Understanding climate and harvest induced changes in fish life histories. This project aims to quantify the cumulative impacts of harvest and climate change across marine fishes and ecosystems. The project expects to generate new knowledge in this area by coupling the rich biological information archived in fish ear bones, with targeted multi-generation experiments and predictive modelling. Expected outcomes include fundamental insights into how human-induced environmental change affects fish gr ....Understanding climate and harvest induced changes in fish life histories. This project aims to quantify the cumulative impacts of harvest and climate change across marine fishes and ecosystems. The project expects to generate new knowledge in this area by coupling the rich biological information archived in fish ear bones, with targeted multi-generation experiments and predictive modelling. Expected outcomes include fundamental insights into how human-induced environmental change affects fish growth and maturation, and a subsequent critical evaluation of the sensitivity of fisheries models to trends in these life-history traits. This should provide significant benefits to fisheries and ecosystem management, ensuring they remain productive and resilient in a time of rapid environmental change.Read moreRead less
Does mother know best? Unifying proximate causation and ultimate explanation in mammalian sex allocation. The study of parental effects is a fundamental area in evolutionary ecology, but is characterised by poor integration of theory (ultimate causation) and physiology (proximate causation). This is true in sex allocation research that focuses almost exclusively on ultimate causation without integrating the physiological mechanisms for sex ratio adjustment. Using a combination of experiments and ....Does mother know best? Unifying proximate causation and ultimate explanation in mammalian sex allocation. The study of parental effects is a fundamental area in evolutionary ecology, but is characterised by poor integration of theory (ultimate causation) and physiology (proximate causation). This is true in sex allocation research that focuses almost exclusively on ultimate causation without integrating the physiological mechanisms for sex ratio adjustment. Using a combination of experiments and modelling, the project addresses this gap in understanding mammalian sex allocation, specifically: the lack of known mechanism; the connection between proximate mechanistic explanation and adaptive fitness explanations; and, knowledge on constraints. This project argues that one mechanism, pre-implantation glucose levels, links adaptive hypotheses with proximate causation. Read moreRead less
Maternal effects and sex allocation: an integrated approach. This project will produce research of a high international standard combining a number of key fields in evolution and ecology. The team we have assembled provides a link between Australian-based researchers and leading overseas theoreticians facilitating integration between evolutionary theory and empirical research on the unique Australian fauna. Furthermore, while climate change is identified as a priority area for research, Australi ....Maternal effects and sex allocation: an integrated approach. This project will produce research of a high international standard combining a number of key fields in evolution and ecology. The team we have assembled provides a link between Australian-based researchers and leading overseas theoreticians facilitating integration between evolutionary theory and empirical research on the unique Australian fauna. Furthermore, while climate change is identified as a priority area for research, Australia typically lacks the history of long-term phenological monitoring that is required to understand climate change impacts. This project takes an important step towards addressing this shortcoming.Read moreRead less
Flexibility in the timing of parturition: the key to viviparity in lizards? Embryos of viviparous lizards usually gain adequate nutrients from yolk. Why then has placentotrophy evolved in some species, and what new opportunities has it opened up? The answer may lie in the advantages gained from flexibility in the timing of birth, made possible by supplementary transfer of storage lipids to embryos during gestation. We argue that this provides a pivotal opportunity for evolutionary divergence: so ....Flexibility in the timing of parturition: the key to viviparity in lizards? Embryos of viviparous lizards usually gain adequate nutrients from yolk. Why then has placentotrophy evolved in some species, and what new opportunities has it opened up? The answer may lie in the advantages gained from flexibility in the timing of birth, made possible by supplementary transfer of storage lipids to embryos during gestation. We argue that this provides a pivotal opportunity for evolutionary divergence: some alpine species exploit flexible parturition; other species replace optional placentotrophy with obligate transfer. Our unique experimental approach, using two well-researched clades of viviparous skinks, will result in new testable hypotheses about the evolution of viviparity.Read moreRead less
Big squids in Australian waters, insights into their biology, movement and activity, old questions - new technology. This project will assess important biological parameters of shelf and slope ommastrephid squids. Lab based studies will explore age, growth, maturity rates and diet for the deepwater squid Todarodes filippovae. Cutting -edge telemetry technology (manual tracking, listening curtains and satellite pop-up tags) will assess movement, activity, metabolism and vertical migration of bo ....Big squids in Australian waters, insights into their biology, movement and activity, old questions - new technology. This project will assess important biological parameters of shelf and slope ommastrephid squids. Lab based studies will explore age, growth, maturity rates and diet for the deepwater squid Todarodes filippovae. Cutting -edge telemetry technology (manual tracking, listening curtains and satellite pop-up tags) will assess movement, activity, metabolism and vertical migration of both T. filippovae in deep water and arrow squid (Nototodarus gouldi) on the shelf. A comprehensive understanding will be gained of the biology and lifestyle of these two key squid species that will be utilised by implementers of the South-east Regional Marine Plan, ecosystem modelers and resource managers.Read moreRead less
