ORCID Profile
0000-0003-2872-9939
Current Organisation
James Cook University
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Ecology | Atmospheric Sciences | Oceanography | Biological Oceanography | Modelling and simulation | Physical Oceanography | Climate Change Processes | Isotope Geochemistry | Environmental management | Ecological Impacts of Climate Change | Marine And Estuarine Ecology (Incl. Marine Ichthyology) | Terrestrial Ecology | Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation | Conservation and biodiversity | Life Histories (Incl. Population Ecology) | Technology not elsewhere classified
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Effects of Climate Change and Variability on Australia (excl. Social Impacts) | Living resources (flora and fauna) | Climate change | Living resources (flora and fauna) | Forest and Woodlands Soils | Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water in Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Environments (excl. Urban and Industrial Use) | Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water in Coastal and Estuarine Environments |
Related Links
Publications
Metabolic and ventilatory physiology of the Barrow Island golden bandicoot (Isoodon auratus barrowensis) and the northern brown bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus)
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2008
Rates of metabolism in diapausing and reproductively active tropical butterflies, Euploea core and Euploea sylvester (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-01-2006
Road development and Indigenous hunting in Tanah Papua: Connecting the facts for future wildlife conservation agendas
Publisher: Fakultas Kehutanan, Universitas Hasanuddin (Forestry Faculty, Hassannuddin Univ)
Date: 27-04-2021
Abstract: Road development is increasing worldwide. Generally, ex les of road building in tropical countries demonstrate that road access can assist the fight against rural poverty, but such developments are also linked to deforestation, pollution, invasions of exotic species, and environmental degradation. For Papua and West Papua provinces (Tanah Papua) in Indonesia, the development of the provincial road network is intended to improve the rural economy, aiming to alleviate poverty within isolated rural areas. However, road development can pose particularly challenging problems to rural and Indigenous communities. Poorly planned roads can be devastating when they provide easy access to illegal hunting that threatens endangered species. In this study, we discuss how road development in Tanah Papua has changed indigenous hunting. Native Papuans have benefited from improved road access, which allows them to sell their agricultural products at local markets. Increased road connectivity has also changed how local people use natural resources and forest products, moving from subsistence to a more market-based orientation. Although policies on infrastructure development including roads form part of Indonesia’s national program, they are not automatically compatible with a sustainable development program in Tanah Papua. To foster more equitable and sustainable road development, government agencies must improve their overall coordination of further road expansion plans by promoting green infrastructure that supports the sustainable use of natural resources in a way that is reconciled with traditional knowledge of local people. Such efforts may also have positive effects on the efforts to protect bio ersity within the wider government conservation agendas.
Determining the diet of cryptic folivores: An assessment of diet analysis techniques using the green ringtail possum (Pseudochirops archeri) as a case study
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2007
DOI: 10.1071/WR06013
Abstract: The dietary requirements of folivores affect many aspects of their ecology, including home range, potential for social interaction, abiotic/climatic requirements and habitat choice at the landscape and local scale. The purpose of this study was to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of three techniques commonly used to determine the diet of rainforest folivores. Many folivores are arboreal, nocturnal and cryptic, causing a variety of problems for determining their diet. The largely folivorous green ringtail possum (Pseudochirops archeri) is all of these, inhabiting complex rainforest and often displaying particularly cryptic or evasive behaviour. No single technique produced a comprehensive dietary list for P. archeri, and each had different biases in the diet composition determined. As the actual diet of P. archeri was unknown and not measurable, it was impossible to determine which technique most accurately described its diet. Direct observations were time-consuming and difficult within dense forest, faecal analysis underestimated the importance of species with fragile cuticles, and tree selection was not directly related to food intake. However, direct observation produced the highest ersity of diet from a single method, faecal analysis required the least time in the field, and tree selection allowed intraspecific measures of preference to be determined. Thus, multiple dietary analysis techniques were required to meet the aim of this study, which was to provide the most comprehensive estimation of dietary ersity in a cryptic, arboreal folivore.
