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Day/Time: Thursday 11am (unless otherwise specified)
Venue: Seminar Room, Building 145, CSIRO, Australian Tropical Science & Innovation Precinct, Douglas Campus, James Cook University.
28 November 2011, 11:00 am
Plant/animal relationships in the rangelands
Professor John Milne, University of Aberdeen, Editor-in-Chief The Rangeland Journal
10 November 2011, 11:00 am
Development of a new energy feeding system and mitigation strategies to reduce methane emissions for cattle
Dr Tianhai Yan, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Hillsborough, County Down, Northern Ireland
27 October 2011, 11:00 am
Untangling the web: The contribution of wetlands to the trophic support of aquatic food-webs
Dr Ronald Baker, Tropical Landscapes Joint Venture Post-Doctoral Fellow
21 October 2011, 3:00 pm
Alternative Planning Approaches for Hydropower Development in the Lower Mekong Basin
Dr Ida Kubiszewski, Institute for Sustainable Solutions Portland State University, Portland, USA
13 October 2011, 11:00 am
Minimizing nitrate leaching from furrow irrigation with fertilizer placement and soil management strategies
Dr Altaf Ali Siyal, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, CSIRO Land and Water
14 September 2011, 11:00 am
Pakistan Floods 2010: Causes And Consequences
Dr Altaf Ali Siyal, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, CSIRO Land and Water
1 September 2011, 11:30 am
Modelling of water quality entering the GBR lagoon: A Bayesian belief network approach
Tim Lynam, Research Team Leader, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
25 August 2011, 11:00 am
Cuckoos versus hosts: Mimicry, discrimination, and co-evolutionary arms races
Justin Welbergen, ARC Senior Research Associate, Centre For Tropical Biodiversity & Climate Change
18 August 2011, 11:00 am
From paddock to catchment: agricultural practices and pollutant delivery
Scott Wilkinson, Research Scientist, CSIRO Land and Water
15 August 2011, 11:00 am
There’s loads of water in the north, isn’t there?
Cuan Petheram, Research Project Officer, CSIRO Land and Water
4 August 2011, 11:00 am
Social Systems Research at CESR, Germany: Water use, water risks and heat waves
Andreas Ernst, Professor, Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, Germany
21 July 2011, 11:00 am
Conserving biodiversity in a human dominated world
Dr Richard Fuller, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
11 July 2011, 11:00 am
Effective engagement for sustainable rangeland management in a changing world
Urs P. Kreuter, Professor, Dept of Ecosystem Sciences and Management, Texas A&M University
7 July 2011, 11:00 am
Return to a “new normal”?: Analysing discourses of resilience to natural disasters in Australian newspapers
Erin Bohensky, Research Scientist, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences and Anne Leitch, Communications & Information Officer, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
28 November 2011, 11:00 am
Plant/animal relationships in the rangelands
Professor John Milne, University of Aberdeen, Editor-in-Chief The Rangeland Journal
Abstract
There are still major limitations to our knowledge on plant/animal relationships. Two poorly understood areas are the prediction of the spatial distribution of large herbivores and the accurate description of temporal changes in plant communities. It will be argued that these two areas need to be addressed for the successful development of site-specific decision-support systems for Scottish rangelands. The delivery of policy in these rangelands is limited by the closed attitudes of rangeland managers and the present European Human Rights legislation.
About the Speaker
John Milne is an honorary professor at the University of Aberdeen. His main research interests are in plant/animal relationships; systems of animal production; decision-support tools; biodiversity and land use policy. For nine years he was Deputy Director of the Macaulay Institute. He was Chairman of the Deer Commission for Scotland for six years. Recently he stepped down as Editor-in-Chief of Grass and Forage Science and has now been appointed by the Australian Rangeland Society to be Editor-in-Chief of The Rangeland Journal.
10 November 2011, 11:00 am
Development of a new energy feeding system and mitigation strategies to reduce methane emissions for cattle
Dr Tianhai Yan, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Hillsborough, County Down, Northern Ireland
Abstract
In this seminar, I will start with our research in energy metabolism of high yielding dairy cows and development of a new energy feeding system. This system increases maintenance energy requirement by 30% and uses a curvilinear function, rather than linear function, to describe the relationship between milk energy output and metabolisable energy intake. This new system has been widely accepted in the UK for research, advisory service and commercial production. I will then present our research in development of mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from cattle production systems. Our research includes: (1) statistical modelling on a unique dataset of energy metabolism of cattle with aim to develop methane mitigation strategies using animal and dietary factors while maintaining animal productivity and animal health; (2) life cycle assessment of GHG emissions from dairy and beef production sectors; (3) effects of inclusion of additives on methane emissions of cattle.
About the Speaker
Dr Tianhai Yan is in a visit to CSIRO LI Townsville under the CSIRO OCE Distinguished Visitor Scientist Scheme. He is a Project Leader and head of Ruminant Nutrition Unit within Agricultural Branch of the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute of Northern Ireland. His research interests include energy metabolism of cattle, statistical modelling of nutrient inputs and outputs and reduction of environmental footprint (greenhouse gases and manure nitrogen outputs) in the cattle production systems.
