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National Environmental Science Program
November 2022 update
With the second phase of the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) well underway, our 4 hubs are a hive of research activity. Hub teams and partnerships are well-established, initial scoping projects are wrapping up, and applied research projects are progressing across the country.
Core to NESP is strong, continuous engagement with research-users at all levels of government, as well as natural resource managers, industry, First Nations people and communities. This ensures not only that research projects are identified and developed with end-users, but also that outputs from projects are designed for maximum usefulness, usability and uptake. NESP research isn’t intended to sit on a shelf; it provides a practical evidence base for the design, delivery and on-ground outcomes for environmental programs.
In addition to engaging with their primary research-users, the hubs have also been connecting with the broader research world, business leaders and the community.
The Climate Systems Hub partnered with AdaptNSW to host the National Adaptation Forum earlier this month, attended by climate adaptation specialists, science communicators, Traditional Owners, researchers and policy-makers. The hub’s Climate adaptation Initiative Leader, Associate Professor Sarah Boulter, organised the forum, at which Assistant Minister for Climate Change Jenny McAllister hosted a roundtable with climate academics and practitioners. The hub also attended the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt to present its co-designed research on the global stage.
Speaking at many public, leadership and industry events, the Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub has highlighted the opportunities and challenges of managing Australia’s waste, moving to a circular economy and enabling net-zero industries.
In mid-November, the Marine and Coastal Hub supported 2 Indigenous rangers from the Wanyurr-Majay Aboriginal Corporation and 2 from the Torres Strait Regional Authority to attend the Reef Restoration and Leadership Workshop. Held annually at Goolboodhi (Orpheus) Island Research Station, the 4-day workshop provides an opportunity for participants to share knowledge of reef restoration methods, contribute to fieldwork and strengthen their leadership skills.
Meanwhile at the recent National Natural Resource Management Knowledge Conference, the Resilient Landscapes Hub showcased its approach to co-designing research for transformative solutions, and building strong, genuine partnerships with First Nations people to heal Country.
Read on to explore some of the latest NESP research highlights.
Hub highlights
Resilient Landscapes Hub
What are the best ways to manage feral cats?
Feral cats have an unsustainable impact on Australia’s native animals. Management programs to effectively reduce feral cat impacts are sorely needed, but land managers often lack clear guidance on designing and implementing best-practice management programs in their local contexts.
A Resilient Landscapes Hub project led by Associate Professor Guy Ballard and Dr Annalie Dorph from the University of New England is working with experts to determine best-practice management for cats and foxes and identify research to address knowledge gaps to improve the future management of these invasive species.
A project workshop brought together feral cat experts from across Australia who assessed the effectiveness of 10 management techniques across a range of ecoregions. For control at large scales, baiting emerged as the most effective technique for reducing feral cat numbers. However, at smaller scales in certain ecoregions, more socially acceptable methods of control may also be effective. These could include tracking with detector dogs or modifying resources – for example, controlling rabbit populations to reduce prey availability. This valuable information will be used to develop an integrated management decision tool for land managers.
Experts also identified and prioritised key research gaps. They agreed the most pressing research needs are:
- developing effective monitoring
- understanding cat impacts on prey species
- measuring how long management benefits last
- quantifying cat population exchange between urban and natural areas
- finding ways to prioritise sites for attempted eradication.
Read more in the workshop report.
Marine and Coastal Hub
Macquarie Harbour last refuge for Maugean Skate, eDNA survey finds
The endangered Maugean Skate is a unique species once resident in Macquarie Harbour and Bathurst Harbour in western and south-western Tasmania. Environmental DNA (eDNA) research by the Marine and Coastal Hub indicates that the species now exists as a viable population only in Macquarie Harbour.
The hub study sought to detect the presence of Maugean Skate in Bathurst Harbour, where only 4 individuals have ever been seen, and none has been sighted since 1992. Water samples were collected across the harbour by University of Tasmania Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies researchers, but the samples yielded only minute traces of Maugean Skate DNA. These were most likely remnant biological material such as egg cases that remained in the sediment, or a few live individuals at the most.
The results indicate that the only known Maugean Skate population lives in Macquarie Harbour, where the species is subject to several pressures. It highlights the vulnerability of the species and the need for conservation action focused on the population in this harbour.
Climate Systems Hub
Understanding cyclones: science to protect our reefs
Discover the effects of future cyclones on reefs
Global projections show there will be fewer but more intense cyclones in northern Australia. What does this mean for our reefs?
New research from the Climate Systems Hub has looked at the potential for downscaled tropical cyclone projections to be used in management decisions to protect our reefs.
No matter what our future climate holds, tropical coral reefs will be exposed to damage from cyclones.
Cyclones have myriad impacts on our reefs. Heavy rainfall from these events can cause flooding, resulting in polluted runoff, which affects coral health. But it’s waves that have the potential to cause the most severe damage. Intense waves break apart the physical structure of our reefs, which can then take decades, and in some cases centuries, to recover.
Hub researcher Hamish Ramsay collaborated with the University of Leeds, the University of Queensland and the Australian Institute of Marine Science to investigate how climate models can help us understand the key characteristics of cyclones that influence wave damage.
Their results found that the Great Barrier Reef will experience more slow-moving cyclones that cause the most damage to reefs, but further research is needed to understand other regions. Hub researchers in this cross-disciplinary team are still working to find out as much as they can about the impact of past and future cyclones on reefs, and improve our understanding of our climate through improved climate models.
The hub’s Regional climate change guidance for local action project will look at improving methods for representing key physical processes in models, such as wind, and hazards such as tropical cyclones.
Hub researchers are using multiple lines of evidence, including different downscaling methods, to inform regional extreme weather projections. This will help improve our understanding of the impacts of cyclones at a local scale, and once the risks are understood, inform the management and protection of our reefs.
Read more on the hub’s website.
Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub
Improving air quality
Find out how the hub’s work will contribute to improved air quality
Through its air quality theme, the Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub is aiming to reduce the exposure of Australian communities to poor air quality.
The hub’s research will provide tools and knowledge that will empower governments, communities and individuals to coordinate interventions to reduce people’s exposure to air pollution and protect human health. These will include:
- improved guidance on the use of high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters for improving indoor air quality
- guidelines on the selection and use of low-cost sensor networks for managing local air quality problems.
The hub will also work with policy-makers to:
- support planning for the impacts of a warming climate on future air quality
- maximise the co-benefits of reducing emissions and improving air quality.
A core objective of the hub’s air quality work is to foster greater participation in the research and uptake of research outcomes by First Nations researchers and stakeholders. To start the conversation, the hub team is partnering with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to produce a roadmap towards building relationships with Indigenous researchers and communities around air quality and smoke.
Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub
Keep up to date
Stay in touch and find out more about the interesting work happening across the Australian Government’s climate, water and environment portfolios: