biological sciences HONOURs 2014 - The University of Sydney

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ANIMAL-PLANT
INTERACTIONS
Research Interests
My research explores the ecological interactions of herbivores
with plants and predators: how herbivores, particularly
marsupial herbivores, solve the problem of eating without
being eaten, how plants defend when they can’t escape and
how the fear of predators (i.e. predation risk) modifies these
interactions. By studying plant-herbivore interactions and
behavioural ecology in this context, we can understand how
and why herbivores make the foraging choices they do, and
what the ecological (and evolutionary) implications are for both
plants and predators – as well as for themselves.
Honours projects
1. Determine foraging responses of mammalian herbivores
(swamp wallabies, brushtail possums) or omnivores (bush
rats) to plant toxins and predation risk (in collaboration with
Associate Professor Peter Banks)
2. Define ecologically-relevant personality traits of
mammalian herbivores or omnivores and determine how
they shape foraging decisions (in collaboration with Associate
Professor Peter Banks)
Associate Professor
Clare McArthur
Room 303, Heydon-
Laurence Building A08
T: (02) 9351 2062
E: clare.mcarthur@
sydney.edu.au
3. Quantify how abiotic factors (wind, nutrients, shade and
dust) alter plant chemistry and structure and hence alter interactions with mammalian and
insect herbivores (in collaboration with Associate Professor Dieter Hochuli)
These projects can involve considerable field work in regional National Parks, some lab work
including the chemical analysis of plants, and analyses of animal behaviours obtained from
camera videos. A driver’s licence is generally essential.