27 October 2011, 11:00 am
Untangling the web: The contribution of wetlands to the trophic support of aquatic food-webs
Dr Ronald Baker, Tropical Landscapes Joint Venture Post-Doctoral Fellow
Abstract
Coastal wetlands, such as mangroves, salt marshes, and floodplains, are considered around the globe as critically important ecosystems for a variety of beneficial functions. One of the most widely cited reasons for the protection and management of coastal wetlands is their functional role as nurseries for a great diversity of species of ecological, cultural, and economic significance. In addition to containing some of the most valuable ecosystems on the planet, the coastal landscape also faces the greatest direct pressures associated with human population growth. Significant advances have been made in understanding the ecology of these systems, yet relative to their immense value and vulnerability, our understanding of the functioning of nurseries in the coastal landscape remains largely at a broad paradigmatic level. In this seminar, I will present an outline of my research into the ecological functioning of coastal nurseries for marine nekton (fish, prawns, crabs). From dietary and field experimental studies of predation dynamics on new recruits in the tropical estuaries of north Queensland, to stable isotopic examination of the salt marsh and mangrove foodwebs of the Caribbean, northern Gulf of Mexico, and southern Atlantic coasts of the US, I will describe some of the key findings and critical knowledge gaps highlighted through my research thus far. I will then focus these findings and experience onto the coastal landscape of north Queensland to describe the research I will do through the TLJV. By linking hydrology and ecology to study connectivity and nursery ground function, I hope to progress our understanding of the functioning of an interconnected coastal landscape, and enhance our capacity to make informed management decisions about land-use and coastal development.
About the Speaker
Dr Baker has just commenced a 3-year post-doctoral fellowship with the CSIRO/JCU Tropical Landscapes Joint Venture (TLJV) based in Townsville. His career has focused on process-based research into the ecological function of coastal nursery grounds for nekton (fish, prawns, crabs). He completed a PhD at JCU (2007) examining predation dynamics on fishes recruiting to estuarine nursery habitats in north Queensland. From 2007-2009 he worked with NOAA Fisheries in Galveston Texas, studying the functional role of salt marshes as nurseries for white shrimp, and also examining the linkages between production transfers and hydrology in salt marsh ecosystems. In 2010/11 Ron undertook a 1 year post-doc with the Smithsonian Institution, expanding his research into the role of vegetated wetlands in supporting aquatic food webs. Through the TLJV Ron will study hydrological and ecological connectivity in the coastal landscape in the context of its role as a nursery for a variety of ecologically, culturally, and economically important marine fish species.
21 October 2011, 3:00 pm
Alternative Planning Approaches for Hydropower Development in the Lower Mekong Basin
Dr Ida Kubiszewski, Institute for Sustainable Solutions Portland State University, Portland, USA
About the Speaker
Dr Kubiszewski received her B.A. in Astronomy and Physics from Boston University and her M.A. in Energy and Environmental Analysis through the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies also at Boston University. She received her Ph.D. through the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. Her dissertation topic was 'Searching for the Sweet Spot: Managing Information as a Good that improves with Use.'
Dr Kubiszewski is the author or co-author of over 75 scientific papers. She is a Junior Fellow at the National Council for Science and the Environment and sits on the steering committees or advisory boards of various organizations including the Ecosystem Service Partnership, Environmental Information Coalition, and the U.S. Society for Ecological Economics.
Dr Ida Kubiszewski is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Institute for Sustainable Solutions, at Portland State University. She is also the Managing Editor for Solutions and Ecological Economics Reviews and a co-founder and former-Managing Editor of the Encyclopedia of Earth.
13 October 2011, 11:00 am
Minimizing nitrate leaching from furrow irrigation with fertilizer placement and soil management strategies
Dr Altaf Ali Siyal, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, CSIRO Land and Water
Abstract
Inappropriate soil, water and fertilizer management in irrigated agriculture can result in environmental problems, including groundwater pollution with nitrates. Furrow irrigation is widely used around the world and is considered a major source of nitrate leaching. Improved soil, water and fertilizer management practices are needed to improve the environmental performance of furrow irrigated agriculture. My presentation describes a simulation study using the HYDRUS-2D model to assess options for reducing nitrate leaching from furrow irrigated systems. The focus is on analysing the impact of fertilizer placement on nitrate leaching. Strategies include placing the fertilizer on the bottom of the furrow, sides of the furrow, bottom and sides of the furrow, on the sides of the furrow near the top of the ridge and on the surface at the middle of the ridge. Additional strategies involved manipulating the soil by (i) compacting the base of the furrow and (ii) placing a plastic sheet on the surface of the furrow. The results of this study demonstrate there are opportunities to significantly reduce nitrate leaching in furrow irrigated systems.
