Movers and shakers: how big disturbances shape biodiversity patterns

Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, landslides … large physical changes to the Earth are often seen as destructive, but they can also open exciting opportunities for biological change. When one population is wiped out, another will take its place. This talk will look at how plants and animals respond to large-scale dynamic changes in the environment, and how long-distance dispersal is critical for them to be able to grab new opportunities. Come on a journey with ticks travelling on penguins, bugs and seaweed rafting to Antarctica, tiny critters weathering ice ages in volcanic caves beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, and birds using geothermal areas as health spas.

About the speaker

Ceridwen (Crid) Fraser is a professor at the University of Otago, New Zealand, although she started her academic career as a lecturer in the Fenner School at ANU back in 2012, jumping across the ditch in 2019 to be closer to the Southern Ocean. Her research focusses on the dynamics of marine and polar ecosystems, combining genetics and ecology with aspects of earth sciences. Crid’s team’s research has important implications for management of biodiversity into the future, particularly in the face of rapid climate change. The impact of Crid’s work has been recognised by some nice gongs including ACT