Forest floor choked with decaying plant matter, forest floor, adaptive evolution, leaf litter

Invasive species and biosecurity

Invasive species and biosecurity research focuses on managing invasive species and enhancing biosecurity measures to protect ecosystems and biodiversity. It develops strategies to mitigate threats, control species spread and inform policies for sustainable environmental protection and agricultural resilience.

About

Species that have evolved elsewhere such as weeds, feral animals, insects and other invertebrates, diseases, fungi and parasites can have major impacts on native biodiversity.

Evolutionary changes in invasive species can increase their impact on native species and their geographic spread.
Hybridization between exotic and native species can also have significant impacts in invaded habitats.
The management of exotic pathogens can be improved by identifying resistance in the invaded host’s genome.
Native species may become invasives when they move from their current ranges as they adapt to climate change.

For information on Australia's biodiversity policies see the Department of the Environment and Energy:

Projects

Uncovering the hare microbiome

This CBA-supported Honours/Masters project, now awarded, focuses on the role of European brown hares in Australia regarding lagomorph microbial diversity. Using Nanopore sequencing, it aims to understand hare-rabbit pathogen dynamics. It offered a $5,000 stipend and collaboration with ANU and CSIRO.

Student intake

Open for Honours students

Understanding biological invasions: assessing the biosecurity threat of the pink bollworm to Northern Australia

The project investigates the genetic connectivity between Indian and Australian pink bollworm populations, using genomic sequencing to assess biosecurity threats to Australia. It aims to identify the source of Australian populations and develop genomic resources for future pest management strategies.