Extensive Acclimation in Ectotherms Conceals Interspecific Variation in Thermal Tolerance Limits
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 18-03-2016
Sometimes the simple way is best: An evaluation of total body electrical conductivity (TOBEC) and a morphological index as predictors of total body water in the northern brown bandicoot, Isoodon macrourus
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2002
DOI: 10.1071/WR99086
Abstract: Total body electrical conductivity (TOBEC) can be used as a non-invasive measure of body water and/or lean mass, but there are no validations of this technique in small marsupials. The ability of TOBEC to describe body water content in the northern brown bandicoot, Isoodon macrourus, was compared with that of a morphologically based index. The TOBEC Index, E, was significantly related to total body water, calculated using tritium dilution, by a cubic polynomial. Using this relationship TOBEC was able to predict total body water to within 3.9 16.8 g (s.e., n = 13) and percentage total body water to within 0.4 1.8% (s.e., n = 13) of the values calculated by tritium dilution. The ratio of mass to hindleg length gave the best predictive power of the morphological indices tested for total body water and was significantly related to body water by a quadratic polynomial. Total body water predicted from the mass to hindleg-length ratio averaged 2.9 14.0 g (s.e., n = 13) lower, and the percentage total body water averaged 0.2 1.6% (s.e., n = 13) lower, than that derived from tritium dilution. Both techniques were able to make very strong predictions of body water, well within the ranges of variability that might be expected to be ecologically significant in this species. Contrary to expectations, the morphological index was as good a predictor of body water as TOBEC in this calibration set of animals.
Comparison of the 1H and 31P NMR Spectra of Erythrocytes and Plasma from some Australian Native Animals: Bandicoot, Echidna, Koala, Little Penguin, Tammar Wallaby, Tasmanian Devil, Tree Kangaroo and W
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 1993
DOI: 10.1007/BF00368109
Spatial requirements of free-ranging huon tree kangaroos, dendrolagus matschiei (macropodidae), in upper montane forest
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 18-03-2014
Tree-hugging koalas demonstrate a novel thermoregulatory mechanism for arboreal mammals
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 06-2014
Abstract: How climate impacts organisms depends not only on their physiology, but also whether they can buffer themselves against climate variability via their behaviour. One of the way species can withstand hot temperatures is by seeking out cool microclimates, but only if their habitat provides such refugia. Here, we describe a novel thermoregulatory strategy in an arboreal mammal, the koala Phascolarctos cinereus. During hot weather, koalas enhanced conductive heat loss by seeking out and resting against tree trunks that were substantially cooler than ambient air temperature. Using a biophysical model of heat exchange, we show that this behaviour greatly reduces the amount of heat that must be lost via evaporative cooling, potentially increasing koala survival during extreme heat events. While it has long been known that internal temperatures of trees differ from ambient air temperatures, the relevance of this for arboreal and semi-arboreal mammals has not previously been explored. Our results highlight the important role of tree trunks as aboveground ‘heat sinks’, providing cool local microenvironments not only for koalas, but also for all tree-dwelling species.
Female mating preferences and male signal variation in iridescent Hypolimnas butterflies
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2014
Three-dimensional use of space by a tropical rainforest rodent, Melomys cervinipes, and its implications for foraging and home-range size
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.1071/WR04117
Abstract: This study investigated the factors that influence the home-range size of a tropical Australian rodent, Melomys cervinipes, using radio-tagged in iduals. Melomys cervinipes frequently used the canopy and, when measured according to height level, its home-range areas were much larger than calculated by traditional two-dimensional home-range calculations. Home-range size did not significantly differ between the sexes, with an average home range of 0.42 ± 0.06 ha and core area of activity of 0.091 ± 0.074 ha. M. cervinipes did not maintain exclusive home ranges and overlapped with both other focal in iduals and in iduals not fitted with tracking devices. There was a relationship between the core range of M. cervinipes and in idual trees of the dominant canopy species at the site. Core ranges of M. cervinipes included 2 (1.96 ± 0.27) in idual canopy trees independent of the area of that core range, whereas the number of in idual trees within their total range was proportional to the size of that range. This suggests that M. cervinipes sets the core of its range to include a specific level of canopy resources regardless of the size required to achieve that level, but that its overall range is merely a representative s le of trees from the site.
Ventilatory Accommodation of Oxygen Demand and Respiratory Water Loss in Kangaroos from Mesic and Arid Environments, the Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) and the Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus)
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 05-2000
DOI: 10.1086/316752
Abstract: We studied ventilation in kangaroos from mesic and arid environments, the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) and the red kangaroo (Macropus rufus), respectively, within the range of ambient temperatures (T(a)) from -5 degrees to 45 degrees C. At thermoneutral temperatures (Ta=25 degrees C), there were no differences between the species in respiratory frequency, tidal volume, total ventilation, or oxygen extraction. The ventilatory patterns of the kangaroos were markedly different from those predicted from the allometric equation derived for placentals. The kangaroos had low respiratory frequencies and higher tidal volumes, even when adjustment was made for their lower basal metabolism. At Ta>25 degrees C, ventilation was increased in the kangaroos to facilitate respiratory water loss, with percent oxygen extraction being markedly lowered. Ventilation was via the nares the mouth was closed. Differences in ventilation between the two species occurred at higher temperatures, and at 45 degrees C were associated with differences in respiratory evaporative heat loss, with that of M. giganteus being higher. Panting in kangaroos occurred as a graded increase in respiratory frequency, during which tidal volume was lowered. When panting, the desert red kangaroo had larger tidal volumes and lower respiratory frequencies at equivalent T(a) than the eastern grey kangaroo, which generally inhabits mesic forests. The inference made from this pattern is that the red kangaroo has the potential to increase respiratory evaporative heat loss to a greater level.