About the speaker
Dr. Altaf A Siyal is a Professor in the Department of Land & Water Management at Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Sindh, Pakistan. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CSIRO-ATSIP supported by an Australian Endeavour Research Fellowship, studying solute transport under furrow irrigation. He is particularly interested in how to maximise irrigation and fertigation efficiency using traditional irrigation methods used in Pakistan. During 2007-8, Altaf won a Fulbright Fellowship to carry out research on “Water and solute transport under conventional subsurface irrigation systems” at the USDA Salinity Laboratory in Riverside, USA. He completed his Ph.D. Degree in 2001 at the Cranfield University, United Kingdom on ‘Maximising salt leaching efficiency of clay saline soils’. He earned his Master’s degree in Irrigation & Drainage and Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Sindh Agriculture University, in Tandojam, Pakistan.
14 September 2011, 11:00 am
Pakistan Floods 2010: Causes And Consequences
Dr Altaf Ali Siyal, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, CSIRO Land and Water
In 2010, Pakistan suffered devastating floods which were recognised as the worst in Pakistan's history. These floods were also rated by the United Nations as the greatest humanitarian crisis in recent history. It is said that more people were affected in Pakistan than the 2004 South-East Asian tsunami and the recent earthquakes in Kasmir and Haiti combined. Some people say these floods were the result of unprecedented and above average monsoon rainfall. Others believe it was mismanagement which compelled over 20 million people to migrate, caused death of about 1600 people, destruction of 1.2 million houses and the loss of billions of dollars to Pakistan. My presentation will provide an overview of Pakistan and its existing irrigation network and water resources, and discuss some 'facts and causes' which contributed to the intensity and severity of the 2010 floods. I will also share some personal experiences in providing support to flood victims.
About the Speaker
Dr. Altaf Ali Siyal is a Professor in the Department of Land & Water Management at Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Sindh, Pakistan. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CSIRO-ATSIP supported by an Australian Endeavour Research Fellowship, studying solute transport under furrow irrigation. He is particularly interested in how to maximise irrigation and fertigation efficiency using traditional irrigation methods used in Pakistan. During 2007-8, Altaf won a Fulbright Fellowship to carry out research on “Water and solute transport under conventional subsurface irrigation systems” at the USDA Salinity Laboratory in Riverside, USA. He completed his Ph.D. Degree in 2001 at the Cranfield University, United Kingdom on ‘Maximising salt leaching efficiency of clay saline soils’. He earned his Master’s degree in Irrigation & Drainage and Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Sindh Agriculture University, in Tandojam, Pakistan.
1 September 2011, 11:30 am
Modelling of water quality entering the GBR lagoon: A Bayesian belief network approach
Tim Lynam, Research Team Leader, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Concern with the potential impacts on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) of pollutant loads discharged from adjacent catchments has resulted in a number of efforts to estimate these loads and more recently, in the policy arena, to reduce them. Despite the widespread recognition of the large uncertainties associated with end of catchment pollutant load estimates most load estimates to date have been based on deterministic modelling. I describe an approach to the estimation of end of catchment loads of total suspended sediment (SS) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) for the major basins of the GBR region. We used a Bayesian belief network (BBN) approach to integrate the results of multiple runs of deterministic models with expert judgement to provide probabilistic estimates of end of catchment pollutant loads resulting from different combinations of land management practices in sugarcane and grazing areas. Analyses of uncertainty focused on pollutant loads from catchments with predominant land uses being grazing and sugarcane as these were the target of recent policy and regulation. For grazing, we assessed the uncertainty in estimates of end of catchment SS loads through (i) spatial variations in land cover within and across regions, and (ii) expert judgement on gully erosion. In sugarcane, we assessed the uncertainty in estimates of end of catchment DIN loads through event mean concentrations of DIN derived from different management practices simulated in an agricultural production systems model. Our approach provides a transparent, explicit and updatable mechanism to identify the probabilities of changes in long-term mean annual load estimates of major pollutants resulting from different combinations of land management practices. I highlight the strengths and weaknesses of our approach and the implications for large-scale catchment level pollutant modelling.
About the Speaker
Tim Lynam is a senior research scientist with CSIRO’s social and economic sciences program. Since moving to Australia six years ago Tim has been working on processes and tools for regional adaptation and vulnerability assessments; on understanding adaptation and adaptive capacity to climate change; on societal failure to solve slow onset problems and on the management of water quality going into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
25 August 2011, 11:00am
Cuckoos versus hosts: Mimicry, discrimination, and co-evolutionary arms races
Justin Welbergen, ARC Senior Research Associate, Centre For Tropical Biodiversity & Climate Change
Co-evolutionary arms races, where adaptations in one party select for counter-adaptations in another and vice-versa, are fundamental to interactions between organisms and their predators, pathogens and parasites. Avian brood parasites, such as cuckoos, lay their eggs in the nests of other species and in doing so redirect the hosts’ parental care and use it for their own genetic benefit. Clearly, this is not in the best interest of hosts, so it is not surprising that many species have evolved defences against brood parasitism. Such defences promote the evolution of improved parasite offences that in turn select for enhanced host defences, and so on, providing a wonderful model system for studying co-evolutionary arms races. Traditionally, research has focussed on the co-evolutionary interactions at the egg stage. For example, it is well-established that hosts have evolved rejection of foreign eggs in response to brood parasitism and that brood parasites have evolved mimicry of host eggs as a counter-response. However, our recent work has identified analogous co-evolutionary interactions at all stages of the host nesting cycle with profound implications for our understanding of brood parasite-host dynamics.
