Landscape and Spatial Science

The major effect of European agriculture on the Australian environment has been the extensive clearing of perennial vegetation. This change has altered water and nutrient balances and rates of soil renewal and loss in the landscape. In the last two decades Australians have become much more aware of the changes we have wrought on the land and many government and non government programs e.g. Landcare, Rivercare, regional land and water management plans, have been developed. But what is the evidence that these programs are making a positive difference? The hypothesis to be tested is "the distribution and density of perennial vegetation in agricultural areas of SA has increased in the last decade." This research will need to use spatial survey techniques as well as historical remote sensed data to identify where perennial vegetation has been restored and where it has been lost. Close cooperation with relevant state agencies as well as the influential non-government organisations is likely.

Supervisors - Prof Wayne Meyer and Assoc. Prof.  Megan Lewis

Managing our natural resources of soils, water, biota and the atmosphere is both critical and complex. We understand that the environmental system in our agricultural regions has many components that are connected and interdependent. This means that management interventions designed to maintain or improve production and conserve biodiversity can have many unintended and sometimes detrimental effects. To improve the chances of identifying better systems management it would be ideal to have extensive regional based experimentation. Clearly though this is rarely possible. An alternative is to build simulation and agent based models of these regions and to conduct "virtual" experiments that represent the biophysical system as it is now. Importantly though this capability allows projection of possible future climates and conditions. We can learn from these projections to identify which management options will help us adapt best. There are several model systems that can be used and this research will test the validity of a generic vegetation and water balance model to adequately represent the diversity of an agricultural region.

Supervisor - Prof Wayne Meyer

The Great Artesian Basin (GAB) of Australia is the largest groundwater basin in the world, underlying 22% of the Australian continent: its aquifer system is of national and international significance. Groundwater from the GAB supports a series of Mound Springs, of great ecological, evolutionary and biogeographical significance. However, these groundwater-dependent ecosystems are under threat as water is withdrawn from the GAB aquifer for pastoralism, mining and associated urban and industrial development.

The research will work with advanced forms of remote sensing and spatial data (airborne hyperspectral, lidar and digital photography and multi-temporal satellite imagery) as well as field survey to develop new approaches to vegetation discrimination and monitoring. The aim is to improve our ability to identify conservation significance of the mound springs, detect impacts of grazing and reduced water flow, and to develop approaches for on-going monitoring of changes to the wetlands. The postgraduate student will work within a major research project supported by the National Water Commission, and in collaboration with a partners including the SA Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board and Dept. Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation. Top-up scholarship and project support funds are available.

Supervisors - Assoc. Prof. Megan Lewis and Dr Davina White

It is difficult to assess and monitor biodiversity over extensive areas with field surveys. Broad-scale satellite imagery and spatial data may be used to develop surrogates for biodiversity that can be applied to predict biodiversity "hotspots" and threats in sensitive areas. This project uses broad-scale satellite imagery and spatial data to develop surrogates for biodiversity that can be applied to predict biodiversity "hotspots" and threats in sensitive areas. Relationships between spatial surrogates and ecological survey data will be explored as part of the research, which will be conducted in collaboration with SA government agencies.

Supervisors - Assoc. Prof. Megan Lewis, Dr Bertram Ostendorf and Dr Ken Clarke

The Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats is South Australia's faunal emblem. Due to their size and impact on the land, the species causes continued conflict between farmers and conservation. Is is appropriate to continue to cull the animals? How will the population develop into the future? What are the threats from climate change and disease? In order to answer such questions, we need to be able to predict the future dynamics of the wombat populations in space and time. Newer research results from our group show that albeit that the species is robust and abundant, climate change may severely impact wombat distribution. Further research is needed to provide sufficient evidence for policy development and future management. This project aims at finding a relationship between warren number/size/location and wombat population using remotely sensed information as wombat warrens can readily identified on satellite imagery.

