ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions. Despite facing the sixth global mass extinction of species, most conservation management is unevaluated and inefficient. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions will provide international research leadership in tackling the complex problems of environmental management and monitoring in an uncertain world. Working through six Australian universities and six international organisations, the Centre will forge new approaches and ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions. Despite facing the sixth global mass extinction of species, most conservation management is unevaluated and inefficient. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions will provide international research leadership in tackling the complex problems of environmental management and monitoring in an uncertain world. Working through six Australian universities and six international organisations, the Centre will forge new approaches and tools from ecology, mathematics, statistics, economics and the social sciences. It will lead the world in developing and delivering predictive models and decision-making approaches to improve outcomes in conservation.Read moreRead less
Cascading effects of Australia's ecological extinctions on biodiversity and ecosystem function. The current rate of species extinctions is so extensive that it has been described as the “sixth mass extinction”. In Australian ecosystems, extinctions and declines of mammals have been dramatic, with formerly abundant species now “ecologically extinct”, meaning they are too rare to continue to play important ecological roles. The loss of entire functional guilds may have cascading effects on biodive ....Cascading effects of Australia's ecological extinctions on biodiversity and ecosystem function. The current rate of species extinctions is so extensive that it has been described as the “sixth mass extinction”. In Australian ecosystems, extinctions and declines of mammals have been dramatic, with formerly abundant species now “ecologically extinct”, meaning they are too rare to continue to play important ecological roles. The loss of entire functional guilds may have cascading effects on biodiversity and ecosystem function. This project uses a multi-scalar experimental approach to investigate the broader impacts of mammal declines on Australian ecosystems, accounting for interactions with climate. The outcomes will include new insights into the pre-European state of Australian ecosystems and more realistic targets for ecosystem restoration.Read moreRead less
Airborne spatial tracking to save endangered species. Airborne spatial tracking to save endangered species. This project aims to develop an automated and distributed spatial tracking approach using low cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to locate and study endangered wildlife. Understanding animal behaviour and habits with granular spatial data is essential to develop effective monitoring and conservation strategies. Spatial tracking of radio collared wildlife using radio telemetry is a critic ....Airborne spatial tracking to save endangered species. Airborne spatial tracking to save endangered species. This project aims to develop an automated and distributed spatial tracking approach using low cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to locate and study endangered wildlife. Understanding animal behaviour and habits with granular spatial data is essential to develop effective monitoring and conservation strategies. Spatial tracking of radio collared wildlife using radio telemetry is a critical but costly tool for acquiring this data. This project anticipates that airborne spatial tracking using intelligent spatial tracking algorithms on board low cost UAV teams will allow more precise understanding of wildlife for evidence-based conservation and management in a changing global climate.Read moreRead less
Preventing and reversing population declines of northern quolls. This project seeks to develop novel effective strategies to halt and reverse declines in northern quolls by improving their ‘toad-smart’ behaviour. The spread of cane toads threaten northern quolls, which are marsupial predators. We cannot halt the toad invasion, but we can train quolls not to eat cane toads. Trained quolls can survive long term in toad-infested landscapes, and their offspring can learn not to eat toads. This proje ....Preventing and reversing population declines of northern quolls. This project seeks to develop novel effective strategies to halt and reverse declines in northern quolls by improving their ‘toad-smart’ behaviour. The spread of cane toads threaten northern quolls, which are marsupial predators. We cannot halt the toad invasion, but we can train quolls not to eat cane toads. Trained quolls can survive long term in toad-infested landscapes, and their offspring can learn not to eat toads. This project builds on this work by focusing on cultural and genetic transmission of toad-smart behaviour. The project could save numerous quoll populations from extinction.Read moreRead less
Building resilience to change for mammals in a multi-use landscape. This project aims to identify critical habitat and dispersal corridors for mammals by applying a novel, interdisciplinary landscape genetics approach to genetic and spatial data. The project expects to generate new knowledge on the evolutionary significance of landscapes in the Pilbara that have facilitated species persistence. Expected outcomes are the incorporation of evolutionary processes into multi-species, systematic conse ....Building resilience to change for mammals in a multi-use landscape. This project aims to identify critical habitat and dispersal corridors for mammals by applying a novel, interdisciplinary landscape genetics approach to genetic and spatial data. The project expects to generate new knowledge on the evolutionary significance of landscapes in the Pilbara that have facilitated species persistence. Expected outcomes are the incorporation of evolutionary processes into multi-species, systematic conservation planning and enhanced capacity to inform conservation and sustainable development in the Pilbara. Significant benefits include alignment of conservation approaches across industry and government stakeholders, and implementation of best-practice conservation science in a biodiversity hotspot.