This talk will be about the natural history of avian brood parasitism with a focus on our recent research into the co-evolutionary interactions between common cuckoos and their reed warbler hosts.
About the Speaker
Justin has recently joined the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity & Climate Change at JCU to work on the impacts of extreme climatic events on terrestrial biodiversity. In this talk, however, he will discuss his prior research, conducted when he was a Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge.
Justin’s background is in evolution, ecology, and conservation, and particularly in evolutionary ecology. His undergraduate studies were in biology and psychology at the University of Amsterdam. He then completed an MSc on the breeding ecology of Australian reed warblers (University of Melbourne & Groningen). Afterwards he went to the University of Cambridge to do his PhD on 'the social organisation of the grey-headed flying-fox', supervised by Prof. Nick Davies FRS. Half-way through his PhD fieldwork in Northern NSW, Justin was confronted with a severe heatwave that killed off a sizable proportion of his study animals, but this also kindled his current interest in the biological impacts of extreme events. After completing his PhD in 2005, Justin remained based in Cambridge where he took up a Research Fellowship and senior teaching posts. He moved back to Australia in early 2010 and was a Visiting Fellow at the ANU before coming to JCU in June this year.
18 August 2011, 11:00am
From paddock to catchment: agricultural practices and pollutant delivery
Scott Wilkinson, Research Scientist, CSIRO Land and Water
How can agricultural systems be managed to effectively reduce off-site impacts at acceptable economic cost, while harnessing personal motivations for change? This is a challenge faced in many basins throughout the world, such as those draining into the Baltic Sea in Europe, Chesapeake Bay in USA, and also the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) where sediments and nutrients are degrading the health of this World Heritage ecosystem.
I will describe some of the technical challenges addressed in identifying pollutant sources and mitigation approaches, using the GBR catchments as a working example, where government programs are investing > AU$200M in agricultural practice changes. Pollutant delivery between paddock and catchment outlet is highly dependent on local deposition or other trapping processes and I will discuss how modelling and monitoring can form ‘multiple lines of evidence’ about the effectiveness of practice changes to reduce downstream loading.
Meeting the timelines of government investment in agricultural practice changes can preclude detailed modelling studies. We have been developing conceptual frameworks of the physical processes linking agricultural practices to paddock-scale pollutant losses as an alternative method to prioritise options in GBR catchments, using metrics such as Nitrogen-surplus (t ha-1 y-1). This process has provided estimates of the magnitudes of practice change required to meet river load targets.
About the Speaker
Dr Scott Wilkinson’s research has focussed on quantifying the effect of changes in land management and climate on the generation and transport of sediments and nutrients in river basins. He developed the SedNet model into a tool for regional planning to reduce river sediment and nutrient yields, and has undertaken sediment tracing to test model predictions.
15 August 2011, 11:00am
There’s loads of water in the north, isn’t there?
Cuan Petheram, Research Project Officer, CSIRO Land and Water
The prolonged drought in southern Australia and the renewed interest in exploitation of water resources of northern Australia, has led to an increase in demand for predictions of runoff under current and future climates from tropical catchments of Australia’s north. In this presentation Dr Cuan Petheram outline the runoff modelling component of the Northern Australia Sustainable Yields (NASY) project, including an assessment of different models and strategies for simulating runoff in northern Australia. The NASY project constitutes the first consistent and transparent assessment of runoff across all of northern Australia and the largest and most comprehensive continental scale assessment of runoff under current and future climates in a tropical environment using lumped conceptual rainfall-runoff models.
About the Speaker
Dr Cuan Petheram is a hydrologist with CSIRO and has been studying the hydrology of northern Australia forthe last 6 years. He was the Northern Australia Sustainable Yields (NASY) surface water team leader and is currently the Stream Leader for the Water in Northern Australia stream of CSIRO's Water for a Healthy Country Flagship.
4 August 2011, 11:00am
Social Systems Research at CESR, Germany: Water use, water risks and heat waves
Andreas Ernst, Professor, Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, Germany
This seminar will first give an overview of research carried out at CESR, the Center for Environmental Systems Research, Kassel, Germany. Then, more specifically, work is presented that tackles the challenges of appropriately describing human decision making and behaviour in environmental contexts and how to make results available in an applied context. Among these challenges are the diversity of human behaviour and perception, and the attitude-behaviour gap. Behavioural change and social innovation are understood as emergent phenomena of social systems that are made up of individuals, and their social and biophysical environments.
As one means to effectively describe the interaction of these components with their complex behaviour and nonlinear effects, the method of social simulation is exemplified with work on domestic water use, innovation diffusion and water related risk perception, and on neighbourhood help in local networks during heat waves. The influence of lifestyles on behaviour and perception as well as the construction of environmental and social scenarios will be presented.
