Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100014
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$432,469.00
Summary
Comparative genomics to improve conservation planning in Australian deserts. This project aims to locate hotspots of diversity in Australia’s vast, flat deserts and to quantify how well these areas are captured under the National Reserve System. I will establish a network of international and national collaborators and improve knowledge on how animals responded to past environmental change. The anticipated outcome of this project is to improve our ability to understand, measure and preserve our ....Comparative genomics to improve conservation planning in Australian deserts. This project aims to locate hotspots of diversity in Australia’s vast, flat deserts and to quantify how well these areas are captured under the National Reserve System. I will establish a network of international and national collaborators and improve knowledge on how animals responded to past environmental change. The anticipated outcome of this project is to improve our ability to understand, measure and preserve our unique desert biodiversity and the evolutionary processes that sustain it, using our remarkably diverse reptile fauna as a model system. In the face of current, rapid environmental change, this has never been more important, and will provide a tool for biodiversity survival.Read moreRead less
Quantifying the impact of phenotypic plasticity on population persistence. This project aims to understand how environmental sensitivity in growth, survival and reproduction of individuals in a population influence population dynamics using terrestrial ectotherms. It will provide significant new insights into whether phenotypic plasticity promotes population persistence in the face of environmental change. Expected outcomes include approaches for incorporating environmental effects in population ....Quantifying the impact of phenotypic plasticity on population persistence. This project aims to understand how environmental sensitivity in growth, survival and reproduction of individuals in a population influence population dynamics using terrestrial ectotherms. It will provide significant new insights into whether phenotypic plasticity promotes population persistence in the face of environmental change. Expected outcomes include approaches for incorporating environmental effects in population models for threatened species, open databases that can be used to estimate demographic information for species lacking data, and an assessment of what characteristics make some species more sensitive to the environment than others. Benefits include quantitative training and tools for managing Australia's rich biodiversity.Read moreRead less
What determines plant sensitivity to heat?: Individual to lifetime impacts. Temperature is a major determinant of the distribution of species and yet the capacity to predict the thermal sensitivity of plants is extremely limited. How vulnerability varies as a plant grows from seed to adult and produces more seed is a key question. Whether chronic warming exacerbates or ameliorates effects of extreme events, e.g. triggering the plant to enlist defensive strategies, is also an open question. This ....What determines plant sensitivity to heat?: Individual to lifetime impacts. Temperature is a major determinant of the distribution of species and yet the capacity to predict the thermal sensitivity of plants is extremely limited. How vulnerability varies as a plant grows from seed to adult and produces more seed is a key question. Whether chronic warming exacerbates or ameliorates effects of extreme events, e.g. triggering the plant to enlist defensive strategies, is also an open question. This project will advance fundamental understanding of how thermal tolerance varies across species and over the plant life cycle and how it scales demographically to lifetime vulnerability. The work will yield a significant advance in our capacity to predict impacts of extreme heat events on plant performance and distribution.
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Deep-time history of culturally significant lands and waters in Timor-Leste. This project aims to provide a new framework for understanding and managing lands and waters of exceptional biological and cultural value. The project expects to generate the first long-term records of ecological change in Timor-Leste's unique forest and tropical savanna ecosystems, providing novel insights into ancient cultural landscapes threatened by climate change. Expected outcomes include enhanced collaboration be ....Deep-time history of culturally significant lands and waters in Timor-Leste. This project aims to provide a new framework for understanding and managing lands and waters of exceptional biological and cultural value. The project expects to generate the first long-term records of ecological change in Timor-Leste's unique forest and tropical savanna ecosystems, providing novel insights into ancient cultural landscapes threatened by climate change. Expected outcomes include enhanced collaboration between Australia and Timor-Leste and comprehensive data and educational resources relevant to managing climate impacts on livelihoods. This should provide significant benefits to scientific dialogue in the Asia-Pacific region and help support economic opportunities that respect indigenous environmental knowledge.Read moreRead less