The Australian Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis has recently confirmed five working groups and a workshop as part of its support for the synthesis of knowledge on a variety of ecological problems and questions.
Dr Kerrie Wilson, at the University of Queensland, leads a working group that will use the Great Western Woodlands of south-western Australia as a case study to design a method for mapping vegetation condition for a large region, so that the information provided can be used to prioritise conservation efforts. The project is called ‘Spatial prioritisation for conservation and management’.
Dr Tim Malthus, at CSIRO Land and Water, leads the development of a proposed international standard for ensuring the quality of data from optical measurement instruments such as spectroradiometers. The project is called ‘Bio-optical data: Best practice and legacy data sets’.
Associate Professor Clive McAlpine, at the University of Queensland, leads a working group that will share research data collection and knowledge about regional koala populations so as to develop an understanding of koala population dynamics across the animal’s geographic range. The results will help those making decisions on how best to conserve koalas. The project is called ‘Conserving koalas in the 21st century: Synthesising the dynamics of Australia’s koala populations’.
The other projects funded in this round were mentioned in the last issue of this newsletter. Details about all ACEAS-funded projects can be accessed from the centre’s Science and Synthesis page.
