Dr. Sandra Abell-Davis
Lecturer
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BSc. (Hons.) PhD |
Contact Details
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Campus: |
Cairns |
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Office: |
E1.102E |
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Phone: |
07 4042 1254 |
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Fax: |
07 4042 1319 |
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Email: |
Teaching
Subject coordinator
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BZ2450 Biodiversity of Tropical Australia
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BT1001/AG1003 Introduction to Plant Sciences
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BT2400/AG2007 Flowering Plant Diversity
Laboratory coordinator
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BZ1001/AG1002 Fundamentals of Biology
Research
I am interested in the ecological interactions between fungi, plants and animals. This broad interest incorporates mycology, botany, taxonomy, molecular biology, conservation biology and plant pathology, with a special focus on tropical ecosystems.
Recent and Current Projects
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Canopy dieback and Phytophthora cinnamomi in the rainforests of the wet tropics
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Tropical hypogeous fungal sporocarp distribution in time and space. Implications for an endangered specialist mycophagous marsupial, Bettongia tropica
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The effect of fire on truffles, cockatoo grass and other resources of the northern bettong, Bettongia tropica
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History of fungal collections in the wet tropics
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Mycoblitzing the wet tropics – improving the distribution records and ecological information of macrofungi in the wet tropics
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Taxonomy of new species of hypogeous (truffles) fungi
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Taxonomy of new species of Entolomataceae (pink, angular spored mushrooms)
Recent and Currently Supervised Projects
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Marcin Skladaniec (Honours project) Ophiocordyceps, entomopathic fungi of ants, taxonomy and ecology in the wet tropics
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Margaret Barker (Major final year undergraduate research project) Individual body condition response to seasonal availability of resources by an endangered tropical fungivore Bettongia tropica
Societal Memberships
Councillor Australasian Mycological Society (Nov 2008 - current)
Australian Systematic Botany Society
Fungimap Australia
Selected Publications
Abell, S.E., Gadek, P.A., 2003. Section 1: Identification and distribution of Phytophthora species and genetic population structure of Phytophthora cinnamomi, in: Gadek, P.A. Worboys, S.J. (Eds.), Rainforest Dieback Mapping and Assessment: Phytophthora species diversity and impacts of dieback on rainforest canopies. School of Tropical Biology, James Cook University, and the Rainforest CRC, Cairns. ISBN: 0684436955
Worboys, S., Gadek, P.A., Abell, S.E., Jensen, R., 2003. Section 2: Impact of dieback on rainforest canopies, in: Gadek, P.A. Worboys, S.J. (Eds.), Rainforest Dieback Mapping and Assessment: Phytophthora species diversity and impacts of dieback on rainforest canopies. School of Tropical Biology, James Cook University, and the Rainforest CRC, Cairns. ISBN: 0684436955
Abell, S. E., P. A. Gadek, C. A. Pearce, and B. C. Congdon. 2006. Seasonal resource availability and use by an endangered tropical mycophagous marsupial. Biological Conservation 132:533-540.
Abell, S. E., P. A. Gadek, C. A. Pearce, and B. Congdon. 2009. Reproductive cues and alternate reproductive strategies of ectomycorrhizal hypogeous fungi at two extremes of the tropical climate. Oecologia (Berlin) in review.
Abell, S. E., P. A. Gadek, C. A. Pearce, and B. Congdon. 2009. Nutrient levels determine the spatial distribution of hypogeous fungal sporocarps and subsequently an endangered mycophagous marsupial, Bettongia tropica. Ecosystems in review.