Reproductive plasticity and climate change: insights from a region of opportunistic birds. Understanding how animal species respond behaviourally and physiologically to climatic variability is key to predicting how they will adapt to a changing climate. Australasia is home to a number of native and introduced species that breed across a range of climates and seasons. This project will establish collaborative infrastructure and a research network to systematically study and identify the constrain ....Reproductive plasticity and climate change: insights from a region of opportunistic birds. Understanding how animal species respond behaviourally and physiologically to climatic variability is key to predicting how they will adapt to a changing climate. Australasia is home to a number of native and introduced species that breed across a range of climates and seasons. This project will establish collaborative infrastructure and a research network to systematically study and identify the constraints and adaptations that birds have to adjust to a variable climate across Australasia. This large-scale comparative project will provide important insight into the globally observed patterns of reproductive failure and changes in breeding and migration times in birds, which have been related to a changing climate and pose a threat to biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Getting smaller as temperatures rise? Body size responses of Australian birds to climate change. Many animals appear to be declining in size as climate change occurs, but why this is so is unclear. Using historical records and museum specimens we will determine the factors underlying body size reductions in Australian birds, and especially the role of changing temperature and ecosystem productivity.
Cuckoo - host coevolution: a model system for investigating the impact of climate change on interspecific interactions and biodiversity. Climate change is causing alterations to the timing of breeding and migration in Australian birds, resulting in mismatches in timing between closely interacting species. This project will assess the impact of climate change on interactions between parasitic cuckoos, hosts and prey and formulate predictions about the long-term viability of these species.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101446
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
The battle of the sexes heats up: climate change and the ecological and evolutionary fate of reptiles when sex is determined by temperature. In species where gender (male or female) is determined by temperature early in life, what will happen when climate changes? This project will examine the sex ratios, behaviour and evolutionary potential of a native Australian lizard in relation to climate, addressing a question of global significance and informing management of native species.
Climate change: bridging the gap between environmental induced phenotypic change, population dynamics, and long-term evolution. It is becoming impossible to ignore the impact of global climate change on organisms around the world from changes in migration, distribution to extinction events - yet there is much to understand. This project examines the role of a changing environment during developmental and its effects on ecological and evolutionary outcomes.
How does climate change affect arid zone birds? This project aims to address how climate affects avian behaviour and the consequences for survival and reproduction. The project will apply a suite of methods to explore fundamental questions within behavioural ecology that also have applied relevance. The data will be used for building individual-based models that predict population dynamics in response to climate change, and biophysical models that can provide insights into species sensitivities. ....How does climate change affect arid zone birds? This project aims to address how climate affects avian behaviour and the consequences for survival and reproduction. The project will apply a suite of methods to explore fundamental questions within behavioural ecology that also have applied relevance. The data will be used for building individual-based models that predict population dynamics in response to climate change, and biophysical models that can provide insights into species sensitivities. The intended outcome is to improve understanding of the mechanistic links between climate and population processes.Read moreRead less