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LESLEY HUGHES Professor Telephone: +61 02 9850 8195 Fax: +61 02 9850 8245 E-mail: lhughes[at]rna.bio.mq.edu.au |
Research
1. Impacts of climate change on species and natural ecosystems
I am very interested in the potential impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems and am convinced that this is the most serious and challenging environmental issue we face. The main strength of my research in this area has been to integrate a number of different methods, from small-scale field and laboratory manipulations, to computer modeling of potential impacts on hundreds of species. This research interest has led to work focused on the implications of climate change on the applied issues of land management and conservation policy in Australia and elsewhere. I am currently involved in a large collaborative project with Dr Michelle Leishman and the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change assessing the impacts of climate change on the major environmental weeds in Australia.
2. Evolutionary ecology of plant-insect interactions
I have a long-standing interest in how plants and animals, especially insects, interact and how they have affected each other’s evolution. Herbivorous insects and green plants together make up over half of all known biodiversity. I find the range of behaviours shown by insects fascinating and believe that we are just beginning to unravel the complexity of their coevolution with plants. The potential for studying this topic in Australia is enormous as most insect ecology in Australia has been previously directed toward applied issues such as pest control, rather than fundamental ecology and evolution.
3. Spatial and evolutionary organization of biodiversity
I am working in collaboration with Profs Andy Beattie and Roger Kitching, leaders in the field of insect biodiversity, Dr Dan Faith, a leader in phylogenetic analysis for conservation purposes and with Dr David Nipperess to investigate the relationship between insect biodiversity and the phylogenetic relatedness of host plants. This project has the potential to make a major contribution to the global understanding of biodiversity and contribute significantly to conservation efforts.
Research Team
I lead a dynamic and lively research group (known as PICCEL, the Plant-insect Interaction and Climate Change Ecology Lab). This group currently consists of six postgraduate students at Macquarie and two postdoctoral fellows. This group meets weekly to discuss recent journal articles and to offer feedback to each other on research projects.
Career outline
March 2007 – present: Professorial Fellow, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University
2006 – March 2007: Associate Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University
2001 – 2005: Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University
May 1997 - Dec 2000: Lecturer, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University
1997 (Feb-May): Australian Research Fellow, Macquarie University
1995 - July 1996: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
1994 (Feb-Aug): Teaching Fellow in Ecology, Harvard University, and Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
1991 - 1993: Australian Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Macquarie University
1987 - 1990: PhD, Macquarie University, supported by Australian Postgraduate Research Award
1984 - 1986: Full-time tutor in Biology (specialist first-year teaching unit), Sydney University
1978 - 1981: B.Sc. (First-class Honours), University of Sydney
Service
International Scientific Community
Australian Representative on the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Biodiversity and Climate Change (appointed October 2008)
Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), Working Group II.
Contributing Author, Working Group II, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2004-2007), Chapt. 4 Ecosystems
Overseas panelist, University of Otago Review of Ecology Program, August 2008
Expert Reviewer, Working Group II, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2004-2007)
Australian representative: Working party to draft guidelines on response of Red List species to climate change, IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), London, Feb 2003
Appointed member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (2005-)
Advisory Board: Global Ecology and Biogeography (2003-2005)
Invited Reviewer, draft report on “Interlinkages between Biological Diversity and Climate Change and Advice on the Integration of Biodiversity Considerations into the Implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and its Kyoto Protocol), Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat, May 2003
National Scientific Community
Appointed member, Botanic Gardens Trust (2008-2011)
NSW Scientific Committee (2003-2006), Deputy Chair 2003-2004, Chair 2005-2008
Biological Impacts node leader, ARC Network for Earth System Science (2005- present)
Appointed member Expert Advisory Group on Climate Change and Biodiversity, Australian Greenhouse Office (2007- present)
Appointed member, NSW Dept of Environment and Climate Change, Climate Change Science Research Network (2008-)
Appointed member, management committee, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) (2007-present)
Consultant to World Wildlife Fund Climate Witness program (2007-)
Appointed member, Scientific Advisory Committee, World Wildlife Fund (2008-)
Summiteer, Prime Minister’s 2020 Summit, “Population, sustainability, climate change and the future of our cities’ group (April 2008)
Invited reviewer, CSIRO Division of Entomology research program (March 2008)
Member, Climate Watch Science Advisory Panel, Earthwatch (2007-present)
Judge, Global Enterprise Challenge (June 2008)
Consultant to Hyder Consulting Pty Ltd, reviewing Report to Australian Greenhouse Office, Impacts of Climate Change on Federal Protected Areas
Reviewer, NSW State of the Environment Report 2006
Member, Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Authority Advisory Board (2006-2009)
Reviewer, Dept. of Environment and Conservation Climate Change Adaptation Policy 2006
Co-convenor of workshop on Climate Change and Biodiversity, Canberra, October 2002, sponsored by the Biological Diversity Advisory Committee. Co-author and editor of workshop report (2003)
Scientific Editor 2004: National Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan (2003-2007)
Invited reviewer, Consultation Paper: “Developing a National Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan”, NRM Ministerial Councils’ Land, Water and Biodiversity Committee, Oct 2003.
