Spatial Dynamics and Conservation
Projects Available
Honours Project: Defeating the Weed Menace
Exotic grasses and other weeds have wrought the most profound environmental change throughout degraded grassy box-gum woodlands in SE Australia. Such weeds cover vast areas, they exclude most native plants, and are a threat to woodland fauna. Traditional weeding methods cannot defeat this weed menace and new techniques are demanded. Recent research suggests that removing nutrients from the soil may tip the balance back in favour of native species. We must therefore discover first if nutrient management does favour native species in our target area, and second how we can reduce nutrients over large areas in a cost-effective manner.
This project will examine the interaction of grazing and nutrient management as it affects the proportion of exotic and native species in grassy box-gum woodlands in the ACT. It will involve measuring plant responses to a range of nutrient treatments in the field and soil nutrient analyses in the lab. The student will be required to work closely with a community group in an exciting new project for which funding is already available to cover field and lab costs.
If you are interested in discussing this project please email:
(02) 6125 8130
PhD. Reptile and beetle communities in a fragmented mallee landscape: does emigration increase extinction risk?
Dispersal is an important influence on the persistence, size and dynamics of local populations. However, despite the important role that dispersal plays in species persistence, it is possible that emigration out of small habitat remnants may increase the risk of local extinction. Furthermore, while habitat corridors are often hailed as tools for reducing the impact of fragmentation, their value is not always positive. Is it possible that corridors could actually be increasing extinction risk by encouraging emigration without concomitantly improving immigration?
The scholar that takes on this project will examine the occurrence and rates of movement of beetle and reptile species in small and large habitat remnants and adjoining linear vegetation. Fragmented mallee landscapes in central New South Wales is an ideal study setting, where reptile species have declined from up to 90% of their former range and about one fifth of beetle species are at risk of extinction.
A candidate for this project will need to obtain a PhD scholarship through the Australian National University, and will need to obtain funding to support their research.
If you are interested in discussing this project please email:
(02) 6125 8130
PhD. The role of Dispersal in Conservation
Candidates for phd projects on this theme will need to obtain a PhD scholarship through the Australian National University, and will need to obtain funding to support their research.
If you are interested in discussing other project ideas please email:
(02) 6125 8130
Volunteer Opportunities:
PhD scholars rely on the suport of dedicated volunteers to complete their challenging field projects. If you are interested in assisting in the field, please contact them directly.
- Simone Dalgairns, Bird ecology and genetics, Flinders University
- Rebecca Gibson, Plant Ecology, Wollongong University
- Bianca Dunker, Plant Genetics, Flinders University
- Juliana Lazzari, Reptiles in fragments, Australian National University
- John Evans, Beetle dispersal, Australian National University
