Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL190100062
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,130,000.00
Summary
A new functional approach to coral reefs. This project aims to identify the key ecosystem functions that are needed to sustain coral reefs and determine their susceptibility to disturbance. Around the world coral reefs are changing fast, challenging traditional scientific, management, and governance approaches. This project plans to address this challenge by implementing a new, functional, approach exploiting a unique combination of evolutionary and ecological methodologies. Expected outcomes in ....A new functional approach to coral reefs. This project aims to identify the key ecosystem functions that are needed to sustain coral reefs and determine their susceptibility to disturbance. Around the world coral reefs are changing fast, challenging traditional scientific, management, and governance approaches. This project plans to address this challenge by implementing a new, functional, approach exploiting a unique combination of evolutionary and ecological methodologies. Expected outcomes include a global overview of ecosystem function and an in-depth understanding of how ecosystems change over time. This is likely to result in specific, and practical, management objectives by identifying crucial ecosystem functions that support reefs and the people who rely on them. Read moreRead less
Ecosystem risk assessment. This project aims to develop a type-based framework for the world's ecosystems, and undertake the first broad-scale global risk assessment for ecosystems. It will include detailed Australian risk assessments and scenario analyses to develop sustainable management of ecosystem services and climate adaptation strategies. The outcomes include a global-scale framework for classifying terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, the first global Red List of Ecosystems and ....Ecosystem risk assessment. This project aims to develop a type-based framework for the world's ecosystems, and undertake the first broad-scale global risk assessment for ecosystems. It will include detailed Australian risk assessments and scenario analyses to develop sustainable management of ecosystem services and climate adaptation strategies. The outcomes include a global-scale framework for classifying terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, the first global Red List of Ecosystems and identified priorities for protecting remaining wild ecosystems and restoring those that have suffered degradation. This will help meet UN Sustainable Development Goals to improve human well-being globally.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100683
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$418,735.00
Summary
Catastrophic shifts: the value of knowing more about ecosystem feedbacks. Ecosystems respond to gradual change in unexpected ways. Feedback processes between different parts of an environment can perpetuate ecosystem collapse, leading to potentially irreversible biodiversity loss. However, it is unclear if greater knowledge of feedbacks will ultimately change environmental decisions. The project aims to identify when feedbacks matter for environmental decisions, by generating new methods that pr ....Catastrophic shifts: the value of knowing more about ecosystem feedbacks. Ecosystems respond to gradual change in unexpected ways. Feedback processes between different parts of an environment can perpetuate ecosystem collapse, leading to potentially irreversible biodiversity loss. However, it is unclear if greater knowledge of feedbacks will ultimately change environmental decisions. The project aims to identify when feedbacks matter for environmental decisions, by generating new methods that predict the economic benefit of knowing more about feedbacks. Combining ecological modelling and value-of-information theory, the outcomes of these novel methods will provide significant and broad environmental benefits, by enabling managers to make informed decisions and stay one step ahead of potential ecosystem collapse.Read moreRead less
Understanding the importance of lianas for forest health and management. This project aims to assess the impact of lianas (woody vines) and their removal on forest health and value. New field infrastructure, removal experiments and global datasets will be used to compare forest health under varying liana dominance, determine whether lianas are preventing recovery, and to predict regional and global impacts. The project expects to generate new knowledge regarding ecosystem function and global cha ....Understanding the importance of lianas for forest health and management. This project aims to assess the impact of lianas (woody vines) and their removal on forest health and value. New field infrastructure, removal experiments and global datasets will be used to compare forest health under varying liana dominance, determine whether lianas are preventing recovery, and to predict regional and global impacts. The project expects to generate new knowledge regarding ecosystem function and global change biology, building collaboration between ecologists, economists and forest managers. The project expects to have significant implications for forest health and the global economy. The expected benefit will be implementation of restoration methods in priority areas and subsequently improved forest health.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101424
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$425,469.00
Summary
Conservation agriculture for aquatic wildlife in dams and wetlands. This project aims to investigate the capacity of farm dam management strategies to simultaneously support nature conservation and agricultural production. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of conservation biology and sustainable agriculture by using experiments that identify the interdependence of cattle grazing and habitat quality of wetlands. Anticipated outcomes include a framework for evaluating mana ....Conservation agriculture for aquatic wildlife in dams and wetlands. This project aims to investigate the capacity of farm dam management strategies to simultaneously support nature conservation and agricultural production. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of conservation biology and sustainable agriculture by using experiments that identify the interdependence of cattle grazing and habitat quality of wetlands. Anticipated outcomes include a framework for evaluating management strategies in terms of their dual capacity to support aquatic wildlife and livestock production. Significant benefits include increased productivity through the improved management of wetlands and dams on farms and the recogniton of undervalued conservation resources.Read moreRead less
