Showing items 1 - 16 of 16

Your selections:

Germination ecology of Chloris truncata and its implication for weed management

- Chauhan, Bhagirath, Manalil, Sudheesh, Florentine, Singarayer, Jha, Prashant

  • Authors: Chauhan, Bhagirath , Manalil, Sudheesh , Florentine, Singarayer , Jha, Prashant
  • Date: 2018
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: PLoS ONE Vol. 13, no. 7 (2018), p. 1-13
  • Full Text:
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Chloris truncata is a significant weed in summer crops in the subtropical region of Australia. A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of environmental factors on germination and emergence of two populations of C. truncata. Overall, germination was not affected by the populations. Seeds germinated at a wide range of alternating day/night temperatures, suggesting that seeds can germinate throughout the spring, winter and autumn seasons. Seed germination was stimulated by the presence of light; however, 51 to 71% of these seeds still germinated in the dark. The sodium chloride concentration and osmotic potential required to inhibit germination of 50% of the population were 179 mM and -0.52 MPa, respectively. A high proportion of seeds germinated over a wide pH range (4 to 10). Seeds placed on the soil surface had greatest germination (67%) and a burial depth of 3 cm resulted in complete inhibition of emergence. The sorghum residue amount required to reduce emergence by 50% was 1.8 t ha-1. The results suggest that, although this weed will be favored in no-till systems, residue retention on the soil surface will help in reducing its infestation. Seed bank buildup can be managed by burying seeds below the depth of emergence. © 2018 Chauhan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

An empirical study of 'green' workplace behaviours : Ability, motivation and opportunity

- Rayner, Julie, Morgan, Damian

  • Authors: Rayner, Julie , Morgan, Damian
  • Date: 2018
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources Vol. 56, no. 1 (2018), p. 56-78
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Green human resource management contributes to an understanding of the role of human resource management (HRM) towards sustainability and environmental outcomes. This paper assesses employees’ environmental knowledge as well as self-perceptions of ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) to practise green behaviours by operationalising the AMO framework towards a pro-environmental agenda. The study draws on a survey sample of 394 employees from five organisations in regional Australia. Key findings show that pro-environmental AMO are positively associated with green behaviours and that these are more prevalent at home than in the workplace. Further, line managers moderate the relationship between pro-environmental AMO and green behaviour although not the relationship between environmental knowledge and green behaviour. Such benchmark measurement informs HRM policies, practices and interventions and contributes to environmental management.

Two roles for ecological surrogacy : indicator surrogates and management surrogates

- Hunter, Malcolm, Westgate, Martin, Barton, Philip, Calhoun, Aram, Pierson, Jennifer

  • Authors: Hunter, Malcolm , Westgate, Martin , Barton, Philip , Calhoun, Aram , Pierson, Jennifer
  • Date: 2016
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Ecological Indicators Vol. 63, no. (2016), p. 121-125
  • Full Text:
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Ecological surrogacy - here defined as using a process or element (e.g., species, ecosystem, or abiotic factor) to represent another aspect of an ecological system - is a widely used concept, but many applications of the surrogate concept have been controversial. We argue that some of this controversy reflects differences among users with different goals, a distinction that can be crystalized by recognizing two basic types of surrogate. First, many ecologists and natural resource managers measure "indicator surrogates" to provide information about ecological systems. Second, and often overlooked, are "management surrogates" (e.g., umbrella species) that are primarily used to facilitate achieving management goals, especially broad goals such as "maintain biodiversity" or "increase ecosystem resilience." We propose that distinguishing these two overarching roles for surrogacy may facilitate better communication about project goals. This is critical when evaluating the usefulness of different surrogates, especially where a potential surrogate might be useful in one role but not another. Our classification for ecological surrogacy applies to species, ecosystems, ecological processes, abiotic factors, and genetics, and thus can provide coherence across a broad range of uses. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Philip Barton" is provided in this record**

The Usefulness of a threat and disturbance categorization developed for Queensland Wetlands to Environmental Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation

