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
Illuminating the evolutionary history of Australia’s most iconic animals. This project aims to pinpoint the nature and timing of key steps in macropod history and to test how these link with major climatic and biotic changes. Macropods (kangaroos and relatives) are widely considered the marsupial equivalents to hoofed mammals on other continents, but we have a weaker understanding of how their evolution was shaped by environmental change. This project will combine palaeontology, anatomy and gene ....Illuminating the evolutionary history of Australia’s most iconic animals. This project aims to pinpoint the nature and timing of key steps in macropod history and to test how these link with major climatic and biotic changes. Macropods (kangaroos and relatives) are widely considered the marsupial equivalents to hoofed mammals on other continents, but we have a weaker understanding of how their evolution was shaped by environmental change. This project will combine palaeontology, anatomy and genetics to address questions such as how and why ancestral macropods descended from the trees and evolved bipedal hopping, and the upper size limits of the kangaroo “body plan”. This should improve our understanding of the long-term effects of climate change on marsupials, and provide a test of key placental-based evolutionary models.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100544
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$344,682.00
Summary
The drivers of genome evolution and diversification in marsupials. This project aims to investigate the impact of the four basic forces of evolution, mutation, selection, neutral drift, and gene flow, on the genome. Genome-scale data have a signature of these forces and extracting it would greatly improve the quality of evolutionary models fit to the data, but the framework to identify the evolutionary forces has not been developed. This project will develop tests for assessing the impact of the ....The drivers of genome evolution and diversification in marsupials. This project aims to investigate the impact of the four basic forces of evolution, mutation, selection, neutral drift, and gene flow, on the genome. Genome-scale data have a signature of these forces and extracting it would greatly improve the quality of evolutionary models fit to the data, but the framework to identify the evolutionary forces has not been developed. This project will develop tests for assessing the impact of the primary evolutionary forces on the genome, and test these methods using simulations. The new framework of genomic analysis will be disseminated through an intuitive software package, and will be used to estimate with unprecedented confidence the history of diversification and genome evolution of marsupials.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100516
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Biodiversity, biogeography and molecular evolution on tropical reefs. This project aims to discover how evolutionary processes, biogeography and molecular change drive biodiversity patterns. Coral reefs support over 800,000 plant and animal species on <0.1% of the ocean. This project will examine how this biodiversity was formed by generating genomic data for reef building corals and reef associated fishes to reconstruct their evolutionary history. It will compare models of speciation, extinctio ....Biodiversity, biogeography and molecular evolution on tropical reefs. This project aims to discover how evolutionary processes, biogeography and molecular change drive biodiversity patterns. Coral reefs support over 800,000 plant and animal species on <0.1% of the ocean. This project will examine how this biodiversity was formed by generating genomic data for reef building corals and reef associated fishes to reconstruct their evolutionary history. It will compare models of speciation, extinction and range change among regions to determine how those processes contribute to the formation of biodiversity gradients and regional assemblage differences. The project expects that better understanding of evolutionary dynamics will inform conservation priorities.Read moreRead less
Predicting genetic exchange between species under climate change. This project aims to resolve the factors that lead to the mixing of species’ gene pools, with a focus on whether climate change will increase such mixing, possibly leading to extinction by genetic swamping.
The significance is that the project would improve our understanding of speciation and species’ vulnerability to rapid climate change through genetic mixing; a largely overlooked process.
Key outcomes would be to generate new k ....Predicting genetic exchange between species under climate change. This project aims to resolve the factors that lead to the mixing of species’ gene pools, with a focus on whether climate change will increase such mixing, possibly leading to extinction by genetic swamping.
The significance is that the project would improve our understanding of speciation and species’ vulnerability to rapid climate change through genetic mixing; a largely overlooked process.
Key outcomes would be to generate new knowledge of a fundamental evolutionary process and extend the toolbox of biodiversity managers facing rapid environmental change.