Consultant: Community Biodiversity Network for Nomination of “Anthropogenic Climate Change as a Key Threatening Process” under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
Invited participant, QLD Climate Change Summit, August 2003, involved in drafting report to QLD government on climate change impacts and policy.
Invited reviewer, Consultation Paper: “Developing a National Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan”, NRM Ministerial Councils’ Land, Water and Biodiversity Committee, Oct 2003.
Australian Research Council Reader (2001-2003)
Selected publications (2000 onwards)
Hughes, L., Wagner, D., Chang, B., and Pierce, NE. (2000) Effects of mating history on the reproductive behaviour and fecundity of the ant-tended lycaenid butterfly, Jalmenus evagoras. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 47: 119-128.
Hughes, L. (2000) Biological consequences of global warming: is the signal already apparent? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 15: 56-61.
Hughes, L. (2000) Climate signatures in ecology: reply. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 15: 287
Hughes L. and Bazzaz F. A. (2001) Interactions between aphids and host plants at elevated CO2: a comparison of five species pairs. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata.99: 87-96
Johns CV and Hughes L. (2002) Interactive effects of elevated CO2 and temperature on the leaf-miner Dialectica scalariella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) in Paterson's Curse, Echium plantagineum (Boraginaceae). Global Change Biology 8: 142-152
Beaumont L. and Hughes L. (2002) Potential changes in the distributions of latitudinally restricted Australian butterflies in response to climate change. Global Change Biology 8: 954-971.
Grimbacher P.S. and Hughes L. (2002) Response of ant communities and ant-seed interactions to bush regeneration. Ecological Management and Restoration 3: 188-199.
Hughes, L. (2003) Climate change and Australia: trends, projections and research directions. Austral Ecology 28: 423-443.
Johns C.V., Beaumont L. and Hughes L. (2003) Effects of CO2 and temperature on development and consumption rates of Octotoma championi and O. scabripennis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) feeding on Lantana camara. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 108:169-178.
Thomas CD, Cameron A, Green RE, Bakkenes M, Beaumont LJ, Collingham YC, Erasmus| BFN, de Siqueira MF, Grainger A, Hannah L, Hughes L, Huntley B, Jaarsveld AS, Midgley GF, Miles L, Ortega-Huerta MA, Peterson AT, Phillips OL, Williams SE. (2004) Extinction risk from climate change. Nature 427: 145-148.
Peel D, Pitman AJ, Hughes L, Narisma G & Pielke RA Sr (2004) The impact of realistic biophysical parameters for eucalypts on the simulation of the January climate of Australia. Environmental Modelling & Software 20: 595-612
Johns CV, Stone C & Hughes L. (2004) Feeding preferences of the Christmas beetle Anoplognathus chloropyrus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) and four paropsine species (Coleoptera: Chrysomelida) on selected Eucalyptus grandis clonal foliage. Australian Forestry 67: 184-190
Thomas CD, Williams SE, Cameron A, Green RE, Bakkenes M, Beaumont LJ, Collingham YC, Erasmus| BFN, de Siqueira MF, Grainger A, Hannah L, Hughes L, Huntley B, Jaarsveld AS, Midgley GF, Miles L, Ortega-Huerta MA, Peterson AT, Phillips OL. (2004) Extinction risk from climate change: reply Nature online 1 July www.nature.com/nature
Cameron A, Thomas CD, Green RE, Bakkenes M, Beaumont LJ, Collingham YC, Erasmus| BFN, de Siqueira MF, Grainger A, Hannah L, Hughes L, Huntley B, Jaarsveld AS, Midgley GF, Miles L, Ortega-Huerta MA, Peterson AT, Phillips OL, Williams SE. (2004) Will climate change catch us off guard? Conservation in Practice 5: 28-29
Andrew NR & Hughes L (2004) Species diversity and structure of phytophagous beetle assemblages along a latitudinal gradient: predicting the potential impacts of climate change. Ecological Entomology 29: 527-542
Michael CA, Gillings MR, Holmes AJ, Hughes L, Andrew NR, Holley MP and Stokes HW (2004) Mobile gene cassettes: a fundamental resource for bacterial evolution. American Naturalist. 164, 1-12.
