University of Tasmania, Australia

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Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation

UTAS Home › Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology › School of Plant Science › Research  › Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation

Tasmania's vegetation provides many opportunities to study patterns and ecological processes. One area of interest is the impact of climate change (CO2 increase) on the vegetation, and this work makes use of a field-based Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) facility: University of Tasmania Climate Change Facility . Other studies focus on the fossil record of the last 65 million years and biogeographic patterns in the extant vascular and cryptogam flora.

Research in this area is further broken  up into the sub-groups below:

Research Subgroups

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Climate Change Impacts

Our research takes two approaches. The first is the experimental simulation of climate change to elucidate the mechanisms whereby climate change is altering ecosystem structure and function. The second approach involves using a fossil record stretching back 65 million years to determine how ecosystems have responded to past changes in climate.
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Plant Biodiversity

Plant biodiversity research concentrates on our unique flora, particularly of those plants often overlooked, the cryptogam groups of mosses, liverworts and lichens. We study the distribution and conservation status of many species as well as documenting the responses to disturbances such as forestry.
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Plant Evolutionary Ecology

This research field investigates the evolution of plant strategies for coping with environmental pressures. Specifically, we aim to combine plant structure with plant function, from an evolutionary viewpoint. We combine the study of modern plants with measurements on fossils to gain an understanding of how different features have evolved.
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Eucalypt Ecology

This research area concentrates on how different species of eucalypt trees respond to the environment. A particular focus in this area is on rural tree decline, or “dieback” and we aim to determine what factors control this devastating problem and how it can be addressed.
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Plant-Animal Interactions

We are studying the manner in which genetic variation in eucalypts affects their interaction with a variety of pathogen, insect and marsupial species. 
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Plant Molecular Ecology

We use molecular tools to study the phylogeny, phylogeography and conservation genetics of plants. We are using nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequencing to study the phylogeny of various southern hemisphere plant groups.