Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100544
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$344,682.00
Summary
The drivers of genome evolution and diversification in marsupials. This project aims to investigate the impact of the four basic forces of evolution, mutation, selection, neutral drift, and gene flow, on the genome. Genome-scale data have a signature of these forces and extracting it would greatly improve the quality of evolutionary models fit to the data, but the framework to identify the evolutionary forces has not been developed. This project will develop tests for assessing the impact of the ....The drivers of genome evolution and diversification in marsupials. This project aims to investigate the impact of the four basic forces of evolution, mutation, selection, neutral drift, and gene flow, on the genome. Genome-scale data have a signature of these forces and extracting it would greatly improve the quality of evolutionary models fit to the data, but the framework to identify the evolutionary forces has not been developed. This project will develop tests for assessing the impact of the primary evolutionary forces on the genome, and test these methods using simulations. The new framework of genomic analysis will be disseminated through an intuitive software package, and will be used to estimate with unprecedented confidence the history of diversification and genome evolution of marsupials.Read moreRead less
Generalised methods for testing extinction dynamics across geological, near and modern time scales. The record of extinctions over deep time is patchy and incomplete, yet we must use it to determine how major changes in past environments have shaped life on Earth today. The project will develop cutting-edge mathematical tools to determine the patterns of extinctions and speciation over geological time to help predict our uncertain environmental future.
Predicting genetic exchange between species under climate change. This project aims to resolve the factors that lead to the mixing of species’ gene pools, with a focus on whether climate change will increase such mixing, possibly leading to extinction by genetic swamping.
The significance is that the project would improve our understanding of speciation and species’ vulnerability to rapid climate change through genetic mixing; a largely overlooked process.
Key outcomes would be to generate new k ....Predicting genetic exchange between species under climate change. This project aims to resolve the factors that lead to the mixing of species’ gene pools, with a focus on whether climate change will increase such mixing, possibly leading to extinction by genetic swamping.
The significance is that the project would improve our understanding of speciation and species’ vulnerability to rapid climate change through genetic mixing; a largely overlooked process.
Key outcomes would be to generate new knowledge of a fundamental evolutionary process and extend the toolbox of biodiversity managers facing rapid environmental change.
The project would benefit Australia by highlighting our unique biodiversity and scientific capability, and by training early career researchers in advanced evolutionary biology.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100220
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,149.00
Summary
How do time, climate change and adaptation shape the assembly and evolution of a diverse continental biota? This project will use new statistical techniques for analysing patterns of biological diversification to test how time, environmental change and evolutionary adaptation shape the accumulation of biodiversity in a continental setting. A supermatrix of genetic and ecological data for Australia's most diverse terrestrial vertebrate group (lizards and snakes) will be compiled. This will allow ....How do time, climate change and adaptation shape the assembly and evolution of a diverse continental biota? This project will use new statistical techniques for analysing patterns of biological diversification to test how time, environmental change and evolutionary adaptation shape the accumulation of biodiversity in a continental setting. A supermatrix of genetic and ecological data for Australia's most diverse terrestrial vertebrate group (lizards and snakes) will be compiled. This will allow the testing of the macroevolutionary responses to key environmental changes through the Cainozoic (rapid climatic transgressions and aridification), the relationship between lineage age and species diversity and the effects of major ecological shifts on rates of speciation, extinction and morphological diversification.Read moreRead less
Testing the links between ecological processes and evolutionary radiations. This project aims to apply recent analytical advances to massive databases of the phylogeny and spatial distributions of mammals, birds and plants, to explore the role of small-scale ecological processes in generating large-scale macroevolutionary patterns. The processes involved in generating large-scale patterns of biodiversity are still not fully understood, but large new biodiversity databases and recent advances in ....Testing the links between ecological processes and evolutionary radiations. This project aims to apply recent analytical advances to massive databases of the phylogeny and spatial distributions of mammals, birds and plants, to explore the role of small-scale ecological processes in generating large-scale macroevolutionary patterns. The processes involved in generating large-scale patterns of biodiversity are still not fully understood, but large new biodiversity databases and recent advances in analytical methods put us in a good position to make significant progress. By integrating two separate research fields, community ecology and macroevolution, this project aims to make a significant contribution to biodiversity theory, and help to develop a more robust scientific foundation for long-range, process-based conservation planning.Read moreRead less
Diversification and conservation of Australian frogs. Australia's 216 known species of frogs are exceptionally diverse, 98 per cent are found nowhere else in the world and many of them are in trouble. This project will test ideas concerning the tempo of Australian frog diversification, identify previously cryptic new species and provide information critical to the conservation of Australia's declining frogs.
Origins of a biodiversity hotspot flora: diversification of the Australian Proteaceae. Why does Australia's only biodiversity hotspot, with nearly 3000 endemic plant species, occur in an area with poor soils and low rainfall? This project will analyse DNA sequences from over 1000 plant species of the Australian Proteaceae, many found only in this hotspot, to help us understand the evolutionary and ecological origins of this iconic flora.
Cuckoo - host coevolution: a model system for investigating the impact of climate change on interspecific interactions and biodiversity. Climate change is causing alterations to the timing of breeding and migration in Australian birds, resulting in mismatches in timing between closely interacting species. This project will assess the impact of climate change on interactions between parasitic cuckoos, hosts and prey and formulate predictions about the long-term viability of these species.
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL110100104
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,939,883.00
Summary
New approaches to discovering biodiversity and understanding its response to past climate change. New technologies will be used to predict and discover biodiversity hotspots in Australia, especially in the monsoonal tropics. New capacity will be built in biodiversity science, and the results used to improve conservation policy and the effectiveness of conservation planning.