The Eocene high latitude Australasian 'tropics' in a changing climate: resolving conflicting evidence. Between 45 to 30 million years ago, high latitude subtropical floras in Australia and New Zealand experienced significant climate change, leading to the evolution of present day vegetation. Understanding the effects of this climate change on extinction and speciation will produce more accurate predictions about modern floras when faced with climate change.
Islands of rocks: geckos as a model system to understand patterns of biodiversity, endemism and speciation in the Kimberley. Australia is renowned for its diversity of lizards, yet a plethora of new "cryptic" gecko species continue to be discovered. The project will densely sample the complex Kimberley to understand the evolution of its geckos, which will shed light on true levels of species diversity and the geological and environmental history of this biodiversity hotspot.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100467
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$374,823.00
Summary
Limbs and wings: reconstructing Australian environmental change through innovative analysis of ancient mammal skeletons. An animal's skeleton is the product of a complex relationship between its habits, habitat and evolutionary history. This project uses a vast resource of World Heritage fossil skeletons from Riversleigh to determine how behaviour and ecology of Australia's mammals have changed over the last 25 million years and will need to adapt in the future.
Macroecology of reptiles and frogs over latitudinal and temporal gradients. This project aims to address major macroecological concepts in reptile and frog communities through time, focusing on environmental and climatic gradients in species diversity and body-size variation. This project expects to generate a unique macroecological dataset by integrating data from Quaternary fossil sites spanning a 3000km latitudinal gradient with current ecological data. Expected outcomes include the first com ....Macroecology of reptiles and frogs over latitudinal and temporal gradients. This project aims to address major macroecological concepts in reptile and frog communities through time, focusing on environmental and climatic gradients in species diversity and body-size variation. This project expects to generate a unique macroecological dataset by integrating data from Quaternary fossil sites spanning a 3000km latitudinal gradient with current ecological data. Expected outcomes include the first comprehensive ecological assessment of Australian reptile and frog communities through Pleistocene climate oscillations, with predictions into the future. This research will benefit Australian society by providing evidence-based knowledge of faunal community composition through time in association with changing climates.Read moreRead less
Science on the continental shelf: securing our deep-sea biodiversity for the future. This project signals the start of exciting new research using manned submersibles to explore and describe the rich biodiversity inhabiting Australia’s deep-sea continental shelf. The outcomes will provide a sound basis for managing these environmental treasures against the pressing need to use the oil and gas reserves that lie under the seabed.
Testing our knowledge on the dawn of animal life: evidence from the fossil record against modern ecological and morphological analogues. The Cambrian 'Explosion', half a billion years ago, is regarded as one of the most important events in the history of the Earth, when most major animal groups first appear in the rock record, and for which South Australia has recently become a significant source of spectacular fossils. However, important questions remain regarding their Ediacaran roots, the spe ....Testing our knowledge on the dawn of animal life: evidence from the fossil record against modern ecological and morphological analogues. The Cambrian 'Explosion', half a billion years ago, is regarded as one of the most important events in the history of the Earth, when most major animal groups first appear in the rock record, and for which South Australia has recently become a significant source of spectacular fossils. However, important questions remain regarding their Ediacaran roots, the speed of evolution at the time, and the environments in which the radiation took place. Studying the fossil evidence in the light of present-day ecological frameworks, and in comparison with modern behavioural and morphological analogues, as well as living relatives, can help us better assess our understanding of this first radiation of animals.Read moreRead less
Toward a complete view of life on earth via single cell genomics. Genome sequencing has revolutionised biology, but for most microorganisms this revolution has not arrived because the majority cannot be grown in the laboratory. This project will address this grand challenge by targeted sequencing of single cells from the environment that will fill in many major gaps in the microbial tree of life.
Improving stream management using ecological modelling and DNA barcodes. Rivers and streams provide invaluable ecosystem services, yet are commonly degraded by human activities: a problem likely to be exacerbated by thermal and flow regimes being altered by climate change. Stream biodiversity is both a value and an indicator of ecological health: effective stream management requires prediction of biodiversity responses to natural environmental and human-impact gradients. By compiling a dataset o ....Improving stream management using ecological modelling and DNA barcodes. Rivers and streams provide invaluable ecosystem services, yet are commonly degraded by human activities: a problem likely to be exacerbated by thermal and flow regimes being altered by climate change. Stream biodiversity is both a value and an indicator of ecological health: effective stream management requires prediction of biodiversity responses to natural environmental and human-impact gradients. By compiling a dataset of macroinvertebrate species using new DNA metabarcoding, modelling their distributions, and ranking biodiversity by reach, we will develop molecular and quantitative spatial tools to provide data-driven, landscape-scale decision support for protecting and restoring streams: an urgent need for stream managers globally.Read moreRead less
Assessment of past biodiversity through DNA preserved in bulk bone. This project aims to make a unique study of fossils to determine how the composition and biodiversity of ecosystems have changed in response to anthropogenic influences. Fossil bones provide a window through which to study past environments and how they have changed, and the stories these fossils tell can be further enhanced by ancient DNA analyses. This project plans to use bulk bone metabarcoding where hundreds of low-value (f ....Assessment of past biodiversity through DNA preserved in bulk bone. This project aims to make a unique study of fossils to determine how the composition and biodiversity of ecosystems have changed in response to anthropogenic influences. Fossil bones provide a window through which to study past environments and how they have changed, and the stories these fossils tell can be further enhanced by ancient DNA analyses. This project plans to use bulk bone metabarcoding where hundreds of low-value (fragmented) bones are collectively ground together to provide a cost-effective genetic audit of fossil assemblages. Working on bone from across Oceania and south-east Asia, this project aims to provide a historical perspective on biodiversity. Understanding former ecosystem composition and extinction may facilitate effective restoration and conservation initiatives.Read moreRead less
The developmental genetics of major evolutionary transitions: a multidisciplinary investigation of limb reduction and loss in lizards. The five-toed limb is an iconic evolutionary innovation of land vertebrates, yet has been lost repeatedly. This project will use anatomical, developmental and genetic approaches to understand how vertebrates lose their legs, whether limbs can be reacquired, and the degeneration of limb genes after they lose their function (analogous to 'vestigial organs').