Neural correlates of performance trade-offs and interference in dual-task performance. Our daily lives are characterised by our ability to produce and sustain a wide range of different movement patterns and to deliberately change patterns as the situation demands. In this project we seek to understand the relationship between brain processes, attentional demands, and the control and learning of coordinated behaviour. A further aim will be to examine how this relationship may be altered as a re ....Neural correlates of performance trade-offs and interference in dual-task performance. Our daily lives are characterised by our ability to produce and sustain a wide range of different movement patterns and to deliberately change patterns as the situation demands. In this project we seek to understand the relationship between brain processes, attentional demands, and the control and learning of coordinated behaviour. A further aim will be to examine how this relationship may be altered as a result of aging, degenerative disease, or brain damage. This research will provide a foundation upon which rehabilitation strategies can be developed for the movement impaired.Read moreRead less
Markov invariants and phylogenetic tree reconstruction. The project will assist Australia to progress as an innovator in the production phylogenetic tree reconstruction techniques.
Identifying species is a difficult task with environmental, social and economic benefits to Australia. DNA evidence and phylogenetic methods clearly achieve this task. Conservation of rare species depends upon identification and hence robust phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetically identifying fish species has econom ....Markov invariants and phylogenetic tree reconstruction. The project will assist Australia to progress as an innovator in the production phylogenetic tree reconstruction techniques.
Identifying species is a difficult task with environmental, social and economic benefits to Australia. DNA evidence and phylogenetic methods clearly achieve this task. Conservation of rare species depends upon identification and hence robust phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetically identifying fish species has economic importance as different fish species are all managed separately, having different catch limits, catch areas and market values. Using effective phylogenetic methods, epidemiologists can track the spread of a disease through a population. Read moreRead less
Ecosystem level impacts of climate change on a temperate grassland. The sustainable use of temperate native pastures is important economically because of grazing and for biodiversity since they are home to many threatened plants. Native pasture sustainability depends on maintaining species diversity and vegetation productivity, both of which have been shown to change in response to climate change. The aims of this project are to elucidate what impact these changes have on the ecosystem propertie ....Ecosystem level impacts of climate change on a temperate grassland. The sustainable use of temperate native pastures is important economically because of grazing and for biodiversity since they are home to many threatened plants. Native pasture sustainability depends on maintaining species diversity and vegetation productivity, both of which have been shown to change in response to climate change. The aims of this project are to elucidate what impact these changes have on the ecosystem properties of a native pasture. This is important, as it will allow likely problems caused by global climate change to be predicted by increasing the understanding of the underlying mechanisms as well as improving the management of grasslands in an environmentally sustainable way. Read moreRead less
Impacts of climate change on sustainability of temperate native pasture: an experiment. The sustainable use of temperate native pastures is important economically because of grazing and for biodiversity since they are home to many threatened plants. Native pasture sustainability depends on maintaining species diversity and vegetation productivity. Climate change is likely to have major impacts on both factors. The aims of this project are to elucidate the impacts of climate change on the species ....Impacts of climate change on sustainability of temperate native pasture: an experiment. The sustainable use of temperate native pastures is important economically because of grazing and for biodiversity since they are home to many threatened plants. Native pasture sustainability depends on maintaining species diversity and vegetation productivity. Climate change is likely to have major impacts on both factors. The aims of this project are to elucidate the impacts of climate change on the species composition, productivity and nutritional quality of a grazed native pasture. This is important, as it will allow us to predict likely problems caused by global climate change and increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying these changes.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing the evolution of climatic tolerances in conifers. This project aims to trace the evolution of climate tolerance in conifers by combining evidence from fossils, phylogenies, physiology and mathematics. The project plans to use innovative methods to overcome the biases in methods currently used to trace evolutionary change. The project plans to integrate data from three sources: the global fossil record, new models of current climatic tolerances of conifers, and mathematical simulat ....Reconstructing the evolution of climatic tolerances in conifers. This project aims to trace the evolution of climate tolerance in conifers by combining evidence from fossils, phylogenies, physiology and mathematics. The project plans to use innovative methods to overcome the biases in methods currently used to trace evolutionary change. The project plans to integrate data from three sources: the global fossil record, new models of current climatic tolerances of conifers, and mathematical simulations of how and when methods of reconstructing ancestral ecology fail. The combined results should show how this important group of organisms has responded to past climate change and how they will respond in the future. It should also provide improved estimates of past terrestrial climates.Read moreRead less
Structure and informatics of the genetic code. Recent advances in biotechnology have seen its emergence as a highly
quantitative, numerically-based discipline. To exploit the available
data to the full will require, alongside computing power, new
analytical techniques. This project aims to develop such techniques,
by handling the systematics of the genetic code with methods derived
from theoretical physics and chemistry. Expected outcomes include a
dynamical (quantum field theory) model ....Structure and informatics of the genetic code. Recent advances in biotechnology have seen its emergence as a highly
quantitative, numerically-based discipline. To exploit the available
data to the full will require, alongside computing power, new
analytical techniques. This project aims to develop such techniques,
by handling the systematics of the genetic code with methods derived
from theoretical physics and chemistry. Expected outcomes include a
dynamical (quantum field theory) model of phylogenetic branching,
analyses of nucleic acid structure and content (spin chain models of
RNA binding and of DNA open reading frames), and insights into the
origin of the code itself (via numerical codon similarity measures).