- Lynch, Jasmyn

  • Authors: Lynch, Jasmyn
  • Date: 2011
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Environmental Management Vol. 471, no. 1 (2011), p. 40-55
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: There is no comprehensive system of describing threats and disturbances currently used in Australia, despite the widespread impacts of human activities on natural ecosystems. Yet a detailed categorization would facilitate the collation of threatening process information into information systems; enable standardized collection and availability of data; and enable comparative analyses of ecosystem condition between stakeholders, agencies, states, and nations, particularly for environmental reporting and evaluation mechanisms such as State of the Environment. As part of the Queensland Wetlands Programme (QWP), a threat and disturbance framework was developed, focused on the pressure and impacts components of the DPSIR (driver-pressure-state-impacts-response) framework. A wetland inventory database was developed also that included a detailed threat and disturbance categorization using the QWP framework. The categorization encompasses a broad range of anthropogenic and natural processes, and is hierarchical to accommodate varying levels of detail or knowledge. By incorporating detailed qualitative and quantitative information, a comprehensive threats and disturbances categorization can contribute to conceptual or spatially explicit knowledge and management assessments. The application of the framework and categorization to several threatening processes is demonstrated, and its relationship to current natural resource condition indicators is discussed. Threat evaluation is an essential component of ecological assessment and environmental management, and a standardized categorization enables consistency in attributing processes, impacts and their short- to long-term consequences. Such a systematic framework and categorization demonstrates the importance and usefulness of comprehensive approaches, and this approach can be readily adapted to management, monitoring and evaluation of other target ecosystems and biota.

The use and utility of surrogates in biodiversity monitoring programmes

- Sato, Chloe, Westgate, Martin, Barton, Philip, Foster, Claire, O'Loughlin, Luke

Paleolimnology and the restoration of aquatic systems

- Gell, Peter, Bennion, Helen, Battarbee, Richard

A dynamic game behavior : Demand side management based on utility maximization with renewable energy and storage integration

- Zhang, Wang, Chen, Guo, Su, Yu, Dong, Zhaoyang, Li, Jeuyou

  • Authors: Zhang, Wang , Chen, Guo , Su, Yu , Dong, Zhaoyang , Li, Jeuyou
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: 24th Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference, AUPEC 2014; Curtin University, Perth, Australia; 28th September-1st October 2014
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: In the smart grid environment, customers are offered to participate more actively in the electricity energy market with the promise of demand side management (DSM) with distributed energy resources and energy storage. By utilizing proper incentive scheme such as dynamic pricing, numerous objectives could be achieved so that it could benefit both the utility companies and consumers. In this paper, a smart grid environment with multiple users with renewable energy and energy storage devices equipped with smart meters and energy management devices (EMD) is considered. We present a fast distributed algorithm for demand-side management based on the social welfare maximization problem under the dynamic pricing scheme. We also introduced the dynamic game to illustrate the interaction between the utility company and its subscribers, which eventually leads to an equilibrium point. The simulation result validates that the proposed demand side management framework with real time pricing has an effective impact on reducing the peak demand as well as utilizing the renewable energy resources and energy storage devices. © 2014 ACPE.

Seed germination response of a potential rangeland weed Psilocaulon granulicaule to selected environmental conditions

- Ranaweera, Rekha, Weller, Sandra, Florentine, Singarayer

  • Authors: Ranaweera, Rekha , Weller, Sandra , Florentine, Singarayer
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Journal of Botany Vol. 68, no. 5 (2020), p. 363-368
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Studies show that just over 620 non-native naturalised plant species have been recorded within the Australian rangelands, some of which have a capacity to cause significant impacts on rangeland flora and grazing activity. Although Psilocaulon granulicaule (Haw.), Schwantes is listed as a highly invasive environmental weed species, there has been no previous research into its seed ecology. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of temperature, light, pH, water stress, heat-shock, and salinity on the germination of P. granulicaule. In this study, four temperature regimes covering four different day and night temperature variations (17-7°C, 25-15°C, 30-25°C and 40-30°C) and two light regimes (12-h light-12-h dark, 24-h dark) were investigated. The effects of pH, water stress, heat-shock and salinity were investigated, using pH buffers, polyethylene glycol solutions, three heat shock events under four temperatures and a range of NaCl solutions. These tests were conducted under the identified optimum temperature range (25/15°C) and light regime for seed germination. The results showed that both temperature and photoperiod significantly influenced the germination rate, with 94.2% germination in the 25-15°C range under a 12-h light-12-h dark regime. Higher temperatures (30-40°C) reduced seed germination to <58% germination in both light regimes (57.5%, 12-h light-12-h dark; 54.17%, 24-h dark). The highest germination rates were observed in low pH solutions, high moisture levels, low heat-shocks and low salinity. The study showed that this species is sensitive to environmental factors such as temperature, light, pH, moisture, heat shock and salinity, suggesting that these factors can be used as critical indicators to guide effective management practices to address this weed problem. Given that seeds are sensitive to radiant heat, burning could be used as a tool to effectively manage this species. © 2020 CSIRO.

