Cousens Invasive Plant Population Biology Lab
Lab members
As a plant population ecologist, I am interested in the processes that determine abundance and distribution of plant species and genotypes. Through experimentation, survey, sampling, laboratory analysis and modelling, we are able to predict how abundance and distribution change under different conditions and hence what action we might take to manage populations. This same research philosophy applies to rare species requiring conservation, to invasive species requiring eradication or containment, or to abundant weeds that require control. I have written academic books on Population Dynamics of Weeds (with Martin Mortimer) and Dispersal in Plants: A Population Perspective (with Calvin Dytham and Richard Law); I was also part of the team that wrote the identification book Western Weeds: A Guide to The Weeds of Western Australia. Over 35+ years, my interests have moved from seaweeds, to weeds of agricultural systems and now to the geographic and local dynamics of alien plants and their post-invasion adaptation.
I am working as a post-doc in Prof. Cousens' lab. I enjoy making a link between ecological patterns and physiological processes by using mathematical models. My current focus is the the role of hybridisation (introgression) in facilitating plant invasions through demographic processes.
I am a PhD student, a recipient of a Victorian Government Thinking Global Scholarship. I am using molecular methods (e.g. SSR and CAPS markers) and common garden experiments to understand the role of genetic and phenotypic variation in the sequential invasions of Australian beaches by Cakile edentula (from North America) and then by C. maritima (from Europe).
I'm a PhD student working on the hybridisation of two coastal invaders (Cakile edentula and C. maritima). The objective of my project is to understand the interaction between their breeding systems and pollinators. Much of my time has been spent hand-pollinating flowers, so that I can find out the inheritance of self-incompatibility in hybrids. Next will be studies of the attractiveness of parents and hybrids to pollinators.
I'm a PhD student working on seed germination. My project aims to understand the causes of variation in germination responses of plant species to water and temperature using hydrothermal time models.
I'm a masters student from the Uinversity of Ulster, the UK, doing my masters project with Dr. Mesgaran. The objective is to determine the role of climate in causing a lag-phase during the course of plant invasions. This involves analysing data from Australia's major herbaria.
Dr. Weihua Li (Carol)
My name is Weihua (or Carol), a visitor from the School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou. I study invasive plant ecology, including the processes involved in invasions, plant photosynthesis and resistance to environmental stress. My ultimate aim is to improve management decisions for invasive plants, to create a balance between native plants and the invaders whereby the weeds are kept at economically acceptable levels.
Prof. Hanan Eizenberg
(Visitor)
Dr. Joe Greet
(PhD student)
Dr. Susan Ebeling
(Research assistance)
Dr. Mathieu Bonneau
(Post-doc)
Dr. James Hunt
(PhD student)