Thermoregulation by Kangaroos from Mesic and Arid Habitats: Influence of Temperature on Routes of Heat Loss in Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) and Red Kangaroos (Macropus rufus)
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 05-2000
DOI: 10.1086/316751
Abstract: We examined thermoregulation in red kangaroos (Macropus rufus) from deserts and in eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) from mesic forests/woodlands. Desert kangaroos have complex evaporative heat loss mechanisms, but the relative importance of these mechanisms is unclear. Little is known of the abilities of grey kangaroos. Our detailed study of these kangaroos' thermoregulatory responses at air temperatures (T(a)) from -5 degrees to 45 degrees C showed that, while some differences occur, their abilities are fundamentally similar. Both species show the basic marsupial characteristics of relatively low basal metabolism and body temperature (T(b)). Within the thermoneutral zone, T(b) was 36.3 degrees + or - 0.1 degrees C (X + or - SE) in both species, and except for a small rise at T(a) 45 degrees C, T(b) was stable over a wide range of T(a). Metabolic heat production was 25% higher in red kangaroos at T(a) -5 degrees C. At the highest T(a) (45 degrees C), both species relied on evaporative heat loss (EHL) to maintain T(b) both panting and licking were used. The eastern grey kangaroo utilised panting (76% of EHL) as the principal mode of EHL, and while this was so for red kangaroos, cutaneous evaporative heat loss (CEHL) was significant (40% of EHL). CEHL appeared to be mainly licking, as evidenced from surface temperatures. Both species utilised peripheral vascular adjustments to control heat flow, as indicated by changes in dry conductance (C(dry)). At lower temperatures, C(dry) was minimal, but it increased significantly at T(a) just below T(b) (33 degrees C) in these conditions, the C(dry) of red kangaroos was significantly higher than that of eastern grey kangaroos, indicating a greater reliance on dry heat loss. Under conditions where heat flows into the body from the environment (T(a) 45 degrees C), there was peripheral vasoconstriction to reduce this inflow C(dry) decreased significantly from the values seen at 33 degrees C in both kangaroos. The results indicated that, while both species have excellent thermoregulatory abilities, the desert red kangaroos may cope better with more extreme temperatures, given that they respond to T(a) 45 degrees C with lower respiratory evaporation than do the eastern grey kangaroos.
LARGE-HERBIVORE DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE: INTRA- AND INTERSPECIFIC NICHE VARIATION IN THE TROPICS
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2008
DOI: 10.1890/06-2117.1
Size delays female senescence in a medium sized marsupial: The effects of maternal traits on annual fecundity in the northern brown bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-08-2011
Elevated sea-surface temperature, reduced provisioning and reproductive failure of wedge-tailed shearwaters (Puffinus pacificus) in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2003
DOI: 10.1071/MF02137
Abstract: During the 2002 austral summer abnormally high sea-surface temperatures (SST) occurred in the southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. This phenomenon was accompanied by reduced provisioning, decreased growth rates and reproductive failure of wedge-tailed shearwaters in the region. In 2002, adults were unable to compensate for changes in either the availability and/or accessibility of forage-fish by increasing food loads or foraging rates. This is one of few studies to explicitly correlate decreases in chick provisioning with above-average annual variation in SST and is the first to do so for a tropical seabird species in the western Pacific. It adds to an increasing number of data sets identifying the potential negative impacts of increasing SST at upper-trophic levels. As SST continue to rise with global climate change, our results predict substantial detrimental effects on seabird populations of the GBR. This finding has important implications for both seabird and coral reef ecosystem management in the region. Our results also suggest that wedge-tailed shearwaters are sensitive indicators to changes in forage-fish availability/accessibility associated with SST variation that can be used to develop models of, and monitor for, these potential impacts.
