17/06/2005 - Research
on sea sponges, frogs, seaweed and spider
orchids are among 57 projects to share $1.8
million in funding from the Australian Government,
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister
for the Environment and Heritage Greg Hunt
announced today.
"Australia is home to two million species
of plants and animals, with 80 per cent
found nowhere else in the world," Mr
Hunt said.
"If we're to conserve our rich biodiversity,
it is vital that we build our scientific
knowledge. This national grants program
provides critical support for taxonomists
to describe and classify little known plants,
animals and micro-organisms. This work is
also fundamental to the use of plants and
animals in medicines and vaccines."
The funding is made through the Australian
Biological Resources Study (ABRS), an Australian
Government research agency which leads the
world in providing species information for
biodiversity management. The grants are
awarded annually under the ABRS Participatory
Program to private researchers and to scientists
in universities, museums and herbaria.
"The research we're funding focuses
on the large number of species that are
still very poorly known or completely undocumented,"
Mr Hunt said.
Several projects will contribute valuable
information for coastal and marine programs,
including a grant of $55,000 for the Museum
and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
to describe and document new species of
sea sponges.
"Less than 40 per cent of the estimated
800 species of northern Australian sponges
are currently known, yet there's an urgent
need for accurate identification to protect
Australia from exotic invasive species and
for potential pharmacological use in anti-viral
and anti-tumour agents," Mr Hunt said.
The Murdoch University of Western Australia
will receive $35,000 to produce an interactive
identification key for Australian seaweed.
"This will be of great value in ecological
research, and also in monitoring and quarantine
procedures to protect Australia from invasive
seaweed species," Mr Hunt said.
A further $31,000 will go to the University
of Adelaide to conduct new studies on frogs
that are further threatened by disease and
climate change.
The Victoria University will use it $20,000
grant to combine molecular and genetic methods
to study spider orchids, many of which are
threatened with extinction.