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Genomes on islands: Improving management of Australia's threatened mammals. This project aims to improve the management of endangered mammals by combining data on genomic and morphological variation with results from conservation translocations. Using new genomics methods, the project will measure the effects of small population size on genetic diversity and mutation load, in extinct as well as remnant and translocated populations. The project will monitor seven intensively managed marsupial spe ....Genomes on islands: Improving management of Australia's threatened mammals. This project aims to improve the management of endangered mammals by combining data on genomic and morphological variation with results from conservation translocations. Using new genomics methods, the project will measure the effects of small population size on genetic diversity and mutation load, in extinct as well as remnant and translocated populations. The project will monitor seven intensively managed marsupial species to better understand how to mix populations for fauna restoration projects. This project should improve methods to promote species recovery in Australia and globally.Read moreRead less
Evolution in tooth and claw: exploring the relationship between the radiation of marsupial herbivores and late Cenozoic climate change. Establishing how animals responded to past environmental changes is essential for understanding the ecology of modern species and managing them in light of contemporary climatic trends. By applying several novel analytical methods this project will unravel the links between the radiation of Australian marsupials and key stages in climatic evolution.
The evolution of specialised orchid pollination and its reversibility. This project aims to determine the changes in key floral volatile compounds underpinning pollination transitions, identify their molecular basis, and understand the ecological processes favouring reversals away from extreme specialisation. By focusing on pollination of sexually deceptive Australian orchids, this project would be the first to determine the molecular, chemical and behavioural basis of evolutionary reversals to ....The evolution of specialised orchid pollination and its reversibility. This project aims to determine the changes in key floral volatile compounds underpinning pollination transitions, identify their molecular basis, and understand the ecological processes favouring reversals away from extreme specialisation. By focusing on pollination of sexually deceptive Australian orchids, this project would be the first to determine the molecular, chemical and behavioural basis of evolutionary reversals to more generalised strategies in a group of plants facing high risk of pollinator extinction. The expected outcome, a mechanistic understanding of how pollination transitions occur, would be internationally ground-breaking, and provide crucial insights to protect this diverse but highly threatened group of plants.Read moreRead less
The evolution and conservation consequences of promiscuity in plants pollinated by vertebrates. Pollen dispersal between plants, predominantly by insects and wind, is characteristically restricted to nearest neighbours. Recent molecular analysis of paternity for a Banksia pollinated by nectar-feeding birds showed atypical pollen dispersal, with high multiple paternity, wide outcrossing and local panmixis. With much of the Australian flora also bird-pollinated, our initial results have potentiall ....The evolution and conservation consequences of promiscuity in plants pollinated by vertebrates. Pollen dispersal between plants, predominantly by insects and wind, is characteristically restricted to nearest neighbours. Recent molecular analysis of paternity for a Banksia pollinated by nectar-feeding birds showed atypical pollen dispersal, with high multiple paternity, wide outcrossing and local panmixis. With much of the Australian flora also bird-pollinated, our initial results have potentially wide and novel significance. This project proposes to test the generality of our observations for other vertebrate-pollinated species, and to test the conservation and evolutionary consequences of reduced pollen dispersal caused by habitat fragmentation and declining pollinators for a pollination paradigm facilitating promiscuity.Read moreRead less
The chemical, molecular and evolutionary basis of key pollination transitions in Australian orchids and their conservation consequences. Many of Australia's unique orchids may face increased extinction risk in human modified landscapes because of their dependence on specific pollinators. This project will investigate the basis of transitions between key pollination strategies in orchids with the outcomes informing both evolutionary theory and future conservation programs.