Costs of venom production in the common death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus)
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.TOXICON.2010.07.008
Abstract: The utilization of venom in predatory and defensive contexts is associated with benefits regarding minimization of energetic expenditure on hunting, maximization of success in prey acquisition and avoidance of injury from dangerous prey and aggressors. Multiple characteristics suggest that venom is quite expensive to produce, thereby creating a tradeoff between advantages and disadvantages associated with its possession. The metabolic costs of venom production have rarely been studied and no information on the detailed metabolic processes during venom replenishment exists. Where costs of venom production have been studied they are often not in context with other components of the energy budget of the study organism. Using flow-through respirometry, we examined changes in metabolic rate in the Australian elapid Acanthophis antarcticus after venom expenditure and feeding as well as during preparation for shedding to establish a comparison of the magnitude of energetic expenditure during venom replenishment and other common physiological processes. We also defined the temporal pattern of metabolic processes during venom replenishment at a higher resolution than has previously been attempted in snakes. Our results suggest that total costs of venom replenishment are relatively small when compared to costs of digestion and shedding. We conclude that, in spite of the manifold factors suggesting a high cost of venom in snakes, its production is less energetically costly than often assumed. Until further research can clarify the reasons for this more caution should therefore be applied when assuming that costs of venom production exert strong selection pressures on the ecology, behavior and evolution of venomous taxa.
Integrating phylogeography and physiology reveals divergence of thermal traits between central and peripheral lineages of tropical rainforest lizards
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 19-06-2012
Abstract: Tropical ectotherms are regarded as being especially threatened by global warming, but the extent to which populations vary in key thermal physiological traits is little known. In general, central and peripheral populations are most likely to differ where ergent selection pressures are un-opposed by gene flow. This leads to the prediction that persistent and long-isolated lineages in peripheral regions, as revealed by phylogeography, may differ physiologically from larger centrally located lineages. We test this prediction through comparative assays of critical thermal limits (minimum and maximum critical thermal limits, CT min , CT max ) and optimal performance parameters (B80 and T opt ) across central and peripheral lineages of three species of ground-dwelling skinks endemic to the rainforests of northeast Australia. Peripheral lineages show significantly increased optimal performance temperatures ( T opt ) relative to central populations as well as elevated CT min , with the latter trait also inversely related to elevation. CT max did not vary between central and peripheral lineages, but was higher in a forest edge species than in the forest interior species. The results suggest that long-isolated populations in peripheral rainforests harbour genotypes that confer resilience to future warming, emphasizing the need to protect these as well as larger central habitats.
Wood density predicts plant damage and vegetative recovery rates caused by cyclone disturbance in tropical rainforest tree species of North Queensland, Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-05-2008
Soil carbon stocks vary predictably with altitude in tropical forests: Implications for soil carbon storage
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2013
Meeting the energy demands of reproduction in female koalas, Phascolarctos cinereus: Evidence for energetic compensation
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-2003
DOI: 10.1007/S00360-003-0361-9
Abstract: Koalas are generally considered to be limited by their ability to acquire energy from their diet of Eucalyptus foliage and have the lowest mass-specific peak lactational energy output measured in any mammal to date. This study considered the energetics and sources of energy utilised for reproduction in free-ranging female koalas. Energy requirements and foliage intake were greater in both lactating and non-lactating females in winter than summer, presumably due to demands of thermoregulation. Koalas met the peak energy requirements of lactation primarily by a 36% increase in their intake of foliage. Metabolic energy expenditure (field metabolic rate, 1778 kJ.day(-1) for a 6.25-kg female at the time of peak lactation) was not elevated during lactation. This was due to compensation for part of their lactational demands by reduction of another, non-reproductive, component of their energy budget. The observed energetic compensation was probably due primarily to substitution of the waste heat from the metabolic costs of milk production and increased heat increment of feeding for thermoregulatory energy expenditure. There may also have been energetic compensation by reduction of some aspect of maintenance metabolism. Such energetic compensation, together with the strategy of spreading lactation over a long period, minimises the magnitude of lactational energy demands on koalas, and thus the increase in daily food intake required during lactation. As the nutritional requirements of females at peak lactation are the highest of any members of the population, low reproductive requirements effectively increase the types and amount of habitat able to support koala populations.
Automated feeders: new technology for food supplementation experiments with mammals
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2004
DOI: 10.1071/WR03092
Abstract: Experimental manipulations of food supply in wild populations are often confounded by a number of factors, such as induced immigration to local populations receiving food supplements and intraspecific competition for access to feed stations. Here, we describe newly developed automated feeding stations, designed to dispense weighed food supplements to specific experimental animals. The feeders incorporate a data logger that records the identification and weight of each animal and the time of the visit to the feeder.Using the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) as a model medium-sized mammal, we present results of an 18-month field trial. Each free-ranging experimental possum was fitted with a collar containing a transponder chip, allowing them access to a feeder. During the field trial, experimental possums were found to show a significant increase in body mass compared with control animals, which showed a slight decrease in mass. Body masses recorded by the feeders for experimental possums did not differ from mass data recorded during live-trapping sessions.The automated feeding stations represent an advance over previous methodology and the first time supplementary food has been delivered in a controlled automated fashion in a wild mammal population. The implications of the feeders to future studies of resource supplementation in mammals are discussed.
