Supervisors: A/Prof  Grant Wardell-Johnson, Prof M. Gibberd

Where: 312:207

When: Tuesday 12th August, 16:00-1700

Enquiries to: A/Prof Grant Wardell-Johnson G.Wardell-Johnson@curtin.edu.au

Where: 312:207

When: Tuesday 5th August, 16:00-1700

Enquiries to: Dr Bill Bateman bill.bateman@curtin.edu.au

Refugia as a focus for conservation management in the 21st Century

Abstract:
Economically efficient emissions reduction is urgent for local, national and international interests. However, even with immediate strong action on emissions significant climate change debt persists. So a continuing warming planet is inevitable – with consequences for climate, biodiversity and humanity. Therefore, adaptation and transformation will remain as critical responses to climate change. Refugia are habitats where species can contract to, persist in and expand from as the regional climate changes. Therefore they have potential for facilitating the regional persistence of biodiversity under anthropogenic climate change, and are critically important in climate change adaptation management. I introduce the idea of refugia and outline progress towards the identification and protection of refugia, with an emphasis on Australia in general and south-western Australia in particular. The identification of refugia is particularly problematic in drying landscapes of subdued topography – exemplified by south-western Australia – a global biodiversity hotspot. I outline results from ARC funded research to determine whether and how granite outcrops act as refugia. I also introduce research on forests which integrate management of carbon and biodiversity for better conservation outcomes; flag developing areas of conservation-focussed research on refugia on macro and micro-scales; the identification of living museums; and priority refugia with capacity to decouple local from regional climate impacts. I conclude with discussion of the limitations of refugia and the broader societal contract needed for the sustainability of the things we value.

Grant Wardell-Johnson is Associate Professor in the Department of Environment and Agriculture at Curtin University. His Environmental Science and Management research program is integrated across several disciplines in Ecology, Botany, Biodiversity conservation & Environmental science involving the analysis and evaluation of multiple data forms for more effective environmental management. He has wide experience in biogeographical survey and impact assessment, particularly of disturbance, including logging and fire, and has published extensively on pattern and scale, and the interactive effects of disturbance. His current research is associated with biodiversity, and climate change in high rainfall mediterranean-climate ecosystems, especially refugia. He has published more than a 100 refereed journal articles and book chapters. He leads a significant postgraduate program and convenes and teaches several undergraduate units including Climate Change & Adaptation, Plant diversity and adaptation and Terrestrial and Marine Field Ecology.

NEXT WEEK Tuesday 8th April at 4pm, 312.207 at Curtin University

Justine Barker (PhD candidate, Supervisor Dr C. Cooper)
Curtin University

Echidnas are plastic
Physiological plasticity occurs in many mammals around the world as they adapt to environmental pressures. Echidnas provide the ideal model with which to examine plasticity within a species as they are found in every habitat type across Australia and it is of interest to determine what physiological strategies allow their great success.

Please join us for drinks and nibbles after the presentation.

Link to map of Bentley Campus, Curtin University: http://properties.curtin.edu.au/maps/
Please find about our coming seminars in the attached document and at: http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/science-seminars/category/environment-agriculture/
To subscribe to weekly announcements: http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/science-seminars/rss-feeds/

For queries, or if you are interested in presenting at the E&A seminars, please contact Dr Bill Bateman (Bill.Bateman@curtin.edu.au).

Next week: Tuesday Oct 29^th at 4pm, 300.219 at Curtin University

Dr Francisco Lopez-Ruiz
Plant Pathologist, ACNFP, E&A, Curtin University
Title: TBA

Ms Tegan Douglas
PhD student (Y3) E&A, Curtin University. Principal supervisor: Dr C. Cooper
Thermoregulatory strategies of the White-browed Babbler

Abstract White-browed Babblers (Pomatostomus superciliosus) are socially gregarious, ground-frequenting birds of central and southern Australia. Living in close-knit family groups, they construct domed nests in which they roost communally. Here we use a range of field and laboratory techniques to examine the thermal and energetic benefits of communal roosting. Standard open-flow respirometry was used to measure  metabolic rate, evaporative water loss and body temperature for solitary and small groups (2-5 individuals) of captive babblers over a range of ambient temperatures (10 – 32.5°C). Solitary babblers had a typical endothermic response to ambient temperature, with no evidence of torpor. Huddling yielded significant energy savings at low temperatures. Free-living babblers, implanted with temperature-sensitive radio transmitters, also maintained homeothermy, even at below-freezing ambient conditions. The thermal properties of roost nests create a microclimate that buffers against low temperatures. Both communal roosting behaviour and the insulation of roost nests are important in aiding nocturnal thermoregulation of this species, conferring energetic benefits that aid in meeting daily energy requirements even in habitats with extreme diurnal temperature fluctuations and/or very low overnight minimums.

Please join us for drinks and nibbles after the presentation.

Link to map of Bentley Campus, Curtin University: http://properties.curtin.edu.au/maps/

Please find about our coming seminars in the attached document and at: http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/science-seminars/category/environment-agriculture/

To subscribe to weekly announcements: http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/science-seminars/rss-feeds/

For queries, or if you are interested in presenting at the E&A seminars, please contact Dr Judith Lichtenzveig (Judith.Lichtenzveig@curtin.edu.au).

Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University
Regulation of horizontal gene transfer through integrated molecular circuitry

Abstract: The symbiosis island (ICEMlSymR7A) of Mesorhizobium loti is a 502-kb integrative and conjugative DNA element that confers on its bacterial host the ability to form a N2-fixing symbiosis with Lotus legumes. It was first discovered through its ability to convert non-symbiotic M. loti to symbionts of Lotus in New Zealand soils. Mobile genetic elements such as ICEMlSymR7A have been indirectly favoured in evolution due to their ability to distribute advantageous genes horizontally through the gene pool. However their mobility functions likely come at a cost to the donor bacterium, therefore the initiation of transfer is often tightly regulated. In this seminar I will describe our characterisation of the elegant molecular circuitry that controls horizontal gene transfer of ICEMlSymR7A. This circuitry integrates regulatory inputs from quorum sensing, a bimodal anti-activation switch and programmed ribosomal frame-shifting to control the proportion of cells in a population that are induced for excision and conjugative transfer.

Please join us for drinks and nibbles after the presentation.

Link to map of Bentley Campus, Curtin University: http://properties.curtin.edu.au/maps/

Please find about our coming seminars in the attached document and at: http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/science-seminars/category/environment-agriculture/

To subscribe to weekly announcements: http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/science-seminars/rss-feeds/

For queries, or if you are interested in presenting at the E&A seminars, please contact Dr Judith Lichtenzveig (Judith.Lichtenzveig@curtin.edu.au).

Seminars are held on Tuesdays 4-5pm followed by drinks and nibbles. All welcome!

Link to map of Bentley Campus, Curtin University: http://properties.curtin.edu.au/maps/

Please find about our coming seminars in the attached document and at: http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/science-seminars/category/environment-agriculture/
To subscribe to weekly announcements: http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/science-seminars/rss-feeds/
For queries, or if you are interested in presenting at the E&A seminars, please contact Dr Judith Lichtenzveig (Judith.Lichtenzveig@curtin.edu.au).