Francesca Florence Dem

PhD Overview

My PhD research projects aimed to investigate distribution of Auchenorrhyncha communities along altitudinal gradients in tropical and subtropical rainforest gradients in Australia, and how the community assemblage may shift as influence by future changes in climate. The main results of my research were that there were more species at the lower elevations and as you move towards higher elevations, the number of species decreases. These patterns were affected mainly by differences in environment conditions, where the environment becomes harsher with less food resources with increasing elevations. My research was the only ecological study on Auchenorrhynca in Australia which provided baseline information on likely range shifts of species with changes in the climate.