Does resource availability govern vertical stratification of small mammals in an Australian lowland tropical rainforest?
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.1071/WR04108
Abstract: Mammal assemblages of rainforest communities are commonly vertically stratified. This can be associated with competition for, or access to, resources in the upper canopy layers of the forest. This study investigated the extent of vertical stratification in a small mammal community of a tropical rainforest and whether any structure was related to resource abundance. The mammal community was vertically stratified, with Pogonomys mollipilosus and Cercartetus caudatus found only in the upper canopy layers and Rattus sp., Isoodon macrourus and Antechinus flavipes rubeculus on the ground and in the understorey layer. Melomys cervinipes and Uromys caudimaculatus were found at all four height layers. Total rodent captures were not significantly correlated with the abundance of fruit and flower resources, but arboreal captures of M. cervinipes and P. mollipilosus were correlated with the number of in idual canopy trees of four prominent flower- and fruit-yielding species: Syzigium sayeri, Acmena graveolens, Argyrodendron perelatum and Castanospermum australe. We suggest that arboreal behaviour in these rodents serves to provide the advantages of first access to food resources, the availability of abundant resources in the canopy, and, ultimately, reduced competition in the upper strata.
Predicting organismal vulnerability to climate warming: Roles of behaviour, physiology and adaptation
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 19-06-2012
Abstract: A recently developed integrative framework proposes that the vulnerability of a species to environmental change depends on the species' exposure and sensitivity to environmental change, its resilience to perturbations and its potential to adapt to change. These vulnerability criteria require behavioural, physiological and genetic data. With this information in hand, biologists can predict organisms most at risk from environmental change. Biologists and managers can then target organisms and habitats most at risk. Unfortunately, the required data (e.g. optimal physiological temperatures) are rarely available. Here, we evaluate the reliability of potential proxies (e.g. critical temperatures) that are often available for some groups. Several proxies for ectotherms are promising, but analogous ones for endotherms are lacking. We also develop a simple graphical model of how behavioural thermoregulation, acclimation and adaptation may interact to influence vulnerability over time. After considering this model together with the proxies available for physiological sensitivity to climate change, we conclude that ectotherms sharing vulnerability traits seem concentrated in lowland tropical forests. Their vulnerability may be exacerbated by negative biotic interactions. Whether tropical forest (or other) species can adapt to warming environments is unclear, as genetic and selective data are scant. Nevertheless, the prospects for tropical forest ectotherms appear grim.
Diet selection in the green ringtail possum (Pseudochirops archeri): A specialist folivore in a diverse forest
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-10-2006
The limit to the distribution of a rainforest marsupial folivore is consistent with the thermal intolerance hypothesis
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-10-2012
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-011-2146-2
Abstract: Models of impacts of climate change on species are generally based on correlations between current distributions and climatic variables, rather than a detailed understanding of the mechanisms that actually limit distribution. Many of the vertebrates endemic to rainforests of northeastern Australia are restricted to upland forests and considered to be threatened by climate change. However, for most of these species, the factors controlling their distributions are unknown. We examined the role of thermal intolerance as a possible mechanism limiting the distribution of Pseudochirops archeri (green ringtail possum), a specialist arboreal folivore restricted to rainforests above an altitude of 300 m in Australia's Wet Tropics. We measured short-term metabolic responses to a range of ambient temperatures, and found that P. archeri stores heat when ambient temperatures exceed 30°C, reducing water requirements for evaporative cooling. Due to the rate at which body temperature increases with ambient temperatures >30°C, this strategy is not effective over periods longer than 5 h. We hypothesise that the distribution of P. archeri is limited by interactions between (i) the duration and severity of extreme ambient temperatures (over 30°C), (ii) the scarcity of free water in the rainforest canopy in the dry season, and (iii) constraints on water intake from foliage imposed by plant secondary metabolites and fibre. We predict that dehydration becomes limiting for P. archeri where extreme ambient temperatures (>30°C) persist for more than 5 h per day over 4-6 days or more. Consistent with our hypothesis, the abundance of P. archeri in the field is correlated with the occurrence of extreme temperatures, declining markedly at sites where the average maximum temperature of the warmest week of the year is above 30°C. Assuming the mechanism of limitation is based on extreme temperatures, we expect impacts of climate change on P. archeri to occur in discrete, rapid events rather than as a slow contraction in range.
