Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0344009
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,000.00
Summary
South Australian Regional Facility for Molecular Evolution and Ecology. Adelaide and Flinders Universities and their partners, the South Australian Museum and the South Australian Research and Development Institute, seek to enhance the throughput and efficiency of molecular genotyping for the large amount of research undertaken in Adelaide in the general areas of molecular evolution and ecology, and to enhance long-term storage and accessibility of the valuable biological materials used for geno ....South Australian Regional Facility for Molecular Evolution and Ecology. Adelaide and Flinders Universities and their partners, the South Australian Museum and the South Australian Research and Development Institute, seek to enhance the throughput and efficiency of molecular genotyping for the large amount of research undertaken in Adelaide in the general areas of molecular evolution and ecology, and to enhance long-term storage and accessibility of the valuable biological materials used for genotyping. This will be achieved by developing a new fully integrated, jointly managed regional facility, that serves all relevant research groups in South Australia.Read moreRead less
Analysing and modelling molecular rate variation among nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. My research will have important practical benefits for bioinformaticians and evolutionary biologists, because existing analytical methods will be rigorously tested and new tools will be developed. Australia has a comparatively high concentration of researchers in this field, so my research will foster domestic collaboration and import international expertise. The research will provide important insights int ....Analysing and modelling molecular rate variation among nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. My research will have important practical benefits for bioinformaticians and evolutionary biologists, because existing analytical methods will be rigorously tested and new tools will be developed. Australia has a comparatively high concentration of researchers in this field, so my research will foster domestic collaboration and import international expertise. The research will provide important insights into the rates and patterns of genetic changes associated with domestication, and into variation in evolutionary rates among the primate ancestors of humans. In addition to developing new software, which will be made publicly available, I will develop new evolutionary models to supplement existing software packages. Read moreRead less
Molecular identification of blowflies of forensic importance and thermal effects on their behaviour: tools to enhance forensic entomology in Australia. In suspicious deaths in which a body is found three or more days post-mortem, carrion-breeding blowflies provide time since death estimates. These estimates are currently slow and relatively broad due to (a) an inability to adequately distinguish immatures morphologically, and (b) insufficient information on the biological responses of different ....Molecular identification of blowflies of forensic importance and thermal effects on their behaviour: tools to enhance forensic entomology in Australia. In suspicious deaths in which a body is found three or more days post-mortem, carrion-breeding blowflies provide time since death estimates. These estimates are currently slow and relatively broad due to (a) an inability to adequately distinguish immatures morphologically, and (b) insufficient information on the biological responses of different species to temperature. We will develop rapid molecular assays to distinguish blowfly species, and comprehensively chart the behavioural effects of temperature on the most forensically important blowflies. Molecular and adult morphological data will also be used to examine the evolution of the carrion-breeding blowflies.Read moreRead less
Environmental stress profiling (ESP): Molecular profiling of sediment microbial communities for improved biological monitoring in aquatic ecosystems. Water resource management is a key issue for environmental sustainability in Australia and strategies that include ecological principles are important to improve present conditions and reduce further degradation. Current biomonitoring methods suffer from a low degree of sensitivity that can seriously impact their effectiveness as early warning sign ....Environmental stress profiling (ESP): Molecular profiling of sediment microbial communities for improved biological monitoring in aquatic ecosystems. Water resource management is a key issue for environmental sustainability in Australia and strategies that include ecological principles are important to improve present conditions and reduce further degradation. Current biomonitoring methods suffer from a low degree of sensitivity that can seriously impact their effectiveness as early warning signals of ecological disturbance. We propose to combine molecular and ecotoxicological assessment of the effect of zinc toxicity on microbial communities to provide rapid pollution sensitive bioassessment. Our research will lead to a better understanding of the cause and effect of heavy metal pollution within aquatic ecosystems and greater insight on how to reduce and repair the negative effects.Read moreRead less
Testing Theories of Historical Divergence using South Eastern Australian Reptiles. The processes that serve to create species diversity must also be preserved in order to allow evolution to continue. My study will clarify the number and distribution of water skink species in south eastern Australia, a biologically diverse, yet under studied area of Australia. I will also be looking at processes, such as dispersal, that determine patterns of species distribution over time. These lizards are also ....Testing Theories of Historical Divergence using South Eastern Australian Reptiles. The processes that serve to create species diversity must also be preserved in order to allow evolution to continue. My study will clarify the number and distribution of water skink species in south eastern Australia, a biologically diverse, yet under studied area of Australia. I will also be looking at processes, such as dispersal, that determine patterns of species distribution over time. These lizards are also found on mountain tops and may be affected by global warming. Understanding how climate change has affected these lizards in the past may help us to predict how climate changes will affect them in the future and better enable us to conserve these and other species in the future.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668093
