Unravelling the molecular diversity and evolution of centipede venoms. The project intends to improve understanding of venom evolution in centipedes. Venoms have emerged as a rich source of pharmacological tools with potential for development into therapeutics and bioinsecticides. However, venoms-based discovery has been limited by the narrow taxonomical range of animals studied, with many groups of venomous animals overlooked. One such group is centipedes, whose venoms contain diverse toxins th ....Unravelling the molecular diversity and evolution of centipede venoms. The project intends to improve understanding of venom evolution in centipedes. Venoms have emerged as a rich source of pharmacological tools with potential for development into therapeutics and bioinsecticides. However, venoms-based discovery has been limited by the narrow taxonomical range of animals studied, with many groups of venomous animals overlooked. One such group is centipedes, whose venoms contain diverse toxins that differ between taxa. This project aims to provide an insight into centipede venom evolution, and how it might be constrained by venom-gland morphology. This study seeks to contribute to our understanding of protein evolution and direct biodiscovery efforts around centipede venom.Read moreRead less
Growing up to be supersonic: bat echolocation origins and mechanics. This project aims to address the unresolved evolutionary origins of bat echolocation. Using a unique combination of development, evolution and novel engineering testing, this project expects to generate new insights into how features of the skull have evolved to allow bats to use their senses to interact with the environment. Expected outcomes include the identification of skull features that are unique to echolocating bats and ....Growing up to be supersonic: bat echolocation origins and mechanics. This project aims to address the unresolved evolutionary origins of bat echolocation. Using a unique combination of development, evolution and novel engineering testing, this project expects to generate new insights into how features of the skull have evolved to allow bats to use their senses to interact with the environment. Expected outcomes include the identification of skull features that are unique to echolocating bats and tests of how these relate to the frequency and detection range of sounds produced. Benefits include improved conservation planning for urban and rural bat populations, and potential commercial advances through engineering applications that mimic the biological process of echolocation. Read moreRead less
Drivers of phenotypic evolution in a vulnerable alpine ecosystem. This project aims to deliver a comprehensive, integrated understanding of the capacity for resilience and drivers of response of highly vulnerable alpine species and communities to climate change. The project aims to determine how communities of interacting alpine plants, soil invertebrates and microbes can cope with or evolve to novel climatic conditions. The mountains are water towers critical to power supply and Australia's agr ....Drivers of phenotypic evolution in a vulnerable alpine ecosystem. This project aims to deliver a comprehensive, integrated understanding of the capacity for resilience and drivers of response of highly vulnerable alpine species and communities to climate change. The project aims to determine how communities of interacting alpine plants, soil invertebrates and microbes can cope with or evolve to novel climatic conditions. The mountains are water towers critical to power supply and Australia's agricultural productivity. Understanding physiological tolerance and the potential for rapid evolutionary responses of plants, animals and communities is necessary to predict impacts of climate change on the future productivity of the vulnerable Australian Alps and to provide novel options for climate adaptation. Read moreRead less
Multi-trait plasticity in response to a changing climate. This project aims to understand the effect of climate change on natural populations. Phenotypic plasticity (the ability to change phenotype with environment) determines natural populations’ immediate response to environmental change. However, studies of plasticity frequently rely on simplifying assumptions, and understanding the genomic and epigenomic mechanisms underlying plasticity is only just emerging. This project will combine a fine ....Multi-trait plasticity in response to a changing climate. This project aims to understand the effect of climate change on natural populations. Phenotypic plasticity (the ability to change phenotype with environment) determines natural populations’ immediate response to environmental change. However, studies of plasticity frequently rely on simplifying assumptions, and understanding the genomic and epigenomic mechanisms underlying plasticity is only just emerging. This project will combine a fine-scale temperature-manipulation experiment with genomic and multivariate statistical analyses of a native Australian alpine plant. The intended outcome is a comprehensive analysis of whether multi-trait phenotypic plasticity is adaptive; whether it can evolve; and the epigenomic mechanisms that drive it. The project will predict the likely effect of temperature change on alpine plants, and so generate information internationally relevant to the management of populations adapting to climate change and locally relevant to the conservation of Australian montane flora.Read moreRead less
Evolution in a changing environment. Climate change is having dramatic effects on wild animal populations. This project will investigate how and why these effects occur, and whether populations will be able to evolve to adapt to a changing environment.
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
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.
Demographic consequences of environmental change for wild bird populations. The project intends to improve our understanding of how climate drives shifts in body size and shape in wildlife populations, and the implications of such responses for population viability. Populations of plants and animals are showing a range of responses to recent, rapid shifts in the Earth’s climate. The ecological and evolutionary significance of these responses and the mechanisms that drive them remain largely unkn ....Demographic consequences of environmental change for wild bird populations. The project intends to improve our understanding of how climate drives shifts in body size and shape in wildlife populations, and the implications of such responses for population viability. Populations of plants and animals are showing a range of responses to recent, rapid shifts in the Earth’s climate. The ecological and evolutionary significance of these responses and the mechanisms that drive them remain largely unknown. Focusing on Australian birds, the project plans to integrate long-term records from citizen science, museum collections and field studies to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the pattern and process of morphological change. Understanding the processes driving change may help in developing strategies to manage our biodiversity as climate changes. Read moreRead less
Getting smaller as temperatures rise? Body size responses of Australian birds to climate change. Many animals appear to be declining in size as climate change occurs, but why this is so is unclear. Using historical records and museum specimens we will determine the factors underlying body size reductions in Australian birds, and especially the role of changing temperature and ecosystem productivity.
Wild eco-evolutionary dynamics: the decline of an iconic Australian bird. This project aims to dissect the ecological and evolutionary processes causing a decline in an iconic Australian bird species. Studies that can properly test explanations for declines in wild populations are rare. This project aims to test how environmental and genetic processes shape individual traits, how these traits determine fitness and how changes in individual fitness affect population dynamics. The project expects ....Wild eco-evolutionary dynamics: the decline of an iconic Australian bird. This project aims to dissect the ecological and evolutionary processes causing a decline in an iconic Australian bird species. Studies that can properly test explanations for declines in wild populations are rare. This project aims to test how environmental and genetic processes shape individual traits, how these traits determine fitness and how changes in individual fitness affect population dynamics. The project expects to provide essential information for the improved management of Australian bird populations, and for understanding the effects of environmental change on natural systems globally.Read moreRead less