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Assessment of past biodiversity through DNA preserved in bulk bone. This project aims to make a unique study of fossils to determine how the composition and biodiversity of ecosystems have changed in response to anthropogenic influences. Fossil bones provide a window through which to study past environments and how they have changed, and the stories these fossils tell can be further enhanced by ancient DNA analyses. This project plans to use bulk bone metabarcoding where hundreds of low-value (f ....Assessment of past biodiversity through DNA preserved in bulk bone. This project aims to make a unique study of fossils to determine how the composition and biodiversity of ecosystems have changed in response to anthropogenic influences. Fossil bones provide a window through which to study past environments and how they have changed, and the stories these fossils tell can be further enhanced by ancient DNA analyses. This project plans to use bulk bone metabarcoding where hundreds of low-value (fragmented) bones are collectively ground together to provide a cost-effective genetic audit of fossil assemblages. Working on bone from across Oceania and south-east Asia, this project aims to provide a historical perspective on biodiversity. Understanding former ecosystem composition and extinction may facilitate effective restoration and conservation initiatives.Read moreRead less
Species redundancy in response to multiple disturbances. This project aims to elucidate how the context within which disturbances occur affects food web linkages and how these map to responses in ecosystem function. There is a critical need to test the common assumption in environmental management that high biodiversity makes ecosystems resilient to disturbances. Studies that merely observe biodiversity change after disturbance cannot identify ecological processes connecting high diversity and e ....Species redundancy in response to multiple disturbances. This project aims to elucidate how the context within which disturbances occur affects food web linkages and how these map to responses in ecosystem function. There is a critical need to test the common assumption in environmental management that high biodiversity makes ecosystems resilient to disturbances. Studies that merely observe biodiversity change after disturbance cannot identify ecological processes connecting high diversity and ecosystem function, making experiments that manipulate identical disturbances in ecosystems with different biodiversity essential. This project will use field experiments that manipulate disturbances in streams replicated in low and high biodiversity regions and across gradients of chronic background stress to show how biodiversity sustains functional ecosystems, and how much diversity can be lost before ecosystems collapse.Read moreRead less
Global change and food web structure: synergistic effects of multiple drivers of global change on species interaction networks. This project addresses the two great challenges facing scientists trying to predict the effects of global change on Australia's ecosystems: i) What factors most exacerbate the total impact of global change? ii) How do the complex responses of so many interacting species actually translate into altered structural properties of the web of life?
Maintenance of high plant diversity in phosphorus-impoverished ecosystems. This project aims to determine the role of soil-inhabiting pathogens and symbiotic fungi in the maintenance of plant diversity in Australia’s hyperdiverse shrublands. These are among the world’s most species-rich systems, yet occur on extremely poor soils. This project tests the hypothesis that plants that are best adapted to acquire phosphorus in these extremely infertile soils are most susceptible to soil pathogens. Thi ....Maintenance of high plant diversity in phosphorus-impoverished ecosystems. This project aims to determine the role of soil-inhabiting pathogens and symbiotic fungi in the maintenance of plant diversity in Australia’s hyperdiverse shrublands. These are among the world’s most species-rich systems, yet occur on extremely poor soils. This project tests the hypothesis that plants that are best adapted to acquire phosphorus in these extremely infertile soils are most susceptible to soil pathogens. This trade-off would equalise differences in competitive abilities among plant species and promote high plant diversity. The project will help elucidate how pathogens and symbiotic fungi together drive plant diversity in a globally significant biodiversity hotspot in Australia, with relevance to other biodiverse regions.Read moreRead less
How are visual gene pathways lost and restored during reptile evolution? This project aims to investigate how complex traits are lost during evolution, and once lost if they can be regained. The project will use the diverse visual systems of snakes and lizards to shed light on the process of gene loss in degenerative lineages, and discover the mechanisms that compensate for gene losses in taxa with secondarily evolved visual capabilities- providing a case of evolutionary re-innovation in complex ....How are visual gene pathways lost and restored during reptile evolution? This project aims to investigate how complex traits are lost during evolution, and once lost if they can be regained. The project will use the diverse visual systems of snakes and lizards to shed light on the process of gene loss in degenerative lineages, and discover the mechanisms that compensate for gene losses in taxa with secondarily evolved visual capabilities- providing a case of evolutionary re-innovation in complex traits.Read moreRead less
