Invertebrate biodiversity and bioindicators
The great majority of the world’s species are invertebrates, and invertebrates play key roles in maintaining ecosystem health. However, even the most important invertebrate groups in northern Australia remain poorly documented, and outside CSIRO there is virtually no specialist expertise in the ecology of native invertebrates in northern Australia. Our work aims to gain a predictive understanding of patterns of distribution of key invertebrate groups in relation to climate, vegetation and land management. This serves as a basis for understanding the functional roles of invertebrates in northern Australia, and their use as bioindicators in land management.
Research Projects
|
|
Ant biogeography and community ecology
Ants are Australia’s dominant faunal group in terms of biomass and ecological importance.
|
|
|
|
Fire and invertebrate biodiversity
Fire is a dominant feature of the tropical savanna landscapes of northern Australia, and there is considerable public concern over the effects of fire on savanna biodiversity.
|
|
|
|
Ants as bioindicators
Land managers are increasingly looking for reliable indicators of ecosystem health that can be used to assess the ecological sustainability of land management practices.
|
|
|
Pest ant ecology and management
Some of the world's worst invasive species are pest ants.
|
|
|
Termite ecology
Termites are the major ‘ecosystem engineers’ in tropical Australia.
|
|
Image: © Alex Wild www.myrmecos.net
|
