Invasion biology: understanding the mechanisms of naiveté towards alien species. Naiveté in local wildlife is central to why alien species are so damaging, yet it is typically viewed as a simple lack of recognition of novel enemies. This project tests for multiple levels of naiveté in Australia’s mammals to demonstrate its many complex forms. It will use field and lab experiments and formal meta-analysis to unravel the three main forms of naiveté, to reveal their role in predator:prey and compet ....Invasion biology: understanding the mechanisms of naiveté towards alien species. Naiveté in local wildlife is central to why alien species are so damaging, yet it is typically viewed as a simple lack of recognition of novel enemies. This project tests for multiple levels of naiveté in Australia’s mammals to demonstrate its many complex forms. It will use field and lab experiments and formal meta-analysis to unravel the three main forms of naiveté, to reveal their role in predator:prey and competitive interactions, and to understand how native and alien mammals might overcome their initial naiveté to novel enemies. These results will identify to ecologists and land managers the complex nature of naiveté, and how it ultimately defines the nature of interactions between aliens and natives.Read moreRead less
Satellite tracking of health threats from grass pollen exposure. This project aims to discover why pollen exposure has increased since the 1960s. Grass pollens are the main environmental allergen source in Australia and the primary cause of allergic diseases. This project will investigate the ecological causes of changing pollen allergen exposures through integrating 40 years of satellite data, field phenology cameras, and pollen traps that track grass pollen sources, their evolution and impact ....Satellite tracking of health threats from grass pollen exposure. This project aims to discover why pollen exposure has increased since the 1960s. Grass pollens are the main environmental allergen source in Australia and the primary cause of allergic diseases. This project will investigate the ecological causes of changing pollen allergen exposures through integrating 40 years of satellite data, field phenology cameras, and pollen traps that track grass pollen sources, their evolution and impact areas. The outcomes are expected to advance knowledge of environmental drivers and enable more accurate pollen forecasts that alleviate the medical and socioeconomic burden of allergic diseases, estimated to cost 30 billion dollars.Read moreRead less
Population fluctuations: models, mechanisms and management. Changes in plant populations lead to extinctions and invasions in Australia and globally. The project will determine the drivers of plant population change and provide new tools to enable better population management.
Mechanisms of virulence of amphibian chytridiomycosis and factors influencing their evolution. Chytridiomycosis is a fatal fungal disease causing amphibian population declines as it spreads globally. By analysing the genes, proteins and metabolites of the fungus, we will determine how infection leads to death. This will enable surveys for virulent fungal strains and potential enhancement of host resistance.
Conserving wildlife at landscape-scales. The project aims to conserve threatened wildlife at large scales in unfenced landscapes. Using empirical field experiments in Australia and New Zealand, the project will test how suppressing populations of invasive prey – rabbits – could reduce the effect of invasive predators – cats – on native wildlife. Feral cats threaten biodiversity globally, including Australia and New Zealand. Effective control of cats is difficult at large-scales but rabbit contro ....Conserving wildlife at landscape-scales. The project aims to conserve threatened wildlife at large scales in unfenced landscapes. Using empirical field experiments in Australia and New Zealand, the project will test how suppressing populations of invasive prey – rabbits – could reduce the effect of invasive predators – cats – on native wildlife. Feral cats threaten biodiversity globally, including Australia and New Zealand. Effective control of cats is difficult at large-scales but rabbit control is feasible. The project aims to provide a conceptual approach for biodiversity conservation that can be scaled up to mitigate the effects of invasive predators at large scales globally and allow restoration of ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Biodiversity indicators for better conservation decisions. This project aims to test, design and select biodiversity indicators to support conservation. Reliable and sensitive biodiversity indicators are critical to track progress towards conservation targets, but the ability of most biodiversity indicators to reveal trends needed by decision-makers is untested. This project will test indicators to monitor biodiversity change at local to global scales, by sampling ecosystem models to evaluate ho ....Biodiversity indicators for better conservation decisions. This project aims to test, design and select biodiversity indicators to support conservation. Reliable and sensitive biodiversity indicators are critical to track progress towards conservation targets, but the ability of most biodiversity indicators to reveal trends needed by decision-makers is untested. This project will test indicators to monitor biodiversity change at local to global scales, by sampling ecosystem models to evaluate how indicator design, data bias and environmental variability affect performance. Project outcomes are expected to ensure that that data collected to monitor and assess the state of Australia’s environment are informative, cost-effective and robust. This is expected to have implications for predicting and measuring effects of policy such as the Convention on Biological Diversity.Read moreRead less
