Information For Prospective Students

My interests are in population dynamics and community structure in a spatial context, as well as conservation biology of plants and insects. Some suggested project topics are listed below. I also encourage students to follow their own ideas & interests and I am happy to discuss alternative projects. Please send me an email, including a brief CV, if you are interested in postgraduate study.

SBS postgraduate information -- International students -- Masters in Conservation Biology -- VUW Scholarships database -- Scholarships summary

• Species distribution patterns and the different forms of rarity

  Why are some species widespread but always at low density, while other species are locally abundant but geographically restricted? (Relevant to any taxonomic group.)

• Ant spider beetle communities in coastal dunelands

  How do these three groups interact in duneland environments? Of particular interest is how invasive ants, such as the Argentine ant, may be altering natural assemblages.

• Responses of herbivores to the density and isolation of host plants

  What are the cues that herbivores and parasitoids use to locate their food? Do isolated plants attract a disproportionate number of insect herbivores?

• Bioclimatic modelling

  Predicting species distributions from climate and environmental variables

• Sand dune restoration

• Ecology of the kawakawa moth and its host plant, Macropiper excelsum.

• Ecology of a potentially new beetle species from coastal dunes, Northland.

• Investigating the detectability of rare species for better conservation and biosecurity.

Some further ideas include:

• Exploring the link between some common patterns in Macroecology

  e.g. the species-area relationship, abundance-occupancy relationships and scale-area curves

• Ecology of the rare Cooks Scurvy grass on Mana and Somes island

  there is the potential to investigate germination requirements, dispersal and herbivory

• Ecology of the invasive Darwins Barberry

  as above

• Urban Ecology and Landscape Ecology

• Competition between ants

• Temperature requirements of the Argentine ant

  in New Zealand, Hawaii and Chile

• Rates of spread of the Argentine ant in natural and urban environments

• Invertebrate biodiversity in fragmented landscapes

• Risk analysis for invasive species - linking scientific and economic modeling.

• Tracking and spatial analysis of animal foraging paths

  insects, birds or mammals