Climate change and cryptic biodiversity in the Australian arid-zone: Molecular phylogeny-based assessment of conservation priorities

One of the most important issues in biology concerns how we can explain and understand the evolutionary processes that promote and sustain biodiversity. I will test a series of hypotheses concerning the evolution of arid-zone fauna through the assembly of independent molecular data sets for wide-ranging vertebrates at multiple taxonomic levels. These data, when combined with knowledge of past climates, will identify regions that have been resilient to past climate change. Predictive distribution modelling will be used to guide response to future climate change. This proposal builds on my previous ARC-funded work and it will have an applied outcome.