Regime shifts, thresholds and multiple stable states in freshwater ecosystems; a critical appraisal of the evidence

- Capon, Samantha, Lynch, Jasmyn, Bond, Nick, Chessman, Bruce, Davis, Jenny, Davidson, Nick, Finlayson, C. Max, Gell, Peter, Hohnberg, David, Humphrey, Chris, Kingsford, Richard, Nielsen, Daryl, Thomson, James, Ward, Keith, Mac Nally, Ralph

  • Authors: Capon, Samantha , Lynch, Jasmyn , Bond, Nick , Chessman, Bruce , Davis, Jenny , Davidson, Nick , Finlayson, C. Max , Gell, Peter , Hohnberg, David , Humphrey, Chris , Kingsford, Richard , Nielsen, Daryl , Thomson, James , Ward, Keith , Mac Nally, Ralph
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Science of the Total Environment Vol. , no. (2015), p.
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: The concepts of ecosystem regime shifts, thresholds and alternative or multiple stable states are used extensively in the ecological and environmental management literature. When applied to aquatic ecosystems, these terms are used inconsistently reflecting differing levels of supporting evidence among ecosystem types. Although many aquatic ecosystems around the world have become degraded, the magnitude and causes of changes, relative to the range of historical variability, are poorly known. A working group supported by the Australian Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (ACEAS) reviewed 135 papers on freshwater ecosystems to assess the evidence for pressure-induced non-linear changes in freshwater ecosystems; these papers used terms indicating sudden and non-linear change in their titles and key words, and so was a positively biased sample. We scrutinized papers for study context and methods, ecosystem characteristics and focus, types of pressures and ecological responses considered, and the type of change reported (i.e., gradual, non-linear, hysteretic or irreversible change). There was little empirical evidence for regime shifts and changes between multiple or alternative stable states in these studies although some shifts between turbid phytoplankton-dominated states and clear-water, macrophyte-dominated states were reported in shallow lakes in temperate climates. We found limited understanding of the subtleties of the relevant theoretical concepts and encountered few mechanistic studies that investigated or identified cause-and-effect relationships between ecological responses and nominal pressures. Our results mirror those of reviews for estuarine, nearshore and marine aquatic ecosystems, demonstrating that although the concepts of regime shifts and alternative stable states have become prominent in the scientific and management literature, their empirical underpinning is weak outside of a specific environmental setting. The application of these concepts in future research and management applications should include evidence on the mechanistic links between pressures and consequent ecological change. Explicit consideration should also be given to whether observed temporal dynamics represent variation along a continuum rather than categorically different states.

Introduction to the application of paleoecological techniques in estuaries

- Taffs, Kathryn, Saunders, Krystyna, Weckstrom, Kaarina, Gell, Peter, Skilbeck, Gregory

