Understanding plant uptake of organic and inorganic nitrogen for optimal fertiliser application in forestry. Nitrogen (N) in soils occurs in both organic and inorganic forms. Plants can take up inorganic N - nitrate and ammonium - but, on average, these account for only 5% of the soluble N in soils. Recent evidence suggests that plants may be able to tap into some of the 95% of N that occurs in organic forms. We will investigate the importance of organic N uptake for two plantation Eucalyptus sp ....Understanding plant uptake of organic and inorganic nitrogen for optimal fertiliser application in forestry. Nitrogen (N) in soils occurs in both organic and inorganic forms. Plants can take up inorganic N - nitrate and ammonium - but, on average, these account for only 5% of the soluble N in soils. Recent evidence suggests that plants may be able to tap into some of the 95% of N that occurs in organic forms. We will investigate the importance of organic N uptake for two plantation Eucalyptus species by tracing the uptake of different N forms by bacteria, fungi and eucalypts. This information will redefine what is meant by 'available N' and will guide the development of a new test for soil N status.Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network in Spatially Integrated Social Science. The ARC Research Network in Spatially Integrated Social Science (SISS) builds Australia's capacity and capability for innovative, collaborative, cross-disciplinary effort to investigate the impacts of change on the behaviour and well-being of people and the fortunes of places. SISS theories and research tools permit the integration of diverse and complex databases, the generation of new synthetic datasets, the incorporation of spatial ....ARC Research Network in Spatially Integrated Social Science. The ARC Research Network in Spatially Integrated Social Science (SISS) builds Australia's capacity and capability for innovative, collaborative, cross-disciplinary effort to investigate the impacts of change on the behaviour and well-being of people and the fortunes of places. SISS theories and research tools permit the integration of diverse and complex databases, the generation of new synthetic datasets, the incorporation of spatial concepts into statistical analysis and modelling, powerful visualisation of information, and the building spatial decision support systems, to provide an improved evidence base and better informed decision-making to address the significant challenges facing Australia's people and its places.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
Bio-optical model of Antarctic sea-ice algae photosynthesis. Antarctica contains no permanent human population; however the impact of climate change is being observed. Sea-ice is slowly becoming less thick and covering smaller areas of the Southern Ocean. Algae grow on the underside of this sea-ice which feed krill, which in turn support most of the Antarctic food web. Understanding how changes in sea-ice and snow thickness will change the productivity of Antarctica will have significant implica ....Bio-optical model of Antarctic sea-ice algae photosynthesis. Antarctica contains no permanent human population; however the impact of climate change is being observed. Sea-ice is slowly becoming less thick and covering smaller areas of the Southern Ocean. Algae grow on the underside of this sea-ice which feed krill, which in turn support most of the Antarctic food web. Understanding how changes in sea-ice and snow thickness will change the productivity of Antarctica will have significant implications to our management of this wilderness. Knowledge of how sea-ice algae responds to changes in light can be incorporated in climate change models.Read 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
Geographies of house and contents under-insurance. This project aims to analyse house and contents insurance to advance strategic disaster management. When natural disasters strike, house and contents insurance provides a safety net, but many households are under-insured or not insured at all. Governments and communities tend to bear the costs, but the geographies of inadequate insurance, including any crucial post-disaster effects, are unknown. This research is expected to strategically improve ....Geographies of house and contents under-insurance. This project aims to analyse house and contents insurance to advance strategic disaster management. When natural disasters strike, house and contents insurance provides a safety net, but many households are under-insured or not insured at all. Governments and communities tend to bear the costs, but the geographies of inadequate insurance, including any crucial post-disaster effects, are unknown. This research is expected to strategically improve disaster policy and practice, and reduce the financial and social costs of disasters to governments, communities and householders.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
Antarctic cities and the global commons: Rethinking the gateways. Antarctic cities and the global commons: Rethinking the gateways. This project aims to investigate how the Antarctic gateway cities of Hobart, Christchurch and Punta Arenas might reimagine and intensify their relations to the continent and each other. As pressures on Antarctica increase, five 'gateway cities'—Hobart, Cape Town, Christchurch, Punta Arenas and Ushuaia—will become critical to its future. This research is expected to ....Antarctic cities and the global commons: Rethinking the gateways. Antarctic cities and the global commons: Rethinking the gateways. This project aims to investigate how the Antarctic gateway cities of Hobart, Christchurch and Punta Arenas might reimagine and intensify their relations to the continent and each other. As pressures on Antarctica increase, five 'gateway cities'—Hobart, Cape Town, Christchurch, Punta Arenas and Ushuaia—will become critical to its future. This research is expected to create a robust custodial network of partner organisations that helps these cities care for Antarctica.Read moreRead less
Caring for thoroughbreds: addressing social, economic and welfare issues in international horse racing. Horse racing is an economically valuable industry but visible welfare issues are challenging its future. This study addresses perceptions and the economic worth of these issues internationally. Research findings about values, and alternatives to jump racing and whipping horses, will help change the conduct of horse racing around the world.
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354740
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
CaGaWaLo: regulation of carbon gain and water loss by woody vegetation. Trees and shrubs are widely perceived as central to solving problems of national and international significance. Seed funding is sought to facilitate establishment of a research network focused on their ability to sequester carbon and transmit water to the atmosphere. The proposed network is broadly based in plant physiology and ecology and contains a strong cross-section of leading international expertise in relevant sub- ....CaGaWaLo: regulation of carbon gain and water loss by woody vegetation. Trees and shrubs are widely perceived as central to solving problems of national and international significance. Seed funding is sought to facilitate establishment of a research network focused on their ability to sequester carbon and transmit water to the atmosphere. The proposed network is broadly based in plant physiology and ecology and contains a strong cross-section of leading international expertise in relevant sub-disciplines. By leveraging the huge pool of international expertise and focusing on a range of scales (from molecular to biosphere scales), this network will yield new ideas and approaches that will produce outputs and outcomes of national significance.Read moreRead less