Quantifying the costs and benefits of cooperative behaviour in birds: An experimental test of the group augmentation hypothesis. Cooperation is seen as a hallmark of human evolution, but is common throughout the animal kingdom. Indeed, our greatest appreciation of the factors associated with family living and cooperation comes from animal research. My project uses novel approaches to address questions about the role of kinship and energetic costs of cooperation in the evolution of cooperation an ....Quantifying the costs and benefits of cooperative behaviour in birds: An experimental test of the group augmentation hypothesis. Cooperation is seen as a hallmark of human evolution, but is common throughout the animal kingdom. Indeed, our greatest appreciation of the factors associated with family living and cooperation comes from animal research. My project uses novel approaches to address questions about the role of kinship and energetic costs of cooperation in the evolution of cooperation and family living. My study species is a highly charismatic, desert-living cooperative Australian bird, the chestnut-crowned babbler. This study will add significantly to our understanding of the evolution of social behaviour and the extended family. The results will be of international significance and make an impact in scientific journals and through the mediaRead moreRead less
A framework linking tree species coexistence, zonation and patterns of species richness in forests. Our curiosity-driven proposal capitalizes on a superb opportunity afforded by the occurrence of forest vegetation across a wide range of climates and soils in eastern Australia, an ideal setting for testing ideas about how environment shapes plant evolution as well as forest structure and dynamics. This research will contribute to international interchange of ideas by promoting interaction with co ....A framework linking tree species coexistence, zonation and patterns of species richness in forests. Our curiosity-driven proposal capitalizes on a superb opportunity afforded by the occurrence of forest vegetation across a wide range of climates and soils in eastern Australia, an ideal setting for testing ideas about how environment shapes plant evolution as well as forest structure and dynamics. This research will contribute to international interchange of ideas by promoting interaction with collaborators in New Zealand, and will generate a series of publications in high-impact international journals. We will help Australians better understand the forces that shape patterns of woody vegetation across local landscapes, and our carbon-balance framework may shed light on the causes of rarity of some tree species with conservation problems.Read moreRead less
The influence of breeding synchrony on avian reproductive strategies. Australia has a strong international reputation for research on avian evolutionary biology, in part, because of our diverse and unique avifauna. This research will resolve one of the more contentious issues in this field concerning the influence of breeding synchrony on a range of reproductive behaviours. Our experimental approach incorporates a series of new and innovative techniques and will help maintain Australia's leading ....The influence of breeding synchrony on avian reproductive strategies. Australia has a strong international reputation for research on avian evolutionary biology, in part, because of our diverse and unique avifauna. This research will resolve one of the more contentious issues in this field concerning the influence of breeding synchrony on a range of reproductive behaviours. Our experimental approach incorporates a series of new and innovative techniques and will help maintain Australia's leading role in this area. The project will provide intensive training for students and also promote awareness about Australia's bird life to a wide audience, including rural communities who have a critical role in the long-term preservation of many species.Read moreRead less
Female roles during postcopulatory sexual selection. The project will evaluate the importance of postcopulatory sexual selection in the guppy, a polyandrous species of livebearing fish. The use of artificial insemination, which experimentally controls the relative contribution of sperm from competing males (as well as other confounding effects), will facilitate a powerful test of recent theoretical predictions in evolutionary biology. The project will enable me to distinguish between competing h ....Female roles during postcopulatory sexual selection. The project will evaluate the importance of postcopulatory sexual selection in the guppy, a polyandrous species of livebearing fish. The use of artificial insemination, which experimentally controls the relative contribution of sperm from competing males (as well as other confounding effects), will facilitate a powerful test of recent theoretical predictions in evolutionary biology. The project will enable me to distinguish between competing hypotheses for postcopulatory paternity bias following female multiple mating (sperm competition, cryptic female choice, genetic compatibility) and provide additional insights into the selective forces promoting the evolution of female promiscuity.Read moreRead less
The evolutionary effect of the domestication process in a model organism. A significant proportion of research in the field of evolutionary biology, focuses on captive populations of laboratory-bred animals. Little is known about the impact of the domestication process on these species, raising questions about the relevance of such studies. The Australian zebra finch is the avian model species of choice in evolutionary biology laboratories in Europe and the USA and the focus of many high profile ....The evolutionary effect of the domestication process in a model organism. A significant proportion of research in the field of evolutionary biology, focuses on captive populations of laboratory-bred animals. Little is known about the impact of the domestication process on these species, raising questions about the relevance of such studies. The Australian zebra finch is the avian model species of choice in evolutionary biology laboratories in Europe and the USA and the focus of many high profile publications. Our investigation into the affect of domestication on the evolutionary biology of this key model species will have a high international impact, raising the profile of Australian research, in addition to providing fundamental knowledge across several areas of reproductive biology.Read moreRead less