  • Authors: Taffs, Kathryn , Saunders, Krystyna , Weckstrom, Kaarina , Gell, Peter , Skilbeck, Gregory
  • Date: 2017
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Applications of paleoenvironmental techniques in estuarine studies (Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research series) Chapter 1 p. 1-6
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Worldwide, estuarine research involving a long-term perspective to aid conservation and management has lagged behind terrestrial and lake environment research. Consequently, despite the obvious importance of estuaries, this means we have limited detailed knowledge of how they function or the ranges of natural variability they experience and how humans have, and will interact with these influences. Gaining a clear understanding using a long-term perspective is crucial if we are to maintain and restore the integrity of estuarine environments. While paleoecological studies in the ocean and lakes are well-established science, applications of paleoecological techniques in estuarine environments remains largely novel and in some cases problematic. In recent years estuarine paleoecological research has rapidly developed and an increasing range of technological applications is improving our understanding of the dynamic and variable nature of estuaries. The purpose of this book is to briefly describe estuarine form and function and to demonstrate the application of different paleoecological approaches used in estuaries that develop our understanding of their response to natural and human influences. Chapters 1–4 provide the framework for this book. They describe the characteristics of estuaries, important factors influencing them and introduce paleoecology as a useful tool for estuarine management. The following chapters (5–7) outline the essential steps required for undertaking a paleoecological study, in particular with regard to site selection, core extraction and chronological techniques, followed by the range of indicators that can be used. They are divided into geochemical proxies and pollutants (8–10) and biological proxies (11–18). The book concludes with a series of case studies (19–24): the first study focuses on sea level changes, while the rest present research from major estuaries (sensu lato) worldwide, to demonstrate how paleoecological studies can be used to address key questions, and to sustainably manage these important coastal environments in the future.

Incorporating Indigenous values with 'Western' conservation values in sustainable biodiversity management

- Lynch, Jasmyn, Fell, D. G., McIntyre-Tamwoy, Susan

  • Authors: Lynch, Jasmyn , Fell, D. G. , McIntyre-Tamwoy, Susan
  • Date: 2010
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australasian Journal of Environmental Management Vol. 17, no. 4 (2010), p. 244-255
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Biodiversity management in Australia is underlain by legislative mechanisms such as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) and policies such as the national Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity and the international Convention on Biological Diversity. While these policy directives encompass a range of values and components of 'biodiversity', on-ground planning and development assessments often focus only on threatened species and ecosystems as defined in state and national legislation. In regions such as northern Cape York Peninsula, which is managed by the resident Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT), planning for biodiversity management needs to acknowledge the high cultural values of such areas and to encompass Indigenous values and perspectives. A recent study assessed the significant species and habitats of the greater Lockerbie Scrub -the northernmost extent of rainforest in Australia and a region with high species and ecosystem diversity. While it is acknowledged that research into the cultural values of the plant species is preliminary, the minimal overlap between lists of flora from Western (i.e. under legislative mechanisms) and Traditional Owner perspectives suggests that cultural differences in values and perceptions may result in differing conservation management priorities. A more holistic, integrative approach to local and national biodiversity management planning could accommodate multiple perspectives and enable greater environmental and socio-cultural sustainability.

Is what you see what you get? Visual vs. measured assessments of vegetation condition

- Cook, Carly, Wardell-Johnson, Grant, Keatley, Marie, Gowans, Stacey, Gibson, Matthew, Westbrooke, Martin, Marshall, Dustin

  • Authors: Cook, Carly , Wardell-Johnson, Grant , Keatley, Marie , Gowans, Stacey , Gibson, Matthew , Westbrooke, Martin , Marshall, Dustin
  • Date: 2010
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Applied Ecology Vol. 47, no. 3 (2010), p. 650-661
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: 1. An important step in the conservation of biodiversity is to identify what exists, its quantity and its quality (i.e. condition). This can be a daunting task at the landscape-scale, so vegetation communities are often used as surrogates for biodiversity. Satellite imagery has improved our ability to rapidly measure vegetation parameters but the need for calibration still requires rapid and cost-effective on-ground condition assessment. Some management agencies address this need by using visual condition assessments, with unknown consequences for the different purposes of condition data. It is therefore vital to examine the comparability of visual and systematic condition assessment methods to guide their use in conservation decision making. 2. We compared visual assessments of vegetation condition with more systematic and higher resolution on-ground assessments, using a method where both assessments were made for the same quadrats. We determined both the condition parameters observers respond to when making visual assessments of condition, and the consequences of any differences for the application of these data. 3. We found that visual assessment of vegetation condition broadly represented measured assessments of the same vegetation, but that observers simplify their assessments by responding to only some of the measured condition parameters. No consistent trends were found in the parameters observers responded to across the different vegetation types sampled. 4. Synthesis and applications. We conclude that visual estimates of vegetation condition are only of sufficient resolution to replace more expensive, high-resolution assessments at a landscape-scale, when condition results are combined over multiple areas and vegetation types. Visual assessment methods potentially can provide an efficient measure of overall condition for conservation management agencies where practitioners can make assessments of condition in the course of their daily management activities - an important step forward. At smaller scales, idiosyncratic effects render visual estimates highly variable when compared with systematic condition assessments. This variability, especially among vegetation types, suggests that more systematic assessments are necessary when management decisions require higher-resolution estimates of changes in individual condition parameters, such as when measuring the success of individual management actions. These findings provide a valuable guide for selecting the most appropriate approach for the different objectives of condition assessments for biodiversity conservation.
  • Description: 2003008171

