Dr Lynette Forster: Species on the move in an era of climate change

When: Thursday 2nd July.

Time: 7:15pm for a 7:30 start.

Place: UTAS Sandy Bay Campus – Law Building Seminar Room (Room 132).

About: Understanding how invertebrates respond to extreme weather events is critical for managing climate change impacts on biodiversity. By recording shifts in the altitudinal range of beetles along a Tasmanian mountain, the natural laboratory of an altitudinal gradient was used to uncover species thermal preferences during extreme weather events, though this is complicated by habitat availability. Some of these responses were unexpected. Future opportunities for long-term monitoring of Tasmania’s biodiversity and how it can proactively guide ecosystem management in an era of climate change will be discussed.

Speaker:

Dr Lynette Forster who is a Research Fellow in Entomology at TIA, University of Tasmania where she investigates methods to promote pollinators along with parasitoids and predators for biocontrol of pests in agricultural landscapes. Her earlier work has examined impacts of disturbance by fragmentation, fire and extreme weather events on how assemblages of beetles recover. From this work she has gained insights into the functional ecology of invertebrates and their chemical and genetic relationships and adaptations across landscapes in changing environments. Learn more: https://discover.utas.edu.au/Lynette.Forster

Registration for Non-members: Non-members are welcome. If you think that the club is a good fit for you and you would like to regularly attend events, then we ask you sign up as a member (https://tasfieldnats.org.au/member).