Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Anne works in the School of Biological Sciences at Monash University as Associate Professor.
Anne's research areas of interest are:
- Behavioural Ecology
- Sexual selection
- Communication by honest signals
- Avian colouration
- Life-history trade-offs
- Ecological immunology
- Behavioural endocrinology
- Telomere ecology
Sexual selection: Honesty of sexual ornaments One of my main fields of research concerns physiological mechanisms that maintain honest signalling of individual quality through ornamentation. With my research group I tested the role of hormonal effects (testosterone) and dependence on general condition or specific dietary components (antioxidants mainly) as such honesty-enforcing links using birds as model organisms. Currently we are expanding this approach by looking at interactions between mechanisms (testosterone and carotenoids; multiple antioxidants).
Life-history trade-offs: the role of ecological immunology Although the immune system is central to survival, animals show great variation in their immune investment. This is related to trade-offs resulting from costs of immune system maintenance and activation and competing demands (investment in sexual signals, parental care). I study how these trade-offs are affected by individual quality, hormonal status, diet quality and environmental factors.
Interactions between mating and breeding system in Australian fairy-wrens Fairy-wrens are cooperatively breeding small songbirds, that are renowned for their striking seasonal plumage in males, their complex reproductive strategy and above all their extreme unfaithfulness. I showed that testosterone regulates how males balance investment in sexual attractiveness and parental care in superb fairy-wrens. Recently, we discovered that its close relation, the purple-crowned fairy-wren, follows a faithful mating strategy, and this appears to have consequences for its mating behaviour, acoustic signals, plumage development, and the cooperative breeding system.
Avian colour signals: form and functions Birds display a fantastic variety of colours, and this is often related to sexual selection. However, colours can also function in crypsis. We are testing hypotheses explaining colour variation by considering avian visual physiology, patterns of variability and sources of colour production.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- Behavioural Ecology
- Sexual selection
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Bridled Terns as indicators of ecosystem health and recovery
Sorrell, K. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Clarke, R. (Supervisor) & Peters, A. (Supervisor)
10/03/25 → 30/06/26
Project: Research
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Conservation ecology of the purple-crowned fairy-wren (Malurus coronatus): from individual fitness to population
Hoppe, I. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Peters, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Clarke, R. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/01/25 → 31/12/25
Project: Research
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Early-life climate sensitivity: direct and indirect mechanisms
Peters, A. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Verhulst, S. (Partner Investigator (PI)) & Rowe, M. (Partner Investigator (PI))
Australian Research Council (ARC)
30/06/24 → 29/06/27
Project: Research
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Local to global: researching Vanuatu Petrel movement ecology to track threats to gadfly petrels
Clarke, R. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Allen, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Peters, A. (Associate Investigator (AI))
1/02/23 → 6/06/25
Project: Research
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Early-life impacts of climate warming in Purple-crowned fairy-wrens: studying mechanisms to inform conservation strategies
La Porte, A. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & Peters, A. (Supervisor)
1/02/23 → 1/10/25
Project: Research
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No effect of testosterone or sexual ornamentation on telomere dynamics: A case study and meta-analyses
Taylor, G. T., McQueen, A., Eastwood, J. R., Dupoué, A., Wong, B. B. M., Verhulst, S. & Peters, A., Mar 2024, In: Ecology and Evolution. 14, 3, 19 p., e11088.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (Scopus) -
Best of both worlds? Helpers in a cooperative fairy-wren assist most to breeding pairs that comprise a potential mate and a relative
Teunissen, N., Fan, M., Roast, M. J., Hidalgo Aranzamendi, N., Kingma, S. A. & Peters, A., Nov 2023, In: Royal Society Open Science. 10, 11, 11 p., 231342.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (Scopus) -
Cool, dry nights and short heatwaves during growth result in longer telomeres in temperate songbird nestlings
Eastwood, J. R., Dupoué, A., Verhulst, S., Cockburn, A. & Peters, A., Oct 2023, In: Molecular Ecology. 32, 19, p. 5382-5393 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access4 Citations (Scopus) -
Low- and high-intensity fire in the riparian savanna: Demographic impacts in an avian model species and implications for ecological fire management
Teunissen, N., McAlpine, H., Cameron, S. F., Murphy, B. P. & Peters, A., Nov 2023, In: Journal of Applied Ecology. 60, 11, p. 2449-2458 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (Scopus) -
Multilevel social structure predicts individual helping responses in a songbird
Camerlenghi, E., Nolazco, S., Farine, D. R., Magrath, R. D. & Peters, A., 24 Apr 2023, In: Current Biology. 33, 8, p. 1582-1587.e3 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
9 Citations (Scopus)