Population fluctuations: models, mechanisms and management. Changes in plant populations lead to extinctions and invasions in Australia and globally. The project will determine the drivers of plant population change and provide new tools to enable better population management.
Dynamic resilience and stability properties of marine systems: the importance of environment-engineer feedbacks in kelp forests. Kelp forests form complex habitats that support diverse, productive and economically important food-webs. This project will determine whether healthy kelp forests engineer their environment to make conditions more suitable for their continued recruitment and survivorship, thus increasing their stability and resilience in response to anthropogenic threats.
Cane toads as a model system for demographic analysis and invasive-species control. How do impacts on juvenile stages within a population affect later ages? This project will exploit recently developed methods to control early life-history stages of cane toads to provide a better understanding of population ecology and develop more effective ways to control invasive cane toads.
Does physiological plasticity of individuals render populations resilient to climate change? Abrupt environmental changes can put natural populations at risk of extinction. The project will show to what extent individuals can compensate for temperature changes and thereby render populations resilient to climate change. This research will make theoretical advances and improve the power to predict impacts of future climate change.
Invasive plant success and multi-trophic level chemical ecology using Paterson's curse as a model. The role of plant defence compounds discovered recently in Paterson's curse will be studied in the plant's native western Mediterranean and in southern Australia. Findings will support biological control efforts and provide fundamental insights into the ecological mechanisms that allow such plants to become aggressive invaders.
A novel modelling approach for understanding wildlife disease dynamics. This project aims to develop a novel framework for field wildlife disease systems, applied to chytrid fungal infection of an endangered frog species as a case study. The project expects to develop models able to be applied to many disease systems, improve understanding of host resistance and tolerance to infection, and improve capacity for mitigation of emerging infectious diseases. This work should have international impac ....A novel modelling approach for understanding wildlife disease dynamics. This project aims to develop a novel framework for field wildlife disease systems, applied to chytrid fungal infection of an endangered frog species as a case study. The project expects to develop models able to be applied to many disease systems, improve understanding of host resistance and tolerance to infection, and improve capacity for mitigation of emerging infectious diseases. This work should have international impact and provide significant national benefits in ensuring the conservation of Australia’s biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Diet influences the selective advantage of mitochondrial DNA mutations. This project aims to examine critical mechanisms that affect mitochondrial DNA variation within species. It aims to test the hypothesis that mitochondrial DNA haplotypes have the potential to be under nutritionally induced balancing selection as a consequence of cellular signalling and/or Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production by mitochondria. Diet can vary both seasonally and geographically and is a key environmental param ....Diet influences the selective advantage of mitochondrial DNA mutations. This project aims to examine critical mechanisms that affect mitochondrial DNA variation within species. It aims to test the hypothesis that mitochondrial DNA haplotypes have the potential to be under nutritionally induced balancing selection as a consequence of cellular signalling and/or Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production by mitochondria. Diet can vary both seasonally and geographically and is a key environmental parameter that influences the ability of a species to colonise new habitats. The project plans to characterise the functional links between specific mitochondrial DNA haplotypes, mitochondrial functions and organismal traits. The expected outcome is a more precise grasp of the processes influencing genetic variation within and among species, which would inform current issues in ecology and genetics.Read moreRead less