Murrumbidgee River with lucerne and wheat crops.

Functional Ecology and Systematics

The Functional Ecology and Systematics Program is helping to manage the increasing threat from invasive species and the benefits to agriculture from ecosystem services while ensuring the preservation and sustainable use of Australian ecosystems more generally.

24 August 2010 | Updated 14 October 2011

Overview
Current activities

Overview

Our research focuses on branches of applied ecology which underpin an understanding of the impacts of beneficial and invasive organisms (plants, animals, microbes) within a broad variety of agricultural and native ecosystems.

We are involved in research on:

developing landscape scale ecological management systems for invasive species, insect pests developing resistance to toxins in transgenic crops, and beneficial invertebrates and microbes providing various ecosystem services (e.g. biocontrol, pollination, nutrient cycling) in agricultural and native ecosystems
analysing ecological and economic risks to plant biosecurity posed by invasive organisms at species, landscape and industry scales
developing innovative approaches to modelling the distribution of biodiversity at multiple scales so we can predict and manage the impacts of global change.

We are also characterising the identity and relationships of the Australian fauna and seeking to interpret its evolutionary origins using systematics, taxonomy and molecular biology. We are developing novel approaches to deliver the knowledge required for biodiversity conservation.

Our research includes:

documenting the Australian terrestrial fauna
establishing evolutionary relationships and predictive classifications
delivering biodiversity information for conservation, planning and management
providing world class management of the Australian National Insect Collection and the Australian National Wildlife Collection.

Current activities

The Functional Ecology and Systematics Program is involved in a range of research activities and projects. Some examples are:

WeedsChannel_Ento_Teaser

We have a history of biological control successes and our scientists are using their expertise to find more natural enemies of introduced weeds.

AustralianNationalInsectCollection Ento Teaser

The Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC) is the pre-eminent collection of our insects including mites, spiders, worms and centipedes, and is an invaluable resource maintained by CSIRO.

AustralianNationalWildlifeCollection_CSE_ChannelTeaser

The Australian National Wildlife Collection (ANWC) is the official Commonwealth collection of Australian land vertebrates with specimens and genetic samples covering amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

Using artificial neural networks to predict invasive species

Artificial neural networks, specifically self organising maps (SOM's) can provide an objective method to help assess worldwide pest species assemblages and biosecurity risks.

Ladybirds of Australia

The website provides an overview of all ladybirds in Australia, and includes information about their biology, distribution, identification and images.

Boom and Bust: Bird Stories for a Dry Country

Boom and Bust draws on the natural history of Australia's charismatic birds to explore the relations between fauna, people and environment.

Biosecurity and invasive species

To help protect Australia's ecosystems, CSIRO is undertaking invasive species research at pre-border, border and post-border level.

Managing our biodiversity and natural resources

Our research aims to better understand the ecological processes and organisms that support agriculture and native vegetation. The work is important to their management as ecologically sustainable systems.

Building an online encyclopaedia of Aussie life

The current Deputy Director for Informatics at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) in Copenhagen, Donald Hobern, has been appointed as the inaugural Director of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) – a web-based encyclopaedia of Australian life.