Australian alpine seed ecology: Plant conservation and adaptation to climate change. The Australian alpine region is critically vulnerable to climate change. Many alpine plant species are already threatened. Our project facilitates effective management of Australian alpine flora, enabling us to preserve alpine biodiversity and improve ecosystem resilience to climate change. Seed banking provides conservation of nationally vulnerable and threatened flora, providing insurance against extinction. O ....Australian alpine seed ecology: Plant conservation and adaptation to climate change. The Australian alpine region is critically vulnerable to climate change. Many alpine plant species are already threatened. Our project facilitates effective management of Australian alpine flora, enabling us to preserve alpine biodiversity and improve ecosystem resilience to climate change. Seed banking provides conservation of nationally vulnerable and threatened flora, providing insurance against extinction. Our exemplary contribution to global seed conservation provides a national resource of alpine seeds for revegetation and research and interpretive resources at the Australian National Botanic Gardens facilitate public awareness of the ecological significance and fragility of Australian alpine ecology in response to climate change.Read moreRead less
Ecology and phylogeography of bird migration between Australia and New Guinea: paradise kingfishers as a model species. This project examines the evolutionary causes and ecological consequences of intra-tropical bird migration between north Australia and New Guinea, one of the major migration systems of the southern hemisphere. I will use the buff-breasted paradise kingfisher as a model species, exploiting two features of its biology (an aerodynamically costly tail and a breeding distribution wi ....Ecology and phylogeography of bird migration between Australia and New Guinea: paradise kingfishers as a model species. This project examines the evolutionary causes and ecological consequences of intra-tropical bird migration between north Australia and New Guinea, one of the major migration systems of the southern hemisphere. I will use the buff-breasted paradise kingfisher as a model species, exploiting two features of its biology (an aerodynamically costly tail and a breeding distribution with a large latitudinal range) to shed light on the costs, benefits, and ecological correlates of intra-tropical migration. Molecular markers will be used to identify non-breeding distributions, migratory patterns, and the biogeographic histories of the different breeding populations within Australia.Read moreRead less