Ecological restoration, or ecosystem restoration, is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. It is distinct from conservation in that it attempts to retroactively repair already damaged ecosystems rather than take preventative measures. Ecological restoration can reverse biodiversity loss, combat climate change, and support local economies.
The Eureka Prizes are awarded annually by the Australian Museum, Sydney, to recognise individuals and organizations who have contributed to science and the understanding of science in Australia. They were founded in 1990 following a suggestion by science journalist Robyn Williams.
Helical growth is when cells or organs expand, resulting in helical shaped cells or organs and typically including the breakage of symmetry. This is seen in fungi, algae, and other higher plant cells or organs. Helical growth can occur naturally, such as in tendrils or in twining plants. Asymmetry can be caused by changes in pectin or through mutation and result in left- or right-handed helices. Tendril perversion, during which a tendril curves in opposite directions at each end, is seen in many cases. The helical growth of twining plants is based on the circumnutational movement, or circular growth, of stems. Most twining plans have right-handed helices regardless of the plant's growth hemisphere.
Quaternary science is the subfield of geology which studies the Quaternary Period commonly known as the ice age. The Quaternary Period is a time period that started around 2.58 million years ago and continues today. This period is divided into two epochs – the Pleistocene Epoch and the Holocene Epoch. The aim of Quaternary science is to understand everything that happened during the Pleistocene Epoch and the Holocene Epoch to be able to acquire fundamental knowledge about Earth's environment, ecosystem, climate changes, etc. Quaternary science was first studied during the nineteenth century by Georges Cuvier, a French scientist. Most Quaternary scientists have studied the history of the Quaternary to predict future changes in climate.
Ladislav Mucina is a vegetation scientist and Professor and Iluka Chair of Vegetation Science and Biogeography at the School of Biological Science of The University of Western Australia in Perth. He was born on 28 May 1956 in Piešťany, Slovakia.
Plant functional types (PFTs) refers to a grouping or classification system often used by ecologists and climatologists to classify plant species based on their similar functions and performances in an ecosystem. It is a way to simplify the complexity of plant diversity and behaviour in ecological models by grouping plants into categories that share common functional characteristics. This simplification helps researchers model vegetation dynamics which can be used in land use studies and climate models.
Emma Letitia Johnston is the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of Sydney. She was former, Dean of Science at the University of New South Wales and President of Science & Technology Australia. She is an authority in marine ecology and a former Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at UNSW.
Leaf flushing or leaf out is the production of a flush of new leaves typically produced simultaneously on all branches of a bare plant or tree. Young leaves often have less chlorophyll and the leaf flush may be white or red, the latter due to presence of pigments, particularly anthocyanins. Leaf flushing succeeds leaf fall, and is delayed by winter in the temperate zone or by extreme dryness in the tropics. Leaf fall and leaf flushing in tropical deciduous forests can overlap in some species, called leaf-exchanging species, producing new leaves during the same period when old leaves are shed or almost immediately after. Leaf-flushing may be synchronized among trees of a single species or even across species in an area. In the seasonal tropics, leaf flushing phenology may be influenced by herbivory and water stress.
The first seeded plants emerged in the late Devonian 370 million years ago. Selection pressures shaping seed size stem from physical and biological sources including drought, predation, seedling-seedling competition, optimal dormancy depth, and dispersal.
Iain Colin Prentice is a Briths ecologist who holds the AXA chair in biosphere and climate impacts at Imperial College London and an honorary chair in ecology and evolution at Macquarie University in Australia.
Erika Marín-Spiotta is a biogeochemist and ecosystem ecologist. She is currently Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is best-known for her research of the terrestrial carbon cycle and is an advocate for underrepresented groups in the sciences, specifically women.
Katrin Böhning-Gaese is a German biologist who specialises in ornithology. She is currently a professor at Goethe University Frankfurt, director of the Senckenberg Nature Research Society and Vice-President of the Leibniz Association.
Janice Marjorie Lord is a New Zealand academic, a plant evolutionary biologist, and as of 2020 is an associate professor at the University of Otago, where she is the curator of the Otago Regional Herbarium.
Arve Elvebakk is a Norwegian mycologist and professor working from the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø. He has published widely on Arctic biology, and climatology. Additionally, he collaborates with many mycologists across the world, and has published names for lichens in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific, and South America, and the Antarctic.
Mark Westoby is an Australian evolutionary ecologist, emeritus professor at Macquarie University, and a specialist in trait ecology.
Anita Ho-Baillie is an Australian scientist who is the John Hooke Chair of Nanoscience at the University of Sydney. Her research considers the development of durable perovskite solar cells and their integration into different applications. She was named as one of the Web of Science's most highly cited researchers in 2019–2022.
Moninya Roughan is a professor of Oceanography at the University of New South Wales Australia,. Roughan is the head of the Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab and is an authority on the oceanography of the East Australian Current. She has led major projects for industry, government, the Australian Research Council and the New Zealand Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. She has held leadership roles in Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System since 2007.
Lauren B. Buckley is an evolutionary ecologist and professor of biology at the University of Washington. She researches the relationship between organismal physiological and life history features and response to global climate change.
Bridget Emmett is a British ecologist, Professor and Science Area Head for the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. She is the President of British Ecological Society from 2024.
Jane Melville is an Australian herpetologist at Museums Victoria. Her research focuses on the taxonomy and genetics of reptiles and amphibians.
