How arid zone wetlands persist: linking ecological dynamics with hydrological regimes

Understanding the processes that allow the persistence of ecological communities is one of the great challenges in biology. Knowing how ecological communities persist across space and time allows us to assess vulnerability to global climate change and other stressors. This project will combine molecular, food web, behavourial and landscape-level investigations to link the ecological dynamics of arid zone wetlands with hydrological regimes. Our findings will inform the international debate on the relative influence of niche-related, neutral and historical processes on community assemblies and help 'climate-proof' arid zone wetlands by indicating which processes, and at what scales, management should be directed.