About the speaker
Andreas Ernst is the executive director of the Center for Environmental Systems Research (CESR) at the University of Kassel and head of the centre’s Socio-Environmental Systems Analysis and Modeling (SESAM) working group. Since 2010, he serves as President of the European Social Simulation Association (ESSA). He chaired and organized the World Congress on Social Simulation WCSS2010 in Kassel. He heads the Graduate Center for Environmental Studies (gradZ) of the University of Kassel and is a member of the university’s Competence Center for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation (CliMA).
Trained as a cognitive and environmental psychologist, he spent one year at the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh/USA, before earning his doctorate from the University of Freiburg/Germany with a computer model of human behaviour in a commons dilemma situation. After assistant and associate professorship positions in Freiburg, he now holds the chair on Environmental Systems Analysis in Kassel. Andreas Ernst has been responsible for a number of interdisciplinary national and international research projects. His research interests are in computer modelling of motivational and cognitive aspects of behaviour and learning, phenomena of social interaction, especially in resource conflicts, the application of psychological decision models to spatially explicit large-scale domains, phenomena of complexity, psychological and economic aspects of innovation and innovative behaviour, and in interdisciplinary and integrative research methods.
21 July 2011, 11:00 am
Conserving biodiversity in a human dominated world
Dr Richard Fuller, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Conservation biologists rarely study people. This is odd, because the global environmental crisis results from human activity, and people are therefore key to solving it. There is increasing evidence from environmental psychology that human well-being increases with exposure to biodiversity. Yet opportunities for people to experience nature are declining rapidly in the modern world, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the way people value nature, and how they act as a consequence. This points to many intriguing, but understudied, feedbacks between human values toward nature, and the extent to which people support conservation. In this seminar I will explore some of the ways in which people have affected the natural world around them, how some of these destructive effects can best be reversed, and how people benefit from experiences of nature. Among other case studies, I will show some results about permeability across protected area borders in the Indian Subcontinent, a cost-effectiveness analysis of Australia’s protected areas, and data suggesting an impending meltdown in one of the world’s greatest migration flyways. In today’s crowded planet, separating people and biodiversity (both literally and figuratively) is no longer an option.
About the speaker
I have a joint lectureship working with CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences / Climate Adaptation Flagship, and the University of Queensland. I work on pure and applied questions in biodiversity and conservation, spanning the fields of biogeography, conservation planning, conservation psychology and urban ecology. Much of my work is interdisciplinary, focusing on the interactions between people and nature, how these can be enhanced, and how these relationships can be shaped to converge on coherent solutions to the biodiversity crisis. Recent research topics include predicting the consequences of urbanization on biodiversity and human quality of life in south-east Queensland, investigating patterns of contagion in global habitat destruction, working out how best to expand Australia’s protected area system, and prioritizing habitats for restoration.
11 July 2011, 11:00 am
Effective engagement for sustainable rangeland management in a changing world: the role of landowner associations and regional organisations
Urs P. Kreuter, Professor, Dept of Ecosystem Sciences and Management, Texas A&M University
Abstract
Ecologists and rangeland scientists have long been concerned about the low rate of adoption of science-base management recommendations aimed at enhancing ecosystem health and resilience. In part, this is due to the disconnection between issues, procedural approaches and spatial and temporal scales that are relevant to land managers, versus those that drive research and policy formulation. Greater integration of local and scientific knowledge to manage rangeland resources at ecologically meaningful scales will become an increasingly important imperative as the effects of projected climate changes manifest themselves. In this seminar, I present a framework for enhancing engagement between land managers, researchers and policy makers. To illustrate various elements of this framework, I will present two case studies from Texas: (1) the establishment and evolution of prescribed burning associations; and (2) the establishment of a habitat recovery credit system for two endangered migratory songbirds. Both initiatives have led to greater voluntary adoption by land managers of practices that enhance the sustainability of rangeland ecosystems in Texas. I conclude that landowner associations and regional bodies play a critical role in facilitating the adaptive capacity of land managers to respond to changing environmental and social conditions by adopting and ecologically sound and socially desirable management, and for researchers and policy makers to engage more meaningfully with rangeland managers.
About the speaker
Dr Kreuter is a Professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University. He received a B.S. (Agriculture, 1982) and M.S. (Agriculture, 1985) from the University of Natal, South Africa, and a M.A. (Economics, 1989) and Ph.D. (Range Science, 1992) from Utah State University. Before coming to the USA, Dr. Kreuter was a Research Scientist with the Department of Agriculture, South Africa. His doctoral research focused on the economics of cattle and wildlife production systems in Zimbabwe. He joined the Texas A&M University faculty in 1998. Dr. Kreuter currently teaches an undergraduate course in Ecosystem Management, a study abroad course on Biodiversity Conservation and Eco-tourism in Southern Africa, and a graduate course in Ecological Economics. Dr. Kreuter's research focuses on the human dimensions of ecosystem management and aims to enhance positive incentives for the sustainable use and management of rangeland ecosystems under diverse land tenure systems and changing environmental conditions.
