Predicting Biodiversity from Population Dynamics. This research aims to deepen our understanding of how changes to the environment, including those attributable to human activities, influence the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that generate and maintain biodiversity. This understanding is of urgent importance, in light of the predicted changes in climate and habitat over the next century, because biodiversity is critical to the proper functioning of ecosystems that human societies depend ....Predicting Biodiversity from Population Dynamics. This research aims to deepen our understanding of how changes to the environment, including those attributable to human activities, influence the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that generate and maintain biodiversity. This understanding is of urgent importance, in light of the predicted changes in climate and habitat over the next century, because biodiversity is critical to the proper functioning of ecosystems that human societies depend upon. The graduate student involved in this research will have the opportunity to receive in-depth training as part of a cross-disciplinary collaboration that combines mathematics, ecology, evolution, and paleontology.
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Drought and death: past, present and future survival limits in the Australian vegetation landscape. Science cannot predict the point at which water stress becomes lethal for plants. This research into plant water transport aims to find a new way to understand whether plant species will die or adapt to a future drier climate.
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
Demographic consequences of environmental change for wild bird populations. The project intends to improve our understanding of how climate drives shifts in body size and shape in wildlife populations, and the implications of such responses for population viability. Populations of plants and animals are showing a range of responses to recent, rapid shifts in the Earth’s climate. The ecological and evolutionary significance of these responses and the mechanisms that drive them remain largely unkn ....Demographic consequences of environmental change for wild bird populations. The project intends to improve our understanding of how climate drives shifts in body size and shape in wildlife populations, and the implications of such responses for population viability. Populations of plants and animals are showing a range of responses to recent, rapid shifts in the Earth’s climate. The ecological and evolutionary significance of these responses and the mechanisms that drive them remain largely unknown. Focusing on Australian birds, the project plans to integrate long-term records from citizen science, museum collections and field studies to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the pattern and process of morphological change. Understanding the processes driving change may help in developing strategies to manage our biodiversity as climate changes. Read moreRead less
Getting smaller as temperatures rise? Body size responses of Australian birds to climate change. Many animals appear to be declining in size as climate change occurs, but why this is so is unclear. Using historical records and museum specimens we will determine the factors underlying body size reductions in Australian birds, and especially the role of changing temperature and ecosystem productivity.
A modelling analysis of the implications of biogenic feedbacks on environment for the adaptation of ecosystems. The sustainable management of Australia's living resources depends critically on a deep understanding of the fundamental properties of ecosystems. These properties will determine the response of an ecosystem to perturbation. Anthropogenic perturbation of ecosystems, whether instantiated by living resource harvesting, habitat destruction, species invasions, pollution or climate change, ....A modelling analysis of the implications of biogenic feedbacks on environment for the adaptation of ecosystems. The sustainable management of Australia's living resources depends critically on a deep understanding of the fundamental properties of ecosystems. These properties will determine the response of an ecosystem to perturbation. Anthropogenic perturbation of ecosystems, whether instantiated by living resource harvesting, habitat destruction, species invasions, pollution or climate change, is the greatest current threat to Australia's biodiversity and hence the continued functioning of the systems that we rely on for maintaining our environment in a habitable state and for providing economic benefit. This research will attempt to discover some of these properties, and assess their implications for the sustainably management of our environment.Read moreRead less
Where currents collide: tracking the biological impacts of climate change. This project will track the effects of climate change on Australia's unique marine biodiversity. Understanding the impacts of changing ocean currents on our coastal communities underpins the conservation and management of our valuable coastal resources.
Can evolution rescue marine populations from environmental change? This project aims to test whether rapid evolutionary responses can buffer marine species against the environmental changes impacting Australia’s coastal ecosystems now and in coming years. This project plans to use an innovative experimental evolution framework to test the newly-advanced theory of evolutionary rescue, its goal is to understand whether populations can adapt to new environments fast enough to outpace extinction, an ....Can evolution rescue marine populations from environmental change? This project aims to test whether rapid evolutionary responses can buffer marine species against the environmental changes impacting Australia’s coastal ecosystems now and in coming years. This project plans to use an innovative experimental evolution framework to test the newly-advanced theory of evolutionary rescue, its goal is to understand whether populations can adapt to new environments fast enough to outpace extinction, and how phenotypic plasticity, fluctuating natural selection and biotic interactions influence extinction risk. The intended outcome is to deliver key insights into the intrinsic capacity of our marine biota to withstand the current and near-future challenges that they face, and to inform predictions about population persistence. In doing so, this project should deliver vital information on extinction risk to managers, policy-makers and other stakeholders, and contribute innovative, cutting-edge research in an area of national priority.Read moreRead less
Diversity of Salinispora actinobacteria producing pharmaceutically relevant natural products from Australian marine sponges. By investigating the distribution of marine microbial resources relevant to drug discovery, we will directly contribute to ARC's Research Priority I - An Environmentally Sustainable Australia Priority Goal and the Priority Goal 'Sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity'. We will determine sources of marine bacteria and their genes useful for discovery of new natural pro ....Diversity of Salinispora actinobacteria producing pharmaceutically relevant natural products from Australian marine sponges. By investigating the distribution of marine microbial resources relevant to drug discovery, we will directly contribute to ARC's Research Priority I - An Environmentally Sustainable Australia Priority Goal and the Priority Goal 'Sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity'. We will determine sources of marine bacteria and their genes useful for discovery of new natural products for treatment of human diseases. We will do this by understanding where new strains of Salinispora bacteria may be isolated and how they are distributed in association with Australian marine sponge fauna, and by determining the distribution and chemical and genetic diversity of novel marine Salinispora bacteria.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100629
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,058.00
Summary
Evolutionary impacts of climate change in Australia’s fossil record. This project aims to identify evolutionary responses to climate change in Australia's fossil record by comparing variation in lizard and frog communities across geological time. Using X-ray techniques on museum specimens, this project will generate a large-scale database for tracking evolutionary shifts in relation to historical climatic events. Expected outcomes include the first anatomical descriptions for many species, filli ....Evolutionary impacts of climate change in Australia’s fossil record. This project aims to identify evolutionary responses to climate change in Australia's fossil record by comparing variation in lizard and frog communities across geological time. Using X-ray techniques on museum specimens, this project will generate a large-scale database for tracking evolutionary shifts in relation to historical climatic events. Expected outcomes include the first anatomical descriptions for many species, filling major gaps in our ability to place fossils in a contemporary framework. This research will demonstrate the value of our national collections for addressing important environmental issues, such as biodiversity, extinction, and future habitat change.Read moreRead less