Understanding population growth time lags in invasive species. This project will use data collected from wild animals, landholder surveys, and computer simulation models to understand why invasive chital deer (Axis axis) are suddenly increasing in number after many years of slow population growth. By combining multiple empirical datasets and developing new modelling techniques, we will generate a new method for understanding population trends in introduced species. The results of this study will ....Understanding population growth time lags in invasive species. This project will use data collected from wild animals, landholder surveys, and computer simulation models to understand why invasive chital deer (Axis axis) are suddenly increasing in number after many years of slow population growth. By combining multiple empirical datasets and developing new modelling techniques, we will generate a new method for understanding population trends in introduced species. The results of this study will allow Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and others to better predict invasive species growth rates, which will allow for better, and more cost effective control methods. Read moreRead less
Mass-production of beneficial insects for commercial pest management - physicochemical definition of oviposition sites for development of cost-efficient artificial substrates. The mass-production of beneficial insects for commercial purposes demands the development of cost-effective techniques for breeding and distributing them to growers. Many predatory beneficial insects lay their eggs in sites that prevent effective mass culturing. To circumvent this difficulty, it should be possible to defin ....Mass-production of beneficial insects for commercial pest management - physicochemical definition of oviposition sites for development of cost-efficient artificial substrates. The mass-production of beneficial insects for commercial purposes demands the development of cost-effective techniques for breeding and distributing them to growers. Many predatory beneficial insects lay their eggs in sites that prevent effective mass culturing. To circumvent this difficulty, it should be possible to define such oviposition sites in chemical and physical terms, and then use the information to develop artificial substrates that are convenient for mass rearing the insects and for disseminating them to growers. We will use the mealybug predator Cryptolaemus montrouszieri to test the feasibility of this approach and to assess its application to other beneficial species.Read moreRead less
Tackling pests using game theory to support cooperative management. This project aims to improve management of invasive species by assisting pest mitigation agencies to work together. This is expected to result in more efficient and effective strategies, with the potential to dramatically improve local and global agricultural and environmental outcomes. An interdisciplinary approach using game theory, spatial modelling, and ecology is expected to create a novel framework to identify how and when ....Tackling pests using game theory to support cooperative management. This project aims to improve management of invasive species by assisting pest mitigation agencies to work together. This is expected to result in more efficient and effective strategies, with the potential to dramatically improve local and global agricultural and environmental outcomes. An interdisciplinary approach using game theory, spatial modelling, and ecology is expected to create a novel framework to identify how and when agencies might collaborate, and how collaboration might impact on costs and benefits of pest control strategies. The project will provide significant benefits by improving management of invasive species across Queensland, one of Australia's largest agricultural producing states and home to a vast number of Australia's threatened species. Read moreRead less
Who's calling? Understanding and exploiting signalling system ecology to improve success in trapping cane toads. This project has five major national and community benefits for Australia. It will: 1. provide a much-needed control option for a major pest, 2. actually remove many toads during the course of the study, through trapping at various locations around Australia, 3. support an Australian small business by providing research outcomes that will enable it to develop and market a highly desi ....Who's calling? Understanding and exploiting signalling system ecology to improve success in trapping cane toads. This project has five major national and community benefits for Australia. It will: 1. provide a much-needed control option for a major pest, 2. actually remove many toads during the course of the study, through trapping at various locations around Australia, 3. support an Australian small business by providing research outcomes that will enable it to develop and market a highly desired product, and 4. provide high level, postgraduate training in science. This project directly addresses the National Research Priority goal safeguarding Australia, protecting Australia from invasive … pests, because it will generate new technologies useful for controlling an invasive species.Read moreRead less
Call Out and Listen In: A New Way to Detect and Control Invasive Species. This project aims to use novel acoustic techniques to detect and capture invasive frog species to protect native species. Invasive frogs are an under-appreciated but serious ecological problem worldwide, because they are voracious predators and are often toxic to native species. Male frogs call to attract mates, and answer calls they hear. Using new acoustic technologies, these behaviours can be exploited to detect species ....Call Out and Listen In: A New Way to Detect and Control Invasive Species. This project aims to use novel acoustic techniques to detect and capture invasive frog species to protect native species. Invasive frogs are an under-appreciated but serious ecological problem worldwide, because they are voracious predators and are often toxic to native species. Male frogs call to attract mates, and answer calls they hear. Using new acoustic technologies, these behaviours can be exploited to detect species and attract gravid females for removal. This project aims to combine an early warning system (electronic listening) and trap (calling and catching), which can be customised to any invasive frog, and use it to detect and remove cane toads, especially in low density populations.Read moreRead less
Using adaptive and innate immunity to chytridiomycosis to save amphibians from extinction. Chytridiomycosis has been implicated in the decline or extinction of hundreds of frog species worldwide since its emergence in the 1970s. The goal of this project is to identify immune frogs for captive breeding and successful reintroduction, screen populations to predict their risk of decline and develop targeted vaccines.