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$115,000.00
Summary
Expansion and enhancement of the South Australian Regional Facility for Molecular Ecology and Evolution and the Australian Centre Ancient DNA. Provision of dedicated instruments for contemporary and ancient/fragmentary DNA analyses will provide numerous opportunities for innovative research solutions in basic biology, archaeological, agricultural, biomedical, forensic and environmental sciences. No similar combination of facilities currently exists in the Australian region severely curtailing an ....Expansion and enhancement of the South Australian Regional Facility for Molecular Ecology and Evolution and the Australian Centre Ancient DNA. Provision of dedicated instruments for contemporary and ancient/fragmentary DNA analyses will provide numerous opportunities for innovative research solutions in basic biology, archaeological, agricultural, biomedical, forensic and environmental sciences. No similar combination of facilities currently exists in the Australian region severely curtailing and jeopardising the quality of current and proposed research programs. The facilities will underlie innovative approaches to research in National Research Priorities 1 and 4 - An Environmentally Sustainable Australia and Safeguarding AustraliaRead moreRead less
Evolution of the unique fauna of the Great Artesian Basin mound springs: the impact of aridification and climate change. The mound springs of the Great Artesian Basin represent one of Australia's most unique environments and are of national biodiversity, cultural and economic significance. Their conservation is a major issue following listing of the springs as a threatened ecological community. As economic productivity in the GAB intensifies, the mound springs are under increasing threat from es ....Evolution of the unique fauna of the Great Artesian Basin mound springs: the impact of aridification and climate change. The mound springs of the Great Artesian Basin represent one of Australia's most unique environments and are of national biodiversity, cultural and economic significance. Their conservation is a major issue following listing of the springs as a threatened ecological community. As economic productivity in the GAB intensifies, the mound springs are under increasing threat from escalating groundwater use. The results of this study on the evolution of two crustacean groups will provide significant biological information for management plans, facilitating conservation of mound springs communities, and helping to understand the impacts of water extraction and climate change on this unique habitat.Read moreRead less
A molecular phylogenetic study of the evolution of ecological specialisation in Amphibolurinae agamid lizards. This project will use a comparative approach that combines ecological, morphological and molecular data to investigate evolutionary patterns of ecological specialisation in Australian agamid lizards. Understanding the evolutionary pattern of ecological specialisation, or the directional course of evolution, is an unresolved question in evolutionary biology. Quantitative investigations o ....A molecular phylogenetic study of the evolution of ecological specialisation in Amphibolurinae agamid lizards. This project will use a comparative approach that combines ecological, morphological and molecular data to investigate evolutionary patterns of ecological specialisation in Australian agamid lizards. Understanding the evolutionary pattern of ecological specialisation, or the directional course of evolution, is an unresolved question in evolutionary biology. Quantitative investigations of ecological specialisation are rare because research has been limited by molecular and analytical techniques. Recent advances in population genetics and bio-statistics will allow me to test hypotheses concerning the directionality of evolution. This study will provide a foundation for future research in evolutionary biology and greatly expand our knowledge of agamid biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Conserving our native carnivores: the application of molecular genetics to the conservation management of quolls. Quolls, the largest native mammalian predators on mainland Australia, occupy a pivotal ecological niche. All species are declining and are threatened by a variety of interacting environmental processes. This program brings together seven wildlife agencies in a nationwide partnership for understanding and protecting quolls. We will provide new genetic data to test current populatio ....Conserving our native carnivores: the application of molecular genetics to the conservation management of quolls. Quolls, the largest native mammalian predators on mainland Australia, occupy a pivotal ecological niche. All species are declining and are threatened by a variety of interacting environmental processes. This program brings together seven wildlife agencies in a nationwide partnership for understanding and protecting quolls. We will provide new genetic data to test current population and conservation theories using four species of quolls as model taxa to inform us about past histories of populations and to measure parameters of importance to on-ground managers. Results of these projects will help guide management practices for both short- and long-term conservation of these species.Read moreRead less
Genetic evaluation of the diversity of the stygobitic fauna of the Pilbara, Western Australia. This study has two main aims, designed to help manage populations of the subterranean invertebrate fauna in an economically important region of Western Australia: 1) to provide phylogenetic and population genetic information on the structure of populations of amphipods and other groundwater fauna in the Pilbara, Western Australia, and 2) to investigate areas of the ecology of the fauna including respon ....Genetic evaluation of the diversity of the stygobitic fauna of the Pilbara, Western Australia. This study has two main aims, designed to help manage populations of the subterranean invertebrate fauna in an economically important region of Western Australia: 1) to provide phylogenetic and population genetic information on the structure of populations of amphipods and other groundwater fauna in the Pilbara, Western Australia, and 2) to investigate areas of the ecology of the fauna including response to changes in water chemistry. The genetic information will be used to gain an understanding of species diversity, distributions, and movement in order to help set conservation priorities in managing resources, habitats, and fauna. The ecological data will be used to study the effects of dewatering and changes in water chemsitry on morphology and survival.Read moreRead less