Supervisors - Dr. Bertram Ostendorf, Dr David Taggart

The Mallee Emu-wren is a critically endangered species and on-ground actions are required to help ensure the survival of the species. Habitat for this important species will be documented using imagery and spatial information (including Laser Altimetry and high resolution aerial photography) in conjunction with predictive models. Information will be extracted to find optimal locations for reintroduction of the emu-wren in the dryer parts of South Australia in collaboration with state government agencies. Current habitat in Hattah-Kulkyne National Park (Victoria) will be compared with locations in Billiat Conservation Park.

Supervisors - Dr. Bertram Ostendorf, Dr. David Paton, Assoc. Prof. Megan Lewis

The Kimberley region is one of Australia's most threatened areas due to mining and the advancement of the cane toad. It is clear, that invaders cannot be kept out at the large scale. We have been conducting a large number of fauna field surveys, which could be used to assess spatial differences in conservation value within the region. In order to minimise species loss, we need to prioritise areas that will be managed intensively (i.e. monitoring and eradication of invaders). We are currently working on a project that aims to increase aboriginal involvement in conservation so this project might also be of interest for students with general interest in environmental education at remote locations.

Supervisors - Dr. Bertram Ostendorf, Dr. David Taggart, Assoc. Prof. Megan Lewis

Planting trees in the cropping zone is seen as a possible solution to mitigate increasing atmospheric CO2 levels. In addition to income from carbon credits, a mixed land use provides a range of environmental benefits (salinity, biodiversity). But how much carbon is taken up given biophysical constraints (climate, soils) and how do the credits (carbon, environmental) compare with the farmers loss of cropping or grazing? This project is geared towards students with an interest in regional management and addresses the question under which conditions trees may be a viable alternative option for farmers and rural communities. The project will be in collaboration with DWLBC.

Supervisors - Dr. Bertram Ostendorf, Trevor Hobbs

Precision agriculture is a rapidly expanding technology. Very detailed yield data have been collected for a wide range of crops. Because yield varies substantially across paddocks, precision agriculture will allow improved management that can lessen environmental impact. The project will aim to identify a network of areas that are underperforming and hence might cause little or no economic loss if taken out of production, yet potentially constitute an important network for biological conservation. This interdisciplinary project will combine aspects of agricultural productivity, farm and regional financial sustainability with regional biodiversity conservation management. Results from this project will help farmers and catchment groups to manage environmental and economic sustainability, yet increase biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

Supervisors - Dr. Bertram Ostendorf, Dr. Greg Lyle, Assoc. Prof.  Megan Lewis

The projects aim at understanding the linkages between land processes and marine biodiversity. Little attention has been paid to soil erosion as a cause of marine habitat degradation. Time series of satellite imagery and spatial terrestrial information will be collated and used to establish causes of land-based nutrient inputs into coastal waters. This information will then be related to pattern of marine benthic flora and fauna. Spatial prediction models will be developed and used to assess how future scenarios of different land management and climate (in particular rainfall intensity and variability) may affect spatial pattern of marine biodiversity.

Supervisors - Dr. Bertram Ostendorf, Dr. Bryan McDonald, Assoc. Prof. Megan Lewis

Imaging spectroscopy or hyperspectral remote sensing captures and exploits differences in the absorption and reflectance of various materials e.g. vegetation, water, soils and minerals. Pigments, biochemicals, minerals and water have characteristic molecular absorptions at specific wavelengths in the visible-shortwave infrared part of the spectrum (400-2500nm). These can be used to detect particular materials in mixtures in the environment and to estimate their relative abundance and distribution.

We apply hyperspectral analysis to:

• Discriminating different types and conditions of vegetation
• Mapping and monitoring mound spring wetland vegetation
• Detecting symptoms of dryland salinity
• Developing new methods of characterizing and mapping soils
• Analysis of soil profiles and cores
• Broadscale land condition assessment and monitoring
• Remote Sensing for agricultural lands
• Remote Sensing for arid lands

Supervisors - Assoc Prof. Megan Lewis