Mother knows best: an integrative study on the causes and fitness consequences of individual maternal strategies in the Australian zebra finch. Mothers can shape the development and behavior of their offspring by differentially allocating recourses at early life stages. Such early maternal effects have been described throughout the animal kingdom, from insects to man, their long-term consequences for the offspring are however poorly understood. Using the iconic Australian zebra finch, I will inv ....Mother knows best: an integrative study on the causes and fitness consequences of individual maternal strategies in the Australian zebra finch. Mothers can shape the development and behavior of their offspring by differentially allocating recourses at early life stages. Such early maternal effects have been described throughout the animal kingdom, from insects to man, their long-term consequences for the offspring are however poorly understood. Using the iconic Australian zebra finch, I will investigate how early maternal strategies can shape the offspring's later life, including their sexual behavior and own reproduction. This project is at the forefront of this topical biological discipline and will significantly rise the international profile of Australian basic research.Read moreRead less
Molecular aggression: variation and heritability of the levels of reactive oxygen species, and their effects on the evolution of life histories in the wild. Three areas of biology have intrigued every generation since Aristotle (c. 300 BC)- sex, embryology, and ageing. This proposal targets all three of these areas with a special focus on aspects of ageing. In particular, we assess how 'free radicals', so often identified in our food and wine for good and bad, exert selection on living organisms ....Molecular aggression: variation and heritability of the levels of reactive oxygen species, and their effects on the evolution of life histories in the wild. Three areas of biology have intrigued every generation since Aristotle (c. 300 BC)- sex, embryology, and ageing. This proposal targets all three of these areas with a special focus on aspects of ageing. In particular, we assess how 'free radicals', so often identified in our food and wine for good and bad, exert selection on living organisms and whether resistance (and defense) towards free radicals may drive evolution of ageing in the wild, its trade offs with fertility and fecundity, and how it is influenced by sexual or non-sexual reproduction. In spite of excellent work in the laboratory, this is the first attempt to do this in 'the real world' and will extend Australia's excellent reputation in evolutionary biology.Read moreRead less
Evolution of maternal provisioning in echinoderms: characterisation of egg nutrients and their roles in development. In the complex life histories of marine invertebrates modification of maternal provisioning lies at the nexus between the evolution of development and speciation in the sea. This project investigates the relationship between egg nutritive profile and developmental mode in echinoderms. It uses the Patiriella sea stars, a powerful model to examine evolution of egg constituents in a ....Evolution of maternal provisioning in echinoderms: characterisation of egg nutrients and their roles in development. In the complex life histories of marine invertebrates modification of maternal provisioning lies at the nexus between the evolution of development and speciation in the sea. This project investigates the relationship between egg nutritive profile and developmental mode in echinoderms. It uses the Patiriella sea stars, a powerful model to examine evolution of egg constituents in ancestral-type developers with small eggs and derived developers exhibiting multiple parallel evolution of large eggs. This project provides insights into evolutionary fine-tuning of oogenesis and its influence on larval type and location of development, features that strongly influence the biogeography of marine invertebrate populations.Read moreRead less
Evolution of maternal effects: a life-history perspective. The community benefits from the present project are two-fold. Firstly, it strengthens Australia's competititve position in evolutionary biology research, and its applications in conservation and medicine. The projects focus on long-term consequences of early developmental conditions is considered to be a priority in both medical and evolutionary research. Secondly, understanding variation in phenotypic traits in relation to environmental ....Evolution of maternal effects: a life-history perspective. The community benefits from the present project are two-fold. Firstly, it strengthens Australia's competititve position in evolutionary biology research, and its applications in conservation and medicine. The projects focus on long-term consequences of early developmental conditions is considered to be a priority in both medical and evolutionary research. Secondly, understanding variation in phenotypic traits in relation to environmental factors, such as prenatal stress, is important for designing conservation and animal breeding programs to minimize the risk of population decline and to ensure uncompromised husbandry conditions to avoid animal suffering. Read moreRead less
Latitudinal gradients in biotic processes affecting plant growth and establishment. The idea that plant-animal interactions are more intense in the tropics underpins much thinking about tropical ecology, global patterns in plant traits, and latitudinal gradients in biodiversity. In this project, we will provide the first direct and global test of this idea by quantifying the intensity of herbivory, seed predation and density-dependent seedling mortality at approximately 100 study sites around th ....Latitudinal gradients in biotic processes affecting plant growth and establishment. The idea that plant-animal interactions are more intense in the tropics underpins much thinking about tropical ecology, global patterns in plant traits, and latitudinal gradients in biodiversity. In this project, we will provide the first direct and global test of this idea by quantifying the intensity of herbivory, seed predation and density-dependent seedling mortality at approximately 100 study sites around the world. We will also investigate the causes of these latitudinal gradients by determining which environmental variables are most closely associated with the strength of biotic interactions.Read moreRead less