Ocean acidification and marine fish: an evolutionary perspective. The overarching aim of this project is to advance knowledge on the long-term impacts of ocean acidification on marine fish and fisheries. An interrelated set of projects will be developed that tests the capacity of marine fish to adapt to projected future rises in ocean carbon dioxide and will investigate the effects of ocean acidification on apex predators and key fisheries species. The research will address critical knowledge ga ....Ocean acidification and marine fish: an evolutionary perspective. The overarching aim of this project is to advance knowledge on the long-term impacts of ocean acidification on marine fish and fisheries. An interrelated set of projects will be developed that tests the capacity of marine fish to adapt to projected future rises in ocean carbon dioxide and will investigate the effects of ocean acidification on apex predators and key fisheries species. The research will address critical knowledge gaps in ocean acidification research and provide advice about the impacts of ocean acidification on marine biodiversity and fisheries productivity on time scales relevant to strategic management and policy decision-making in Australia and internationally.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100115
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,000.00
Summary
Confocal microscope for high-resolution microtopographic analysis of surfaces in historical, forensic and polymer sciences. High-resolution analyses of microscopic patterns on surfaces using confocal microscopy can provide vital clues into the nature of ancient diets and environments, adaptive evolution, weapons used in crimes, and properties of polymers. This instrument will heighten Australia’s capacity for world-leading research in areas of major national importance.
Illuminating the evolutionary history of Australia’s most iconic animals. This project aims to pinpoint the nature and timing of key steps in macropod history and to test how these link with major climatic and biotic changes. Macropods (kangaroos and relatives) are widely considered the marsupial equivalents to hoofed mammals on other continents, but we have a weaker understanding of how their evolution was shaped by environmental change. This project will combine palaeontology, anatomy and gene ....Illuminating the evolutionary history of Australia’s most iconic animals. This project aims to pinpoint the nature and timing of key steps in macropod history and to test how these link with major climatic and biotic changes. Macropods (kangaroos and relatives) are widely considered the marsupial equivalents to hoofed mammals on other continents, but we have a weaker understanding of how their evolution was shaped by environmental change. This project will combine palaeontology, anatomy and genetics to address questions such as how and why ancestral macropods descended from the trees and evolved bipedal hopping, and the upper size limits of the kangaroo “body plan”. This should improve our understanding of the long-term effects of climate change on marsupials, and provide a test of key placental-based evolutionary models.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100083
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$540,000.00
Summary
A high throughput phenomics facility for pace of life traits in animals. A high throughput phenomics facility for pace of life traits in animals: This project seeks to create the first high-throughput phenomic facility for animals in Australia. The molecular revolution has brought unprecedented capacity to understand genetic variation. Genetic variation is now better understood and more easily and cheaply characterised than the physical traits that organisms exhibit. Linking phenotypic variation ....A high throughput phenomics facility for pace of life traits in animals. A high throughput phenomics facility for pace of life traits in animals: This project seeks to create the first high-throughput phenomic facility for animals in Australia. The molecular revolution has brought unprecedented capacity to understand genetic variation. Genetic variation is now better understood and more easily and cheaply characterised than the physical traits that organisms exhibit. Linking phenotypic variation to genetic variation represents the major challenge in harnessing the power of the biomolecular age. This facility will accommodate animals from marine, freshwater and terrestrial systems across a diverse array of phyla. It will allow Australian researchers to leverage advances in high throughput genomic technologies to address a major bottleneck in biology.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101266
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$358,536.00
Summary
Evolutionary and environmental basis of CO2 tolerance in coral reef fishes. This project aims to examine the effects of ocean acidification on coral reef fishes due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Physiological performance of fish vary under elevated CO2, but behaviour is consistently, negatively impacted. This project aims to investigate evolutionary trade-offs between behaviour and performance, physiological mechanisms key to compromising, maintaining, or enhancing metabolic pe ....Evolutionary and environmental basis of CO2 tolerance in coral reef fishes. This project aims to examine the effects of ocean acidification on coral reef fishes due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Physiological performance of fish vary under elevated CO2, but behaviour is consistently, negatively impacted. This project aims to investigate evolutionary trade-offs between behaviour and performance, physiological mechanisms key to compromising, maintaining, or enhancing metabolic performance under elevated CO2, and the importance of habitat in how fish respond to elevated CO2. As fish play critical roles in marine ecosystems by structuring food webs and driving ecological processes, this information will be critical for predicting the effects of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems and biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Predicting genetic exchange between species under climate change. This project aims to resolve the factors that lead to the mixing of species’ gene pools, with a focus on whether climate change will increase such mixing, possibly leading to extinction by genetic swamping.