Assessment of past biodiversity through DNA preserved in bulk bone. This project aims to make a unique study of fossils to determine how the composition and biodiversity of ecosystems have changed in response to anthropogenic influences. Fossil bones provide a window through which to study past environments and how they have changed, and the stories these fossils tell can be further enhanced by ancient DNA analyses. This project plans to use bulk bone metabarcoding where hundreds of low-value (f ....Assessment of past biodiversity through DNA preserved in bulk bone. This project aims to make a unique study of fossils to determine how the composition and biodiversity of ecosystems have changed in response to anthropogenic influences. Fossil bones provide a window through which to study past environments and how they have changed, and the stories these fossils tell can be further enhanced by ancient DNA analyses. This project plans to use bulk bone metabarcoding where hundreds of low-value (fragmented) bones are collectively ground together to provide a cost-effective genetic audit of fossil assemblages. Working on bone from across Oceania and south-east Asia, this project aims to provide a historical perspective on biodiversity. Understanding former ecosystem composition and extinction may facilitate effective restoration and conservation initiatives.Read moreRead less
Peripheral isolates as hotbeds of adaptive diversity. This project uses cutting edge molecular technology and spatial analyses to predict the location of diversity relevant to managing the impact of climate change. Knowledge generated in this project will open the door to the informed use of genetic translocation in efforts to kerb expected biodiversity losses.
A predictive framework for invaded communities. Australian native and agricultural landscapes are under threat from introduced plant species. Over $1.5 billion per year is spent on subsequent land management. However it is not clear that this is money is well spent. This project aims to determine the importance of the two major factors (dispersal and habitat) that drive the invasion of Australian native plant communities by surveying native Australian plant communities with different levels of d ....A predictive framework for invaded communities. Australian native and agricultural landscapes are under threat from introduced plant species. Over $1.5 billion per year is spent on subsequent land management. However it is not clear that this is money is well spent. This project aims to determine the importance of the two major factors (dispersal and habitat) that drive the invasion of Australian native plant communities by surveying native Australian plant communities with different levels of disturbance and numbers of introduced species. The results could enable the building and testing of an innovative model for predicting the establishment and spread of invasive species. This critical research could help target money towards better management of invasive species in native environments.Read moreRead less
New statistical approaches for analysing foodwebs and species distributions. Identifying how species are distributed over the landscape, interact and self-organise into foodwebs are central goals in Ecology. This project aims to provide innovative new Bayesian modelling tools to improve our understanding of species distributions and their foodweb networks. It is expected to develop a general framework for extending species distribution models to deal with multiple species, incorporating both the ....New statistical approaches for analysing foodwebs and species distributions. Identifying how species are distributed over the landscape, interact and self-organise into foodwebs are central goals in Ecology. This project aims to provide innovative new Bayesian modelling tools to improve our understanding of species distributions and their foodweb networks. It is expected to develop a general framework for extending species distribution models to deal with multiple species, incorporating both their interactions as well as errors in detection. The project also hopes to develop a robust Bayesian methodology for partitioning complex foodweb networks into ecologically relevant compartments as there are currently no reliable methods to achieve this. Both projects are of relevance to conservation policy and management of threatened species.Read moreRead less