Zoology & Ecology

Saul Chemonges

Saul Chemonges

Daniel Montesinos Torres

Daniel Montesinos Torres

Claire Gely

Claire Gely

Ben Hirsch

Ben Hirsch

Stephen Williams

Stephen Williams

Myles Menz

Myles Menz

Martijn van de Pol

Martijn van de Pol

Slade Allen-Ankins

Slade Allen-Ankins

Noel Preece

Noel Preece

Conrad Hoskin

Conrad Hoskin

Can species interactions drive rapid niche evolution? (Old ID 23572)
Conrad Hoskin
01 Aug 2017 - 31 Aug 2019
Climate change can alter the distribution of species and cause novel interactions. This project will test whether such interactions can actually drive adaptation to the changing environment. Two Australian fruitfly species will be lab-reared separately and together along a thermal resource gradient. Estimates of each species' niche will be obtained. Using experimental evolution, resource space will then be manipulated to create competition and test whether either species' niche will evolve into new space. A shift of either species beyond its former niche limits would provide evidence of the potential for evolutionary rescue via rapid adaptation to changing environmental conditions.
Can species interactions drive rapid niche evolution? (Old ID 23572)
Megan Higgie
01 Aug 2017 - 31 Aug 2019
Climate change can alter the distribution of species and cause novel interactions. This project will test whether such interactions can actually drive adaptation to the changing environment. Two Australian fruitfly species will be lab-reared separately and together along a thermal resource gradient. Estimates of each species' niche will be obtained. Using experimental evolution, resource space will then be manipulated to create competition and test whether either species' niche will evolve into new space. A shift of either species beyond its former niche limits would provide evidence of the potential for evolutionary rescue via rapid adaptation to changing environmental conditions.
Understanding population growth time lags in invasive species: Chital deer as a model system. (Old ID 26559)
Lin Schwarzkopf
11 Oct 2019 - 09 Oct 2025
Lags in population growth of introduced species are common, but poorly understood. Chital deer (Axis axis) are an invasive species introduced to Australia over 130 years ago, but their numbers have only increased dramatically in the past 30-40 years. We will use data collected from wild animals, landholder surveys, and computer simulation models to clarify causes of sudden population expansion in more detail. Understanding lags will allow us to understand their causes, and better control populations of invasive species. By predicting drivers of rapid population growth, we can better mitigate the associated economic and environmental costs of invasive species.
Predicting genetic exchange between species under climate change (Old ID 27104)
Conrad Hoskin
01 Apr 2021 - 30 Apr 2024
This project aims to resolve the factors that lead to the mixing of species’ gene pools, with a focus on whether climate change will increase such mixing, possibly leading to extinction by genetic swamping. The significance is that the project would improve our understanding of speciation and species’ vulnerability to rapid climate change through genetic mixing; a largely overlooked process. Key outcomes would be to generate new knowledge of a fundamental evolutionary process and extend the toolbox of biodiversity managers facing rapid environmental change. The project would benefit Australia by highlighting our unique biodiversity and scientific capability, and by training early career researchers in advanced evolutionary biology.
The interaction of yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepsis gracilipes) with mammals of the Wet Tropics (Old ID 24871)
Peter Yeeles
01 Apr 2018 - 31 Dec 2018
Yellow crazy ants arrived in Cairns in 2001 and have spread to other locations in the Wet Tropics. These ants have the potential to be environmentally destructive and while studies have been conducted on the effects of ants on reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, to date no significant study has been made on the effects of these ants on mammals. Through trapping surveys and behavioural testing I aim to provide insight into these effects and gain understanding of the broader ecological impacts of yellow crazy ants in the Wet Tropics.
The interaction of yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepsis gracilipes) with mammals of the Wet Tropics (Old ID 24871)
Tasmin Rymer
01 Apr 2018 - 31 Dec 2018
Yellow crazy ants arrived in Cairns in 2001 and have spread to other locations in the Wet Tropics. These ants have the potential to be environmentally destructive and while studies have been conducted on the effects of ants on reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, to date no significant study has been made on the effects of these ants on mammals. Through trapping surveys and behavioural testing I aim to provide insight into these effects and gain understanding of the broader ecological impacts of yellow crazy ants in the Wet Tropics.
Can parental care behaviour and breeding microhabitat protect Critically Endangered nursery frogs from rising temperatures on Wet Tropics mountaintops? (Old ID 28975)
Conrad Hoskin
01 Apr 2023 - 01 Aug 2025
Nursery frogs are terrestrial breeders with ‘direct development’ and the male stays with the eggs until hatching. While climate change is their biggest threat and their breeding biology of is very poorly known. I will study parental care across Nursery frog species, under varied environmental conditions in the field (low elevation, upland areas, heatwaves, drought) to uncover the details of nest choice and parental care. I will use non-invasive cameras, artificial shelters, and data loggers in natural nesting sites to determine how variation in parental behaviour impacts larval survival and differs between species and microhabitats under different climatic conditions.
Baseline invasive ant fauna and impact survey in the Torres Strait (Old ID 27827)
Lori Lach
18 Oct 2022 - 30 Jun 2024
The project aims to collect a representative baseline sample of ant fauna on all inhabited Torres Strait islands and five communities in the northern peninsula area of Cape York. The focus is on invasive and non-native ant fauna.
Genetic ‘health’ assessments and a decision-making framework for some of Australia’s most endangered frogs and reptiles (Old ID 27665)
Conrad Hoskin
01 Jul 2022 - 01 Dec 2023
According to expert assessment, more than half of Australia’s endangered and critically endangered frogs and reptiles are endemic to Queensland and at risk from imminent extinction. A major threat to threatened species like this is a loss of genetic diversity which leads to inbreeding depression, inability to adapt, and heightened extinction risk. This project aims to provide essential genetic assessment of five severely threatened study systems: Oedura lineata, Nangura spinosa, Litoria lorica, Phyllurus geckoes, and Cophixalus frogs. These species represent a range of threats and genetic scenarios. Through discussions with managers, results will be synthesised into a broader conservation framework.
Genetic ‘health’ assessments and a decision-making framework for some of Australia’s most endangered frogs and reptiles (Old ID 27665)
Megan Higgie
01 Jul 2022 - 01 Dec 2023
According to expert assessment, more than half of Australia’s endangered and critically endangered frogs and reptiles are endemic to Queensland and at risk from imminent extinction. A major threat to threatened species like this is a loss of genetic diversity which leads to inbreeding depression, inability to adapt, and heightened extinction risk. This project aims to provide essential genetic assessment of five severely threatened study systems: Oedura lineata, Nangura spinosa, Litoria lorica, Phyllurus geckoes, and Cophixalus frogs. These species represent a range of threats and genetic scenarios. Through discussions with managers, results will be synthesised into a broader conservation framework.

