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Within ICB our interests in Environmental Biology range across the disciplines of ecology, physiology genetics and behaviour.
Major conservation themes include:
the potential impacts of climate change on plants and animals in both
as well as anthropogenic environmental impacts on the Australian biota including:
- the effects of habitat fragmentation and built environments (French, Whelan, Ayre),
- fire regimes (Bradstock, Whelan),
- invasive species (French, Davis, Minchinton, Ayre),
- indigenous hunting (Adams),
- fishing (West, Davis, Ayre)
- pesticides (Buttemer, Astheimer)
Still other applied areas range from
- studies of the effects of anchor damage on sea grass and sea grass habitat (West),
- urban garden design and bird Biodiversity (French),
- the importance of endogenous heat production in forensic entomology (Wallman)
Many projects also include direct input into policy and management strategies (see Conservation Biology and Law pages).
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There are however a great many strands of ICB research that target the fundamental population biology of Australia's flora and fauna including:
- studies of sexual signaling in reptiles (Olsson),
- the endocrinological basis of mating behaviours in birds (Buttemer, Astheimer),
- the metabolic basis of endogenous heat production in flowering plants (Robinson),
- plant pollinator interactions (Whelan and Ayre),
- chemical and physical defences of marine invertebrates ( Davis )
- investigations of factors setting species range limits (Ayre and Minchinton).
At a community level several staff are studying responses to fire (Bradstock), invasive plants (French, Minchinton) and animals (Davis, Minchinton) and other disturbances (West, Minchinton, Davis).
Findings from this fundamental research can lead to better management
opportunities for relevant agencies.
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