Buffering the ecosystem impact of invasive cane toads. This project aims to address the devastating ecological problems caused by invasive species, by developing a novel approach that does not rely upon eradicating the invader through training vulnerable native predators not to eat toxic cane toads. Expected outcomes of this project include building a broad coalition of conservation-focused groups, from private land-owners and local businesses through to Indigenous groups and government and non- ....Buffering the ecosystem impact of invasive cane toads. This project aims to address the devastating ecological problems caused by invasive species, by developing a novel approach that does not rely upon eradicating the invader through training vulnerable native predators not to eat toxic cane toads. Expected outcomes of this project include building a broad coalition of conservation-focused groups, from private land-owners and local businesses through to Indigenous groups and government and non-government agencies across the entire Kimberley region. It will also result in the evaluation of methods for deployment of taste-aversion at a landscape scale. This should provide significant benefits by conserving vulnerable fauna and building a powerful network within a region of high biodiversity in tropical Australia.Read moreRead less
Manipulating population sex ratio to eradicate invasive mouse populations. This project aims to use house mice, an Australian pest of economic importance which is also a highly tractable system for testing evolutionary theory and generating practical outcomes. Manipulating population sex ratio is a powerful tool for either enhancing the viability of threatened species or decimating pests. However, despite much scientific effort testing sex ratio theory, the cryptic mechanisms driving sex allocat ....Manipulating population sex ratio to eradicate invasive mouse populations. This project aims to use house mice, an Australian pest of economic importance which is also a highly tractable system for testing evolutionary theory and generating practical outcomes. Manipulating population sex ratio is a powerful tool for either enhancing the viability of threatened species or decimating pests. However, despite much scientific effort testing sex ratio theory, the cryptic mechanisms driving sex allocation remain unidentified, hindering progress in these fields. The project will identify the mechanisms by which sex ratio adjustments are made and establish how individual-level responses influence insular population structure and growth. It will provide benefits by assisting Australia's efforts in eradicating invasive mouse populations.Read moreRead less
Understanding animals through their movement. This project aims to develop a suite of analytical methods to understand animals' behaviour through their movement patterns. Animal movement patterns encode detailed information about their behavioural state. Collecting and analysing animal movement trajectories can provide us with completely new insights to behaviour. Recent developments in bio-logging technologies have provided an incredible amount of rich data on free-ranging animals. This project ....Understanding animals through their movement. This project aims to develop a suite of analytical methods to understand animals' behaviour through their movement patterns. Animal movement patterns encode detailed information about their behavioural state. Collecting and analysing animal movement trajectories can provide us with completely new insights to behaviour. Recent developments in bio-logging technologies have provided an incredible amount of rich data on free-ranging animals. This project will develop a suite of analytical techniques to interrogate this data through a combination of approaches, from fine scale experiments in the laboratory to tracking animal trajectories from the International Space Station. The findings will deliver major benefits to the broader community by transforming our ability to manage and conserve animal stocks.Read moreRead less
Sexual conflict and the evolution of nuptial gifts. This project aims to understand how sexual conflict drives the evolution of “manipulative” nuptial gifts in male arthropods and how females respond to ingesting these gifts. Nuptial food gifts comprise materials (other than sperm) that are offered by males to females to consume at mating, and are an integral feature of the mating systems of a wide variety of arthropods. The project will study the decorated cricket, a species where males produce ....Sexual conflict and the evolution of nuptial gifts. This project aims to understand how sexual conflict drives the evolution of “manipulative” nuptial gifts in male arthropods and how females respond to ingesting these gifts. Nuptial food gifts comprise materials (other than sperm) that are offered by males to females to consume at mating, and are an integral feature of the mating systems of a wide variety of arthropods. The project will study the decorated cricket, a species where males produce a nuptial food gift that contains a cocktail of chemicals known to influence female reproduction when eaten. The project is expected to strengthen Australia’s international standing in evolutionary research and help train the next generation of evolutionary biologists.Read moreRead less
The costs and consequences of resistance to stress in microbial systems. The coexistence of antibiotic resistant and sensitive bacteria in microbial communities represents a paradox. Combining novel ecological models and competition experiments, this project aims to investigate how the pulsing of antibiotics and resources affects the coexistence of resistant and sensitive bacteria. This project expects to generate new knowledge into how the complex non-equilibrium dynamics of natural systems fee ....The costs and consequences of resistance to stress in microbial systems. The coexistence of antibiotic resistant and sensitive bacteria in microbial communities represents a paradox. Combining novel ecological models and competition experiments, this project aims to investigate how the pulsing of antibiotics and resources affects the coexistence of resistant and sensitive bacteria. This project expects to generate new knowledge into how the complex non-equilibrium dynamics of natural systems feeds back to regulate the spread of antibiotic resistance in microbial communities. This should advance our fundamental understanding of microbial competition, and provide a foundation for the development of new ecologically-aware strategies for managing resistance.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240101022
