Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100059
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
Dual frequency identification SONAR (DIDSON) facility for sampling benthic and pelagic fish populations. Many Australians enjoy marine and freshwater resources, and we are exploiting fisheries and waterways in particular at an increasing rate. Effective management of fisheries requires understanding the abundance and behavior of fish. This facility will provide novel acoustic video technology for researchers to count fishes and sharks near weirs, under wharves or logs, and within seagrass beds. ....Dual frequency identification SONAR (DIDSON) facility for sampling benthic and pelagic fish populations. Many Australians enjoy marine and freshwater resources, and we are exploiting fisheries and waterways in particular at an increasing rate. Effective management of fisheries requires understanding the abundance and behavior of fish. This facility will provide novel acoustic video technology for researchers to count fishes and sharks near weirs, under wharves or logs, and within seagrass beds. The dual frequency identification sonar (DIDSON) will also allow accurate and standardised study of fish movements in response to floods, algal blooms or re-stocking events without disturbing the fish or their habitats. This will enhance our understanding of the top-down control by fish of aquatic ecosystems that are directly adjacent to human activity.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101446
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
The battle of the sexes heats up: climate change and the ecological and evolutionary fate of reptiles when sex is determined by temperature. In species where gender (male or female) is determined by temperature early in life, what will happen when climate changes? This project will examine the sex ratios, behaviour and evolutionary potential of a native Australian lizard in relation to climate, addressing a question of global significance and informing management of native species.
Invasion biology: understanding the mechanisms of naiveté towards alien species. Naiveté in local wildlife is central to why alien species are so damaging, yet it is typically viewed as a simple lack of recognition of novel enemies. This project tests for multiple levels of naiveté in Australia’s mammals to demonstrate its many complex forms. It will use field and lab experiments and formal meta-analysis to unravel the three main forms of naiveté, to reveal their role in predator:prey and compet ....Invasion biology: understanding the mechanisms of naiveté towards alien species. Naiveté in local wildlife is central to why alien species are so damaging, yet it is typically viewed as a simple lack of recognition of novel enemies. This project tests for multiple levels of naiveté in Australia’s mammals to demonstrate its many complex forms. It will use field and lab experiments and formal meta-analysis to unravel the three main forms of naiveté, to reveal their role in predator:prey and competitive interactions, and to understand how native and alien mammals might overcome their initial naiveté to novel enemies. These results will identify to ecologists and land managers the complex nature of naiveté, and how it ultimately defines the nature of interactions between aliens and natives.Read moreRead less
Combining evolutionary, physiological and molecular approaches to understand ageing and performance. How organisms grow, behave and perform is a result of environmentally triggered molecular, physiological and biochemical reactions. Little is known about how these different levels of organisation interact to create the infinite morphological and behavioural complexities seen in adults. This project aims to integrate the fields of developmental, physiological and evolutionary biology to elucidate ....Combining evolutionary, physiological and molecular approaches to understand ageing and performance. How organisms grow, behave and perform is a result of environmentally triggered molecular, physiological and biochemical reactions. Little is known about how these different levels of organisation interact to create the infinite morphological and behavioural complexities seen in adults. This project aims to integrate the fields of developmental, physiological and evolutionary biology to elucidate how the environment moderates cell and tissue development through gene expression. This will highlight how early developmental decisions affect lifetime energetic trade-offs and efficiency, and how underlying biology manifests into emergent phenomena such as performance, behaviour, ageing and lifespan.Read moreRead less
The danger within: assessing the threats to an endangered finch from genetic incompatibility, limited dispersal and effective population size. The Gouldian finch has declined dramatically over the past half century and remains one of Australia's most threatened birds. This project will use some cutting edge genetic techniques to understand some of the processes that undermine the species' recovery and our ability to monitor current populations.
How males alter their mates' ageing rates and lifespans. The proposed project investigates how males affect the lifespan, ageing and subsequent reproduction of their mates. It seeks to draw on and adapt tools and approaches used in molecular genetics and physiology to test predictions from evolutionary theories of sexual conflict, life-histories and ageing in an organism of biomedical and ecological significance, the house mouse. It is expected that this approach will allow the study, in unsurpa ....How males alter their mates' ageing rates and lifespans. The proposed project investigates how males affect the lifespan, ageing and subsequent reproduction of their mates. It seeks to draw on and adapt tools and approaches used in molecular genetics and physiology to test predictions from evolutionary theories of sexual conflict, life-histories and ageing in an organism of biomedical and ecological significance, the house mouse. It is expected that this approach will allow the study, in unsurpassed detail, of the costs males impose on females via mating, insemination, territoriality and via conflict over how many offspring to have and how to invest in their care.Read moreRead less
Animating the study of visual communication. This project aims to inform how dynamic colour signals broker information exchange by connecting stimulus design with perception through space and time. Biological studies of colour signalling have largely proceeded via static terms that underestimate the true fluidity of natural contexts. This project aspires to animate the field using innovative approaches such as programmable nano-drones to reveal how flashing colours are perceived under diverse vi ....Animating the study of visual communication. This project aims to inform how dynamic colour signals broker information exchange by connecting stimulus design with perception through space and time. Biological studies of colour signalling have largely proceeded via static terms that underestimate the true fluidity of natural contexts. This project aspires to animate the field using innovative approaches such as programmable nano-drones to reveal how flashing colours are perceived under diverse viewing conditions. The knowledge advances are expected to generate new intellectual paradigms and models, and have significant scope for bio-inspiration in areas such as telecommunication, information processing and the optimal design of visual displays.Read moreRead less
The Cape honey bee and the origins of virgin birth. Using honeybees, the aim is to show how a mutation in a single gene creates a new species. This gene causes a shift from sexual to asexual reproduction, allowing workers to clone themselves (virgin birth), thus turning a formerly cooperative species into a social cancer. Observing a real-time speciation event driven by a single gene is an incredibly rare opportunity and enables this project to determine the socio-genetic mechanisms that reduce ....The Cape honey bee and the origins of virgin birth. Using honeybees, the aim is to show how a mutation in a single gene creates a new species. This gene causes a shift from sexual to asexual reproduction, allowing workers to clone themselves (virgin birth), thus turning a formerly cooperative species into a social cancer. Observing a real-time speciation event driven by a single gene is an incredibly rare opportunity and enables this project to determine the socio-genetic mechanisms that reduce gene flow between neighbouring populations and to explain how expression of the gene is regulated. Further, because clonal reproduction often leads to invasiveness in social insects - a dangerous outcome - understanding the origins of virgin birth is also critical to understanding invasiveness.Read moreRead less
Adaptive plasticity and evolution: linking the genotype and the environment to understand phenotypic evolution and expression. Different environmental signals alter when and where specific genes are expressed, thereby altering the phenotype. This project will examine the differences in the timing and use of genes in response to cues of competition that result in differences between the sexes. This will increase our understanding of the role of genes in sexual evolution.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100833
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
The nutritional regulation of food chain length in terrestrial arthropod communities. Little is known about how the behaviour of individual animals affects the structure and function of ecological communities. By quantifying the diet requirements of predators and comparing them to the nutrients in prey at different trophic levels, this project will test if nutrient-based foraging by predators regulates food chain length in arthropod communities.