Project description
Trait spaces are a powerful way of contrasting the ecology of different animal or plant groups to each other. They are basically statistical summaries of traits (like herbivory, metabolic rate, or body mass), which we have already collected for most Australian vertebrates. In collaboration with Frédérik Saltré’s BEAM lab, this will allow students to compute trait spaces from these data to answer key ecological questions like: “How did mammalian trait spaces change after European invasion into Australia?” or “How did the introduction of feral mammals change the trait spaces from the native-only condition?”. We are also open to discussing other questions that might be of interest to students (e.g. if you are a reptile or frog nerd, we're happy to chat!), and happy to design the project with the right collaborators to ensure we have the best expertise on the topic on board.
Co-supervisors
Frédérik Saltré's BEAM lab
Assumed knowledge
The project will be run using R, but it's fine if you have never done it. You just need to be willing to learn! An interest and basic understanding in Australian ecology and environments is useful as well.
Note: You need to register interest in projects from different supervisors (not a number of projects with the one supervisor).
You must also contact each supervisor directly to discuss both the project details and your suitability to undertake the project.