Ecosystem services for wine sustainability : a case in point of sustainable food systems

- Sandhu, Sukhbir, Soosay, Claudine, Harris, Howard, Hvolby, Hans-Henrik, Sandhu, Harpinder

  • Authors: Sandhu, Sukhbir , Soosay, Claudine , Harris, Howard , Hvolby, Hans-Henrik , Sandhu, Harpinder
  • Date: 2018
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Handbook of Engaged Sustainability p. 653-682
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: This study investigates the concept of ecosystem services in an Australian grape and wine company and explores risks and opportunities to achieve environmental sustainability in this organization. Ecosystem service approach is an emerging paradigm to address natural resource degradation and achieve sustainability in agribusiness organizations. A case study method is used to identify environmental issues at one of the premium wine organizations based in South Australia. This study conducts semi-structured interviews with multiple informants to analyze how this organization integrates ecosystem services approach in their management systems. These semi-structured interviews with multiple informants identified three categories of environmental issues: (1) primary (water use efficiency, soil health, carbon emissions), (2) secondary (energy, water availability), and (3) tertiary (waste water recycling, salinity in soil, loss of biodiversity, impacts due to climate change projections, winery waste management, soil carbon). We used Ecosystem Based Business Risk Analysis Tool (EBBRAT) and found freshwater availability as a major risk for this organization. This tool led to the identification of key areas, such as biological control of insect pests, maintaining biodiversity and management of soil, as an opportunity for the wine company to enhance sustainability. This study highlights ecosystem service approach to achieve sustainability in wine and other agribusiness organizations. This case study is followed by two interactive exercises to illustrate the application of the ideas discussed in the chapter. The chapter concludes with lessons learnt to develop sustainable food systems and some questions that reflect the ideas presented in the chapter and are aimed at shifting the focus toward food sustainability. © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018. All rights reserved.

Applications of paleoenvironmental techniques in estuarine studies

- Weckstrom, Kaarina, Saunders, Krystyna, Gell, Peter, Skilbeck, Gregory

  • Authors: Weckstrom, Kaarina , Saunders, Krystyna , Gell, Peter , Skilbeck, Gregory
  • Date: 2017
  • Type: Text , Book
  • Relation: Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research Vol. 20
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: The aim of this edited volume is to introduce the scientific community to paleoenvironmental studies of estuaries, to highlight the types of information that can be obtained from such studies, and to promote the use of paleoenvironmental studies in estuarine management. Readers will learn about the the application of different paleoecological approaches used in estuaries that develop our understanding of their response to natural and human influences. Particular attention is given to the essential steps required for undertaking a paleoecological study, in particular with regard to site selection, core extraction and chronological techniques, followed by the range of indicators that can be used. A series of case studies are discussed in the book to demonstrate how paleoecological studies can be used to address key questions, and to sustainably manage these important coastal environments in the future. This book will appeal to professional scientists interested in estuarine studies and/or paleoenvironmental research, as well as estuarine managers who are interested in the incorporation of paleoenvironmental research into their management programs.

