JCU > Research Portfolio > Empro Ross Alford

About

Professor Ross Alford is broadly interested in ecology, animal behaviour, conservation biology, and evolution. Most of his research is focused on the ecology, behaviour, and conservation biology of frogs and their larvae, although he and his postgraduate students and research associates also work on a variety of reptiles and on freshwater and marine invertebrates.

Since the early 1990s, he has been strongly involved in research aimed at understanding the problem of global amphibian declines and how to prevent and reverse them. This has included collaborative research in North and Central America, and extensive collaborations with many researchers throughout the world.

Much of his present research is focused on understanding the complex host-pathogen relationships between frogs and the amphibian chytrid fungus, and how it is modified by individual behaviour, immune responses, and the assemblage of other microbes inhabiting frog skin.

Interests

Research

Ecology
Animal Behaviour
Conservation Biology
Evolution

Publications

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

Bower D, Mengersen K, Alford R and Schwarzkopf L (2017) Using a Bayesian network to clarify areas requiring research in a host–pathogen system. Conservation Biology, 31 (6). pp. 1373-1382
Greenspan S, Bower D, Roznik E, Pike D, Marantelli G, Alford R, Schwarzkopf L and Scheffers B (2017) Infection increases vulnerability to climate change via effects on host thermal tolerance. Scientific Reports, 7.
Greenspan S, Bower D, Webb R, Roznik E, Stevenson L, Berger L, Marantelli G, Pike D, Schwarzkopf L and Alford R (2017) Realistic heat pulses protect frogs from disease under simulated rainforest frog thermal regimes. Functional Ecology, 31. pp. 2274-2286
Greenspan S, Bower D, Webb R, Berger L, Rudd D, Schwarzkopf L and Alford R (2017) White blood cell profiles in amphibians help to explain disease susceptibility following temperature shifts. Developmental and Comparative Immunology, 77. pp. 280-286
McKnight D, Schwarzkopf L, Alford R, Bower D and Zenger K (2017) Effects of emerging infectious diseases on host population genetics: a review. Conservation Genetics, 18. pp. 1235-1245
Nordberg E, Murray P, Alford R and Schwarzkopf L (2017) Abundance, diet and prey selection of arboreal lizards in a grazed tropical woodland. Austral Ecology, 43. pp. 328-338
Schmidt K, Blanchette M, Pearson R, Alford R and Davis A (2017) Trophic roles of tadpoles in tropical Australian streams. Freshwater Biology, 62 (11). pp. 1929-1941
Eterovick P, Sloss B, Scalzo J and Alford R (2016) Isolated frogs in a crowded world: effects of human-caused habitat loss on frog heterozygosity and fluctuating asymmetry. Biological Conservation, 195. pp. 52-59
Greenspan S, Roznik E, Schwarzkopf L, Alford R and Pike D (2016) Robust calling performance in frogs infected by a deadly fungal pathogen. Ecology and Evolution, 6 (16). pp. 5964-5972
Greenspan S, Morris W, Warburton R, Edwards L, Duffy R, Pike D, Schwarzkopf L and Alford R (2016) Low-cost fluctuating-temperature chamber for experimental ecology. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 7. pp. 1567-1574
Trumbo D, Epstein B, Hohenlohe P, Alford R, Schwarzkopf L and Storfer A (2016) Mixed population genomics support for the central marginal hypothesis across the invasive range of the cane toad (Rhinella marina) in Australia. Molecular Ecology, 25 (17). pp. 4161-4176
Yasumiba K, Duffy R, Parsons S, Alford R and Schwarzkopf L (2016) Rapid differentiation of sexual signals in invasive toads: call variation among populations. Scientific Reports, 6. pp. 1-7

More: ResearchOnline@JCU stores 136+ research outputs authored by Empro Ross Alford from 1989 onwards.

Current Funding

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Wet Tropics Management Authority - Student Research Grant Scheme

Surviving disease outbreaks: Population genetics of a rainforest frog following a chytridiomycosis outbreak

Indicative Funding: $3,800
Summary: This project will sequence the DNA from several populations of Litoria dayi. These frogs were restricted to lowland sites during a disease outbreak in the late 80s, and their populations have not recovered. Therefore, we will examine their population genetics to understand the long-term consequences of this disease outbreak for them.
Investigators: Donald McKnight, Kyall Zenger, Lin Schwarzkopf, Ross Alford and Debbie Bower (College of Science & Engineering)
Keywords: Litoria dayi (Hylidae); Population genetics; Conservation; Chytridiomycosis; Frogs

Australian Wildlife Society - University Student Grant

Do bacterial immune defences drive the recovery of threatened frog populations?

