Dynamic assessment of threats to marine megafauna in face of global change. This project aims to develop a global approach to synthesise global tracking datasets and deliver near real-time diagnostics on risks for marine megafauna at a global scale pushing forward a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management to improve conservation. This project expects to increase our understanding of how marine megafauna movements vary with environmental changes and how much they overlap with threatenin ....Dynamic assessment of threats to marine megafauna in face of global change. This project aims to develop a global approach to synthesise global tracking datasets and deliver near real-time diagnostics on risks for marine megafauna at a global scale pushing forward a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management to improve conservation. This project expects to increase our understanding of how marine megafauna movements vary with environmental changes and how much they overlap with threatening global human activities. Expected outcomes will demonstrate how big data in marine telemetry can be synthesised and translated into ecologically significant behaviours. This should provide significant benefits to address global scientific and societal problems highlighted in the Australian science and research priorities.Read moreRead less
Does coevolution drive speciation? This project aims to connect micro-evolutionary processes with macro-evolutionary patterns to test the extent to which tightly coupled co-evolutionary interactions between species drive evolutionary diversification. The project will use techniques including the most recent phylogenetic modelling methods, field experiments and molecular genetics. Expected outcomes include advancing understanding of the mechanisms that generate biodiversity and developing new tec ....Does coevolution drive speciation? This project aims to connect micro-evolutionary processes with macro-evolutionary patterns to test the extent to which tightly coupled co-evolutionary interactions between species drive evolutionary diversification. The project will use techniques including the most recent phylogenetic modelling methods, field experiments and molecular genetics. Expected outcomes include advancing understanding of the mechanisms that generate biodiversity and developing new techniques for acquisition of DNA from museum specimens. The project is expected to provide significant benefits, such as insights into the processes that promote new species in nature.Read moreRead less
Evolution in tooth and claw: exploring the relationship between the radiation of marsupial herbivores and late Cenozoic climate change. Establishing how animals responded to past environmental changes is essential for understanding the ecology of modern species and managing them in light of contemporary climatic trends. By applying several novel analytical methods this project will unravel the links between the radiation of Australian marsupials and key stages in climatic evolution.
The evolution of light detection and its impacts on early vertebrate evolution. The eye is a complex organ crucial for survival. Tracing the evolution of the eye will not only provide basic concepts of how building visual complexity is achieved in nature but also enhance the understanding of the selection pressures driving the radiation of early vertebrates.
The pace and rhythm of climate: 600,000 years in a biological hotspot. This project aims to generate knowledge of long-term changes in vegetation and rainfall for the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP). The IPWP exerts enormous influence on the Earth’s climate through its interactions with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the Austral–Asian monsoons and the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone. Yet despite its importance, the response of the IPWP to global climate change remains uncertain. Through palynol ....The pace and rhythm of climate: 600,000 years in a biological hotspot. This project aims to generate knowledge of long-term changes in vegetation and rainfall for the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP). The IPWP exerts enormous influence on the Earth’s climate through its interactions with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the Austral–Asian monsoons and the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone. Yet despite its importance, the response of the IPWP to global climate change remains uncertain. Through palynology, ancient sedimentary DNA and compound specific stable isotope analyses, this project aims to produce a terrestrial vegetation, fire and biodiversity record for the last 600 000 years in Sulawesi. The unrivalled length and resolution of this record for the region would make it a benchmark reconstruction of palaeoclimate that may transform our understanding of the IPWP.Read moreRead less
The evolution of specialised orchid pollination and its reversibility. This project aims to determine the changes in key floral volatile compounds underpinning pollination transitions, identify their molecular basis, and understand the ecological processes favouring reversals away from extreme specialisation. By focusing on pollination of sexually deceptive Australian orchids, this project would be the first to determine the molecular, chemical and behavioural basis of evolutionary reversals to ....The evolution of specialised orchid pollination and its reversibility. This project aims to determine the changes in key floral volatile compounds underpinning pollination transitions, identify their molecular basis, and understand the ecological processes favouring reversals away from extreme specialisation. By focusing on pollination of sexually deceptive Australian orchids, this project would be the first to determine the molecular, chemical and behavioural basis of evolutionary reversals to more generalised strategies in a group of plants facing high risk of pollinator extinction. The expected outcome, a mechanistic understanding of how pollination transitions occur, would be internationally ground-breaking, and provide crucial insights to protect this diverse but highly threatened group of plants.Read moreRead less
The evolution and conservation consequences of promiscuity in plants pollinated by vertebrates. Pollen dispersal between plants, predominantly by insects and wind, is characteristically restricted to nearest neighbours. Recent molecular analysis of paternity for a Banksia pollinated by nectar-feeding birds showed atypical pollen dispersal, with high multiple paternity, wide outcrossing and local panmixis. With much of the Australian flora also bird-pollinated, our initial results have potentiall ....The evolution and conservation consequences of promiscuity in plants pollinated by vertebrates. Pollen dispersal between plants, predominantly by insects and wind, is characteristically restricted to nearest neighbours. Recent molecular analysis of paternity for a Banksia pollinated by nectar-feeding birds showed atypical pollen dispersal, with high multiple paternity, wide outcrossing and local panmixis. With much of the Australian flora also bird-pollinated, our initial results have potentially wide and novel significance. This project proposes to test the generality of our observations for other vertebrate-pollinated species, and to test the conservation and evolutionary consequences of reduced pollen dispersal caused by habitat fragmentation and declining pollinators for a pollination paradigm facilitating promiscuity.Read moreRead less