WHY GROUNDWATER? Groundwater is one of Australia’s most valuable natural resources – it is our insurance policy in the face of climate change. The economic production value supported by groundwater is estimated to be $33.8 billion to the Australian Economy. But tension exists in groundwater use between economic and environmental sustainability. Groundwater dependent ecosystems:
- Represent exceptional biodiversity not found anywhere else in the world.
- Perform critical cleaning services and maintain water health.
- Are fundamental to cultural identity of First Nations People in Australia.
A BIODIVERSITY INDEX FOR GROUNDWATER HEALTH: Contamination impacts on groundwater pose both human health and environmental risks. But, we have a poor understanding of these impacts and the thresholds for maintaining healthy ecosystems. A need exists for development and implementation of methods that will allow us to monitor and assess impacted and unimpacted sites and inform policy frameworks and industry standards. Using state-of-the-art innovations in genomic technology, we are assessing ecosystem health of macro- and microbiomes of groundwater dependent ecosystems.
PIONEERING EDNA TOOLS FOR SUBTERRANEAN FAUNA: Resource companies in Western Australia are mandated to assess groundwater biodiversity under Environmental Protection legislation. Current surveys are time-consuming (expensive) and biased toward common taxa. Major technological advances in genetics and DNA sequencing mean that development of innovative and effective tools for biomonitoring are increasingly possible. Development of a rigorous, credible and practicable eDNA assessment framework has the potential to make biomonitoring cheaper, quicker and more effective. Alongside my team and inter-sectoral partners, I have worked to develop environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding tools for the detection of subterranean fauna living in groundwater-dependent ecosystems without physically catching them. This work is recognised as the gold standard for eDNA biomonitoring of groundwater, is being implemented by researchers and industry for positive economic and environmental outcomes and advancing scientific discovery.
DOCUMENTING SUBTERRANEAN BIODIVERSITY: Naming and describing species is essential to appropriate recognition of biota under conservation legislation. In collaboration with taxonomy experts, we have described over 100 new species.