7 July 2011, 11:00 am
Return to a “new normal”?: Analysing discourses of resilience to natural disasters in Australian newspapers
Erin Bohensky, Research Scientist, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences and Anne Leitch, Communications & Information Officer, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Abstract
In recent years, resilience has emerged as a scientific framework for conceptualizing and navigating ecological, economic, social, political, and cultural change. The concept of resilience is also gaining currency in the broader public discourse. The word ‘resilience’ has frequently appeared in media coverage of the recent ‘season of natural disasters’ in Australia. But what are the messages being conveyed about resilience and what makes Australian communities, cities, and regions more resilient to disasters? News media has considerable power in society: it sets agendas, shapes public opinion, and reveals perspectives across various scales and cultural contexts. Natural disasters are particularly ‘media-ripe’ because they are rapid onset events, and compared to slow change, such as drought, they may be characterized by more visible thresholds, easier to link to societal perceptions of risk, and often highly emotive due to associated losses of life, livelihoods, and assets. Through media representations, natural disasters also provide opportunities to influence public perceptions of the environment.
I present insights from an investigation of Australian newspapers to explore how resilience is being used in relation to natural disasters, and the implications for societal understanding of and ability to build resilience. I discuss two media analyses currently underway: one on the representation of resilience in relation to natural disasters across Australia during 2006-2010, and a second on the representation of resilience, perceived relationships between natural disasters and climate change, and government responsibilities during the 2011 Brisbane floods.
About the speaker
Dr Erin Bohensky is a social-ecological systems scientist who researches societal perceptions of environmental change. She is particularly interested in how concepts of uncertainty, complexity, resilience, and adaptation are framed by science and in broader public discourse. Before joining CSIRO in 2006, Erin completed her Ph.D. at the University of Pretoria on water management in South Africa. She earned a Master’s degree in landscape ecology from Duke University, and a Bachelor’s degree in media and environmental studies from The Johns Hopkins University. In addition to reading newspapers, her work involves the analysis of scenarios of social and ecological change in Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
23 June 2011, 11.00 am
The sensitivity of rangelands to climate change in north-eastern Australia
Dr Nick Webb, Postdoctoral Fellow, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Abstract
There is an increasing need to understand what makes some locations more sensitive to climate change than others. For savanna rangelands, this requires building knowledge of how different land types will respond to climate change, and identifying how location-specific land type and climate characteristics control the magnitude and direction of their responses to change. Dr Webb will be presenting a simulation analysis using a grass production model (GRASP) to explore how forage production in the rangelands of north-eastern Australia responds to climate change, as influenced by endogenous land type attributes, trees, local climate and land condition. Results demonstrate that rangelands show great diversity in their sensitivity to climate change. The responses of land types are complex, and influenced by interactions between their functional characteristics of fertility, soil-water storage capacities and plant water-use efficiencies. The role these factors play is also dependent on atmospheric CO2 concentrations and local climate characteristics. Rising tree densities and declining land condition are found to reduce potential opportunities from increases in forage production and raise the sensitivity of pastures to climate-induced water stress. Knowledge of these interactions can be applied in engaging with stakeholders to identify adaptation options, enabling pastoralists to cope with ongoing climate change.
About the speaker
Dr Nick Webb has been a postdoctoral fellow with CSIRO in Townsville since 2009, looking at climate change adaptation in rangelands. Prior to that, he completed a PhD at the University of Queensland in Brisbane examining spatial and temporal patterns of wind erosion in eastern Australia.
26 May 2011, 11.00 am
Containment: the feasibility of anthropogenic limits to distributions of invasive plants
Tony Grice, Research Group Leader, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Abstract
It is widely acknowledged that eradication of invasive plant species is very difficult and very expensive and there are relatively few examples of successful eradication. "Containment" is a common fall-back position when eradication is deemed impossible, an intrinsic assumption being that containment is easier than eradication. Although containment is commonly stated as an objective in the weed management literature there has been no systematic analysis of the processes involved or quantitative documentation of it in practice. In this presentation Tony will define and examine the challenge of containment as a strategic approach to dealing with invasive plant species.
About the speaker
Tony started life as an arid-zone ecologist. Now some of his work is in wetlands. He has been with CSIRO in Townsville since 1993 working mostly on invasive species in tropical savanna and wetland systems. A primary focus of his research has been the ecology of invasions and strategies and methods for addressing them at landscape and higher scales. He has been accused of being a pyromaniac but that is something of an exaggeration. He also once gave a ride to a hitch-hiker who claimed to be Richie Benaud's father-in-law.
12 May 2011, 11.00 am
Clouding the issue: rain, forests and climate change
Jim Wallace, Research Team Leader, CSIRO Land and Water
Abstract
If the climate in northern Queensland changes, how might this affect the tropical rainforests? Will the impacts occur through changes in rainfall, increases in temperature or changes in cloudiness? This presentation uses physically based models of the water balance of multiple rainforest types to explore how the latest climate scenarios for the region might affect these forests. Temperature changes have a minor effect on rainforest hydrology; however, changes in wet season rainfall could have a major effect on downstream flooding. Dry season rainfall changes are also very important as they affect the timing and duration of the period when there is no runoff from these rainforests. Such changes may have significant impacts on downstream freshwater biota whose life cycle is adapted to the current dry season flow regime. There are also potential in situ impacts of changes in rainfall and cloudiness that affect how long the rainforest canopy is wet, which may have important implications for the fauna and flora that depend on these wet canopy conditions.
