Climate change and cryptic biodiversity in the Australian arid-zone: Molecular phylogeny-based assessment of conservation priorities. Australia's arid zone comprises two thirds of the country yet from a climate change, biodiversity, and conservation point of view it has received little attention relative to eastern Australia. The project will address broad questions in evolutionary biology with unique Australian systems, make a world class contribution to the fields of phylogeography, molecular ....Climate change and cryptic biodiversity in the Australian arid-zone: Molecular phylogeny-based assessment of conservation priorities. Australia's arid zone comprises two thirds of the country yet from a climate change, biodiversity, and conservation point of view it has received little attention relative to eastern Australia. The project will address broad questions in evolutionary biology with unique Australian systems, make a world class contribution to the fields of phylogeography, molecular phylogenetics and conservation genetics and contribute substantially to the continued training of high quality research students and postdoctoral fellows. The project directly addresses two National Priority Research Areas and will supply of critical information to the eight biggest of the 57 Natural Resource Management Regions. Read moreRead less
Comparative phylogeography and conservation genetics of Australia's biodiversity hotspot. Southwestern Australia has been identified as one of the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots. The project will address broad questions in evolutionary biology with unique Australian systems, make a world class contribution to the fields of phylogeography, molecular phylogenetics and conservation genetics and contribute substantially to the continued training of high quality research students. I am a foundation ....Comparative phylogeography and conservation genetics of Australia's biodiversity hotspot. Southwestern Australia has been identified as one of the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots. The project will address broad questions in evolutionary biology with unique Australian systems, make a world class contribution to the fields of phylogeography, molecular phylogenetics and conservation genetics and contribute substantially to the continued training of high quality research students. I am a foundation member of the new ARC Environmental Futures Network: Discovering the Past and Present to Shape the Future. One of its primary listed objectives is "documenting Australia's biodiversity: recognising, understanding and managing key hotspots". My research plan fits in precisely with this research agenda. Read moreRead less
The role of ecological specialisation in insect-plant macroevolutionary processes: a molecular phylogenetic approach across three kingdoms. Flowering plants and phytophagous insects are major components of the world's biodiversity and their evolution has been closely linked. This project will increase our knowledge of insect-endosymbiont-plant interactions and enhance our understanding of the origin, generation and maintenance of much of the world's biodiversity. A broader understanding of how i ....The role of ecological specialisation in insect-plant macroevolutionary processes: a molecular phylogenetic approach across three kingdoms. Flowering plants and phytophagous insects are major components of the world's biodiversity and their evolution has been closely linked. This project will increase our knowledge of insect-endosymbiont-plant interactions and enhance our understanding of the origin, generation and maintenance of much of the world's biodiversity. A broader understanding of how insects, their symbionts and plants have co-evolved should improve our understanding of why and how some insects are able to become pests whereas others do not. Scale insects (the model system in this study) are important pests, both ecologically (Christmas Island interaction between coccids, rainforest plants and crazy ants) and economically (e.g. citrus mealybug).Read moreRead less
Molecular Phylogenetics of Australian Myobatrachid Frogs and the Evolution of Reproductive Strategies. The Family Myobatrachidae (22 genera, 120+ species) is wholly endemic to the Australo-Papuan region, represents 57% of the Australian frog fauna and displays more diversity in reproductive strategies than any other group of frogs. We will recover a robust molecular phylogeny for all species in this family and use it to exploit existing ecological and behavioural data sets to provide powerful te ....Molecular Phylogenetics of Australian Myobatrachid Frogs and the Evolution of Reproductive Strategies. The Family Myobatrachidae (22 genera, 120+ species) is wholly endemic to the Australo-Papuan region, represents 57% of the Australian frog fauna and displays more diversity in reproductive strategies than any other group of frogs. We will recover a robust molecular phylogeny for all species in this family and use it to exploit existing ecological and behavioural data sets to provide powerful tests of alternative hypotheses concerning the evolution of diverse reproductive strategies. This multi-disciplinary research project will provide detailed phylogenetic information for one of the most diverse vertebrate radiations in Australia and address important questions in historical ecology.Read moreRead less
Analysing the roles of cospeciation and host-shifting in the evolution of behaviour and ecology of thrips associated with Australian Acacia. The relationships and interactions between phytophagous thrips and their host Acacia species provide a system well suited to investigating mechanisms of macroevolution in the Australian arid-zone biota. In this project we will determine the relative importance of mechanisms such as cospeciation and host-shifting within this model system, and examine the in ....Analysing the roles of cospeciation and host-shifting in the evolution of behaviour and ecology of thrips associated with Australian Acacia. The relationships and interactions between phytophagous thrips and their host Acacia species provide a system well suited to investigating mechanisms of macroevolution in the Australian arid-zone biota. In this project we will determine the relative importance of mechanisms such as cospeciation and host-shifting within this model system, and examine the influence of these mechanisms on the evolution of both the insects and the host-plants. It is expected that the results of this study will provide insights into the evolution of arid-zone biodiversity in Australia and the nature of insect/host-plant interactions.Read moreRead less