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.
Predicting adaptive responses to climate change in Australian native bees. This project aims to understand how insects will adapt to climate change by examining a largely overlooked but economically important group of species: Australian native bees. Native bees are important pollinators of both crops and native plants, but their sensitivity to changes in climate are unknown. Expected outcomes include new knowledge of the resilience of native bees to climate change, and new effective tools for p ....Predicting adaptive responses to climate change in Australian native bees. This project aims to understand how insects will adapt to climate change by examining a largely overlooked but economically important group of species: Australian native bees. Native bees are important pollinators of both crops and native plants, but their sensitivity to changes in climate are unknown. Expected outcomes include new knowledge of the resilience of native bees to climate change, and new effective tools for predicting climate change resilience that can be applied to many species. The intended benefits include increasing our understanding of the potential for native bees to act as future pollinators in Australia’s natural and agro-ecosystems, and guide policy and management decisions to better protect and conserve our bee fauna.Read moreRead less
Reproductive plasticity and climate change: insights from a region of opportunistic birds. Understanding how animal species respond behaviourally and physiologically to climatic variability is key to predicting how they will adapt to a changing climate. Australasia is home to a number of native and introduced species that breed across a range of climates and seasons. This project will establish collaborative infrastructure and a research network to systematically study and identify the constrain ....Reproductive plasticity and climate change: insights from a region of opportunistic birds. Understanding how animal species respond behaviourally and physiologically to climatic variability is key to predicting how they will adapt to a changing climate. Australasia is home to a number of native and introduced species that breed across a range of climates and seasons. This project will establish collaborative infrastructure and a research network to systematically study and identify the constraints and adaptations that birds have to adjust to a variable climate across Australasia. This large-scale comparative project will provide important insight into the globally observed patterns of reproductive failure and changes in breeding and migration times in birds, which have been related to a changing climate and pose a threat to biodiversity.Read moreRead less
The Impact of Water Stress on Early Humans in the Kalahari Desert. This project aims to understand the impacts of water stressed environments for early modern human behaviour through state-of-the-art excavation techniques and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction at two new archaeological sites in the Kalahari. How humans mitigated water stress during a major technological transition is significant because adaptability to arid environments was crucial for humans expanding beyond Africa and into Aus ....The Impact of Water Stress on Early Humans in the Kalahari Desert. This project aims to understand the impacts of water stressed environments for early modern human behaviour through state-of-the-art excavation techniques and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction at two new archaeological sites in the Kalahari. How humans mitigated water stress during a major technological transition is significant because adaptability to arid environments was crucial for humans expanding beyond Africa and into Australia. The expected outcome of this project is creation of new knowledge on the origins of human resilience to water stress. The benefit lies in the potential to gain insights into meeting future climate challenges by exploring the adaptive strategies developed by early modern humans in the southern Kalahari.Read moreRead less
Adaptive capacity of marine invertebrates in a climate change ocean. As the oceans simultaneously warm and acidify, prospects for marine biota are of concern. This project aims to determine the potential for phenotypic adjustment and evolutionary adaptation. To discern the roles of phenotype and genotype in marine invertebrate stress tolerance this project endeavours to use selection experiments, long-term rearing and quantitative genetics . A focus on vulnerable calcification systems could dete ....Adaptive capacity of marine invertebrates in a climate change ocean. As the oceans simultaneously warm and acidify, prospects for marine biota are of concern. This project aims to determine the potential for phenotypic adjustment and evolutionary adaptation. To discern the roles of phenotype and genotype in marine invertebrate stress tolerance this project endeavours to use selection experiments, long-term rearing and quantitative genetics . A focus on vulnerable calcification systems could determine genetic mechanisms underlying impaired growth. Investigation of species from the east Australia latitudinal thermal gradient, a global change hot spot could generate insights into biological responses and adaptive potential in a changing ocean and on time scales relevant to resource managers to understand the challenges faced by marine biota.Read moreRead less
Impact of climate change stressors on calcifying and non-calcifying marine life stages: predicting tipping points for persistence in a changing ocean. Australia generates considerable prosperity from its oceans with marine invertebrate resources playing a key role. These resources are at risk due to climate change. This project will study early life stages of key marine species to determine sensitivities to ocean warming and acidification and inform assessment of risk in a changing ocean.
The role of epigenetics in conferring resilience to environmental change. This project aims to determine whether epigenetic mechanisms confer resilience to environmental change in natural populations. Understanding epigenetic mechanisms is significant because they can mediate compensatory responses by animals to rapid environmental change. This project intends to link molecular changes to ecological outcomes to determine rapid remodeling of phenotypes to maintain fitness in variable environments ....The role of epigenetics in conferring resilience to environmental change. This project aims to determine whether epigenetic mechanisms confer resilience to environmental change in natural populations. Understanding epigenetic mechanisms is significant because they can mediate compensatory responses by animals to rapid environmental change. This project intends to link molecular changes to ecological outcomes to determine rapid remodeling of phenotypes to maintain fitness in variable environments. The project would benefit Australia’s research capacity and training, and the efficacy of conserving our natural environment.Read moreRead less
Tracking warning signals across a variable landscape. This project aims to investigate how local environmental factors and predator communities affect warning colour expression across the Australian landscape. Warning colours protect toxic prey from predators who learn to associate the colours with an unpleasant taste. Theoretically, warning colours should not vary, but in nature we find appreciable and unexplained variation. This project will utilise Australia's excellent environmental and biod ....Tracking warning signals across a variable landscape. This project aims to investigate how local environmental factors and predator communities affect warning colour expression across the Australian landscape. Warning colours protect toxic prey from predators who learn to associate the colours with an unpleasant taste. Theoretically, warning colours should not vary, but in nature we find appreciable and unexplained variation. This project will utilise Australia's excellent environmental and biodiversity informatics infrastructure to inform the public and decision makers about the adaptability of animals to environmental change such as predator loss.Read moreRead less
Living on the edge: how do Australian plants cope with extreme temperature? Of all the climatic factors determining species distributions, temperature is arguably the most important. It is extremes – rather than averages – that drive species evolution. So it is concerning that although extreme temperature events are increasing in frequency and intensity little is known about the breadth of thermal tolerance of plants from extreme environments. This information is crucial to understand species di ....Living on the edge: how do Australian plants cope with extreme temperature? Of all the climatic factors determining species distributions, temperature is arguably the most important. It is extremes – rather than averages – that drive species evolution. So it is concerning that although extreme temperature events are increasing in frequency and intensity little is known about the breadth of thermal tolerance of plants from extreme environments. This information is crucial to understand species distribution and survival under future climate regimes. This project will ascertain the thermal breadth of Australian species growing in situ and under controlled environments. The project will contribute to development of effective conservation, restoration and rehabilitation plans for Australian native plant communities. Read moreRead less