Ecosystem Processes and Threat Mitigation
Land use change, climate change and invasive alien species represent the three biggest threats to the effective conservation of biodiversity. Greater clarity on these impacts and solutions to mitigate them will build the capacity of land managers to understand and manage the processes that maintain or threaten ecosystems such as fire regimes, water availability and management, climate, introduced species, disease and fragmentation/ loss of connectivity through land clearing.
Conservation and Restoration
Collaboration between industry and researchers has developed restoration technologies for regions of the State, notably within alumina leases on the Darling Ranges. These capabilities will be extended across other land use systems and ecological communities, including developing technologies for ex-situ conservation and translocations of plants and animals.
Biodiversity Data and Information Management
A great deal of information on the State’s biodiversity has already been collected and interpreted by research agencies and industry. An improved knowledge management system will be developed to facilitate aggregation, interpretation and access to the existing data held by government, industry and research agencies. Information Management is a foundational program that supports the collection, analysis and reporting of information derived from the other research nodes.
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENT
Biodiversity survey
Western Australia is characterised by incredible diversity of plant and animal species across varied landscapes/ecological communities. A comprehensive understanding of the State’s biological resources, their distribution and processes that underpin their distribution will be delivered as a foundational research element across our programs.
Cross cutting themes
• Stakeholder engagement
• Transdisciplinary research
• Social and economic analysis
• Aboriginal knowledge
• Communication and adoption