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Algebraically informed models of biological sequence evolution. To make sense of the patterns they see in the natural world, biologists across fields as diverse as genetics, epidemiology and biogeography need an accurate picture of evolutionary history. DNA sequences provide an exciting means to establish this picture of the past, but to decode it successfully requires mathematical models of how DNA evolves. Mathematical inconsistencies have been identified with current approaches. In particular ....Algebraically informed models of biological sequence evolution. To make sense of the patterns they see in the natural world, biologists across fields as diverse as genetics, epidemiology and biogeography need an accurate picture of evolutionary history. DNA sequences provide an exciting means to establish this picture of the past, but to decode it successfully requires mathematical models of how DNA evolves. Mathematical inconsistencies have been identified with current approaches. In particular, understanding the effect of natural selection in different parts of the tree of life requires models that behave robustly in the face of shifting evolutionary processes. This project aims to use insights from algebraic methods to construct mathematically consistent models of wide biological utility.Read moreRead less
Global differentiation of the conifer flora. Conifers are among the most widely recognised and well-loved group of plants. This project will place a global perspective on the evolutionary significance of the southern conifers. Furthermore conifers such as the Wollemi Pine, bunyas, kauris and huon pine are of considerable ecotourism value, and this project will provide a basis for interpretation of these important plants.
The role of atmospheric carbon dioxide in fostering hyperdiversity in Australian conifer palaeofloras. Human intervention into atmospheric processes appears to have triggered an excursion in atmospheric CO2 to levels unknown for millennia. Our ability to predict the environmental implications of such a change will play a major role in ameliorating the social and financial impact upon Australia. This project examines the ecology and function of forests that grew under CO2 levels considerably high ....The role of atmospheric carbon dioxide in fostering hyperdiversity in Australian conifer palaeofloras. Human intervention into atmospheric processes appears to have triggered an excursion in atmospheric CO2 to levels unknown for millennia. Our ability to predict the environmental implications of such a change will play a major role in ameliorating the social and financial impact upon Australia. This project examines the ecology and function of forests that grew under CO2 levels considerably higher than present, and will provide an invaluable insight into how future biological systems will function. The evidence produced by this project has potential economic flow-ons, particularly for long-term planning of softwood versus hardwood plantation forestry.Read moreRead less
Disease in endangered species: The importance of multiple-host infection and spatial structure. Pathogens are increasingly recognised as threats to endangered species. Managing such threats requires models to assess alternative strategies. Most current models deal with a single host and single pathogen, without spatial structure, although multiple-host pathogens pose the greatest conservation threats. This project develops a new generation of spatially-structured multiple-host models, and applie ....Disease in endangered species: The importance of multiple-host infection and spatial structure. Pathogens are increasingly recognised as threats to endangered species. Managing such threats requires models to assess alternative strategies. Most current models deal with a single host and single pathogen, without spatial structure, although multiple-host pathogens pose the greatest conservation threats. This project develops a new generation of spatially-structured multiple-host models, and applies them to two case studies. The first is the chytrid fungus that is thought to have lead to widespread declines and extinctions of frogs in Australia and overseas. The second is birdpox and malaria that have led to the extinction and endangerment of much of Hawaii's endemic avifauna.Read moreRead less