A study led by ANU has discovered how a mother knows her chicks and can spot an imposter in her nest, even if it looks almost identical to her own chicks.
Jennie Mallela conducts multidisciplinary research combining ecological, biological and geochemical research techniques to understand how environmental disturbance will impact reef function and health in the future.
Dan Rosauer is fascinated by the incredibly uneven spatial distribution of biological diversity at all levels, particularly centres of phylogenetic endemism.
ANU has a long history of pioneering research into alpine trees. The work Professor Ralph Slatyer undertook in the 1970's was used to show that the tree line was defined by temperature, not altitude, which explains why Australia has a lower tree line than most other countries.
Konzo is a neurological disease that causes irreversible paralysis of the legs, often in women and young children. It's caused by malnutrition and consumption of high levels of a cyanide compound found in the cassava plant - which happens to be a common staple food in tropical Africa.
Bushfires are a major disturbance process in the Australian landscape, affecting our native wildlife and their habitat. The dry sclerophyll forests of south-eastern Australia are one of the most fire-prone regions in the world and are dominated by tree species from the Eucalyptus genus.
The Australian Acoustic Observatory (A2O) was created five years ago, a unique infrastructure to monitor vocal fauna across Australia using a network of solar powered acoustic recorders.
Fitness depends entirely on how well individuals can survive and reproduce – both of which can be quite stressful. What makes these even more challenging is that the traits that may increase reproductive success can often decrease survivorship.
Over previous decades, the fields of phylogeography, macroecology, and macrophysiology have helped us to understand natural systems and how they respond to anthropogenic disturbance.
Several iconic, sclerophyllous, endemic lineages among Gondwanan families (e.g. Proteaceae, Myrtaceae, Goodeniaceae, and Restionaceae) are characteristic features of the Australian flora.