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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180101520
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,058.00
Summary
Diet, variance and individual variability in life-history. This project aims to provide biologists with novel statistical tools that will shift analytical paradigms. In many species, dietary restrictions increase average lifespan, and affect average rates of growth and reproduction, also known as ‘life history’. The use of recently developed tools has shown that individual variability in life history also appears to increase under dietary restrictions. This project will explore the effects of di ....Diet, variance and individual variability in life-history. This project aims to provide biologists with novel statistical tools that will shift analytical paradigms. In many species, dietary restrictions increase average lifespan, and affect average rates of growth and reproduction, also known as ‘life history’. The use of recently developed tools has shown that individual variability in life history also appears to increase under dietary restrictions. This project will explore the effects of diet composition on variability in life-history traits, and the factors driving this variation. This is expected to improve the prediction of the effects of changing nutritional environments.Read moreRead less
Evolution in action or the demise of iconic Australian flora? The project aims to investigate the evolutionary history and conservation status of a group of closely related Grevillea species, in the light of increasing pressure from landscape modification. This project will incorporate leading methodologies for massively parallel sequencing, pollinator preference and breeding capacity in order to detect the patterns and processes underpinning divergence in widely distributed species. A phylogene ....Evolution in action or the demise of iconic Australian flora? The project aims to investigate the evolutionary history and conservation status of a group of closely related Grevillea species, in the light of increasing pressure from landscape modification. This project will incorporate leading methodologies for massively parallel sequencing, pollinator preference and breeding capacity in order to detect the patterns and processes underpinning divergence in widely distributed species. A phylogenetic framework will provide the evolutionary relationships among taxa. This project is expected to inform requirements for long-term species persistence and, for threatened species within the group, guide the decision making of biodiversity managers as to what actions are required and where best to invest limited funds.Read moreRead less
Fossils, rocks and early Cambrian clocks: calibrating body plan assembly and lineage splits in ancestral animals from Gondwana. The precise timing of when animal body plans evolved and rapidly diversified during the Cambrian Explosion remains mysterious. This project will investigate vast collections of exquisitely preserved early-middle Cambrian fossils from Australia to determine the precise order of evolutionary events at the root of the animal tree of life.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102034
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
How did mammals evolve large brains? A multidisciplinary view from the pouch. This project applies novel data collection techniques to explain how the large brain sizes of today's mammals (including humans) are possible. The focus will be on brain structure, development, and evolution in the mostly Australian marsupials, whose ancestral mode of brain development makes them an ideal group for studies of brain size evolution.
The role of epigenetic modifications in bovid adaptation to environmental change. This project will explore the role of epigenetic change, where gene expression is regulated without changing the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence, in how animals adapt to rapid climate change. This project will trace epigenetic markers in ancient bison and cows through 30,000 years of climate change, and identify key adaptive genes for the cattle industry.
Genes in conflict in the social insects. Queen bees mate with 20 males, so it is in each male's interests to father female offspring that are more likely to become queens or reproductive workers. In contrast, queens want all workers to be sterile. This project will determine if some males pass on genes to offspring that have been modified so that their daughters are likely to become reproductive.
From developmental stability to organismic senility: Hox genes and telomere impact on life history evolution. Australia benefits from training researchers and technicians in new, break-through biotechnology and from applying this knowledge to relevant, cutting-edge questions in highly publicized research fields. This project contains both these ingredients. Our model species (a lizard) has a relatively high level of offspring malformations (ca 15%), which makes it much more likely to detect thei ....From developmental stability to organismic senility: Hox genes and telomere impact on life history evolution. Australia benefits from training researchers and technicians in new, break-through biotechnology and from applying this knowledge to relevant, cutting-edge questions in highly publicized research fields. This project contains both these ingredients. Our model species (a lizard) has a relatively high level of offspring malformations (ca 15%), which makes it much more likely to detect their underlying genetic mechanism. Furthermore, we can also assess how these animals survive and reproduce in relation to how quickly they age, which can be measured by assessing the shortening of telomeres per unit time. Thus, this collaboration provides an opportunity to train Australian researchers and in that process generate very high profile research.Read moreRead less
How does climate affect regeneration and distribution of Australian plants? This project aims to quantify the degree to which Australian plant species have responded to changes in climate over the last few decades, and to build understanding of the mechanisms that underpin responses to climate change. It seeks to fill critical knowledge gaps about the way heatwaves, freezing temperatures and temperature variability affect plants. The project aims to introduce a novel approach that will allow ass ....How does climate affect regeneration and distribution of Australian plants? This project aims to quantify the degree to which Australian plant species have responded to changes in climate over the last few decades, and to build understanding of the mechanisms that underpin responses to climate change. It seeks to fill critical knowledge gaps about the way heatwaves, freezing temperatures and temperature variability affect plants. The project aims to introduce a novel approach that will allow assessment of physiological and morphological change in response to recent climate change in the absence of historic data. Improved accuracy in identifying species that will have trouble responding to climate change would allow managers to more effectively target their resources to maximise biodiversity and ecosystem function.Read moreRead less
Parental imprinting and epigenetic inheritance in honey bees. This project aims to uncover the mechanisms behind epigenetic inheritance in bees, providing deep insights into their biology, and develop an outstanding new system for studying epigenetics. There are compelling theoretical and empirical reasons to predict epigenetic inheritance in honey bees. Further, reciprocal crosses reveal strong paternal effects suggesting that males modify their sperm to increase the reproductive success of the ....Parental imprinting and epigenetic inheritance in honey bees. This project aims to uncover the mechanisms behind epigenetic inheritance in bees, providing deep insights into their biology, and develop an outstanding new system for studying epigenetics. There are compelling theoretical and empirical reasons to predict epigenetic inheritance in honey bees. Further, reciprocal crosses reveal strong paternal effects suggesting that males modify their sperm to increase the reproductive success of their female offspring. Modification of DNA by methylation and the transfer of small RNA molecules in eggs or semen are two candidate mechanisms by which queens and drones may manipulate gene expression in their offspring.Read moreRead less