Direct quantification of leaf transpiration isotopic composition

Ternary effects on the gas exchange of isotopologues of carbon dioxide

Transpiration modulates phosphorus acquisition in tropical tree seedlings

A sub-continental scale living laboratory: spatial patterns of savanna vegetation over a rainfall gradient in northern Australia

Stable isotopes reveal the contribution of corticular photosynthesis to growth in branches of Eucalyptus miniata

Responses of legume versus nonlegume tropical tree seedlings to elevated CO2 concentration

SPECIAL: Savana Patterns of Energy and Carbon Integrated Across the Landscape

Photosynthesis and water-use efficiency of seedlings from northern Australian monsoon forest, savanna and swamp habitats grown in a common garden

Zea mays rhizosphere respiration, but not soil organic matter decomposition was stable across a temperature gradient

Leaf nitrogen to phosphorus ratios of tropical trees: experimental assessment of physiological and environmental controls

Title: ARC Future Fellow ($680,000), Global Change: Rainforest responses to experimental drought
Reseracher: Susan Laurance (Professor, Personal Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2014
Title: American Society of Naturalists
Reseracher: Megan Higgie (Associate Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2003
Title: European Research Council Advanced Grant 2018, ($2.5 million Euros). Role: collaborator, Lead Investigator: Dr Lourens Poorter
Reseracher: Susan Laurance (Professor, Personal Chair)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2018
Title: Habilitation (Venia Docendi), University of Bern
Reseracher: Myles Menz (Senior Lecturer, Zoology and Ecology)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2013
End Date: 01 Jan 2018
Title: PhD, The University of Western Australia
Reseracher: Myles Menz (Senior Lecturer, Zoology and Ecology)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2009
End Date: 01 Jan 2013
Title: MSc in Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern
Reseracher: Myles Menz (Senior Lecturer, Zoology and Ecology)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2006
End Date: 01 Jan 2008
Title: Bachelor of Science , The University of Western Australia
Reseracher: Myles Menz (Senior Lecturer, Zoology and Ecology)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2000
End Date: 01 Jan 2003
Title: Doctor of Philosophy, University of the Witwatersrand
Reseracher: Tasmin Rymer (Associate Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2004
End Date: 01 Jan 2009
Title: Minibeast Wildlife, I partnered with Minibeast Wildlife to support an Honour's student's project focusing on subsociality in tarantulas. That work is in the process of being published.
Reseracher: Tasmin Rymer (Associate Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2024
End Date: 01 Jan 2025
Title: Master of Science, University of Pretoria
Reseracher: Tasmin Rymer (Associate Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2003
End Date: 01 Jan 2004