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Search Marsden awards 2008–2017

Search awarded Marsden Fund grants 2008–2017

Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2016

Title: Do glaciers drive diversity? Using ancient DNA to retrace the history of New Zealand’s biodiversity

Recipient(s): Dr NJ Rawlence | PI | University of Otago

Public Summary: Scientists have long been intrigued by the biological effects of glaciation in New Zealand and beyond. Glaciers are traditionally seen as destructive forces for ecosystems, with ice sheets having eliminated biodiversity across extensive regions of the globe. By contrast, new evidence emerging from temperate mountain systems, including New Zealand’s Southern Alps, suggests glaciation may be a key evolutionary force structuring biodiversity along mountain chains, with speciation driven by isolation in narrow refugia. This research programme will test for ‘real-time’ range-shifts and diversification events associated with New Zealand’s Last Glacial Maximum (34-18 kya), using ancient-DNA of iconic species from multiple unique time-series of sediment cores and sub-fossil bones. Broadly, this study will use state-of-the-art tools to track phylogenetic, ecological, demographic and biogeographic shifts across recent glacial-interglacial cycles. This multi-disciplinary approach combines a wealth of sub-fossil samples, sediment cores and genomic resources - a unique system that will reconstruct the recent evolutionary history of NZ’s iconic biota.


Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Dr NJ Rawlence

Panel: EEB

Project ID: 16-UOO-096


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2009

Title: Do marine fishes break the rules of hindgut fermentation?

Recipient(s): Associate Professor KD Clements | PI | The University of Auckland
Associate Professor ER Angert | AI | Cornell University
Dr WL White | AI | Auckland University of Technology

Public Summary: Symbiotic microorganisms in the hindgut play a critical role in the nutrition of humans and other vertebrates. Until recently these microorganisms were not thought to directly supply protein to host animals, but this has now been demonstrated in some mammals. However, the mechanism is unknown. We will use a multidisciplinary approach to examine the uptake of symbiont protein in marine herbivorous fishes, in which we have identified potential mechanisms for this process. The proposed work has great potential for novel findings of general significance, as the fish system has the potential to increase our understanding of nutrition in other animals.

Total Awarded: $693,333

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Associate Professor KD Clements

Panel: EEB

Project ID: 09-UOA-001


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2009

Title: Do mycorrhizal fungi determine ecosystem fate?

Recipient(s): Dr IA Dickie | PI | Landcare Research
Dr JD Blum | AI | University of Michigan
Dr GM Lovett | AI | Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Dr MS McGlone | AI | Landcare Research

Public Summary: Fungi dissolve rocks with organic acids, releasing minerals (phosphorous, calcium. potassium) that would otherwise limit plant growth. While fungal rock-dissolution is generally accepted, its ecological significance remains controversial. We will use a globally unique 20,000-year 'natural experiment' to test whether rock-dissolution by fungi releases sufficient nutrients to delay or prevent the decline of ecosystems due to nutrient loss. The results will challenge the paradigm of nutrient-limited ecosystem decline, resolve how the effects of fungal hyphae at a microscopic scale influence ecosystems over thousands of years, and contribute to alleviating nutrient limitation of NZ productive ecosystems.

Total Awarded: $715,556

Duration: 3

Host: Landcare Research

Contact Person: Dr IA Dickie

Panel: EEB

Project ID: 09-LCR-005


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2015

Title: Do old males deliver the good epigenes?