A multiobjective reverse logistics model for inventory management with environmental impacts: An application in industry

- Forkan, Mohammad, Rizvi, Mustafa, Chowdhury, Mohammad

  • Authors: Forkan, Mohammad , Rizvi, Mustafa , Chowdhury, Mohammad
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Intelligent Systems with Applications Vol. 14, no. 1-13 (2022), p.
  • Full Text:
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: We propose new mathematical models of inventory management in a reverse logistics system. The proposed models extend the model introduced by Nahmias and Rivera with the assumption that the demand for newly produced and repaired (remanufacturing) items are not the same. We derive two mathematical models and formulate unconstrained and constrained optimization problems to optimize the holding cost. We also introduce the solution procedures of the proposed problems. The exactness of the proposed solutions has been tested by numerical experiments. Nowadays, it is an essential commitment for industries to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as energy consumption during the production and remanufacturing processes. This paper also extends along this line of research, and therewith develops a three-objective mathematical model and provides an algorithm to obtain the Pareto solution.

Transdisciplinary synthesis for ecosystem science, policy and management : The Australian experience

- Lynch, Jasmyn, Thackway, Richard, Specht, Alison, Beggs, Paul, Brisbane, Shantala, Burns, Emma, Byrne, Margaret, Capon, Samantha, Casanova, Michelle, Clarke, Philip, Davies, Janet, Dovers, Stephen, Dwyer, Ross, Ens, Emilie, Fisher, Diana, Flanigan, M., Garnier, Eric, Guru, Siddeswara, Kilminster, Kieryn, Locke, John, Mac Nally, Ralph, McMahon, Kathryn, Mitchell, Paul, Pierson, Jennifer, Rodgers, Essie, Russell-Smith, Jeremy, Udy, James, Waycott, Michelle

  • Authors: Lynch, Jasmyn , Thackway, Richard , Specht, Alison , Beggs, Paul , Brisbane, Shantala , Burns, Emma , Byrne, Margaret , Capon, Samantha , Casanova, Michelle , Clarke, Philip , Davies, Janet , Dovers, Stephen , Dwyer, Ross , Ens, Emilie , Fisher, Diana , Flanigan, M. , Garnier, Eric , Guru, Siddeswara , Kilminster, Kieryn , Locke, John , Mac Nally, Ralph , McMahon, Kathryn , Mitchell, Paul , Pierson, Jennifer , Rodgers, Essie , Russell-Smith, Jeremy , Udy, James , Waycott, Michelle
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Science of the Total Environment Vol. 534, no. (2015), p. 173-184
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Mitigating the environmental effects of global population growth, climatic change and increasing socio-ecological complexity is a daunting challenge. To tackle this requires synthesis: the integration of disparate information to generate novel insights from heterogeneous, complex situations where there are diverse perspectives. Since 1995, a structured approach to inter-, multi- and trans-disciplinary. 11Transdisciplinary: A theory, methodology, point of view or perspective that transcends entrenched categories and engages both researchers and practitioners in formulating problems in new ways to address real-world problems (e.g. eco-health, ecosystem services). collaboration around big science questions has been supported through synthesis centres around the world. These centres are finding an expanding role due to ever-accumulating data and the need for more and better opportunities to develop transdisciplinary and holistic approaches to solve real-world problems. The Australian Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (ACEAS <. http://www.aceas.org.au>) has been the pioneering ecosystem science synthesis centre in the Southern Hemisphere. Such centres provide analysis and synthesis opportunities for time-pressed scientists, policy-makers and managers. They provide the scientific and organisational environs for virtual and face-to-face engagement, impetus for integration, data and methodological support, and innovative ways to deliver synthesis products.We detail the contribution, role and value of synthesis using ACEAS to exemplify the capacity for synthesis centres to facilitate trans-organisational, transdisciplinary synthesis. We compare ACEAS to other international synthesis centres, and describe how it facilitated project teams and its objective of linking natural resource science to policy to management. Scientists and managers were brought together to actively collaborate in multi-institutional, cross-sectoral and transdisciplinary research on contemporary ecological problems. The teams analysed, integrated and synthesised existing data to co-develop solution-oriented publications and management recommendations that might otherwise not have been produced. We identify key outcomes of some ACEAS working groups which used synthesis to tackle important ecosystem challenges. We also examine the barriers and enablers to synthesis, so that risks can be minimised and successful outcomes maximised. We argue that synthesis centres have a crucial role in developing, communicating and using synthetic transdisciplinary research. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.
  • 1