PhD, MSc and Honours Opportunities

The ecology and biology of nomadism in Australian birds (PhD project)

Please contact Dr Don Franklin (email: don.franklin@cdu.edu.au) for more information.

Humans as predators: the ecology and management of subsistence hunting in Asia (PhD project)

Please contact Dr Don Franklin (email: don.franklin@cdu.edu.au) for more information.

The physiological determinants of seedling establishment and recruitment at the savanna-forest boundary: why don’t forest species establish in savanna? (PhD or MSc project)

Please contact: Prof. Michael Lawes (email: michael.lawes@cdu.edu.au) for more information.

Forest–savanna boundaries worldwide are often remarkably stable. In the Northern Territory, small patches of monsoon rainforest are embedded in a vast matrix of mesic savanna dominated by eucalypt trees and grass. Savannas are more open and fire-prone, and may or may not present drier and less fertile soils. Savanna tree species seldom recruit into forests, and few forest tree species establish in savannas. It is not well understood why this is so, different responses to fire regimes, competition with savanna grasses, light conditions, seasonal drought and soil fertility being variously implicated. The response to contrasting conditions may be one of intolerance, or competitive exclusion may follow from limited tolerance.

Applicant would have to apply for scholarship;

Project operational funding is in hand.

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Distribution and stand characteristics of relict populations of Podocarpus grayii in northern Australia. (PhD or MSc project)

Please contact: Prof. Michael Lawes (email: michael.lawes@cdu.edu.au) for more information.

Applicant would have to apply for scholarship;

Project operational funding is being sought.

Deciduousness in eucalypts (PhD or MSc project)

Please contact Dr Don Franklin (email: don.franklin@cdu.edu.au) for more information.

Most eucalypts are evergreen, but northern Australia is unique in supporting more than 20 species of deciduous eucalypts. As deciduousness appears at quite a number of phylogenetic nodes within eucalypt genera, it is evident that the trait is a labile one that is responsive to environmental conditions; however very little is known about these species. Do their leaf attributes (lifespan, size, degree of sclerophylly, chemistry) differ from evergreen eucalypts? Within the region, are they associated with particular environments, and if so, what environmental attributes favour deciduousness? In species with broad environmental tolerances, does the extent or nature of deciduousness vary across environments? What are the consequences of varying fire regimes for leaf production and loss in these species and how does this compare with evergreen species? This project will make a valuable contribution to understanding the nature of the northern Australian environment and the evolution of a key Australian group of trees.

Impact of fire on phenological patterns in savanna tree species including consequences for arboreal-foraging birds (PhD or MSc project )

Please contact Dr Don Franklin (email: don.franklin@cdu.edu.au) for more information.

Most savanna tree species have relatively predictable annual cycles of leaf shoot, leaf loss, flowering and fruiting. It seems plausible, though little known, that canopy-destroying fires will disrupt these patterns in complex ways that extend beyond immediate losses and may also have consequences for the fauna that makes use of them. Does loss of canopy early in the dry season affect late dry-season deciduousness in eucalypts? Does loss of canopy affect subsequent rates of flowering and fruiting? Does loss of flowers or fruits, or indirect loss of flowering potential, induce compensatorily higher production in subsequent years? This project involves planned and natural experiments to identify patterns and the processes driving them.

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Surviving fire: stem traits and evolutionary trade-offs

Please contact: Prof. Michael Lawes (email: michael.lawes@cdu.edu.au) for more information.

In fire-prone environments, possessing traits that facilitate the survival of stems has obvious adaptive value, but evolution of these traits may come at a cost. Surprisingly, the causes of stem death in fire are not well understood, hypotheses including the loss of cambial tissue / meristematic buds from which regrowth could be initiated, and damage to xylem tubes that prevents the flow of water to surviving tissues. Traits that may facilitate stem survival could include the density, moisture content, thickness and thermal conductance of bark, similar traits in the underlying sapwood, and the depth of vulnerable tissues within the wood. Some and perhaps all of these traits will vary as stems grow, and many species acquire stem protection with age.