Landscape-scale population dynamics of open forests in the Australian monsoon tropics. Over the last century there has been a trend of increasing tree cover in many landscapes. Yet the causes of this globally important ecological phenomenon are poorly understood, but may include the effects of climate, fire, grazing and CO2. We will determine how an area of forest has changed over 50 years in Kakadu National Park, linking forest demography with remote sensing techniques, re-measurement and analy ....Landscape-scale population dynamics of open forests in the Australian monsoon tropics. Over the last century there has been a trend of increasing tree cover in many landscapes. Yet the causes of this globally important ecological phenomenon are poorly understood, but may include the effects of climate, fire, grazing and CO2. We will determine how an area of forest has changed over 50 years in Kakadu National Park, linking forest demography with remote sensing techniques, re-measurement and analysis of long-term tree demography datasets, and simulation models of tree population dynamics on a landscape scale. This will provide a scientific framework to develop sustainable land management and the conservation of Australia's forest biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Molecular aggression: variation and heritability of the levels of reactive oxygen species, and their effects on the evolution of life histories in the wild. Three areas of biology have intrigued every generation since Aristotle (c. 300 BC)- sex, embryology, and ageing. This proposal targets all three of these areas with a special focus on aspects of ageing. In particular, we assess how 'free radicals', so often identified in our food and wine for good and bad, exert selection on living organisms ....Molecular aggression: variation and heritability of the levels of reactive oxygen species, and their effects on the evolution of life histories in the wild. Three areas of biology have intrigued every generation since Aristotle (c. 300 BC)- sex, embryology, and ageing. This proposal targets all three of these areas with a special focus on aspects of ageing. In particular, we assess how 'free radicals', so often identified in our food and wine for good and bad, exert selection on living organisms and whether resistance (and defense) towards free radicals may drive evolution of ageing in the wild, its trade offs with fertility and fecundity, and how it is influenced by sexual or non-sexual reproduction. In spite of excellent work in the laboratory, this is the first attempt to do this in 'the real world' and will extend Australia's excellent reputation in evolutionary biology.Read moreRead less
A Game Changer? Alcohol and Women's Sport in Australia. This project aims to investigate emerging relationships between women and alcohol in Australian sport. We will examine the meanings that drinking may have for sportswomen and female fans, and identify new theoretical frameworks for rethinking drinking, gender and sport. In the context of public and policy debates about the risks and social impacts of alcohol consumption, we expect to generate significant new knowledge outcomes. These includ ....A Game Changer? Alcohol and Women's Sport in Australia. This project aims to investigate emerging relationships between women and alcohol in Australian sport. We will examine the meanings that drinking may have for sportswomen and female fans, and identify new theoretical frameworks for rethinking drinking, gender and sport. In the context of public and policy debates about the risks and social impacts of alcohol consumption, we expect to generate significant new knowledge outcomes. These include a world first research corpus of direct relevance for sports administrators and policy-makers, who are currently grappling with the costs and consequences of alcohol use in licensing and legislation, as well as in marketing, sponsorship and promotion of sport to women.Read moreRead less
Effects of maternal foraging success and oceanographic variation on offspring behaviour and survival in the southern elephant seal. Juvenile survival is the key determinant of mammalian population performance, but the proximate determinants of this have rarely been established in large, long-lived predators. Southern elephant seals, with their concentrated lactation effort and marked separation of energy acquisition (at-sea foraging) and expenditure (on-land lactation) provide an ideal model for ....Effects of maternal foraging success and oceanographic variation on offspring behaviour and survival in the southern elephant seal. Juvenile survival is the key determinant of mammalian population performance, but the proximate determinants of this have rarely been established in large, long-lived predators. Southern elephant seals, with their concentrated lactation effort and marked separation of energy acquisition (at-sea foraging) and expenditure (on-land lactation) provide an ideal model for investigating these factors. In this study, we investigate the partitioning of pre-partum performance (fat acquired in mothers) relative to spatial-temporal variation in ocean productivity and the effect of this expenditure on offspring condition and survival. Here, the final missing link of energy transfer and its effects on offspring will be a major outcome of this project.Read moreRead less
Unlocking telomere effects on life, death and fitness in a warming world. Few things in biology provoke such a strong desire for understanding as when adult death and fatal disease can be predicted early in life. A common factor linking early life stress, disease, ageing and time of death are telomeres, the protective regions at the end of each chromosome. This project aims to explicitly link telomere dynamics in free-living ectotherm populations with experimental approaches to advance our under ....Unlocking telomere effects on life, death and fitness in a warming world. Few things in biology provoke such a strong desire for understanding as when adult death and fatal disease can be predicted early in life. A common factor linking early life stress, disease, ageing and time of death are telomeres, the protective regions at the end of each chromosome. This project aims to explicitly link telomere dynamics in free-living ectotherm populations with experimental approaches to advance our understanding of parental and environmental effects on offspring telomeres and their effects later in life. This project will take advantage of one of the world’s longest datasets on ectotherm responses to climate to provide new knowledge of how telomeres affect fitness and the role that the environment plays.Read moreRead less