Animal social behaviour and emerging infectious fungal diseases in nature. This project aims to improve knowledge about the central role that animal social behaviour plays in the spread of emerging infectious fungal diseases in nature. Applying approaches from behavioural ecology, network modelling and quantitative genetics, and utilising rare empirical pre- and post-infection data, the project expects to generate new understandings about how fungal diseases spread through animal populations, ho ....Animal social behaviour and emerging infectious fungal diseases in nature. This project aims to improve knowledge about the central role that animal social behaviour plays in the spread of emerging infectious fungal diseases in nature. Applying approaches from behavioural ecology, network modelling and quantitative genetics, and utilising rare empirical pre- and post-infection data, the project expects to generate new understandings about how fungal diseases spread through animal populations, how animal social behaviour influences disease transmission, and how disease-status affects animal social behaviour. This project should have international impact, and advance current knowledge about disease dynamics. Applied outcomes should inform much-needed control strategies to benefit wildlife and preserve biodiversity. Read moreRead less
The costs and consequences of resistance to stress in microbial systems. The coexistence of antibiotic resistant and sensitive bacteria in microbial communities represents a paradox. Combining novel ecological models and competition experiments, this project aims to investigate how the pulsing of antibiotics and resources affects the coexistence of resistant and sensitive bacteria. This project expects to generate new knowledge into how the complex non-equilibrium dynamics of natural systems fee ....The costs and consequences of resistance to stress in microbial systems. The coexistence of antibiotic resistant and sensitive bacteria in microbial communities represents a paradox. Combining novel ecological models and competition experiments, this project aims to investigate how the pulsing of antibiotics and resources affects the coexistence of resistant and sensitive bacteria. This project expects to generate new knowledge into how the complex non-equilibrium dynamics of natural systems feeds back to regulate the spread of antibiotic resistance in microbial communities. This should advance our fundamental understanding of microbial competition, and provide a foundation for the development of new ecologically-aware strategies for managing resistance.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100373
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$447,320.00
Summary
The role of resource fluctuations in structuring microbial communities. The flow of nutrients through ecological systems fluctuates through time and yet the impact this variability has on the maintenance of biodiversity is poorly understood. Drawing on emerging theory and a tight integration of modelling and experiments in a model microbial system, this project aims to investigate the impact of modified nutrient regimes on the structure and stability of ecological communities. This project expec ....The role of resource fluctuations in structuring microbial communities. The flow of nutrients through ecological systems fluctuates through time and yet the impact this variability has on the maintenance of biodiversity is poorly understood. Drawing on emerging theory and a tight integration of modelling and experiments in a model microbial system, this project aims to investigate the impact of modified nutrient regimes on the structure and stability of ecological communities. This project expects to generate new knowledge at the forefront of research into diversity maintenance, ecosystem functioning and higher-order interactions. The outcomes should provide a deep mechanistic understanding of microbial community dynamics, with applications from animal health to environmental flows and insect pest management.Read moreRead less
Pathways to semelparity versus early maturity in animals and plants. The project aims to resolve an important but unresolved question in life history evolution and ecology- which mechanisms and constraints lead to semelparity (breeding once, which is rare), and which lead to fast life history (breeding early, which is common) in animals and plants. Theory predicts that both may be adaptations to schedules of adult death. Understanding why males and females have either semelparous or fast life hi ....Pathways to semelparity versus early maturity in animals and plants. The project aims to resolve an important but unresolved question in life history evolution and ecology- which mechanisms and constraints lead to semelparity (breeding once, which is rare), and which lead to fast life history (breeding early, which is common) in animals and plants. Theory predicts that both may be adaptations to schedules of adult death. Understanding why males and females have either semelparous or fast life history strategies is crucial to predicting survival of harvested and threatened species under pressure from climate change, drought, predators, and diseases that kill adults. Expected project outcomes include improved ability to address agents of decline of threatened animals and plants including semelparous species.Read moreRead less
Horizontal ecological networks for understanding biodiversity maintenance. The project aims to develop new ecological theory on local diversity maintenance based on an innovative interaction network model, tested on Western Australian wildflower communities. It is novel in its focus on the complexity of species interactions and their importance to diversity maintenance in nature. This project aims to explore links between plant interaction networks and coexistence theory to provide theoretical e ....Horizontal ecological networks for understanding biodiversity maintenance. The project aims to develop new ecological theory on local diversity maintenance based on an innovative interaction network model, tested on Western Australian wildflower communities. It is novel in its focus on the complexity of species interactions and their importance to diversity maintenance in nature. This project aims to explore links between plant interaction networks and coexistence theory to provide theoretical expectations for how changes to the environment are expected to alter natural plant communities. It aims to fill theory-gap about mechanisms of multi-species coexistence, advance community ecology, and provide the theoretical foundations necessary for translating ecological theory to restoration and conservation in practice.Read moreRead less