Substantial reduction in thermo-suitable microhabitat for a rainforest marsupial under climate change
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 12-2018
Abstract: Increases in mean temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change increase the frequency and severity of temperature extremes. Although extreme temperature events are likely to become increasingly important drivers of species' response to climate change, the impacts are poorly understood owing mainly to a lack of understanding of species’ physiological responses to extreme temperatures. The physiological response of Pseudochirops archeri (green ringtail possum) to temperature extremes has been well studied, demonstrating that heterothermy is used to reduce evaporative water loss at temperatures greater than 30°C. Dehydration is likely to limit survival when animals are exposed to a critical thermal regime of ≥30°C, for ≥5 h, for ≥4 consecutive days. In this study, we use this physiological information to assess P. archeri's vulnerability to climate change. We identify areas of current thermo-suitable habitat (validated using sightings), then estimate future thermo-suitable habitat for P. archeri , under four emission scenarios. Our projections indicate that up to 86% of thermo-suitable habitat could be lost by 2085, a serious conservation concern for the species. We demonstrate the potential applicability of our approach for generating spatio-temporally explicit predictions of the vulnerability of species to extreme temperature events, providing a focus for efficient and targeted conservation and habitat restoration management.
The Distribution and Abundance of an Island Population of Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) in the Far North of Their Geographic Range
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 18-03-2013
Genetic evidence supports three previously described species of greater glider, Petauroides volans, P. minor, and P. armillatus
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-11-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-020-76364-Z
Abstract: The identification and classification of species are essential for effective conservation management. This year, Australia experienced a bushfire season of unprecedented severity, resulting in widespread habitat loss and mortality. As a result, there has been an increased focus on understanding genetic ersity and structure across the range of in idual species to protect resilience in the face of climate change. The greater glider ( Petauroides volans ) is a large, gliding eucalypt folivore. This nocturnal arboreal marsupial has a wide distribution across eastern Australia and is considered the sole extant member of the genus Petauroides . Differences in morphology have led to suggestions that the one accepted species is actually three. This would have substantial impacts on conservation management, particularly given a recent history of declining populations, coupled with extensive wildfires. Until now, genetic evidence to support multiple species has been lacking. For the first time, we used DArT sequencing on greater glider tissue s les from multiple regions and found evidence of three operational taxonomic units (OTUs) representing northern, central and southern groups. The three OTUs were also supported by our morphological data. These findings have important implications for greater glider management and highlight the role of genetics in helping to assess conservation status.
Gene-enhanced tissue engineering for dental hard tissue regeneration: (2) dentin-pulp and periodontal regeneration
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-05-2006
Composition of the milk of the koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, an arboreal folivore
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 05-1996
Production of milk and nutrition of the dependent young of free-ranging koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 1998
DOI: 10.1086/515891
Abstract: The production of milk by lactating females, and energy expenditure and foliage intake of their dependent young, were investigated in free-ranging koalas. Koalas had the lowest mass-specific daily milk-energy production at peak lactation so far recorded in a mammal, but the duration of reproduction was 58% longer than the combined marsupial and eutherian average. As a consequence, the total energy input to reproduction in koalas was similar to that in other mammals. We propose that the prolonged lactation and low daily rate of energy transfer to the young by female koalas is an adaptation to the low energy availability from their diet of Eucalyptus foliage. Energy requirements (field metabolic rates) of young koalas were lower than those expected for typical marsupials (only 60% at permanent pouch exit), which may be a necessary preadaptation that allows the low rate of maternal energy transfer. However, the energy requirements of the adult females were no lower than expected for marsupials. This pattern of energy requirements and age resulted in a linear relationship between field metabolic rate and mass for the koalas in this population. Differences in milk production between the years of the study coincided with fluctuations in the availability of preferred young foliage, which suggests that lactational output by koalas may be flexible and affected by diet quality. Despite the interannual differences in milk production, growth of the young was similar in the two years.
Food for folivores: nutritional explanations linking diets to population density
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-01-2012
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-011-2212-9
Abstract: Ecologists want to explain why populations of animals are not evenly distributed across landscapes and often turn to nutritional explanations. In seeking to link population attributes with food quality, they often contrast nutritionally positive traits, such as the concentration of nitrogen, against negative ones, such as fibre concentration, by using a ratio of these traits. This specific ratio has attracted attention because it sometimes correlates with the biomass of colobine primates across sites in Asia and Africa. Although empirically successful, we have identified problems with the ratio that may explain why it fails under some conditions to predict colobine biomass. First, available nitrogen, rather than total nitrogen, is nutritionally important, while the presence of tannins is the major factor reducing the availability of nitrogen in browse plant species. Second, tannin complexes inflate measures of fibre. Finally, simple ratios may be unsound statistically because they implicitly assume isometric relationships between variables. We used data on the chemical composition of plants from three continents to examine the relationships between the concentrations of nitrogen, available nitrogen, fibre and tannins in foliage and to evaluate the nitrogen to fibre ratio. Our results suggest that the ratio of the concentration of nitrogen to fibre in leaves does sometimes closely correlate with the concentration of available nitrogen. However, the ratio may give misleading results when leaves contain high concentrations of tannins. The concentration of available nitrogen, which incorporates measures of total nitrogen, dry matter digestibility and tannins, should give a better indication of the nutritional value of leaves for herbivorous mammals that can readily be extrapolated to habitats.
