Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely ....Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely collected in Australia's catchments and thereby better predict water quality behaviour. Proposed field studies aim to support this development. The outcomes sought are improved planning and management of water quality in our rivers, lakes and estuaries, improved health of these water bodies and improved water supplies.Read moreRead less
Understanding climate and harvest induced changes in fish life histories. This project aims to quantify the cumulative impacts of harvest and climate change across marine fishes and ecosystems. The project expects to generate new knowledge in this area by coupling the rich biological information archived in fish ear bones, with targeted multi-generation experiments and predictive modelling. Expected outcomes include fundamental insights into how human-induced environmental change affects fish gr ....Understanding climate and harvest induced changes in fish life histories. This project aims to quantify the cumulative impacts of harvest and climate change across marine fishes and ecosystems. The project expects to generate new knowledge in this area by coupling the rich biological information archived in fish ear bones, with targeted multi-generation experiments and predictive modelling. Expected outcomes include fundamental insights into how human-induced environmental change affects fish growth and maturation, and a subsequent critical evaluation of the sensitivity of fisheries models to trends in these life-history traits. This should provide significant benefits to fisheries and ecosystem management, ensuring they remain productive and resilient in a time of rapid environmental change.Read moreRead less
Does size really matter? Selection, constraints and allometry. Australia is internationally recognized for its strong performance in evolutionary biology and quantitative genetics. This study contributes to the advancement of these fields. It is explicitly designed to create selection lines that can be used by developmental biologists, physiologists, geneticists and endocrinologists. This will strengthen links between institutes within Australia and internationally and later allow more applied q ....Does size really matter? Selection, constraints and allometry. Australia is internationally recognized for its strong performance in evolutionary biology and quantitative genetics. This study contributes to the advancement of these fields. It is explicitly designed to create selection lines that can be used by developmental biologists, physiologists, geneticists and endocrinologists. This will strengthen links between institutes within Australia and internationally and later allow more applied questions to be asked. Although this study addresses a basic research question, it uses techniques and statistics that are integral to work selecting for improvement of commercial crops and animals. It therefore provides valuable training opportunities for an essential part of Australia's agricultural sector.Read moreRead less
The evolution of egg retention and sex allocation: a phylogenetic contrasts study using facultatively ovoviviparous thrips. Australian idolothripine thrips provide an unparalleled opportunity for investigating the evolution of reproduction. They constitute the only group to contain many species in which the females choose among live birth, egg laying or both. They also choose the sex of each offspring. We will use phylogenetics and experimentation to understand the evolutionary pressures that le ....The evolution of egg retention and sex allocation: a phylogenetic contrasts study using facultatively ovoviviparous thrips. Australian idolothripine thrips provide an unparalleled opportunity for investigating the evolution of reproduction. They constitute the only group to contain many species in which the females choose among live birth, egg laying or both. They also choose the sex of each offspring. We will use phylogenetics and experimentation to understand the evolutionary pressures that led to and maintain live birth and the allocation of sex. This will produce new insights into fundamental questions about the evolution of animal reproduction. Our collaborative approach will make Australian thrips and research an international cornerstone in the biology of reproductive evolution.Read moreRead less
Population divergence and the thermal ecology of sexual conflict. This project aims to test how populations of introduced mosquitofish have adapted to local differences in water temperature (such as Tasmania versus Queensland). To what extent has natural selection (for survival) and sexual selection (the ability of males to acquire mates and/or females to resist unwanted matings) driven the local adaptation of populations? Many species have traits that evolve under intense sexual conflict – nota ....Population divergence and the thermal ecology of sexual conflict. This project aims to test how populations of introduced mosquitofish have adapted to local differences in water temperature (such as Tasmania versus Queensland). To what extent has natural selection (for survival) and sexual selection (the ability of males to acquire mates and/or females to resist unwanted matings) driven the local adaptation of populations? Many species have traits that evolve under intense sexual conflict – notably when males harass or coerce females into mating and females resist these attempts. It is assumed that sexual conflict traits are rarely affected by the local environment. The project will test the hypothesis that temperature can actually drive the evolution of such traits, specifically coercion and resistance to mating.Read moreRead less