Andrew NR and Hughes L. (2005) Herbivore damage along a latitudinal gradient: relative impacts of different feeding guilds. Oikos 108:176-182
Chambers LE, Hughes L and Weston MA. (2005) Climate change and its impact on Australia’s Avifauna. Emu 105: 1-20
Andrew NR and Hughes L. (2005) Arthropod community structure along a latitudinal gradient: implications for future impacts of climate change. Austral Ecology 30, 281-297
Andrew NR and Hughes L. (2005) Diversity and assemblage structure of phytophagous Hemiptera along a latitudinal gradient: predicting the potential impacts of climate change. Global Ecology and Biogeography 14: 249-262
Beaumont LJ, Hughes L and Poulsen M. (2005) Predicting species distributions: use of climatic parameters in BIOCLIM and its impact on predictions of species’ current and future distributions. Ecological Modelling 186: 250-269
Walther G-R, Hughes L, Vitousek P and Stenseth NC (2005) Consensus on climate change. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20: 648-649
Beaumont LJ, McAllan IAW and Hughes L. (2006) A matter of timing: changes in the first date of arrival and last date of departure of Australian migratory birds. Global Change Biology 12: 1339-1354
Gallagher R, Beaumont L, Downey PO, Hughes L, Leishman MR (2006) Assessing the potential impacts of climate change on weeds in New South Wales: establishing priorities. Proceedings of the 15th Australian Weeds Conference (eds C Preston, ND Crossman, JH Watts) Adelaide, 24-28th September 2006, pp. 35-39
Beaumont LJ, Pitman AJ, Hughes L and Poulsen M. (2007) Where will species go? Improving projections of species future distributions using new climate modeling techniques. Global Change Biology 13: 1368-1385
Andrew NR and Hughes L. (2007) Potential host colonisation by insect herbivores in a warmer climate: a transplant experiment. Global Change Biology 13: 1539-1549
Coll M, Hughes L. (2008) Effects of elevated CO2 on an insect omnivore: a test for nutritional effects mediated by host plants and prey. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 123: 271-279
Andrew NR and Hughes L. (2008) Abundance-body mass relationships among insects along a latitudinal gradient Austral Ecology 33: 253-260
Sinclair RJ, Hughes L. (2008) Incidence of leaf mining in different vegetation types across rainfall, canopy cover and latitudinal gradients Austral Ecology 33: 353-360
Hoegh-Guldberg O, Hughes L, McIntyre, SL, Lindenmayer DB, Parmesan C, Possingham HP, Thomas CD. (2008) Assisted colonization and rapid climate change. Science 321, 345-346
Beaumont LJ, Hughes L, Pitman A.J. (2008) Why is the choice of future climate scenarios for species distribution modelling important? Ecology Letters 11: 1135-1146
Gallagher RV, Beaumont LJ, Hughes L, Leishman MR & Downey PO Projecting the impact of climate change on bitou bush distributions in Australia. Plant Protection Quarterly 23: 37
Morton SR, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Lindenmayer DB, Harriss Olson M, Hughes L, McCulloch MT. McIntyre S, Nix HA, Prober SM, Saunders DA, Andersen AN, Burgman MA, Lefroy EC, Lonsdale WM, Lowe I, McMichael AJ, Parslow JS, Steffen W, Williams JE, Woinarski JCZ (2009) The big ecological questions inhibiting effective environmental management in Australia. Austral Ecology 34, 1-9