Insect age: an ecological genomics approach to understanding host-parasite interactions. The importance of insect age (or the age structure of a population of insects) in understanding relationships between insects and their abiotic and biotic environment has been stressed in many theoretical studies but seldom directly tested. This is because few tools exist that can accurately measure the age of a wild-caught insect with any accuracy. In this proposal we plan to use a genomics approach to deve ....Insect age: an ecological genomics approach to understanding host-parasite interactions. The importance of insect age (or the age structure of a population of insects) in understanding relationships between insects and their abiotic and biotic environment has been stressed in many theoretical studies but seldom directly tested. This is because few tools exist that can accurately measure the age of a wild-caught insect with any accuracy. In this proposal we plan to use a genomics approach to develop tools that can be used to efficiently determine the age of an insect and then apply these tools to better understand the relationship between insect age and the ability of an insect to transmit pathogens to humans, livestock or plants. These tools will also have future applicability in developing new approaches to control insect transmitted disease as well as provide methodology to determine the effectiveness of current control programs that seek to kill pest insect populations of agricultural or public health significance.Read moreRead less
Development of alternative barriers for protection of wooden structures from termites. This research aims to develop alternative barriers to those currently used for protection of wooden structures against termites. Barriers are essential to protect wooden structures. The current application of low persistence chemicals has proven to be unreliable since organochlorines were phased out. The cost of building and structural replacements due to termite damage in Australia amounts to millions of doll ....Development of alternative barriers for protection of wooden structures from termites. This research aims to develop alternative barriers to those currently used for protection of wooden structures against termites. Barriers are essential to protect wooden structures. The current application of low persistence chemicals has proven to be unreliable since organochlorines were phased out. The cost of building and structural replacements due to termite damage in Australia amounts to millions of dollars annually and will increase due to eventual failure of the organochlorine termiticides. Thus the proposed research seeks to evaluate polymer materials and coatings, including bonded materials as alternate barriers together with an assessment of risks to environment and health.Read moreRead less
Sensory strategies for protecting endangered sawfishes. The Gulf of Carpentaria is the last habitat worldwide containing sustainable populations of sawfish. Easily entangled in nets, the saw has reduced population numbers dramatically in Australia with all species now protected under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This study will provide basic biological information on feeding ....Sensory strategies for protecting endangered sawfishes. The Gulf of Carpentaria is the last habitat worldwide containing sustainable populations of sawfish. Easily entangled in nets, the saw has reduced population numbers dramatically in Australia with all species now protected under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This study will provide basic biological information on feeding, prey manipulation and the role of critical senses in the only captive population of sawfishes in Australia. Such knowledge will underpin the development and use of visual, chemical and/or magnetic repellents by fisherman that are still responsible for the loss of large numbers of sawfish as by-catch.Read moreRead less
Life hanging on a thread; disrupting the structure and function of lepidopteran silking behaviour. The production and use of silk by many invertebrates is vital for their survival. We develop a means of visualising and understanding the role of silking behaviour as a survival mechanism for Helicoverpa larvae (a key world-wide pest) with a view to disrupting silking. This novel project allows us to understand not just where larvae go but what they do along the way. The project outcomes will have ....Life hanging on a thread; disrupting the structure and function of lepidopteran silking behaviour. The production and use of silk by many invertebrates is vital for their survival. We develop a means of visualising and understanding the role of silking behaviour as a survival mechanism for Helicoverpa larvae (a key world-wide pest) with a view to disrupting silking. This novel project allows us to understand not just where larvae go but what they do along the way. The project outcomes will have wide application to the study and control of lepidopteran pests in natural and agricultural ecosystems and is of interest to applied and fundamental projects associated with insect pest control, behaviour and ecology.Read moreRead less