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$457,000.00
Summary
Linking movement and animal vision to uncover functions of dynamic colours. This project aims to address a fundamental biological question: what drives the extraordinary diversity of colours in nature? Using cutting-edge, interdisciplinary techniques, this project expects to link visual properties, movement and animal vision to discover functions of animal colouration, generating significant new insights for the fields of visual ecology, animal behaviour and camouflage. The outcomes of this proj ....Linking movement and animal vision to uncover functions of dynamic colours. This project aims to address a fundamental biological question: what drives the extraordinary diversity of colours in nature? Using cutting-edge, interdisciplinary techniques, this project expects to link visual properties, movement and animal vision to discover functions of animal colouration, generating significant new insights for the fields of visual ecology, animal behaviour and camouflage. The outcomes of this project include enhanced national and international collaboration and new tools for animal behaviour, perception and camouflage research. This work will benefit our understanding of vision, colour and the relationship between the two, with significant scope for bio-inspired solutions to sensor and image processing problems.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100884
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,691.00
Summary
Do novel diets reshape wildlife microbiomes and resilience to stressors? This project aims to investigate how bacteria can assist wildlife in adapting to the accelerating threat of environmental change. Using an innovative, interdisciplinary approach this project expects to identify interactions between environmental change and the diet, microbial communities and stress resilience of wildlife, using the threatened Grey-headed flying fox as a model system. Expected outcomes include detailed under ....Do novel diets reshape wildlife microbiomes and resilience to stressors? This project aims to investigate how bacteria can assist wildlife in adapting to the accelerating threat of environmental change. Using an innovative, interdisciplinary approach this project expects to identify interactions between environmental change and the diet, microbial communities and stress resilience of wildlife, using the threatened Grey-headed flying fox as a model system. Expected outcomes include detailed understanding of the role of microbial communities in shaping wildlife adaptations and development of ecological interventions to enhance wildlife resilience in Australia and globally. Such outcomes may reveal opportunities for management strategies that safeguard threatened species and reduce human-wildlife conflicts.Read moreRead less
Understanding the relationship between sociality and cognition. The evolution of cognition is a fundamentally important yet poorly researched area. It has recently become clear that rather than measuring cognitive performance between species, understanding the causes of intraspecific variation in cognitive performance is vital to accurately measure the selective benefits of cognition. Recent groundbreaking research on Australian magpies has revealed individual differences in cognitive performanc ....Understanding the relationship between sociality and cognition. The evolution of cognition is a fundamentally important yet poorly researched area. It has recently become clear that rather than measuring cognitive performance between species, understanding the causes of intraspecific variation in cognitive performance is vital to accurately measure the selective benefits of cognition. Recent groundbreaking research on Australian magpies has revealed individual differences in cognitive performance are influenced by differences in sociality. This proposal will determine the causality of these results by examining the developmental and fitness consequences of individual differences in cognitive performance in relation to social interactions, thus directly addressing the sociality-cognition debate.Read moreRead less
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
A complex systems approach to preventing colony failure in honey bees. This project aims to use complex systems science to detect and prevent colony collapse in honey bees while advancing knowledge of tipping points in complex social systems. Understanding the mathematics of colony collapse can help us develop strategies for safeguarding managed bee populations and the valuable pollination services they provide. Expected outcomes include methods for the early detection of stress in colonies, met ....A complex systems approach to preventing colony failure in honey bees. This project aims to use complex systems science to detect and prevent colony collapse in honey bees while advancing knowledge of tipping points in complex social systems. Understanding the mathematics of colony collapse can help us develop strategies for safeguarding managed bee populations and the valuable pollination services they provide. Expected outcomes include methods for the early detection of stress in colonies, methods for reversing declines, and new mathematical techniques for studying tipping points in complex social systems. This will provide significant benefits for Australian agriculture, much of which depends on bee pollination, while building scientific capacity in complex systems science.Read moreRead less