Managing interactions between fire regimes and invasive plants
  
Supervisors: Dr Annabel Smith & Dr Shane Campbell
 
Location: University of Queensland, Australia
 
A long history of fire has shaped many ecosystems globally, but thousands of species are now threatened with extinction because climate change, inappropriate management and invasive plants are rapidly changing fire regimes. Effective fire management is more complex than simply re-instating a historical fire regime because ecosystems might require a specific initial management regime (e.g. more frequent burning) to re-establish native plant communities and increase their resilience to future invasion.
 
In this project, we will establish an evidence-based management framework for grassy woodlands in southeast Queensland, by evaluating how variation in fire frequency affects the composition and function of native plant communities. Our innovative landscape-scale fire experiment will tackle invasive grasses across the Hidden Vale Research Station to secure and restore Australian native species and ecosystems for future generations.
 
We will educate a PhD student to become an emerging leader in fire management for plant conservation. The successful candidate will be trained by a botanist to identify native and non-native grassland flora and develop a botanical database documenting plant functional traits. The student will develop high-level technical skills in data analysis, scientific writing and scientific publication, setting them up for an exciting research career.
 
Suitable candidates: This project would suit someone with a keen interest in plant ecology and fire management. Applicants should have a strong academic track record and willingness to work in the field with plants and on the computer with data!
 
Funding is available for the running costs of this project and we are accepting applications for honours and PhD projects.
 
How to apply: Please contact Annabel ([email protected]) or Shane ([email protected]) with an expression of interest and your CV.
 
Shortlisted applicants will apply for the for the competitive UQ Graduate School Scholarship for tuition and stipend. Successful candidates will be eligible to apply for the competitive Hidden Vale Wildlife Top-up Scholarship.

During the Ecological Society Conference in Wollongong, Dec 2022, our group came up with a new name: DisruptEcology Lab.

A lot of our work revolves around disturbance ecology; but disturbance doesn't capture all of what we do. Our work is disruptive from an ecological point of view - whether we are adding 240 tonnes of rocks to a grassland or examining the impact of disruptive mega fires... But at the same time, we are trying to disrupt how we do ecology and environmental science, from challenging colonial narratives to smashing institutional repurposing!

Thanks to my lab members for their contributions! From left: Felicity Charles (PhD student); Rhiannon Bird (honours graduate and RA); Dr Annabel Smith (lab lead); Dr Isobel Roberts (RA); and Eleanor McCall (masters student).

The group gave excellent talks during the conference on (1) the influence of changing fire regimes on plant-animal interactions; (2) mammal community responses to megafires in rainforest; (3) the importance of language and culture in Indigenous land management; and (4) the impact of abiotic habitat restoration during a severe drought.

March 2022: The invasive grass–fire cycle is a widely documented feedback phenomenon in which invasive grasses increase vegetation flammability and fire frequency, resulting in further invasion and compounded effects on fire regimes. Few studies have examined the role of short-term adaptation in driving the invasive grass–fire cycle, despite invasive species often thriving after introduction to new environments.

In our new paper, led by UQ student Binyin Di, we found limited evidence that roadside burning consistently increased genetic diversity and adaptive potential in C. ciliaris; evolutionary and breeding history more strongly shaped genetic structure. Roadside burning could therefore continue to be used for managing biomass in this species, with continued monitoring. Our study provides a framework for detecting fire-related changes on a genetic level–a process that could be used as an early warning system to detect the invasive grass–fire cycle in future.

Di B, Firn J, Buckley YM, Lomas K, Pausas JG, Smith AL (2022) The impact of roadside burning on genetic diversity in a high-biomass invasive grass Evolutionary Applications https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13369

Sept 2021: My colleague Dr Jesus Villellas from our Trinity College Dublin days has recently published the next chapter in the Plantago lanceolata story, through the PLANTPOPNET network, led by Prof. Yvonne Buckley. Jesus is now at Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid, Spain.

Combining a multi-treatment greenhouse experiment with global observational field data of the short-lived herb Plantago lanceolata, we (1) disentangled genetic and plastic responses of functional traits to environmental drivers and (2) assessed how genetic differentiation and plasticity shape observational trait–environment relationships. Reproductive traits (more closely related to fitness) showed distinct genetic differentiation that largely determined observational patterns. Vegetative traits showed instead higher plasticity and opposite genetic and plastic responses, masking the genetic component underlying field-observed trait variation.

Check out the paper :

Villellas J, Ehrlén J, Crone EE, Csergő AM, Garcia MB, Laine A-L, Roach DA, Salguero-Gómez R, Wardle GM, Childs DZ, Elderd BD, Finn A, Munné-Bosch S, Bachelot B, Bódis J, Bucharova A, Caruso CM, Catford JA, Coghill M, Compagnoni A, Duncan RP, Dwyer JM, Ferguson A, Fraser LH, Griffoul E, Groenteman R, Hamre LN, Helm A, Kelly R, Laanisto L, Lonati M, Münzbergová Z, Nuche P, Olsen SL, Oprea A, Pärtel M, Petry WK, Ramula S, Rasmussen PU, Enri SR, Roeder A, Roscher C, Schultz C, Skarpaas O, Smith AL, Tack AJM, Töpper JP, Vesk PA, Vose GE, Wandrag E, Wingler A, Buckley YM (2021). Phenotypic plasticity masks range-wide genetic differentiation for vegetative but not reproductive traits in a short-lived plant. Ecology Letters, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13858, PDF.

