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Jaragun Wetland Restoration (Old ID 27070)
A small wetland will be targeted for weed removal and replanting along Babinda Creek in this project. These restoration works will be monitored using a high-tech surveillance camera to live stream images from Jaragun’s website that track wetland restoration over time and its value to our birdlife. Overall, this project kick starts a struggling local community nestled in the heart of the wet tropics. This project is about creating green jobs and building a pathway for long term strategic investment into restoration and rehabilitation of the Russell River catchment.
Climate Vulnerability Index (Old ID 27096)
Climate change is the fastest growing threat to World Heritage properties, many of which –natural, cultural and mixed – are already being impacted. The Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) is a rapid assessment tool to identify key drivers of vulnerability, opportunities for response and priorities for action across all types of World Heritage properties. The CVI framework considers potential impacts, adaptive capacity, and economic, social and cultural consequences of climate change. Here we propose to apply phase 2 of the CVI process in the Wadden Sea World Heritage property. Continuation of previous project.
Biosecurity molecular screening using eDNA technology (Old ID 27284)
This project will test the application of environmental DNA (eDNA) methods for invasive honeybees and bee parasites. The primary objective of the project is to research eDNA technology along with portable sequencing devices to determine their applicability for operational use in screening for priority species and diseases. In scopeactivities include development and testing of eDNA methods for laboratory analysis as well as portable diagnostic technology for detection in operational environments. The project will be carried out in collaboration with The Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (CISS), the University of Canberra and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Habitat characterisation and biodiversity surveys in West Cape York Marine Park and Torres Strait Dugong Sanctuary. (Old ID 27402)
Marine habitats of western Torres Strait and Cape York have long been identified as ecologically and culturally significant, supporting large areas of seagrass, high densities of dugongs and turtles, and traditional, commercial and recreational fisheries. These ecological values in the region have led to the establishment of the Torres Strait Dugong Sanctuary and the West Cape York Marine Park (WCYMP). Despite these values, benthic habitats including seagrasses, fish assemblages and the cultural significance of the region remain inadequately surveyed and documented. In this project we will: (1) Increase understanding of traditional knowledge and collaborate with Indigenous rangers and Traditional Owners to undertake marine park management. (2) Identify any changes/trends in the extent, health and diversity of seagrass meadows. (3) Provide a habitat map for the National Park, Habitat Protection and Special Purpose Zones in the southern region of West Cape York Marine Park. (4) conduct a pilot study of fish diversity.
PNG & Pacific Island Nations Feeds Review. (Old ID 27717)
Review the barriers to expansion of tilapia aquaculture for development in PNG, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste, with special reference to feeds and fingerlings.
Reconstructing past grounded ice extent over time around Wilkes Land margin, East Antarctica, using animal genomes (Old ID 27730)
The marine-based margins of the Antarctic Ice Sheet are vulnerable to collapse based on current trajectories in temperature rise. A deep uncertainty remains on whether the marine-based margin of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) (ie, Wilkes Land) is sensitive to climate change. This project applies an innovative, genomic approach to reconstruct past configurations of the marine-based EAIS to inform its future stability.
Development of a novel wound healing agent (Old ID 28948)
Ancient traditional medicines, while often not mechanistically well characterised, can be incredibly useful in directing the development of new therapeutics and treatments. Inspired by traditional remedies for wound healing, our Cairns based team (Daly, Widi, Wilson and Smout) has shown that two plant-derived glycosides can act synergistically to promote fibroblast cell proliferation. This in vitro bioactivity correlates strongly with potent in vivo activity in a mouse model of wound healing based on our previous studies with an unrelated parasite-derived peptide. Our research question is whether glycosides acting synergistically can be used in the design of a novel wound healing treatment, and we now aim to carry out in vivo studies on our plant-derived compounds to begin to answer this question.
Continental-Scale Threatened Species Monitoring using an Acoustic Observatory (Old ID 29014)
Monitoring threatened species and biodiversity is the cornerstone of conservation. However, it is difficult to monitor land at the scale necessary to implement conservation actions for many species. Acoustic monitoring offers a potential solution, though large scale continuous monitoring of vocal threatened species, and of biodiversity more generally. Monitoring is needed to track the trajectories of species populations, determining whether they are endangered, and to plan and execute subsequent management actions. Monitoring is also needed to evaluate the success, or otherwise, of conservation activities. Our project leverages a large infrastructure project called the Australian Acoustic Observatory (Roe et al. 2021. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 12:1802-8). The Observatory comprises 344 acoustic recorders, located at various types of nature reserves, and some grazing properties, all over Australia. The acoustic devices record environmental sound 24/7, and have done so since mid-2020, and will continue to monitor until 2025 or longer. This provides an amazing resource, but the data needs to be mined to provide information on threatened species presence and activity, to inform conservation. Acoustic monitoring is a relatively new approach to conservation, and projects are required to develop methods and tools to make sense of the huge data being collected. Thus far, we have established the A2O, and are presently conducting a project to do manual surveys (bird watching, camera trapping, live trapping, and active searching) at 6 sites over 2 years, confirming the high quality monitoring capacity of the Observatory by comparing species lists obtained using each method. We have manually detected 5 near threatened, vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered species at only these 6 sites, but there is the potential to detect many more, by searching the acoustic data across all our sites, not just 6. However, this requires automated tools to analyse mass data to provide reports for land managers on threatened species to drive conservation actions. It is these activities that are the essence of our project.
Seagrass Monitoring in Wuthathi Sea Country (Old ID 31147)
Wuthathi land and sea country in far northern Cape York extends from Captain Billy landing south to Temple Bay and includes Shelburne Bay and Raine Island. JCU will work with Wuthathi rangers to continue to map coastal seagrass in Wuthathi and establish monitoring sites and methods. A range of techniques will be adopted, including airborne/spaceborne imagery (UAV drone and satellite) and transects for intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats and drop cameras in deeper subtidal waters. Wuthathi rangers will be trained in seagrass mapping and monitoring techniques to facilitate continued monitoring of seagrass habitats in Wuthathi sea country.
Geology and Ore Potential of the Tommy Creek Block, Mount Isa Inlier (Old ID 22960)
The objective of the proposal is to establish a new research project to understand the geological evolution of the prospective Tommy Creek Block, located near Cloncurry, utilising the expertise of geological staff and research facilities / resources at JCU, Cardiff University, and our industry partners Mount Isa Mines (MIM - Glencore and GBM Resources. These research partnerships will be further strengthened through this project. The project is designed to deliver benefits to the industry partners by providing an improved understanding of the geology of an active mineral exploration region, which will directly lead to better strategies for exploration and hence, enhanced prospects of exploration success. Such future mineral resource discovery is crucial to sustain the economic prosperity of Queensland. The project will provide industry with highly trained graduates with the specific skills sets needed to develop successful career paths in the minerals industry.