Using cane toads to eradicate cane toads. This project aims to develop effective ways to reduce the devastating ecological impact of cane toads, by exploiting the cannibalistic behaviour of tadpoles. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of invasion biology and amphibian development utilising recent discoveries about cannibalism. Expected outcomes of this project include a powerful new method to reduce or eliminate recruitment of juvenile toads from natural waterbodies. Bene ....Using cane toads to eradicate cane toads. This project aims to develop effective ways to reduce the devastating ecological impact of cane toads, by exploiting the cannibalistic behaviour of tadpoles. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of invasion biology and amphibian development utilising recent discoveries about cannibalism. Expected outcomes of this project include a powerful new method to reduce or eliminate recruitment of juvenile toads from natural waterbodies. Benefits of this project include conservation of native wildlife that are threatened by the cane toad invasion across much of tropical and subtropical Australia.Read moreRead less
Dynamic assessment of threats to marine megafauna in face of global change. This project aims to develop a global approach to synthesise global tracking datasets and deliver near real-time diagnostics on risks for marine megafauna at a global scale pushing forward a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management to improve conservation. This project expects to increase our understanding of how marine megafauna movements vary with environmental changes and how much they overlap with threatenin ....Dynamic assessment of threats to marine megafauna in face of global change. This project aims to develop a global approach to synthesise global tracking datasets and deliver near real-time diagnostics on risks for marine megafauna at a global scale pushing forward a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management to improve conservation. This project expects to increase our understanding of how marine megafauna movements vary with environmental changes and how much they overlap with threatening global human activities. Expected outcomes will demonstrate how big data in marine telemetry can be synthesised and translated into ecologically significant behaviours. This should provide significant benefits to address global scientific and societal problems highlighted in the Australian science and research priorities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101521
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$349,699.00
Summary
The development, ecology and evolution of alternative phenotypes. Diseases, crops, livestock, and even some natural resources evolve, therefore comprehending evolutionary processes and their implications for humans is paramount. A paradigm shift in evolutionary theory was the realisation that genes are not the whole story, and that plasticity to the environment is vital for evolution. This highlights the importance of environmentally sensitive traits, such as conditional alternative phenotypes, ....The development, ecology and evolution of alternative phenotypes. Diseases, crops, livestock, and even some natural resources evolve, therefore comprehending evolutionary processes and their implications for humans is paramount. A paradigm shift in evolutionary theory was the realisation that genes are not the whole story, and that plasticity to the environment is vital for evolution. This highlights the importance of environmentally sensitive traits, such as conditional alternative phenotypes, where a genome can produce completely different morphologies in different environments. This project aims to investigate the development, evolutionary potential, and ecology of alternative phenotypes, contributing to our ability to understand and manage the most important of biological processes, evolution.Read moreRead less