Annual rainfall variability and extreme drought over the late Holocene. This project aims to understand long-term rainfall variability for Australia by developing a network of extended, high resolution rainfall records from tree rings. How anthropogenic changes to the atmosphere have influenced changing rainfall patterns across Australia is unclear. By extracting climatic information from tree growth rings across a latitudinal gradient from the subtropical north to the south coast of western Aus ....Annual rainfall variability and extreme drought over the late Holocene. This project aims to understand long-term rainfall variability for Australia by developing a network of extended, high resolution rainfall records from tree rings. How anthropogenic changes to the atmosphere have influenced changing rainfall patterns across Australia is unclear. By extracting climatic information from tree growth rings across a latitudinal gradient from the subtropical north to the south coast of western Australia, the project will extend hydroclimatic records by several centuries, to identify the frequency and extent of extreme droughts across the continent. Outcomes are expected to provide appropriate context for evaluating and adapting to climate change, allowing climate modellers, agricultural producers and other industries to improve forecasts of likely change for risk management.Read moreRead less
Integrating niches, interactions and dispersal in species distribution models. This proposal aims to develop a framework for statistical modelling that integrates across spatial scales and disentangles the processes of environmental tolerance, biotic interactions and dispersal. Understanding the processes that drive species distributions and ecological communities is central to ecology and environmental management. This knowledge can be used to anticipate the impacts of environmental change on e ....Integrating niches, interactions and dispersal in species distribution models. This proposal aims to develop a framework for statistical modelling that integrates across spatial scales and disentangles the processes of environmental tolerance, biotic interactions and dispersal. Understanding the processes that drive species distributions and ecological communities is central to ecology and environmental management. This knowledge can be used to anticipate the impacts of environmental change on ecosystems, and the likely benefits of interventions. Current statistical models limit the data that can be used and the ecological questions that can be answered. This project expects to improve our ability to predict species distributions under changed environments given interacting species and dispersal across the landscape.Read moreRead less
Choosing to persist: sexual selection in the wild. This project aims to investigate the role of sexual selection in maintaining healthy wild populations. The prevailing story of sexual selection, in which the sexes either compete for or choose the other sex, has been of extravagant ornaments and displays that drive species to extinction. However, an opposing story has emerged, with elaborate ornaments reflecting a healthy genome and sexual selection instead sweeping away damaging genetic mater ....Choosing to persist: sexual selection in the wild. This project aims to investigate the role of sexual selection in maintaining healthy wild populations. The prevailing story of sexual selection, in which the sexes either compete for or choose the other sex, has been of extravagant ornaments and displays that drive species to extinction. However, an opposing story has emerged, with elaborate ornaments reflecting a healthy genome and sexual selection instead sweeping away damaging genetic material. This project expects to generate new knowledge on the potential for sexual selection to remove harmful mutations in the wild. Expected outcomes include determining if sexual selection can help prevent extinction in wild populations, with direct benefits for conservation programs.Read moreRead less
Global extent of degraded farm lands and their conservation potential. This project aims to map uncontested lands worldwide and assess their potential contribution to global conservation. Globally the area of agricultural land is shrinking due to environmental degradation, market changes and social trends. In the last 15 years, the area of Australia’s pasture lands steeply declined. Although expensive, restoring degraded lands no longer used for agriculture should offer economic opportunities, h ....Global extent of degraded farm lands and their conservation potential. This project aims to map uncontested lands worldwide and assess their potential contribution to global conservation. Globally the area of agricultural land is shrinking due to environmental degradation, market changes and social trends. In the last 15 years, the area of Australia’s pasture lands steeply declined. Although expensive, restoring degraded lands no longer used for agriculture should offer economic opportunities, help mitigate climate change and involve minimal social or political opposition. The outcome will identify the extent and location of uncontested lands and provide a framework for deciding how best to invest in their regeneration.Read moreRead less
Fire regimes and demographic responses interact to threaten woody species. This project aims to extend and test an Interval Squeeze conceptual model which predicts fire-climate interaction effects on plant species persistence. Complex processes affect future species persistence, and an evidence-based conceptual framework is needed. Working across two continents, this project will quantify the effects of projected shortening of fire intervals, lower rainfall and elevated temperatures on woody pla ....Fire regimes and demographic responses interact to threaten woody species. This project aims to extend and test an Interval Squeeze conceptual model which predicts fire-climate interaction effects on plant species persistence. Complex processes affect future species persistence, and an evidence-based conceptual framework is needed. Working across two continents, this project will quantify the effects of projected shortening of fire intervals, lower rainfall and elevated temperatures on woody plant species. Field evidence spans global change predictions, ecosystems and species representing key system dominants and functional response types. The project will synthesise this data into larger simulation models and extend its conceptual framework to directly inform conservation and fire management.Read moreRead less