Successful 2003 Discovery Projects Grants by Institution - Australian ...

DP0342549 Dr DM Watson
Title: Mistletoe as a keystone resource---an experimental test
2003 : $60,000
2004 : $60,000
2005 : $60,000
Category: 2707 - ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Administering Institution: Charles Sturt University
Summary:
My recent synthesis of known interactions between animals and mistletoe suggests that mistletoe
functions as a keystone resource, influencing diversity patterns in forested ecosystems worldwide. This
project tests the keystone hypothesis explicitly for woodland communities using landscape-scale
manipulation. In 40 woodland remnants, all mistletoes will be removed from 20, with subsequent seasonal
censuses of woodland birds, arboreal marsupials and butterflies. Incorporating data on spatial and
temporal variation in fruit, nectar and arthropod availability, this study represents a model system for
understanding the ecosystem-wide role of ecological keystones and the influence of resource distribution
on diversity patterns in fragmented habitats generally.
Macquarie University
DP0343152 Dr SD Bartlett
Title: Optical realisations of continuous-variable quantum information
2003 : $69,345
2004 : $69,345
2005 : $69,345
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Category: 2404 - OPTICAL PHYSICS
Administering Institution: Macquarie University
APD Dr SD Bartlett
Summary:
The project aims to develop a framework for optical realisations of continuous-variable quantum
information. Such realisations offer the potential for major technological advances in quantum information
processing in the near future, but are currently impeded by the lack of a well-defined theoretical
foundation. This project aims to construct such a foundation, including energy cutoffs, detector
resolution, and finite resources. Feasible experiments to test and exploit continuous-variable quantum
information processing will be proposed. The resulting framework will allow the field to progress beyond
proof-of-principle demonstrations and to develop new, technology-driven quantum information protocols.
DP0344732 Prof AJ Beattie A/Prof DA Briscoe
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Title: Antimicrobial defences in the evolution of sociality
2003 : $60,000
Category: 2707 - ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Administering Institution: Macquarie University
Summary:
Disease microorganisms were probably important selective agents during the evolution of most species.
Social insects, the ants, bees, wasps and termites, may have been especially vulnerable because their
colonies contain large numbers of closely related individuals living in close proximity; ideal conditions for
contagious diseases. We will explore the evolution of antimicrobial defences in social insects and related
groups. Social insects are important ecologically and economically and understanding their relationships
with microbial diseases will facilitate their conservation and control. Knowledge of these interactions
may also prove useful to human societies becoming increasingly vulnerable to disease.
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