The fitness consequences of age-dependent changes in cognitive abilities. This project aims to investigate health-related topics in invasive fish. The evolution of large brains suggests that smarter individuals have more offspring due to natural and sexual selection. This project aims to test if the ability to perform cognitively challenging tasks predicts reproductive success. In addition, many life history traits show a trade-off between early and late life performance. This project will test ....The fitness consequences of age-dependent changes in cognitive abilities. This project aims to investigate health-related topics in invasive fish. The evolution of large brains suggests that smarter individuals have more offspring due to natural and sexual selection. This project aims to test if the ability to perform cognitively challenging tasks predicts reproductive success. In addition, many life history traits show a trade-off between early and late life performance. This project will test this prediction to see if individuals with above average cognitive performance when young are below average when old, that is faster 'cognitive senescence', or whether some individuals stay relatively smarter than others throughout their lives.Read moreRead less
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
Assembling and governing of habits. This project aims to examine how modern Western disciplines conceived of habits, and how these conceptions informed the techniques of mundane governance which managed habits. As cities face increasing pressures, the challenges of governing everyday habits prompt urgent questions about how habits are understood and managed. This project will study the governance of 'city habits' from the late 19th century to the present. The project will apply and deepen its de ....Assembling and governing of habits. This project aims to examine how modern Western disciplines conceived of habits, and how these conceptions informed the techniques of mundane governance which managed habits. As cities face increasing pressures, the challenges of governing everyday habits prompt urgent questions about how habits are understood and managed. This project will study the governance of 'city habits' from the late 19th century to the present. The project will apply and deepen its description of habit through case studies focused on contemporary Sydney. Its findings are expected to benefit city planners and policy makers by informing the organisation and regulation of habits.Read moreRead less
Transgenerational Consequences of Different Environmental Experiences. The project aims to deliver an integrative overview of behavioural, evolutionary and environmental epigenetics. In particular, by studying why stress-related experiences of organisms (e.g. exposure to toxins) can be passed onto the future generations regardless of its seemingly fitness-reducing impacts. It also aims to test if the seemingly beneficial effect of non-stress related experiences (e.g. environmental enrichment) ca ....Transgenerational Consequences of Different Environmental Experiences. The project aims to deliver an integrative overview of behavioural, evolutionary and environmental epigenetics. In particular, by studying why stress-related experiences of organisms (e.g. exposure to toxins) can be passed onto the future generations regardless of its seemingly fitness-reducing impacts. It also aims to test if the seemingly beneficial effect of non-stress related experiences (e.g. environmental enrichment) can be inherited transgenerationally. This project involves both research synthesis (e.g. meta-analysis) and experiments on zebrafish employing cutting-edge statistical, computational and molecular methods along with behavioural assays. Also, the outcomes of the synthesis are expected to guide future work in the field. Read moreRead less
Evolution of cooperative breeding in birds. The incidence of cooperative breeding in birds varies from 0 to 100% between families of birds, and from <1 to >25% among birds from different regions. However, there has been no theory that successfully predicts these differences. Recent comparative analysis shows the differences result largely from the early evolution of obligate cooperative breeding in some groups, and their subsequent slow rates of speciation. I will use model systems to investiga ....Evolution of cooperative breeding in birds. The incidence of cooperative breeding in birds varies from 0 to 100% between families of birds, and from <1 to >25% among birds from different regions. However, there has been no theory that successfully predicts these differences. Recent comparative analysis shows the differences result largely from the early evolution of obligate cooperative breeding in some groups, and their subsequent slow rates of speciation. I will use model systems to investigate how birds can become committed to cooperative breeding despite the inevitable conflicts, and how one group of birds have been freed from the general rules governing the evolution of sociality.Read moreRead less