Indicative Funding: $1,500
Summary: Emerging infectious diseases are a growing problem for wildlife. One of these diseases, chytridiomycosis, has decimatedmany amphibian populations world-wide. Some populations have, however, recovered from chytridiomycosis outbreaks, and understanding the factors enabling their recovery will aid management efforts. Our project will examine the possibility that frogs have shifted their microbiomes to contain more anti-microbial species. These species may have played an important role in the recovery of frog populations.
Investigators: Donald McKnight, Kyall Zenger, Lin Schwarzkopf, Ross Alford and Deborah Bower (College of Science & Engineering)
Keywords: Conservation; emerging infectious disease; chytridiomycosis; Amphibian; Evolution; microbiome

Equity Trustees - Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment

Do natural body temperature fluctuations help Wet Tropics frogs beat a deadly disease?

Indicative Funding: $7,500
Summary: Chytridiomycosis is a disease that wreaked havoc on native Wet Tropics frogs in recent decades. Some populations have since recovered but individuals remain infected. Wildlife diseases are dynamic and can change at the slightest ecological perturbation. To date, researchers lack a complete understanding of the ecological factors that could trigger new outbreaks of chytridiomycosis. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), the fungus that causes chytridiomycosis, is a temperature-sensitive organism, and frog body temperatures influence infection probability. Although climate may profoundly influence future chytridiomycosis dynamics, the temperature envelope critical to understanding of Bd-host interactions is crudely defined. This project will address this research gap.
Investigators: Sasha Greenspan and Ross Alford (College of Science & Engineering)
Keywords: Chytridiomycosis; Thermal Ecology

Australian Research Council - Discovery - Projects

Understanding The Tipping Point Between Epidemic And Endemic Disease: Amphibian Chytridiomycosis As A Model System

Indicative Funding: $387,000 over 3 years
Summary: Amphibian chytridiomycosis is a major threat to Australian frog species. Environmental factors set a tipping point between coexistence with the pathogen and epidemic outbreaks leading to declines and extinctions. At present it coexists with many threatened species, but we do not understand the nature of the tipping point, so new epidemics could occur at any time as the environment changes. The tipping point is set by a combination of frog microenvironment selection, behaviour, and innate immune defences. Our project will produce a detailed understanding of how these interact, allowing us to develop and carry out preliminary tests of strategies for manipulating the tipping point to manage this threat to amphibians.
Investigators: Ross Alford, Lin Schwarzkopf and David Pike in collaboration with Robert Puschendorf (College of Science & Engineering, University of South Florida and University of Plymouth)
Keywords: Amphibian; Conservation; Rainforest

Supervision

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

Life Finds a Way: The Recovery of Frog Populations From a Chytridiomycosis Outbreak (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

Completed

Thermal thresholds in the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis (2018, PhD , Primary Advisor)
The ecological role of tadpoles in streams of the Australian Wet Tropics (2015, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Acoustic Behaviour and Mating System of Cane Toads (Rhinella marina): Understanding and Exploiting Vocal Communication for Application to Control (2015, PhD , Primary Advisor)
Population and disease dynamics of the amphibian chytrid fungus in the stream-associated frog Litoria rheocola (2013, Masters , Secondary Advisor)
A functional approach to understanding how temperature and habitat dimensionality drive universality and variation in ecological systems (2014, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Thermoregulation in tropical lizards (2014, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Effects of individual behaviour on host-pathogen interactions: Australian rainforest frogs and the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (2014, PhD , Primary Advisor)
The role of cutaneous bacteria in resistance of Australian tropical rainforest frogs to the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (2013, PhD , Primary Advisor)
The impacts of cattle grazing on arboreal reptiles (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Dynamics of the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) in Isolated Patches of Lowland Rainforest. (2015, Masters , Associate Advisor)

Data

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit the JCU Research Data Catalogue.

Greenspan, S. (2017) Infection load data for Chapter 3 of PhD thesis: Thermal thresholds in the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis. James Cook University
Greenspan, S. (2017) Frog data for Chapter 5 of PhD thesis: Thermal thresholds in the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis. James Cook University
Greenspan, S. (2017) Fungus data for Chapter 5 of PhD thesis: Thermal thresholds in the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis. James Cook University
Greenspan, S. (2017) Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infection data for Chapter 4 of PhD thesis: Thermal thresholds in the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis. James Cook University
Greenspan, S. (2017) White blood cell profile data for Chapter 3 of PhD thesis: Thermal thresholds in the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis. James Cook University

Collaboration

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.