1. Upcoming science synthesis products
of relevance for land managers
Presentation by
Alison Specht, ACEAS Program Manager

2. We are drowning in information while starving for
wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by
synthesizers, people able to put together the right
information at the right time, think critically about it,
and make important choices wisely.
—Edward O. Wilson, Consilience:
The Unity of Knowledge
Why ACEAS?

4. • FUNDING
to support scientists and managers to collaborate and formulate
high-level solutions around difficult ecosystem problems.
• SUPPORT
from question definition to delivery of outcome: remotely via
the internet, hothousing, making connections and networking
• TECHNICAL ADVICE
high-level technical advice as required and linked to the TERN.
• RIGOROUS SELECTION:
by an international panel of independent experts - ACEAS
Advisory Panel.
How does ACEAS do this?

6. Some of the topics…
TRANSFORMATION OF AUSTRALIA’S
VEGETATED LANDSCAPES
IMPROVING LONG-TERM PREDICTIONS OF
CARBON AND NUTRIENT DYNAMICS IN
AUSTRALIA'S AGROECOSYSTEMS
DETERMINING PRECISE ESTIMATES OF MODERN
BIODIVERSITY EXTINCTION RATES
DATA SYSTEMS: semantics, data sharing, and
documentation of analysis at the national and
international scale
PYROGEOGRAPHY: Integrating and evaluating
existing models of Australian fire regimes to
predict climate change impacts
A CUP HALF FULL? Thresholds and regime
shifts in Australian freshwater ecosystems
VAST LANDS AND VARIABLE DATA: systematic
analyses to understand the patterns and processes of
mammal decline
EXTINCTION RISKS OF FROGS UNDER
CLIMATE CHANGE

7. INTEGRATED CATCHMENT-TO-COAST PLANNING:
data, decision support, and governance
AVIFAUNAL DISARRAY in eastern Australian
forests and woodlands caused by a single
despotic species
MOLECULES IN MODELS: The future role of
genetic data in population viability analysis
AUSTRALIAN SEAGRASS HABITATS: condition and
threats
CONSERVING KOALAS IN THE 21ST CENTURY:
synthesizing the dynamics of Australia’s koala
populations
LOCAL TO NATIONAL – the capacity for increasing
the spatial scale of monitoring
INTEGRATION OF REMOTE SENSING AND LAND
SURFACE MODELS for continental scale analysis
carbon and water fluxes
WHERE HAVE ALL THE FISH GONE?
And can they come back?
ANIMAL TELEMETRY to inform ecosystem
science and resource management

8. Some examples

9. Science and Synthesis Products–1
Vast lands and variable data (small mammal extinction)
• First comprehensive dataset for Australia-wide mammal
presence, life history, and abundance
• Established different policy and management responses needed
in the north compared to the south of Australia.
• Applied novel visual deliberation methods
• The relationship between weather and local and regional
mammal conservation.
• Journal articles, report, portal (ANDS-funded)

10. Pyrogeography and climate change
• a broad fire regimes map for Australia–fire countries–with
similar patterns of fire regimes and fire management issues
• quantified the vulnerability of fire regimes to changes in fuel
abundance and fire weather so land managers can better
predict the impacts of global environmental change on
ecosystems
• Journal articles, report, portal
Science and Synthesis Products–2

11. Science and Synthesis Products–2

12. Landscape transformation–1
Development of a national system to:
• synthesise information from disparate observations and
measurements across time
• report change and trends in the condition of our native plant
communities
• refine how land management practices have affected plant
communities since first contact with European explorers.
• Journal article, portal
Science and Synthesis Products–3

13. Science and Synthesis Products–3

14. Landscape transformation–2
How can we transform our existing agricultural landscapes to
overcome current trends and future limitations?
the importance of
• multi-disciplinary analysis
• community engagement and decision-making in the regions
• better monitoring to guide management
Using graphical representation provides a good basis for
decision-making, policy design, and future direction setting
• Journal article, report, portal
Science and Synthesis Products–4

15. Science and Synthesis Products
van Vuuren, D., et al. (2011). The representative
concentration pathways: an overview. Climatic
Change 109(1): 5-31.

16. The role of ACEAS in Australian science and policy
• A BEGINNING
2010-2012: proof of concept
• FEEDBACK says that ACEAS has provided:
• invaluable dedicated and supported hothousing,
• expanded networking,
• access to data,
• multi-disciplinary and trans-organisational opportunity,
• a very productive, objective approach,
• opportunity for novelty of product,
• global engagement…
• WHERE TO FROM HERE?
time for publications to emerge in the refereed literature,
more partnerships

17. Any questions?