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.
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
Testing metabolic theories in ecology. There are striking similarities in the way plants and animals take up and use energy (metabolism), despite enormous variation in size and life-style. This project will make the first experimental comparison of the predictions of the two major theories for these broad patterns. The results will significantly progress this controversial and exciting field.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102323
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
How the visual environment affects the diversity of avian colours and why this matters. Evolutionary theory predicts that (a) animal colours are optimised to perform best in their native environment and hence that (b) environmental degradation can disrupt the function of animal colours in communication or camouflage. This project will test these predictions for Australian birds and use the outcome to inform environmental restoration programs.
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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100505
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$394,620.00
Summary
Is plant organisation the fountain of eternal youth? The decline in performance at advanced ages, senescence, affects life quality, lifespan and productivity. It is believed that this phenomenon is universal, including all species from microbes to humans. Yet, some plants do not exhibit senescence. This project will identify the mechanisms that enable plants to escape senescence. Using a unique global demographic database, the project will determine whether, how and when senescence has evolved a ....Is plant organisation the fountain of eternal youth? The decline in performance at advanced ages, senescence, affects life quality, lifespan and productivity. It is believed that this phenomenon is universal, including all species from microbes to humans. Yet, some plants do not exhibit senescence. This project will identify the mechanisms that enable plants to escape senescence. Using a unique global demographic database, the project will determine whether, how and when senescence has evolved across 850 plant species. It will also experimentally test how drought, nutrients and resprouting affect senescence in two mallee Eucalyptus species in the Simpson Desert. This research will provide new insights into the evolution of senescence and will elucidate how some plants escape a supposedly unavoidable fate.Read moreRead less
Group dynamics, Allee effects and population regulation in cooperative breeders. Understanding population dynamics is crucial for effective conservation biology. In many cases breeding is limited by high density, but in social species the opposite is true, exposing small groups to high extinction risk. However, analyses of population dynamics in social species is rare, limiting our ability to effectively conserve such species.
Testing co-evolutionary processes driving venom diversity in tiger snakes. Testing co-evolutionary processes driving venom diversity in tiger snakes. This project aims to examine the geographic variation amongst tiger snakes in anatomy, ecology, and life history traits, and the relationship of these factors to venom toxins and production; and to evaluate the true pharmacological potential of tiger snake venom. This project will investigate the role of venom adaptation in long-term animal evoluti ....Testing co-evolutionary processes driving venom diversity in tiger snakes. Testing co-evolutionary processes driving venom diversity in tiger snakes. This project aims to examine the geographic variation amongst tiger snakes in anatomy, ecology, and life history traits, and the relationship of these factors to venom toxins and production; and to evaluate the true pharmacological potential of tiger snake venom. This project will investigate the role of venom adaptation in long-term animal evolution, by identifying rare venom transcripts involved in providing evolutionary potential for adaptation to environmental change. This is essential as continuing climatic and human-induced alteration of our environment affects southern Australia where many people live, work and interact with native wildlife. Anticipated outcomes are maximizing venom harvests and enhanced snakebite treatment capacity.Read moreRead less