28 April 2011, 11.00 am
Water, food energy and… people: Exploring development decisions in the Mekong Region
Alex Smajgl, Research Scientist, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Abstract
The Mekong region (Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Yunnan) is experiencing transformational changes, mostly initiated by decisions that aim to reduce poverty by either achieving energy related goals, or water related objectives or in relation to food security.
Natural resources are a key ingredient for many of the pending development strategies. However, policy and investment decisions involving the management of natural resource management can have implications far beyond their initial objective.
Local or national decisions that aim for trajectories towards desirable local or national futures can alter drivers that are determined at higher scales. Such alterations of regional drivers can create feedbacks for the initial local decision making situations and result in undesirable outcomes.
In addition to such cross-scale dynamics, multi-level governance aspects have to be considered. The ability to realise desirable local or national futures diminishes if decision making processes are not coordinated with other influencing governance levels.
Consequently, it seems adequate for providing effective support across multiple levels of decision making to (a) identify desired outcomes at the relevant levels of decision making, (b) improve the understanding of complex interactions that link to potentially transforming decisions, and (c) contrast desired outcomes with likely outcomes. Coordinating research implemented in a participatory mode can facilitate relevant system learning among decision makers and decision influencers.
This presentation conceptualises a context-specific learning process for the Mekong region, where decisions that are contemplated at national levels have the potential to transform the wider Mekong region. The participatory process this research employs combines the development of holistic scenarios and agent-based simulation.
11 April 2011, 11.00 am
A robust methodology for conducting large-scale assessments of current and future water availability
David Post, Research Scientist, CSIRO Land and Water
Abstract
In order to effectively manage water resources detailed, accurate (and therefore reliable) assessments of water availability are required. The Australian Government commissioned CSIRO to carry out water availability assessments for some of the major river systems across Australia. This presentation details the methods used and provides some illustrative results for one such 'sustainable yields' project, in Tasmania. Results of this study are currently being used by the Tasmanian and Australian governments to guide the development of a sustainable irrigated agriculture industry. The methodology has now been applied to four large regions and it is currently being applied to another region within Australia, with other projects expected to be announced soon.
Dr David Post led the $4.2m Tasmania Sustainable Yields Project from July 2008 to January 2010. He worked at the Davies Lab in Townsville from February 1999 to November 2006 after completing a PhD at the ANU and a Post-Doc at Oregon State University. He is currently the Director of the South Eastern Australian Climate Initiative (SEACI).
7 April 2011, 11.00 am
Effects of trawling on the benthos and biodiversity:
a Spatially-explicit Adaptive Management Framework
for the Northern Prawn Fishery
Rodrigo H. Bustamante, Cathy M. Dichmont, Nick Ellis, Shane P. Griffiths,
Wayne A. Rochester and Aijun R. Deng
Abstract
We present an operational spatial management simulation framework that addresses quantitatively multiple conservation, economics and fisheries management objectives. We integrate bioeconomic stock and ecological risk assessment models with the impacted food web, together with the simulated effects of trawling and biophysical distribution models, all interacting in a double-adaptive cycle form of a spatial management strategy evaluation framework (sMSE). The sMSE evaluates scenarios of static and dynamic closures and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). These closures did not affect fisheries management targets and at the current fishing effort levels, the trawling-induced changes are small, with little variation across a range of performance metrics. These changes are increasing as fishing effort increases. All scenarios exhibited high spatial variability, with most effects on fishing-affected habitats. These effects varied regionally and the affected biota showed positive and negative changes. Depending on the management objectives, the scenarios can act as best, nil and worst-case for biotic groups, performance. For threatened and endangered species, closures could increase and decrease the biomass of such taxa, largely due to movements and trophic interactions. Comparing across simulated scenarios, the more the fishing closures, the more responses as whole and the coarser the spatial scales, the less changes detected. These results confirm the needs for spatial information at the same spatial scales of the impacts. No single scenario satisfied all or most management objectives. This work provide a front-end example of the use of biophysical modelling tools for the implementation of an ecosystem-based approach for the conservation management of Australia's marine ecosystems.
Contact author
Rodrigo H Bustamante, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Brisbane. (2000 – to date); Currently Team Leader developing marine research for management of natural resources, the conservation of biodiversity the and sustainable development of Australia's coastal and marine uses. Focus on the spatial-explicit assessment of ecological impacts of trawl fishing in the Gulf of Carpentaria and northern Australia. Works include also coastal-marine ecosystem characterisation & marine conservation for regional planning for the Northern and Eastern bioregions. Currently focus on the develpment of socieconomics and ecological approaches to map, assess and monitor multiple uses in coastal marine systems to inform the management of the likely impacts, adaptations and mitigations needed for the changing ocean and coasts of Australia and the region.
