Background
While
completing
an Arts/Science degree at
the Australian
National University I worked at CSIRO
Plant Industry with Dr Tony Willis through summer scholarships
and casual
work. I worked on a variety of projects
involving environmental weeds in the Sydney region. I
became interested in invasive species and in my Honours
project, with Dr Julian Ash and Dr Richard Groves, I studied the
ecology of
Ward’s Weed (Carrichtera annua), a weed of semi-arid
Australia. I then worked for Michelle Leishman as her
research assistant for two and a half years investigating changes in
leaf carbon strategies in invasive species between their native and
exotic range. We
also have a project looking at the role of diversity and plant
functional type on the resistance of native communities to invasion by
exotic species. I
have
now started a PhD on the functional role of silica in Australian
plants.
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Fieldwork with the Li6400
Measuring tracks of Ogmograptis
sp
Honours fieldsite:
Flinders Ranges National Park
.
Dipodium punctatum
Melianthus major
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Research
Interests
I am
interested in
invasive plants and how
they invade natural and disturbed ecosystems. I
am fascinated by why only some species seem to be invasive and what
factors contribute to an exotic species forming an abundant monoculture
while it forms part of a diverse plant community and populations are
limited in its original range. I am
interested in how plants are introduced and spread and which aspects of
their life cycle to target in the development of control methods.
My other main research interest is plant silica and its functional
role. While
much research on
plant silica has focused on agricultural benefits and palaeontological
applications, little attention has been paid to the determining the
importance of
plant silica in natural environments.
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Current
Research
I am currently a
PhD candidate studying the functional role of plant silica in the
Australian
environment.
Silica is taken up by plants in the form of silicic acid and
eventually
polymerizes to form amorphous silica. While debate continues
regarding the essentiality of silica for
plants, there is much evidence that silica can be beneficial
for plants subjected to various biotic and abiotic stresses.
Plant silica
can deter both vertebrate and invertebrate herbivores, limit fungal
infections,
increase growth and photosynthetic potential, improve water use
efficiency and
potentially many other functions. Silicon, in various forms, is
also thought to play a major role in determining the bio-availability
of soil
nutrients,
particularly Al, Fe, P and Mn, including alleviating toxicity.
I am interested in
determining what role plant silica plays in Australia and particularly
in the possibility that silica may
be used in place of carbon in a structural role. I am
interested in which factors determine the amount of silicon in a
species, individual plant and specific plant part and its
function. Does Australia have low plant-available silicon in
comparison to other countries? If so, are plant silica levels
correspondingly low? How does plant available silicon vary with
soil type? Which families have higher plant silica content?
Does this vary with climate? Does leaf silica content vary with
leaf shape and function?
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Previous research
- The leaf carbon
strategy of invasive species in their native and exotic ranges,
Macquarie University, Sydney Australia
- The ecology of
Ward’s
Weed (Carrichtera annua), Australian National
University, Canberra, Australia
- Impacts of African
olive,
broad leaf privet and bridal creeper on native Cumberland Plain
Woodland species, CSIRO Plant Industry, Canberra, Australia
- The
behavioural ecology of the scribbly gum moth (Ogmograptis
scribula) on Eucalyptus species, Telopea Park High School,
Canberra, Australia
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Publications
- Kyle, G., Schmidt, T., Cooke, J. and Leishman, M.R. (2008)
Growth
and survival of riparian plantings
in
relation to Willow canopy in the Upper Hunter River. Ecological Managment and Restoration 9(2):
154-156
- Mason, R., Cooke, J., Moles, A. T. &
Leishman, M. R. (2008) Reproductive output of native and exotic
plants: a global comparison. Global
Ecology and Biogeography. 17:633-640
- Cooke, J and Edwards, T. (2007). The
behaviour of scribbly gum moth larvae Ogmograptis sp. Meyrick, (Lepidoptera:
Bucculatricidae) in the Australian
Capital Territory. Australian
Journal of Entomology.
46: 269–275
Conference
presentations
- Cooke, J. and Leishman M.R. (2008)
Alleviation of abiotic stress with silicon addition: a meta analysis. Silicon
in Agriculture 2008, Wild Coast, South Africa
- Cooke, J. and Leishman M.R. (2005)
Comparison of the leaf trait relationships of invasive spcies in their
original and new ranges: a leaf carbon strategy approach. Ecological Society of
Australia Annual Conference 2005, Brisbane
- Cooke,
J, Willis, T and Groves,
R. (2005). Impacts of woody weeds on Cumberland Plain
Woodland
biodiversity. The Ecology and Management of Cumberland
Plain Habitats: A Symposium, Sydney
- Cooke, J., Ash, J. and Groves, R.
(2004) The ecology of Ward's Weed (Carrichtera
anna): a weed of southern rangelands of Australia.
Ecolgical Society of Australia Annual Conference 2004, Adelaide.
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