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Prof. Chris Dickman will present on 'Complex Interactions in a 'Simple' Environment: Community Dynamics' in Arid Australia at the upcoming TESS Seminar.

This talk describes the population and community dynamics of small vertebrates, mostly small mammals, over 30+ years in the Simpson Desert, central Australia. In this apparently simple but extreme environment, rodents increase during spectacular boom periods after heavy rainfall and crash during droughts. Carnivorous marsupials, by contrast, show the opposite pattern, suffering high mortality after heavy rain. Populations are also affected by wildfire, introduced predators and by competitive and facilitatory interactions among themselves. These varied processes are seldom reported as drivers of the population and community dynamics of desert vertebrates, and suggest that Australian systems differ markedly from those elsewhere. I propose some simple conceptual models that attempt to describe and predict the dynamics of small desert vertebrates, and will also discuss the likely effects of climate change on inland environments.

Chris Dickman has long been fascinated by patterns in the distribution of living things, and by factors such as invasive pest species that affect biological diversity. A newly-minted Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney, Chris supervised over 150 Honours and higher degree research students during his career and has written 600 peer-reviewed scientific articles. He is a recipient of several national and international awards, a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and an honorary international fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He serves currently on a range of advisory panels for conservation-focused and philanthropic grant foundations, including WWF and the IUCN.