How positive interactions improve predictions of plant community diversity. Though common in nature, the importance of plant-plant facilitation to coexistence and the maintenance of plant diversity at community scales is poorly understood. This project aims to advance understanding of how positive interactions (facilitation) impact on coexistence among plant species as well as local patterns of diversity. To achieve these aims the project will use a combination of field experiments and a compara ....How positive interactions improve predictions of plant community diversity. Though common in nature, the importance of plant-plant facilitation to coexistence and the maintenance of plant diversity at community scales is poorly understood. This project aims to advance understanding of how positive interactions (facilitation) impact on coexistence among plant species as well as local patterns of diversity. To achieve these aims the project will use a combination of field experiments and a comparative analysis of competition and facilitation in Australian, Californian and Spanish annual plant communities with a novel modelling approach for predicting coexistence across variable environments. Outcomes are expected to include an innovative predictive framework of use for plant conservation in Australia and beyond.Read moreRead less
Rapid evolution, and the dynamics and stability of ecological communities. Population sizes of species go up and down and often we do not know why. This is a problem because changes in population size underpin more complex ecological change, and understanding why population sizes change affects our ability to manage environmental impacts, and threatened, harvested and pest species. The aim of this project is to discover how rapid evolution – evolution occurring over just a few generations – driv ....Rapid evolution, and the dynamics and stability of ecological communities. Population sizes of species go up and down and often we do not know why. This is a problem because changes in population size underpin more complex ecological change, and understanding why population sizes change affects our ability to manage environmental impacts, and threatened, harvested and pest species. The aim of this project is to discover how rapid evolution – evolution occurring over just a few generations – drives changes in population sizes of plants in Australian freshwater ecosystems. By focusing on this fundamental yet poorly understood process, our results promise to rewrite our understanding of the causes of change in ecological communities, while highlighting a unique and little studied component of Australia’s biota.Read moreRead less
Linking individual traits, the gut microbiome and parasite load in wildlife. This project aims to apply principles of community ecology to the gut microbiome of an urban exploiter – the common brushtail possum - to reveal how animal traits influence individual variation in the load of gut parasites that cause disease in both humans and wildlife. By combining assays defining the behavioural and physiological states of individuals with sophisticated analyses of their gut microbiome, our project wi ....Linking individual traits, the gut microbiome and parasite load in wildlife. This project aims to apply principles of community ecology to the gut microbiome of an urban exploiter – the common brushtail possum - to reveal how animal traits influence individual variation in the load of gut parasites that cause disease in both humans and wildlife. By combining assays defining the behavioural and physiological states of individuals with sophisticated analyses of their gut microbiome, our project will provide a new, yet crucial, perspective on how and why diseases spread. Our discoveries will help understand and manage the burden of infectious diseases from parasites in and beyond our cities and across the human-wildlife interface; essential for improving human and wildlife health in an increasingly urbanised Australia.Read moreRead less
Phenotypic and adaptive responses to environmental change. This project aims to investigate how environmental change will effect coral reef fish by assessing adaptive responses in a model species. This project expects to generate new knowledge on the interplay between adaption and plasticity both within and across generations using novel experimental designs. Expected outcomes include improved models of fish acclimation and adaptation to environmental change and an enhanced evidence base to info ....Phenotypic and adaptive responses to environmental change. This project aims to investigate how environmental change will effect coral reef fish by assessing adaptive responses in a model species. This project expects to generate new knowledge on the interplay between adaption and plasticity both within and across generations using novel experimental designs. Expected outcomes include improved models of fish acclimation and adaptation to environmental change and an enhanced evidence base to inform the management of cumulative impacts. This will provide significant benefits to Australian and international communities that rely on fish for nutrition, economic and/or social value.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101439
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$445,009.00
Summary
Towards reliable and explainable models for anticipating ecological change. This project aims to develop a quantitative framework for multivariate ecological prediction. This will allow us to better anticipate how ecosystems respond to environmental change. Recent modelling advances now make it possible to use the complexity of community ecology data to deliver better predictions. The project intends to use long-term ecological datasets to build and test novel multivariate prediction models, usi ....Towards reliable and explainable models for anticipating ecological change. This project aims to develop a quantitative framework for multivariate ecological prediction. This will allow us to better anticipate how ecosystems respond to environmental change. Recent modelling advances now make it possible to use the complexity of community ecology data to deliver better predictions. The project intends to use long-term ecological datasets to build and test novel multivariate prediction models, using tick paralysis rates in Australian dogs as a case study. Expected outcomes are better tools for studying ecosystem change and new hypotheses about how ecological communities are shaped. Application of these models should provide significant benefits, such as prediction of paralysis tick burdens to improve risk mitigation.Read moreRead less