Data on the fungal species consumed by mammal species in Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2017
Island of opportunity: can New Guinea protect amphibians from a globally emerging pathogen?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-06-2019
DOI: 10.1002/FEE.2057
Rapoport's rule: Do Climatic Variability gradients shape range extent?
Publisher: No publisher found
Date: 2015
Hydroregulation in a tropical dry-skinned ectotherm
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-07-2016
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-016-3687-1
Abstract: While temperature effects on species' vulnerability to climate change are well studied, desiccation effects receive comparatively little attention. In addition, we poorly understand the capacity of ectotherms, and especially reptiles, to control water loss rates behaviourally by selecting suitable microhabitats. This study examined water loss rates and behavioural hydroregulation in the tropical rainforest skink Carlia rubrigularis to assess whether this dry-skinned ectotherm actively avoids desiccation and whether trade-offs occur between desiccation avoidance and selection of optimal temperatures, as previously shown in hibians. Higher temperatures elicited humid refuge choice despite placing in iduals in suboptimal thermal conditions, as indicated by preferred substrate temperatures. This finding emphasizes the importance of water loss even for taxa traditionally assumed to be highly desiccation resistant, and highlights this factor's potential influence on vulnerability to climate change by limiting activity times or by restricting in iduals to thermally suboptimal microhabitats.
The impact of consumption of fruit by vertebrate and invertebrate frugivores on the germination success of an Australian rainforest seed
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2007
A flexible digestive strategy accommodates the nutritional demands of reproduction in a free-living folivore, the Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-07-2007
Lactation
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date: 17-08-2006
Phenotypic Integration in Response to Incubation Environment Adaptively Influences Habitat Choice in a Tropical Lizard
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 11-2013
DOI: 10.1086/673299
Abstract: Phenotypic integration, in which a suite of traits change in a correlated or covarying response to shifts in environmental conditions, may enhance an organism's fitness. In skinks, rocky environments select for longer limbs and rapid running and climbing. We examined whether differences in nest temperature coincident with specific habitats caused phenotypically integrated effects on morphology, locomotor performance, and behavior in the skink Carlia longipes. Specifically, we determined whether microhabitat choices were integrated with adaptive morphology for each habitat. Using a split-clutch design, we incubated eggs at thermal regimes that mimicked the thermal environments of nests from two habitat types (forest = warm rocky = cool). Hatchlings from cool incubation environments had longer limbs and greater running and climbing speeds, which are likely to be beneficial for rocky habitats. In addition, in iduals from cool incubation environments selected rocky microhabitats more frequently than did hatchlings from warm incubation environments. We demonstrate phenotypic integration in response to nest temperature that affected morphology, performance, and ultimately habitat selection in a way that should increase hatchling fitness.
Redundancy among mammalian fungal dispersers and the importance of declining specialists
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2017
Warmer Ambient Temperatures Depress Detoxification and Food Intake by Marsupial Folivores
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 09-06-2022
Abstract: Ambient temperature is an underappreciated determinant of foraging behaviour in wild endotherms, and the requirement to thermoregulate likely influences food intake through multiple interacting mechanisms. We investigated relationships between ambient temperature and hepatic detoxification capacity in two herbivorous marsupials, the common ringtail possum ( Pseudocheirus peregrinus ) and common brushtail possum ( Trichosurus vulpecula ) that regularly feed on diets rich in plant toxins. As an indicator of hepatic detoxification capacity, we determined the functional clearance rate of an anaesthetic agent, Alfaxalone, after possums were acclimated to 10°C [below the thermoneutral zone (TNZ)], 18°C [approximately lower critical temperature (LCT)], and 26°C [approximately upper critical temperature (UCT)] for either 7 days or less than 24 h. We then measured intake of foods with high or low plant secondary metabolite (PSM) concentrations under the same temperature regimes. After 7 days of acclimation, we found a positive correlation between the functional clearance rate of Alfaxalone and ambient temperature, and a negative relationship between ambient temperature and intake of foods with high or low PSM concentrations for both species. The effect of ambient temperature on intake of diets rich in PSMs was absent or reduced when possums were kept at temperatures for less than 24 h. Our results underscore the effects of ambient temperature in hepatic metabolism particularly with respect intake of diets containing PSMs. Given that the planet is warming, it is vital that effects of ambient temperature on metabolism, nutrition and foraging by mammalian herbivores is taken into account to predict range changes of species and their impact on ecosystems.
