ProfessorClare McArthur

My research answers fundamental questions about how animals forage. Apart from the fact that I like eating, foraging is a central ecological theme because food fuels animal fitness. My group links plant-herbivore and predator-prey interactions to understand the behaviour of foraging herbivores and in particular, to explain how they respond to the dilemma of finding food without becoming food for something else. We explore foraging at all stages: from whether, how and why animals visit food patches, to how long they stay, and why they quit. We investigate the ultimate drivers of foraging in response to risks and rewards, including animal personality, predation risk and food quality. We also investigate the proximate drivers of foraging, from the rules of thumb (heuristics) animals use in making foraging decisions, to how & how well they solve problems while they forage.

My fundamental research forms the basis for solving some tricky applied problems. A major goal is to come up with new ways to reduce the damage native (and invasive) herbivores cause to plants in natural ecosystems and in crop production. We are currently working on manipulating odours to do just that. We are also exploring the ecological consequences of animal personality. Our work, testing whether the personality of possums affects whether they pick up (reverse) zoonoses in cities, is aimed at helping to manage diseases shared between people and wildlife in our One-Health world - so obviously important today as diseases wreak such global havoc.

My research aligns with the Faculty of Science Research Strengths - Understanding Life on Earth, Healthy Animals , Biodiversity Conservation.