Megafauna and mega-extinction: assessing palaeocommunity change using dental complexity and shape analyses. This research will address an important issue of national interest - the causes of the extinction of the Australian megafauna. By furthering research on the causes of this historic event, valuable insights will be gained into possible causes of current extinction events and the future impact of climate change. It will bring to Australia new technologies and methods developed overseas by an ....Megafauna and mega-extinction: assessing palaeocommunity change using dental complexity and shape analyses. This research will address an important issue of national interest - the causes of the extinction of the Australian megafauna. By furthering research on the causes of this historic event, valuable insights will be gained into possible causes of current extinction events and the future impact of climate change. It will bring to Australia new technologies and methods developed overseas by an Australian researcher, and put Australia at the forefront of several areas of research including 3D scanning and analysis. This project will form part of an international collaboration called the MorphoBrowser, an exciting advance in the study of biological diversity. This will help maintain Australia as a pre-eminent country for palaeontology research.Read moreRead less
An integrated examination of the drivers of movements of large filter feeding organisms of high ecotourism value: a case study. This aim is to define key drivers behind movements of large filter-feeding organisms, using the manta ray as a model system. As dive eco-tourism often depends on the presence of such charismatic filter-feeding animals, an understanding of why animals occupy particular sites at particular times is important, especially in the face of climate change.
The evolution of cooperative communication. This interdisciplinary project will provide a broad understanding of communication in a model ecological system involving ants, lycaenid butterflies, and host-plants. The project will reveal the nature of the chemical signals used to communicate, and their role in the origin, maintenance, and loss of mutualistic and parasitic associations.
Sexual signalling and parental care: A life-history perspective. I will use a fish, the Australian desert goby, to gain pivotal insights into male reproductive investment. Under-appreciated as potential study subjects, desert gobies are ideal because males must make important reproductive decisions regarding how much effort to spend on mate attraction and parental care but, importantly, they must do so within the constraints imposed by desert-living. The likely impact of my work in the field of ....Sexual signalling and parental care: A life-history perspective. I will use a fish, the Australian desert goby, to gain pivotal insights into male reproductive investment. Under-appreciated as potential study subjects, desert gobies are ideal because males must make important reproductive decisions regarding how much effort to spend on mate attraction and parental care but, importantly, they must do so within the constraints imposed by desert-living. The likely impact of my work in the field of behavioural ecology will improve Australia's research capacity and profile. By using an Australian study species, my research will also raise awareness and understanding of extraordinary fishes living in habitats vulnerable to human impact. Read moreRead less
Individual behaviour and collective order: the traffic dynamics of ants. We are investigating the properties of traffic flow in ant colonies. Ants seem to meet their transportation needs without traffic congestion or complex centralised control. By discovering how ants accomplish this, we increase our understanding of social behaviour in the natural world, and also provide the basic research on which applied solutions to human traffic problems can be based.
The role of mothers in the evolution of immunity. This project will take a fresh approach to studying disease by addressing the role that mothers play in immune system evolution. This project will make a significant contribution to our nation's research capacity and international scientific reputation, by delivering cutting-edge scientific results that resolve outstanding questions in evolutionary biology.
Gender bender': the impact of endocrine disrupting pollutants on sexual selection. Research into the impacts of pollution on animal reproductive behaviour is crucial if we are to understand species' capacity to adapt to rapidly changing environments, particularly to those that are subject to the impact of human activity. The outcomes of this study will be an important step in learning how to improve the management of biodiversity.
Wildlife responses to endocrine disruptors. This project aims to uncover how a ubiquitous agricultural endocrine disruptor affects development, survival and reproduction in frogs. Widespread pollution by endocrine disrupting chemicals poses a serious threat to wildlife, human health, and the environment. This project will integrate laboratory- and field-based experiments to provide insights into how aquatic contamination by endocrine disruptors can affect vulnerable early life stages and, in tur ....Wildlife responses to endocrine disruptors. This project aims to uncover how a ubiquitous agricultural endocrine disruptor affects development, survival and reproduction in frogs. Widespread pollution by endocrine disrupting chemicals poses a serious threat to wildlife, human health, and the environment. This project will integrate laboratory- and field-based experiments to provide insights into how aquatic contamination by endocrine disruptors can affect vulnerable early life stages and, in turn, adult performance and reproduction. The findings will add significantly to understanding the impact of chemical pollution on wildlife responses to human altered environments.Read moreRead less
Behaviour and evolutionary responses to pharmaceutical pollution. This project aims to uncover how a ubiquitous pharmaceutical pollutant – fluoxetine, known as Prozac – alters the course of reproduction and sexual selection in a freshwater fish. Drugs used in human and veterinary medicine enter the environment and pose a serious threat to wildlife. The project plans to integrate morphological, behavioural, and experimental evolution approaches to yield insights into how fluoxetine affects sexual ....Behaviour and evolutionary responses to pharmaceutical pollution. This project aims to uncover how a ubiquitous pharmaceutical pollutant – fluoxetine, known as Prozac – alters the course of reproduction and sexual selection in a freshwater fish. Drugs used in human and veterinary medicine enter the environment and pose a serious threat to wildlife. The project plans to integrate morphological, behavioural, and experimental evolution approaches to yield insights into how fluoxetine affects sexual traits and behaviours, and how this in turn can affect offspring viability and the evolutionary process. Findings are expected to add to our understanding of how species respond to rapidly changing environments, with consequences for the persistence of populations and the survival of species in the wild.Read moreRead less
Immune defense, disease and damage control in the wild. Immune defences are vital for resistance against infections, but are an overlooked component of disease dynamics in the wild. The project aims to use a model system of long-term studied wild birds to investigate causes of individual variation in innate immunity, the critical first-line-of-defence against new infections. The results may show how immune dynamics are linked to disease, aging, reproduction and longevity and to what extent this ....Immune defense, disease and damage control in the wild. Immune defences are vital for resistance against infections, but are an overlooked component of disease dynamics in the wild. The project aims to use a model system of long-term studied wild birds to investigate causes of individual variation in innate immunity, the critical first-line-of-defence against new infections. The results may show how immune dynamics are linked to disease, aging, reproduction and longevity and to what extent this is environmentally-determined or inherited (its adaptive potential). The outcomes could provide broadly generalizable insights into interactions between the immune system and the environment, and may identify risk factors for vulnerability to novel infectious diseases.Read moreRead less