Outfoxing the fox: new cost-effective ways to protect threatened species. This project aims to address the damage caused by invasive foxes by applying new methods of protection for threatened species. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of conservation biology and invasive species management by comparing the effectiveness of fox control strategies for improving the population viability of declining freshwater turtles. Expected outcomes of this project include a community- ....Outfoxing the fox: new cost-effective ways to protect threatened species. This project aims to address the damage caused by invasive foxes by applying new methods of protection for threatened species. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of conservation biology and invasive species management by comparing the effectiveness of fox control strategies for improving the population viability of declining freshwater turtles. Expected outcomes of this project include a community-based conservation model that prevents turtle extinctions in south-eastern Australia at considerable cost savings. Significant benefits include improved management of the impacts of invasive species, and restoration of ecosystem services provided by the scavenging role of freshwater turtles for maintaining water quality.Read moreRead less
How positive interactions improve predictions of plant community diversity. Though common in nature, the importance of plant-plant facilitation to coexistence and the maintenance of plant diversity at community scales is poorly understood. This project aims to advance understanding of how positive interactions (facilitation) impact on coexistence among plant species as well as local patterns of diversity. To achieve these aims the project will use a combination of field experiments and a compara ....How positive interactions improve predictions of plant community diversity. Though common in nature, the importance of plant-plant facilitation to coexistence and the maintenance of plant diversity at community scales is poorly understood. This project aims to advance understanding of how positive interactions (facilitation) impact on coexistence among plant species as well as local patterns of diversity. To achieve these aims the project will use a combination of field experiments and a comparative analysis of competition and facilitation in Australian, Californian and Spanish annual plant communities with a novel modelling approach for predicting coexistence across variable environments. Outcomes are expected to include an innovative predictive framework of use for plant conservation in Australia and beyond.Read moreRead less
The role of pollutants and emerging diseases in endangering a global migratory flyway. This project aims to investigate the role of chemical pollution on disease susceptibility and survival in shorebirds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF). Among all long-distance migratory birds, the more than eight million shorebirds along the EAAF have notably been hit hard by global change, with population declines up to 80%. This project will use data from birds on their Asian migratory stopover ....The role of pollutants and emerging diseases in endangering a global migratory flyway. This project aims to investigate the role of chemical pollution on disease susceptibility and survival in shorebirds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF). Among all long-distance migratory birds, the more than eight million shorebirds along the EAAF have notably been hit hard by global change, with population declines up to 80%. This project will use data from birds on their Asian migratory stopover sites, data from seven years of blood and virus samples, and 38 years of banding data collected while staying on the Australian non-breeding grounds. The project will provide essential data for developing mitigation strategies to help curb the populations’ demise, while informing on the effects of pollution on the role of migrants in disease spread.Read moreRead less