Recipient(s): Dr SL Johnson | PI | University of Otago
Associate Professor S Nakagawa | AI | University of New South Wales
Dr S Immler | AI | Uppsala University
Dr TA Hore | AI | University of Otago
Professor NJ Gemmell | AI | University of Otago

Public Summary: Parents influence their offspring in multiple ways, but recent studies have highlighted the role of non-genetic (epigenetic) pathways. Revolutionary new work suggests that life-history challenges experienced by parents, particularly fathers, may be transmitted epigenetically to increase offspring fitness. Collectively, these findings raise the tantalising prospect that older males may pass on more information about their environment through their epigenes, than younger males, thereby providing a fitness advantage to their offspring. Using zebrafish, we will investigate whether environmental challenges (e.g., hypoxia, toxins, alarm cues) experienced as males age affect the fitness of multiple generations, and we will identify key candidate genes for transgenerational effects, by identifying genes that are differentially expressed, as well as differentially methylated. We anticipate that by manipulating environmental experiences acquired within one generation and measuring fitness-related factors over subsequent generations, including genetic and epigenetic profiling, we will determine whether old males do indeed deliver the 'good epigenes'. Our findings will have significant ramifications on the ongoing nature vs. nurture debate, with broad implications for humans and other systems.

Total Awarded: $840,000

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Dr SL Johnson

Panel: EEB

Project ID: 15-UOO-110


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2012

Title: Do priority effects explain contrasting lineage diversification on islands?

Recipient(s): Dr WG Lee | PI | Landcare Research
Dr T Fukami | AI | Stanford University
Dr PB Heenan | AI | Landcare Research
Dr AJ Tanentzap | AI | York University

Public Summary: Uneven diversification of plant lineages on islands is a central and unresolved question for understanding the origin of biodiversity. Recently it has been suggested that early colonisation events on islands drive radiations and suppress diversification of later-colonising lineages. We will test this hypothesis using the spectacular radiations in the New Zealand indigenous flora. Colonisation dates in New Zealand, derived from molecular phylogenetic studies, will be linked with results on plant features, competitive ability, and environmental and geographic range. These will be used to determine whether immigration timing has been important in driving rates of speciation on islands.

Total Awarded: $800,000

Duration: 3

Host: Landcare Research

Contact Person: Dr WG Lee

Panel: EEB

Project ID: 12-LCR-011


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2015

Title: Do softer rocks and fluids control earthquake behaviour? Probing the Hikurangi subduction mega-thrust using full-waveform inversion

Recipient(s): Dr Y Kaneko | PI | GNS Science
Dr CH Tape | AI | University of Alaska
Dr J Ristau | AI | GNS Science
Dr SC Bannister | AI | GNS Science

Public Summary: Destructive mega-thrust earthquakes, such as the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake in Japan, occur at subduction zones where one tectonic plate slides under the other. Measurements of surface deformation at many subduction zones worldwide show that some fault areas accommodate plate motion by slow aseismic creep, whereas others remain completely stuck, accumulating stress to be released suddenly in the next large earthquake. Along the Hikurangi subduction zone beneath the North Island of New Zealand, the frictional behaviour of the plate interface transitions from strong and seismic in the southwest to weak and aseismic towards the northeast. Yet, the physical factors controlling this transition at Hikurangi, as well as at other subduction zones, are still a mystery. Using simulations of the seismic wavefield and advanced full-waveform inversions, we will image the three-dimensional structure near the plate interface in unprecedented detail. With this advanced tomographic approach, the Hikurangi region offers a unique opportunity for seismic imaging of the material properties near the plate interface, especially given the dense coverage of the seismometer network, well-recorded earthquakes, and their proximity to the subduction interface. Well-resolved material properties will provide critical information needed to answer the globally significant question: what controls the spatial variation of megathrust slip behaviour.

Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: GNS Science

Contact Person: Dr Y Kaneko

Panel: ESA

Project ID: 15-GNS-002


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2009

Title: Do you remember this? Age-related changes in the effect of verbal reminders

Recipient(s): Professor H Hayne | PI | University of Otago
Dr R Barr | AI | Georgetown University
Dr J Gross | AI | University of Otago
Associate Professor JE Reese | AI | University of Otago

Public Summary: For human adults, verbal reminders provide a powerful key that unlocks our memories. The question, “Do you remember your wedding day?” can initiate retrieval of rich memories of the past. But when do children begin to use these reminders to retrieve their memories? Many experts have argued that the ability to use language to retrieve a memory is a hallmark of human memory development, but we know little about when this occurs during infancy and childhood. Here, we will trace the emergence of infants’ and children’s ability to use verbal reminders to access and use information about past experiences.

