Agriculture CentralWing;Ph 6488 2208;Email:megan.ryan@uwa.edu.au Areas ofinterest
Y Phosphorus(P)dynamicsinpasturesandrevegetatedareasinthePeelHarveyregion
Y Abilityofnativelegumestoremediatehydrocarboncontaminationofsoil
Y HerbaceousnativeplantswithnovelPnutrition
Y ArbuscularmycorrhizalfungiandplantPnutrition
Y Newannualandperennialpasturelegumes PROJECTTITLE:Effectofloweringthe concentration ofsoilavailable Pon competition amongpasturespecies ofdifferingP requirements and common pasture weeds. BACKGROUND – P reserves are diminishingand there is an urgentneed to reduce Puse in farmingsystems.In pastures, Pfertiliseruse could be reduced through replacingcurrentpasture legumes (iesubclover)with species with a lowercriticalP(ie species thatreach maximumyield ata lowerP levelegserradellas). However, itis unknown howa change in soilPwould affectcompetition atgerminationamongthese legumes and otherpasture species and weeds.This projectwould lookatthe competition betweensubclover, serradella, annualryegrass and capeweed undera range ofsoilP levels.
PROFESSORERIKVENEKLAAS
Room2.104 Agriculture CentralWing;Ph 6488 3584;Email:Erik.Veneklaas@uwa.edu.au PlantPhysiologicalEcology Mymain interestis in howplants are affected bytheirenvironment(e.g. climatic and soilconditions), butalso howplants affecttheirenvironment(e.g.invadingweedsaffectingnative plantcommunities,revegetation effects on rehabilitated land, positive effects ofcompanion crops and rotationalcrops, legumesmobilisingsoilP). The main factors ofinterestin SW Australia are waterand mineralnutrients (especiallyP). Belowis a listofpossible topics, butIalso welcomeyourown ideas!Do contactme ifyouwantto knowmore! Ecophysiology ofnative species under stress
DeclineofSWAustralianeucalypts(Eucalyptuswandoo).OurStateCentreofExcellenceforClimateChange,WoodlandandForestHealthoffersvariousopportunitiestodoresearchprojectsintotreedeclinesthatareoccurringinwoodlandsandforestsoftheregion,andappeartoberelatedtoreducedrainfall.Projectsmayincludetreewaterrelations,nutrition,pathology,competition,modelling, etc. For scholarship info see website(http://www.treehealth.murdoch.edu.au/index.html).CollaborationswithPieterPootandMichaelRenton. Martin Bader,JeromeChopard and severalothers outside UWA.
Samphireecophysiologyatthe Fortescue Marshes in the Pilbara:drought,flooding, salinity. Tissuetolerance, wateruse and Cbalance, rootdynamics, population dynamics,ecohydrologyCollaboration with TimColmer.
Fitnessdifferencesbetweendifferentprovenancesofnativespecies,andtheircrossbredoffspring,exposed to abiotic stress. Collaboration with SiegyKrauss and HansLambers.
Ecologicalengineeringand ecohydrology:achievingdefined hydrologicaloutcomesthroughoptimalcombinations ofplantspecies and soilconditions. Collaboration with Christoph Hinzand HansLambers.
Phosphoruseconomyofnativeplants:relationshipsbetweenPacquisitionefficiency,Puseefficiency,growthanddominancestatusinnativeecosystems.CollaborationwithHansLambers,KingsleyDixon and Francois Teste.
Phosphorus use efficiencyofcrops.
Timingand placementofclusterroots – costs and benefits in terms ofCand P.
ASSOCIATEPROFESSORTHOMASWERNBERG
SchoolofPlantBiology&AustralianInstituteofMarineBiology,UWAOceansInstitute,Fairway,Ph.6369 4047, thomas.wernberg@uwa.edu.au ECOLOGYOFMARINEPLANTSONREEFSANDINESTUARIES;CLIMATECHANGEANDINVASIVE SPECIES ThomasWernberg’smainresearchinterestsareecologicalinteractionsinvolvingmarineplantsonandaroundsubtidalreefsandinestuaries(e.g.,theSwanRiver).Hisresearchhasastrongempiricalfocusandreliesonfieldandlaboratoryobservationsandexperimentstoteaseapartthecausesofspeciesdistributioninnature.Heisparticularlyinterestedinthenexusbetweenphysiology,ecologyandbiogeography,andtheneedtounderstandcurrentandfuturepatternsofglobalchange(climatechange,invasivespecies,eutrophication). Most,butnotall,ofhisprojectswillrequireanabilitytoscubadive,andmanyprojectswillrequirewillingnesstoparticipateinfieldtripstoremotecoastalareas(e.g.,temperatesouthcoast,tropicalnorthwestcoast).Projectswillbeco-supervisedbyoneormoreofhiscurrentcollaborators–ProfGaryKendrick(UWA),Dr.DanSmale(UWA),AndrewHeyward(AIMS),MartialDepcynski(AIMS),Dr.MatVanderklift(CSIRO), and Dr. Mads Thomsen (Danish NationalResearch Institute). ProjectIdeas
Ecologyofmacroalgae in coralreeflagoons;
Distribution and diversityofcoastalmacroalgae in the Kimberleyregion;