Behavioural thermoregulation in butterflies: The interacting effects of body size and basking posture in Hypolimnas bolina (L.) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2004
DOI: 10.1071/ZO03043
Abstract: The evolutionary significance of body size variation in male insects is often obscure. One way in which this parameter could affect reproductive success is via its relevance to thermoregulation. In this study we investigated the relevance of body size to heat exchange rates in a tropical nymphalid, the common eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina) (L.). Males of this territorial species elevate their body temperature above ambient levels via a series of basking postures coupled with strategic choice of perching microhabitat. In an experiment with dead butterfly models we found, as expected, heightened rates of heat exchange (heating and cooling rates) in smaller in iduals. There was also a significant interaction between basking posture and body size, with smaller in iduals exhibiting significantly greater variation in heating rate across all available basking postures. This suggests that smaller males would have greater control over their rate of basking heat gain (by having at their disposal a greater potential range of heating rates), but they would also radiate body heat at a higher rate than their larger conspecifics. Using 'grab and stab' techniques, we found no evidence that smaller in iduals are closer to their putative thermal optimum under a range of ambient conditions in the field. However, a more substantive field program, incorporating a more precise characterisation of the ambient thermal environment, will be required to fully evaluate the thermal significance of body size variation in males of this territorial butterfly.
Genomic comparisons reveal biogeographic and anthropogenic impacts in the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus): a dietary-specialist species distributed across heterogeneous environments
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-09-2019
Methods and pitfalls of extracting condensed tannins and other phenolics from plants: Insights from investigations on Eucalyptus leaves
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 1991
DOI: 10.1007/BF00994426
Adaptive sex allocation in relation to life‐history in the common brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2005
Predicted alteration of vertebrate communities in response to climate‐induced elevational shifts
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-2022
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.13514
Abstract: Climate change is driving species to migrate to novel areas as current environments become unsuitable. As a result, species distributions have shifted uphill in montane ecosystems globally. Heterogeneous dispersal rates among shifting species could result in complex changes to community assemblages. For ex le, interspecific differences in dispersal ability could lead to the disruption, or creation, of species interactions and processes within communities, likely lifying the impact of climate change on ecosystems. Here, we studied the dispersal success of vertebrate species in a tropical montane ecosystem under a climate‐induced uphill shift and assessed the derived impacts on community structures. The Australian Wet Tropics bioregion. We simulated the uphill shift of 7613 community assemblages across the elevational gradient using thermal resistance layers for movement analyses. Dispersal success was calculated as the probability of shifting given species’ dispersal ability and landscape composition. We then used dissimilarity indices to measure the potential changes in community structures resulting from the heterogeneous dispersal success among migrating species. Dispersal success was strongly influenced by species’ dispersal ability, landscape composition and climate change. The heterogeneous dispersal success among migrating species induced marked temporal changes between community assemblages along the elevational gradient. The local extinction rate (i.e. the proportion of species unable to shift) was especially remarkable at high elevations, suggesting potential mass local extinctions of upland species. Furthermore, the increasing local extinction rate with elevation resulted in substantial declines in species co‐occurrence in high‐altitude ecosystems. Our study highlights the escalating impact of climate change on community assemblages in response to climate‐induced elevational shifts, providing a classic ex le of the "escalator to extinction." Future predictions of the impacts of climate change on ecosystems will benefit from improvements in understanding species interactions, population dynamics and species potential to adapt to a changing environment.
Experimental manipulation reveals the importance of refuge habitat temperature selected by lizards
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-04-2010
A novel method of behavioural thermoregulation in butterflies
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-10-2002
Venom physiology and composition in a litter of Common Death Adders (Acanthophis antarcticus) and their parents
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.TOXICON.2010.10.001
Abstract: Metabolic expenditure has been shown to increase abruptly in several snake species directly after venom expenditure, while the later stages of venom replenishment seem to involve minor costs. This study examines the dependence of increases in metabolic rate following venom expenditure on the stage of venom replenishment that the venom producing tissue is in at the time of venom extraction in the Common Death Adder, Acanthophis antarcticus. Potential changes in venom composition during venom replenishment are also explored to elucidate whether replenishment is achieved via low rates of synthesis of all venom components or by non-parallel protein production, i.e. initial production of some venom components and subsequent synthesis of others. The results of this study indicate that venom expenditure is followed by a sudden increase in metabolic rate when snakes have previously not expended venom for at least two days, suggesting that repetitive venom expenditure does not further increase the activity of venom gland tissue in this initial time period but that a second upregulation occurs when the tissue is past the initial activation stage. In addition, venom composition appears to remain constant during replenishment within an in idual, while substantial variations can be observed even between siblings.
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