Lakes in the Central Plateau region in Tasmania are diverse and ecologically significant, exhibiting high degrees of species endemism. They also provide key ecosystem services, including hydropower generation, irrigation, and recreational fisheries. However, these critical ecosystems face growing threats from changes in water-level regime and increasing frequency of extreme temperatures with climate change. Moreover, management of these systems become more complex when biodiversity conservation goals come into conflict with ecosystem service provision.

Network-based models, which conceptualise ecological communities as interconnected systems of species, environmental variables, and energy flows, are powerful tools for optimising trade-offs between conservation and ecosystem service provision, particularly under a rapidly changing climate. Yet, these approaches are constrained by lack of empirical data on population dynamics, trophic interactions, and environmental fluctuations in many threatened ecosystems. This project will close key data gaps and deliver robust, predictive models that can be embedded in adaptive-management frameworks to safeguard these unique inland waters.

The project aims to:

• Deliver dynamic models of population dynamics and species interactions from systematic surveys of lake communities

• Empirically test and refine model predictions through targeted lake‐ and mesocosm-scale manipulative experiments.

• Generate decision-support scenarios identifying optimal trade-offs between biodiversity outcomes and ecosystem service provision.

This research project will be conducted in close collaboration with Inland Fisheries Service Tasmania, Hydro Tasmania, and Anglers Alliance Tasmania, providing scope to incorporate citizen science data streams and translate research findings into decision-support tools with major stakeholders.

Application closes: 01 April 2026