Can inbreeding avoidance cause the evolution of sex-biased dispersal? This project aims to combine unique long-term data with a novel Citizen Science approach to seek to provide the first complete test of the hypothesis that inbreeding avoidance can cause one of the best known patterns in mammal and bird societies - sex differences in when and how far juveniles disperse. Dispersal is a critically important ecological and evolutionary process, as it influences the fate of populations, and also de ....Can inbreeding avoidance cause the evolution of sex-biased dispersal? This project aims to combine unique long-term data with a novel Citizen Science approach to seek to provide the first complete test of the hypothesis that inbreeding avoidance can cause one of the best known patterns in mammal and bird societies - sex differences in when and how far juveniles disperse. Dispersal is a critically important ecological and evolutionary process, as it influences the fate of populations, and also determines the individuals with which a disperser will spend the remainder of its life. It therefore shapes the likelihood that kin will interact to cooperate or compete, and determines the pool of individuals with which the disperser can mate.Read moreRead less
Animals response to extreme climatic events. Climate change is causing extreme climatic events, such as floods and heat waves, to become more frequent. This project will investigate by which mechanism animals can adjust to extreme climatic events and whether the response is fast enough to avoid extinction, thereby providing urgently needed insights into the natural resilience of Australian fauna.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100174
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Family matters: kin selection and competition in cooperative breeders. In the absence of dispersal of one or both sexes kin competition and inbreeding are expected to increase. This project will study group living fairy-wrens, which vary in whether or not one sex disperses. The results will shed new light on how species overcome the negative aspects of this behaviour and inform us about the consequences for populations and habitat management.
Evolution in a changing environment. Climate change is having dramatic effects on wild animal populations. This project will investigate how and why these effects occur, and whether populations will be able to evolve to adapt to a changing environment.
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