Predicting ecological shifts in the subtropics

Funding: 2023: $150,738
2024: $154,146
2025: $139,416

Funding or Partner Organisation: Australian Research Council (ARC DECRA Scheme)
Australian Research Council (ARC DECRA Scheme)

Start year: 2023

Summary: This project aims to unravel the causes of abrupt ecological change in the subtropics and predict their future in warming seas. Uniting observational, experimental and modelling approaches in a novel framework, this project seeks to quantify how warming and species interactions combine to escalate change on subtropical reefs, where the influx of tropical species already has far-reaching consequences. Expected outcomes include fundamental insights into the ecology of subtropical reefs, such as why some species thrive and others decline. Also, by comparing dynamics in Australia with tropicalisation hotspots in Japan, this project expects to anticipate future ecological shifts in Australia and enables early adaptation to environmental change.

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.