Applicant would have to apply for scholarship;

Some project operational funding is available.

View flyer for further information.

Honours projects

Forest restoration and the accumulation of ant, amphipod and Staphylinid beetle diversity: when is ecosystem function restored?

This project has already been selected by a student.

Please contact Dr Don Franklin (email: don.franklin@cdu.edu.au) for more information.

Large tracts of rainforest and eucalypt forest have been cleared for agriculture and grazing on the Atherton Tableland in north Queensland. A movement to improve the conservation value of this land by converting it into secondary-growth or plantation has let to a number of restoration initiatives over the last 40 years, but the restoration and recovery processes have been poorly documented and lessons are difficult to extract. In this study, we will investigate the pattern of accumulation of biodiversity and biomass at forest restoration sites on the Atherton Tableland.

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Systematics and biogeography of the Australian crow butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), with particular reference to the Euploea alcathoe complex and the endangered Gove crow butterfly

Supervisory responsibility: Michael Braby (NRETA), Karen Gibb (SPI), Neil Collier (SER), John Trueman (ANU)

Funding: NRETA

Phone: 08 8946 7725

Email: neil.collier@cdu.edu.au

This project will investigate the evolutionary relationships within the butterfly genus Eupolea using gene sequencing and morphological data. It will also seek to clarify the taxonomic status of the nationally endangered Gove crow butterfly with direct implications for its conservation.

The successful applicant will gain highly valued skills and have the chance to travel to remote locations in northeast Arnhem Land. The project will award a stipend of $5000, with funds available to cover project costs.

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Fish passage requirements and road crossings in the Darwin region

Please contact Michael Douglas (Email: michael.douglas@cdu.edu.au) for more information.

A scholarship is available.

The impact of life-history traits on royal penguin population dynamics

Please contact: Dr Clive McMahon (email: clive.mcmahon@cdu.edu.au) for more information.

Supervisory responsibility: Assoc Prof Corey Bradshaw (uni of Adelaide)

This project will contribute to the understanding of Antarctic vertebrate life history theory by making use of an extensive, long-term and detailed dataset comprising demographic, life-history and reproductive data. Life-history (i.e., survival, reproductive success, site fidelity) data of the endemic royal penguin (Eudyptes schlegeli) were collected during a unique long-term (17 year) demographic study between 1956 and 1972 at Macquarie Island in Australia's subantarctic territory. These data are ideal because they conform to the requirements needed to investigate long-term life history responses to Antarctic marine environmental variation (in terms of overall survival and reproductive success) and in terms of individual longitudinal reproductive performance. They also predate the significant climate change observed since the mid 1970s, providing an important window into their pre-impact ecology. The Honours candidate will address the following aims: (1) Quantify the individual pattern of breeding success and failures and the mean (total) breeding success for royal penguins; (2) Relate how age at first breeding, size and condition at breeding, nest location and breeding history affects the patterns of success and failure; and (3) Quantify and examine the age-specific survival of royal penguins. All the demographic, morphometric and behavioural data to be used in this study: (1) were collected previously, (2) have not been previously analysed and (3) are available in full to be used in this study. The data are available on index cards that include all the life-time morphometric measurements for each penguin. In addition to these data, there are 19 volumes of notebooks that contain detailed information of breeding behaviour that the student would be expected to enter into a digital database and analyse.

Invasion of bushland by the Asian House Gecko Hemidactylus frenatus

Please contact Dr Don Franklin (email: don.franklin@cdu.edu.au) for more information.

The Asian House Gecko was introduced to northern Australia and is commonly associated with built structures. However, the species also occurs in bushland, though the extent of its occupation of this habitat is unclear and it potential to compete with native species is unclear. Is it limited to the proximity of built structures, and if so, to what distance from them? Are there habitats more prone to occupation than others? This project involves evaluating and interpreting the abundance of Asian House Geckos and native geckos at a number of sites in the vicinity of Darwin.