Nov 2020: Last summer, many Australians were shocked to see fires sweep through the wet tropical rainforests of Queensland, where large and severe fires are almost unheard of. This is just one example of how human activities are changing fire patterns around the world, with huge consequences for wildlife.

In a new paper, led by Dr Luke Kelly, and published in Science, we reveal how changes in fire activity threaten more than 4,400 species across the globe with extinction. This includes 19% of birds, 16% of mammals, 17% of dragonflies and 19% of legumes that are classified as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.

See the paper, or read the summary in The Conversation.

Kelly LT, Giljohann KM, Duane A, Aquilué N, Archibald S, Batllori E, Bennett AF, Buckland ST, Canelles Q, Clarke MF, Fortin M-J, Hermoso V, Herrando S, Keane RE, Lake FK, McCarthy MA, Morán-Ordóñez A, Parr CL, Pausas JG, Penman TD, Regos A, Rumpff L, Santos JL, Smith AL, Syphard AD, Tingley MW, Brotons L (2020). Fire and biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Science 370, eabb0355.

Nov 2020: Two of my honours students presented their work at the Australian Mammal Society Conference this month. Felicity Charles presented preliminary results on whether or not wildlife use under-road culverts. Kellie Schuring presented some preliminary results on lead poisoning of kangaroos and their habitats on a shooting range. Although the conference was online, we attended at Hidden Vale wildlife sanctuary with other delegates, which almost made it feel like a real, pre-covid conference.

The leopard hat and Felicity and Kellie's jungle outfits were part of the 'ecology' theme of the conference!

Feb 2020: OK, the title might be a biiiiit of an exaggeration... But what I'm trying to say is that some plant species become globally invasive because multiple introductions mix their genetic stock, making them highly adaptable. This means they're no longer beholden to environmental constraints that existed in their native range.

This is what me and a team of 48 scientists found when we set out to test some ecological theories about how plants adapt to new environments, focussing on changes in demography and dispersal.

PLANTPOPNET, established in 2015 by Prof. Yvonne Buckley and an international steering committe, provided the gobal network to undertake such an ambitious quest, using Plantago lanceolata as a model species.

We were a bit shocked to find that some of the ‘rules of ecology’ simply didn't apply to this species. For example - Plantago lanceolata had no regard for the pesky ecological prediction that genetic diversity will increase with population size and fecundity. And, while the species was strongly associated with environmental gradients in it's native Europe, outside of that range, it didn't matter what kind of environment they were living in, Plantago almost always had high genetic diversity and high adaptability. 

For more information, check out the paper, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

And see the media reports here and here.

Oct 2019: After three action-packed years in Ireland, I've arrived back in Australia to start a new position as Lecturer in Wildlife Management in the School of Agriculture and Food Science (SAFS) at University of Queensland's Gatton Campus. I was welcomed to a region ravaged by bushfire; I drove through thick smoke as fires blazed right up to the edge of the highway; smoke hung in the air for several of my first few days. The effects of the drought are visible everywhere, even to someone not yet familiar with the landscape. It was a shocking welcome for a fire ecologist.

Despite the concerning conditions, I'm super happy to be at Gatton and looking forward to teaching and working with my new collegues in SAFS. I'm developing new research projects in wildlife, fire ecology and environmental management. Students interested in these areas can contact me to discuss potential research projects.

I'll have a new UQ website soon, but will probably keep this one as an external research site... This site needs an overhaul and is currently a bit out-of-date, so please email me for more info on my current research or to develop new collaborations.

Check out the video for a short intro, or read the paper for the nitty gritty details...

Driscoll DA, Smith AL, Blight SR, Sellar I (2019). Interactions among body size, trophic level and dispersal traits predict beetle detectability and occurrence responses to fire. Ecological Entomology 10.1111/een.12798

June 2019: A scientist wears many hats: communicator, technician, advocate, theoretician, practitioner, teacher, student, mentor, mentee.

It's one of the challenging parts of being a researcher, but also one of the best. It means it's never boring* and you can exercise your creativity. This job suits someone with multiple aspects to their personality.

This was something I tried to convey in my recent public talk at Soapbox Science Ireland. Speaking to the general public on a Dublin city street, I spoke about the influence of climate change on fire frequency and what this means for plant evolution.

It was a great opportunity to link what I do in the lab to the growing global environmental movement; acknowledging the important role that the general public can play in protecting nature.

* a wise scientist once told me that if you're not bored yet, you don't have enough data.