The project would benefit Australia by highlighting our unique biodiversity and scientific capability, and by training early career researchers in advanced evolutionary biology.Read moreRead less
Resolving insect evolution. Our poor understanding of the evolution of insects, life’s most successful group, is a huge gap in our knowledge of nature. By analysing genomic data the project will resolve the insect evolutionary tree and discover what drove insect evolution. This will expand our knowledge of how evolution works - a vital part of conserving our biological diversity.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100220
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,149.00
Summary
How do time, climate change and adaptation shape the assembly and evolution of a diverse continental biota? This project will use new statistical techniques for analysing patterns of biological diversification to test how time, environmental change and evolutionary adaptation shape the accumulation of biodiversity in a continental setting. A supermatrix of genetic and ecological data for Australia's most diverse terrestrial vertebrate group (lizards and snakes) will be compiled. This will allow ....How do time, climate change and adaptation shape the assembly and evolution of a diverse continental biota? This project will use new statistical techniques for analysing patterns of biological diversification to test how time, environmental change and evolutionary adaptation shape the accumulation of biodiversity in a continental setting. A supermatrix of genetic and ecological data for Australia's most diverse terrestrial vertebrate group (lizards and snakes) will be compiled. This will allow the testing of the macroevolutionary responses to key environmental changes through the Cainozoic (rapid climatic transgressions and aridification), the relationship between lineage age and species diversity and the effects of major ecological shifts on rates of speciation, extinction and morphological diversification.Read moreRead less
The role of genome reorganisation in adaptation and speciation. Local adaptation and speciation are fundamental evolutionary processes that rely on changes to the genome. However, the role of genome architecture (e.g. chromosomal rearrangements, gene duplications) in driving these processes is poorly understood. This project will use advanced comparative genomics and bioinformatics to examine the role of chromosome rearrangements in driving adaptation and speciation, and evaluate rates of molec ....The role of genome reorganisation in adaptation and speciation. Local adaptation and speciation are fundamental evolutionary processes that rely on changes to the genome. However, the role of genome architecture (e.g. chromosomal rearrangements, gene duplications) in driving these processes is poorly understood. This project will use advanced comparative genomics and bioinformatics to examine the role of chromosome rearrangements in driving adaptation and speciation, and evaluate rates of molecular evolution between the X-chromosome and autosomes. Utilising Australia’s endemic mammalian fauna as a tractable model system, I will link population processes with macro-evolutionary outcomes to show how genome architecture underpins biodiversity.Read moreRead less
The evolution of generalism: why so many polyphagous fruit flies? This project aims to understand why flies that cause maggoty fruit have so frequently evolved the generalist feeding habitat. Insect herbivores make up 50 per cent of eukaryotic species on earth. Nearly all are host specialists, feeding on only one or very few plant species. In stark contrast, 40 per cent of tropical fruit flies are generalists, feeding across many plant families. This project aims to test specific hypotheses to e ....The evolution of generalism: why so many polyphagous fruit flies? This project aims to understand why flies that cause maggoty fruit have so frequently evolved the generalist feeding habitat. Insect herbivores make up 50 per cent of eukaryotic species on earth. Nearly all are host specialists, feeding on only one or very few plant species. In stark contrast, 40 per cent of tropical fruit flies are generalists, feeding across many plant families. This project aims to test specific hypotheses to explain the high frequency of generalism in Bactrocera. Outcomes will significantly advance understanding of the evolution of generalism, and so greatly advance herbivory theory. As Bactrocera are also globally significant horticultural pests, the project will provide under-pinning science for pest management.Read moreRead less
Faunal responses to environmental change and isolation on an Australian land-bridge island. Establishing how faunas responded to past isolation and environmental changes offers great potential for predicting long-term impacts of habitat fragmentation. By combining novel methods we will track extinction rates, diet and body-size shifts on Kangaroo Island, the only known land-bridge island with a fossil record spanning the past 100,000 years.