Wildlife conservation, plant-animal interactions and restoration ecology

Choose your own adventure with an honours degree exploring wildlife conservation, plant-animal interactions and restoration ecology.

Scientists in this area have broad interests in terrestrial ecology and behaviour that are all aimed at providing research outcomes that facilitate the management, conservation and restoration of biodiversity.

Much of our research investigates spatial and temporal variation in resources, and how these, and perturbations like fire and drought, and changes in herbivory and predation influence the distribution, abundance, behaviour and population demography of flora and fauna.

We have a range of on-going research and long-term monitoring programs being conducted in different areas of the State (Mt Lofty region, Coorong, Arid Recovery, Monarto, Ngarkat).

Opportunities exist for honours students to work on aspects of these long-term projects and extend them in various ways – from assessing the adequacy of pollination, the fate of any seeds produced, documenting plant recruitment (and mortality), collecting baseline data on pollinator communities and networks, and relating these to grazing pressure.

Other areas where students can engage in this research include assessing the perturbations caused by inadequate water management in the Coorong; investigating the consequences of changed predator regime; detailed autecological studies on threatened fauna and their habitats; and by assessing novel habitats and testing how these could be enhanced for wildlife conservation.