphological evolution and assembly of the Australian biota. This project could showcase Australia as the best place in the World to rigorously test hypotheses concerning rates of biological diversification at a continental scale.Read moreRead less
Biological diversification across Australia in space and time. This project aims to address fundamental questions about the diversification of Australian species and to have practical and impactful outcomes. It will leverage previous ARC funded research on the phylogenomics of Australian reptiles and amphibians and apply sophisticated analytical tools for quantifying and evaluating biological diversity in multiple dimensions and in a phylogenetic context. The expected outcomes include a publicly ....Biological diversification across Australia in space and time. This project aims to address fundamental questions about the diversification of Australian species and to have practical and impactful outcomes. It will leverage previous ARC funded research on the phylogenomics of Australian reptiles and amphibians and apply sophisticated analytical tools for quantifying and evaluating biological diversity in multiple dimensions and in a phylogenetic context. The expected outcomes include a publicly accessible comprehensive database that will be integrated with the Atlas of Living Australia and rigorous testing of a series of hypotheses concerning how old and recent Australian groups evolved in response to biotic invasions and climate change. Read moreRead less
Developing Assisted Reproductive Technologies for the Conservation of Critically Endangered Australian Amphibians. Unprecedented rates of species extinction are of global concern. Although high extinction rates are reported for all vertebrate classes, amphibians are the most severely affected. Captive-breeding programs play a key role in maintaining populations of endangered amphibian species, but in most cases reproductive rates are too low to support long term re-introduction programmes. This ....Developing Assisted Reproductive Technologies for the Conservation of Critically Endangered Australian Amphibians. Unprecedented rates of species extinction are of global concern. Although high extinction rates are reported for all vertebrate classes, amphibians are the most severely affected. Captive-breeding programs play a key role in maintaining populations of endangered amphibian species, but in most cases reproductive rates are too low to support long term re-introduction programmes. This study aims to develop sophisticated Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) to enhance the propagation and genetic management of endangered Australian frog species. ART is a powerful new approach to ex situ conservation that, if integrated into existing captive breeding programs, will ensure the preservation of Australia’s unique amphibian biodiversity.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
Development Of A National Environmental Management And Accreditation System For Business/public Recreational Fishing Competitions
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$115,564.00
Summary
Development of an environmental accreditation system for recreational fishing competitions is needed to promote the sustainability of recreational fishing and proactively address a number of issues which are beginning to be directed towards the industry. Catch and release fishing has become a cornerstone of sustainable recreational fisheries management in Australia, as evidenced by the support for national initiatives such as the FRDC National Strategy for the Survival of Released Line Caught Fi ....Development of an environmental accreditation system for recreational fishing competitions is needed to promote the sustainability of recreational fishing and proactively address a number of issues which are beginning to be directed towards the industry. Catch and release fishing has become a cornerstone of sustainable recreational fisheries management in Australia, as evidenced by the support for national initiatives such as the FRDC National Strategy for the Survival of Released Line Caught Fish. In today's world, recreational fishing is under increasing pressure to promote sustainable and ethical fishing practices, and fishing competitions, by virtue of their high profile, must be used to promote such practices wherever possible, including releasing fish techniques.
The FRDC’s 2005-2010 R&D plan lists minimising animal welfare issues as a key strategic challenge for all industries. The proposed accreditation system will address this strategic challenge and reinforce outcomes from the National Strategy for the Survival of Released Line Caught Fish and the National Code of Practice for Recreational and Sportfishing. It is a proactive step towards combating threats to recreational fishing from animal welfare activists (who we predict are most likely to target fishing competitions first). Furthermore, increasing public liability insurance premiums are threatening the existence of smaller events and indirectly encouraging tournament organisers to increase the size of their competitions to help cover insurance costs. Development of an accreditation system opens up the opportunity to negotiate insurance discounts and other benefits for competitions which take part in the system, helping limit trends towards larger and larger competitions. Hence the overall driving force behind this initiative is the need for industry to take a proactive approach to confronting these issues before they threaten the viability of fishing competitions, and potentially, some aspects of recreational fishing in this country as a whole. Objectives: 1. Develop a National Fishing Competition Accreditation system that is supported by competition organisers and sponsors, fishing industry groups, government fisheries agencies and other relevant entities. 2. Develop an ISO 14001 environmental standard for fishing competitions. 3. Negotiate with insurance companies over insurance for accredited competitions. 4. Trial the accreditation system in at least one high profile fishing competition in each State and trial the ISO standard in at least 1 high ranking competition. 5. Obtain endorsement of the accreditation system from key environmental groups. Read moreRead less
Visual Development In The WA Dhufish (Glaucosoma Hebraicum)
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$10,026.00
Summary
This project will greatly assist the Fremantle Maritime Centre to establish the light regimes required for the WA dhufish larvae and will provide greatly needed support for the larval rearing portion of the project. The information provided should enable the FMC to avoid long term trial and error light regime experimentation and increase larval survival. The information obtained will also be of benefit to Murdoch University (FRDC Project 96/103 - Determination of biological parameters required ....This project will greatly assist the Fremantle Maritime Centre to establish the light regimes required for the WA dhufish larvae and will provide greatly needed support for the larval rearing portion of the project. The information provided should enable the FMC to avoid long term trial and error light regime experimentation and increase larval survival. The information obtained will also be of benefit to Murdoch University (FRDC Project 96/103 - Determination of biological parameters required for managing the fishery for Western Austration dhufish) to assist in identifying (currently unknown) areas which may act as nursery grounds for the WA dhufish larvae. Objectives: 1. To establish the timing and sequence of development of photoreceptors inthe retina of the dhufish. 2. Relate photoreceptor changes to possible lifestyle requirements during the larval period of the WA dhufish to provide advice on a suitable light environment to the Fremantle Maritime Centre's WA dhufish culture program. Read moreRead less
What limits CO2 diffusion inside leaves? Dissecting the diffusion path with Arabidopsis mutants. Human induced increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is now generally accepted as contributing to global warming. Forecasting our future impact relies on models of terrestrial photosynthesis which use a signature in the atmosphere created by plants when they discriminate against the heavy stable isotope of carbon during photosynthesis. Discrimination between isotopes is affected by carbon dioxide dif ....What limits CO2 diffusion inside leaves? Dissecting the diffusion path with Arabidopsis mutants. Human induced increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is now generally accepted as contributing to global warming. Forecasting our future impact relies on models of terrestrial photosynthesis which use a signature in the atmosphere created by plants when they discriminate against the heavy stable isotope of carbon during photosynthesis. Discrimination between isotopes is affected by carbon dioxide diffusion within leaves and key steps in this process will be identified through the use of Arabidopsis mutants. Better representation of this process in models will improve estimates of terrestrial photosynthesis and climate change forecastsRead moreRead less