Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100018
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Understanding bioacoustics in plants. From lush tropical rainforests to small urban gardens, plants take advantage of the surrounding soundscape to flourish, yet how they do this is still unknown. This will be the first experimental study to explore how and why plants sense sound in their environment, hence pioneering a brand-new research area in behavioural and evolutionary ecology.
An evolutionary approach to understanding chemical cues used in mate choice. This project will combine evolutionary biology with molecular and chemical ecology to gain a fundamental understanding of the role chemicals play in animal communication. By drawing on novel and innovative techniques, this project will place Australia at the forefront of this discipline and contribute to Australia's capacity to control pests.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100709
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Assessing pollination services of honey bees in native ecosystems and threats posed by parasites. The European honeybee is our most abundant pollinator but we know little about its role in native Australian ecosystems or how its many diseases may affect its ability to pollinate. This project will determine whether honeybees are important pollinators of native plants and how a common parasite affects their pollination ability.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101625
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$385,536.00
Summary
The evolutionary significance of ejaculate-female interactions. The way that ejaculates interact with the female reproductive tract is thought to have profound evolutionary implications in internal fertilizers. Yet we currently lack clear insights into these processes in most taxa, precisely because such ejaculate-female interactions are hidden from view inside the female's reproductive tract. In this project an integrated series of experiments on a model vertebrate (the guppy) will overcome the ....The evolutionary significance of ejaculate-female interactions. The way that ejaculates interact with the female reproductive tract is thought to have profound evolutionary implications in internal fertilizers. Yet we currently lack clear insights into these processes in most taxa, precisely because such ejaculate-female interactions are hidden from view inside the female's reproductive tract. In this project an integrated series of experiments on a model vertebrate (the guppy) will overcome the inherent challenges in studying ejaculate-female interactions. The project aims to shed new light on the role that ejaculate-female interactions play in sperm competition, and will explore the consequences of these interactions at different evolutionary levels and across varying social environments.Read moreRead less
The benefits of sociality: understanding the relationship between cooperation, cognition and fitness. Cooperation may present unique cognitive challenges. Individuals perform behaviours that provide fitness benefits to others, exposing themselves to risk. The need to monitor the behaviour of group members, recognise suitable cooperative partners, and make corresponding behavioural adjustments to maximize the benefits of cooperation, may therefore be an important driver of social evolution. The r ....The benefits of sociality: understanding the relationship between cooperation, cognition and fitness. Cooperation may present unique cognitive challenges. Individuals perform behaviours that provide fitness benefits to others, exposing themselves to risk. The need to monitor the behaviour of group members, recognise suitable cooperative partners, and make corresponding behavioural adjustments to maximize the benefits of cooperation, may therefore be an important driver of social evolution. The relevance of understanding the relationship between cognition and cooperation is in how it affects the fitness of individuals and the stability of cooperation. This project aims to unveil this relationship by conducting one of the first comprehensive studies of the selective benefits of cognitive ability in a wild, cooperative bird species.Read moreRead less
Integrating pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection. This project combines life-history theory, behaviour, physiology and quantitative genetics to gain a broader understanding of the mechanisms linking pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection. The work will boost Australia’s profile in evolutionary ecology and build new collaborative links with researchers overseas.
Threshold evolution: conceptualising decisions as traits. All organisms make decisions, yet the diversity of decision rules across the spectrum of life can be understood through a few key evolutionary models. This project will test these models and then apply them to understanding topics as diverse as pest outbreaks, human twinning, sex ratio evolution and disease spread as a consequence of climate change.
The evolutionary biology of seminal fluid. This project will identify proteins within seminal fluid that impact sperm performance and male fertility. The work will derive new insights into the evolution of seminal fluid proteins, while simultaneously exploring how environmental factors such as diet impact male fertility in animals and humans.
Chemical signalling in the sea. This project aims to understand how eggs attract and select sperm, and how the environment influences these interactions. Differential sperm chemotaxis, a form of mate choice involving chemical signalling between eggs and sperm, has only been described in mussels, but may be a widespread form of gamete-level sexual selection. The project will study the biochemical and molecular basis of differential sperm chemotaxis in mussels, and the stability of gamete-level in ....Chemical signalling in the sea. This project aims to understand how eggs attract and select sperm, and how the environment influences these interactions. Differential sperm chemotaxis, a form of mate choice involving chemical signalling between eggs and sperm, has only been described in mussels, but may be a widespread form of gamete-level sexual selection. The project will study the biochemical and molecular basis of differential sperm chemotaxis in mussels, and the stability of gamete-level interactions under different environmental conditions. Improved fundamental knowledge of reproduction in a commercially important marine species may yield future commercial benefits for Australia’s marine food production sectorRead moreRead less
Group dynamics, Allee effects and population regulation in cooperative breeders. Understanding population dynamics is crucial for effective conservation biology. In many cases breeding is limited by high density, but in social species the opposite is true, exposing small groups to high extinction risk. However, analyses of population dynamics in social species is rare, limiting our ability to effectively conserve such species.