24 March 2011, 11.00 am
More than you ever wanted to know about blood flukes
David Blair, Associate Professor, James Cook University
Abstract
Several families of trematodes (flukes) live in the circulatory systems and tissues of their hosts. Some of these are of immense public health significance, and some also of veterinary and conservation importance. Members of the genus Schistosoma can infect people on three continents (but not Australia), and are relatively well known. Other blood flukes are known only to specialists and, increasingly, to aquaculturists, conservationists and veterinarians who have recently found them to be major pathogens of their favourite organisms – marine turtles, cultured fish, aquatic birds and even crocodiles.
In this seminar he will discuss the diversity of blood flukes and some of the amazing (to a zoologist, at least) things that have been discovered about them over the span of his research career. The association of Schistosoma species with humans has always been of interest, and he’ll discuss this from an evolutionary viewpoint. But he will also touch on the effects other blood flukes can have on human health right here in Australia, and speculate on the chances of Schistosoma species becoming established here.
About the speaker
David Blair is in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology at JCU. His PhD work was on parasites of famed trout in Scotland. After arriving in Australia, he continued invetsigating parasites, especially those of the charismatic megafauna – dugongs, turtles and the like. Despite his efforts to turn his research in other directions from time to time, blood flukes have formed a thread running through his work for 35 years. His studies have touched on everything from basic taxonomy and life-cycles to evolution, population genetics and genome sequencing.
10 March 2011, 11.00 am
Gulliver’s Travels and Fat Vacuole: A CAM Soiree
Joe Holtum, James Cook University
Thursday 24 February 2011 at 11:00 am
Redesigning ruminant agriculture – the Australian experience
Dr Ed Charmley, CSIRO Livestock Industries
Abstract
The Coming Famine
Julian Cribb in his recent book “The Coming Famine” tells us that there are numerous indicators that would suggest that the ability of the planet to provide enough food for its human population will be tested in the decades ahead. While we may not all agree with his thesis, the facts still remain pretty startling. The climate change issue may quickly be overtaken as the current topic of concern with food security taking centre stage. Agriculture will have to adapt and respond rapidly and dramatically. In the past, such responses have been achieved only by mining the resources from the future. A future “green revolution” will have the added challenge of increasing food production from a planet with diminished and dwindling inputs and resilience.
The role for Ruminants
But in this rapidly developing World the demand for animal protein continues to grow and yet we know that the inherent inefficiencies in converting plant protein to human food via an animal intermediary is not efficient. Thus animal agriculture has an even greater challenge if we are to meet the demands for animal protein. But, with the ruminant, we have an animal that can convert plant biomass which is unfit for human consumption into a nutrient-dense, highly desirable range of food products in a manner that is complementary to the production of crops for food and bio-fuels.
The Future of Ruminant Agriculture
In the future, ruminant agriculture will play a critical role in meeting the protein requirements of the global population. But the means by which this is achieved, the parts of the globe where this is done, and possibly the species we harvest may all be very different. It is an exciting future and as ever, necessity is the mother of invention. We can only speculate as to how our industry will respond, but hang on for the ride we are in for some interesting times.
More about Dr Ed Charmley
Thursday 10 February at 11:00 am
Mental models, social representations and social change:
Towards integrative theory
Dr Tim Lynam, Research Team Leader, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
About the speaker
Tim Lynam is a senior research scientist with CSIRO's social and economic sciences program. Since moving to Australia (from Zimbabwe) six years ago Tim has been working on processes and tools for regional adaptation and vulnerability assessments; on understanding adaptation and adaptive capacity to climate change; on societal failure to solve slow onset problems and on the management of water quality going into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.Engineering.
Abstract
Human activity is widely recognised as a major determinant of the state of the Earth. Managers and scientists alike recognise the necessity of understanding human – environment interactions in order to effectively manage Earth systems to achieve sustainable human well being. Some important elements of the wealth of understanding generated through social sciences research over the past two centuries has not made its way into the practice of researchers and managers dealing with human – environment interactions. One particularly rich area of theory that could contribute to improving our ability to understand and manage human – environment interactions has to do with how people, individually and collectively, think about the world.
Our thoughts about the world and many of our actions within the world are the product of the sets of beliefs we hold about how social and environmental systems work. Some of these beliefs are deeply held and arise through everyday social interaction among people. We commonly refer to these beliefs as "common sense" whilst social psychologists call them social representations. When we ask someone how something works they construct what we call a mental model; a cognitive representation that is constructed by an individual to serve a particular purpose in a particular context. Mental models are temporary belief structures that facilitate our everyday planning and action.
In this seminar I will present a synthesis of work that a number of colleagues and I have been involved with over the past four years. We have sought to better understand how to elicit and to analyse both mental models and social representations. Because much of what we do as applied scientists assumes some mechanism through which our science will bring about change in individuals, in groups or in society I will also describe a simple model that links mental models and social representations to current theories of social change and could contribute to our reflecting on the mechanisms we assume will give rise to social change. Finally I will discuss some of the implications of our work for research that is related to people and for people seeking to bring about or facilitate social change.
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