The significance is that the project would improve our understanding of speciation and species’ vulnerability to rapid climate change through genetic mixing; a largely overlooked process.
Key outcomes would be to generate new k ....Predicting genetic exchange between species under climate change. This project aims to resolve the factors that lead to the mixing of species’ gene pools, with a focus on whether climate change will increase such mixing, possibly leading to extinction by genetic swamping.
The significance is that the project would improve our understanding of speciation and species’ vulnerability to rapid climate change through genetic mixing; a largely overlooked process.
Key outcomes would be to generate new knowledge of a fundamental evolutionary process and extend the toolbox of biodiversity managers facing rapid environmental change.
The project would benefit Australia by highlighting our unique biodiversity and scientific capability, and by training early career researchers in advanced evolutionary biology.Read moreRead less
Peripheral isolates as hotbeds of adaptive diversity. This project uses cutting edge molecular technology and spatial analyses to predict the location of diversity relevant to managing the impact of climate change. Knowledge generated in this project will open the door to the informed use of genetic translocation in efforts to kerb expected biodiversity losses.
The Impact of Water Stress on Early Humans in the Kalahari Desert. This project aims to understand the impacts of water stressed environments for early modern human behaviour through state-of-the-art excavation techniques and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction at two new archaeological sites in the Kalahari. How humans mitigated water stress during a major technological transition is significant because adaptability to arid environments was crucial for humans expanding beyond Africa and into Aus ....The Impact of Water Stress on Early Humans in the Kalahari Desert. This project aims to understand the impacts of water stressed environments for early modern human behaviour through state-of-the-art excavation techniques and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction at two new archaeological sites in the Kalahari. How humans mitigated water stress during a major technological transition is significant because adaptability to arid environments was crucial for humans expanding beyond Africa and into Australia. The expected outcome of this project is creation of new knowledge on the origins of human resilience to water stress. The benefit lies in the potential to gain insights into meeting future climate challenges by exploring the adaptive strategies developed by early modern humans in the southern Kalahari.Read moreRead less
Phenotypic and adaptive responses to environmental change. This project aims to investigate how environmental change will effect coral reef fish by assessing adaptive responses in a model species. This project expects to generate new knowledge on the interplay between adaption and plasticity both within and across generations using novel experimental designs. Expected outcomes include improved models of fish acclimation and adaptation to environmental change and an enhanced evidence base to info ....Phenotypic and adaptive responses to environmental change. This project aims to investigate how environmental change will effect coral reef fish by assessing adaptive responses in a model species. This project expects to generate new knowledge on the interplay between adaption and plasticity both within and across generations using novel experimental designs. Expected outcomes include improved models of fish acclimation and adaptation to environmental change and an enhanced evidence base to inform the management of cumulative impacts. This will provide significant benefits to Australian and international communities that rely on fish for nutrition, economic and/or social value.Read moreRead less
Mesozoic Austral Biodiversity: Research and Regional Museum Applications. The impact of environmental alteration on Australia’s biodiversity has poorly understood long-term effects. This project examines the controversial biogeography and evolution of Australia’s biodiversity during the Age of Dinosaurs (mid-Cretaceous ~100 MYA) and their adaptational responses to climatic change. Fossils readily capture the public imagination and thus help promote complex scientific concepts in the global media ....Mesozoic Austral Biodiversity: Research and Regional Museum Applications. The impact of environmental alteration on Australia’s biodiversity has poorly understood long-term effects. This project examines the controversial biogeography and evolution of Australia’s biodiversity during the Age of Dinosaurs (mid-Cretaceous ~100 MYA) and their adaptational responses to climatic change. Fossils readily capture the public imagination and thus help promote complex scientific concepts in the global media. This project raises awareness about sustainable use of non-renewable fossil resources through public education and ecotourism fieldwork programs; these will help generate local interest and thus protection of sensitive fossil localities by highlighting them as lucrative tourism assets for regional communities.Read moreRead less