The contribution of human/marine herbivore interactions to reef degradation. This project aims to define how interactions between human society and herbivores influence marine ecosystem structure and function. It will analyse geographic patterns from recent systematic sampling of reef communities worldwide and study fish, macro-invertebrate and meso-grazer herbivory to identify herbivores’ role in the collapse and recovery of reef ecosystems. This project will examine the match between a critica ....The contribution of human/marine herbivore interactions to reef degradation. This project aims to define how interactions between human society and herbivores influence marine ecosystem structure and function. It will analyse geographic patterns from recent systematic sampling of reef communities worldwide and study fish, macro-invertebrate and meso-grazer herbivory to identify herbivores’ role in the collapse and recovery of reef ecosystems. This project will examine the match between a critical ecosystem function and community structure across local to global scales, including the identification of non-linearities and interactions involving human effects on this process. This research is expected to safeguard marine ecosystems from collapse.Read moreRead less
Developing a framework for effective oyster reef restoration. This project aims to investigate ecological barriers to the recovery of functionally extinct Sydney Rock Oyster reefs on Australia’s east coast, and restoration methods to reinstate their key ecosystem services. This project expects to create new knowledge for designing functional reefs by integrating physiology, population, community and landscape ecology. Expected outcomes are an ecological decision framework for effective oyster re ....Developing a framework for effective oyster reef restoration. This project aims to investigate ecological barriers to the recovery of functionally extinct Sydney Rock Oyster reefs on Australia’s east coast, and restoration methods to reinstate their key ecosystem services. This project expects to create new knowledge for designing functional reefs by integrating physiology, population, community and landscape ecology. Expected outcomes are an ecological decision framework for effective oyster reef restoration that can be integrated into management and policy. This project should provide significant benefits, such as the development of key strategic alliances to enhance management of estuaries, and reestablish the environmental, economic and social benefits of oyster reefs.Read moreRead less
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100441
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$474,443.00
Summary
Sounds of change: using ecological knowledge to advance acoustic monitoring. To recover biodiversity, conservation actions must be informed by robust ecological data. In partnership with Bush Heritage Australia, this project aims to transform ecological monitoring with eco-acoustic technologies by developing new acoustic metrics to measure biodiversity at various levels, from individual species through to whole communities. This project will combine advanced computer methods with theories of ani ....Sounds of change: using ecological knowledge to advance acoustic monitoring. To recover biodiversity, conservation actions must be informed by robust ecological data. In partnership with Bush Heritage Australia, this project aims to transform ecological monitoring with eco-acoustic technologies by developing new acoustic metrics to measure biodiversity at various levels, from individual species through to whole communities. This project will combine advanced computer methods with theories of animal sounds and communities to generate metrics that are informed by animal ecology and directly address monitoring needs of conservation organisations. By experimentally testing the metrics on long-duration real-world sound data, this project will provide new tools to measure conservation impact and prioritise actions.Read moreRead less
Managing complex networks in endangered grasslands to restore food webs. This project aims to quantify the impacts of native and non-native animal consumer removal by examining food webs in endangered grasslands. Grasslands are Australia’s largest biome yet land-use changes, livestock and invasive plants, have altered entire food webs, including the integrity of ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling. Measuring disrupted food webs in field experiments, then modelling the impacts of mammals ....Managing complex networks in endangered grasslands to restore food webs. This project aims to quantify the impacts of native and non-native animal consumer removal by examining food webs in endangered grasslands. Grasslands are Australia’s largest biome yet land-use changes, livestock and invasive plants, have altered entire food webs, including the integrity of ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling. Measuring disrupted food webs in field experiments, then modelling the impacts of mammals to invertebrates, will assist managers in making more effective decisions relating to ecosystem integrity. Understanding the consequences of biodiversity loss including implications for ecosystem resilience is crucial to Australia’s future food production, carbon sequestration and hydrological flows.Read moreRead less
New metrics to measure and track fauna community condition in Australia. This project aims to improve how biodiversity is measured by developing a system to describe the condition of animal communities, analogous to those used for plant communities. It develops and tests the system for Australia’s birds, then extends the approach to other animal groups. The project expects to develop a data-driven typology of bird communities, accompanying community condition metrics that are scalable from site ....New metrics to measure and track fauna community condition in Australia. This project aims to improve how biodiversity is measured by developing a system to describe the condition of animal communities, analogous to those used for plant communities. It develops and tests the system for Australia’s birds, then extends the approach to other animal groups. The project expects to develop a data-driven typology of bird communities, accompanying community condition metrics that are scalable from site to national levels, and guidance for using these metrics in practice. These metrics will enable holistic and relevant measures of the biodiversity value of sites, improve evaluation of restoration actions, reveal trends in community condition, and inform monitoring and evaluation tools for emerging biodiversity markets.Read moreRead less