Total Awarded: $768,889

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Professor H Hayne

Panel: EHB

Project ID: 09-UOO-074


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2017

Title: Does ATP release contribute to perinatal brain injury after ischaemia?

Recipient(s): Dr JO Davidson | PI | The University of Auckland
Dr DJ Crossman | AI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: Oxygen deprivation at birth can result in brain damage. The only treatment is brain cooling, which reduces death and disability but is only partially effective. To improve treatment, we need to better understand how oxygen deprivation causes injury. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an energy molecule within the cell, is released after oxygen deprivation through two types of plasma membrane pores, connexin hemichannels and pannexin channels. ATP release is a key trigger of inflammation, seizures and brain damage after oxygen deprivation in adults, but surprisingly this has not been investigated in the developing brain. Cooling only partially prevents brain damage, seizures and inflammation, suggesting that it does not completely prevent release of ATP or changes in hemichannel or receptor number. I will use our internationally recognised chronically instrumented near-term fetal sheep model to examine whether ATP is released after oxygen deprivation and whether this is affected by cooling. The amount and distribution of membrane channels and purinergic receptors that mediate ATP toxicity will be measured with western blotting and innovative super-resolution imaging technology, providing nanoscale structural information. This project will improve our understanding of how brain damage at birth occurs and highlight new potential treatment strategies to prevent it.

Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Dr JO Davidson

Panel: BMS

Project ID: 17-UOA-232


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2010

Title: Does bioaccumulation of iron by seabirds enhance productivity around sub-Antarctic Islands?

Recipient(s): Assoc Prof SR Wing | PI | University of Otago
Assoc Prof RD Frew | PI | University of Otago

Public Summary: Availability of iron to form light-absorbing pigments in phytoplankton limits productivity in the Southern Ocean. In these iron-limited waters sequestration of iron by bacteria and biomagnification within pelagic food webs leads to high concentrations in oceanic seabirds, which have vital metabolic needs for iron. Seabirds such as albatross and penguins receive iron from food webs across vast areas of the Southern Ocean and congregate around the sub-Antarctic islands in huge numbers to breed. This results in delivery of large amounts of soluble, bio-available iron from guano to these regions, with potential to greatly enhance productivity. This productivity supports the major hotspots of biodiversity in the Southern Ocean, including breeding colonies for several endangered species. Technical advances in tracing sources of carbon and iron in food webs using stable isotopes will allow us to resolve nutrient flux and bioaccumulation in these systems and answer this important question: Does bioaccumulation of iron by seabirds enhance productivity in the vicinity of the sub-Antarctic islands? Understanding the role of seabirds in nutrient dynamics around these islands is vital to our predictions of how biodiversity in the Southern Ocean will respond to stressors such as species introductions and commercial fishing, and to climate change.

Total Awarded: $730,435

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Assoc Prof SR Wing

Panel: EEB

Project ID: 10-UOO-078


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2009

Title: Does complex tool manufacture require specific cognitive and neural adaptations?

Recipient(s): Dr GR Hunt | PI | The University of Auckland
Professor RD Gray | PI | The University of Auckland
Dr MF Kubke | AI | The University of Auckland
Mr AH Taylor | AI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: Tool manufacture is often seen as a hallmark of complex cognition. However, there is no direct evidence that sophisticated tool manufacture requires specific adaptations. Our project will test the 'technical intelligence hypothesis' by conducting comparative analyses of neural architecture and cognition in corvids. The comparative analyses will reveal if the remarkable tool manufacturing abilities of New Caledonian crows are underpinned by specific neural and cognitive adaptations.

Total Awarded: $706,667

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Dr GR Hunt

Panel: EEB

Project ID: 09-UOA-121


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