Melinda Cook

What degrees have you completed?
Bachelor of Science in Environmental biology

Names of your supervisor/s: Andy Leigh, Dave Watson (CSU), Brad Murray

Project title: How does host-mimicry in Australian mistletoes affect the foraging behaviour of birds?

Describe your research project
The remarkable similarity between some mistletoe species and their favoured hosts has sparked interest in the scientific community for many decades. One hypothesis suggests that while the mistletoe foliage resembles the host foliage the mistletoe still produces brightly colored fruits in order to attract seed dispersing birds. Their cryptic appearance encourages the birds to use an image of the host foliage in an attempt to find the mistletoe. This increases the chances of spreading the seeds of the mistletoe to suitable potential host species.

In order to test this hypothesis I have designed a series of elegant experiments investigating whether or not seed dispersing birds use search images to find cryptic mistletoe and what that search image may consist of.

To achieve this end behavioural observations are carried out during the fruiting season of all the birds that visit the selected mistletoe species. Individual mistletoe plants are cut from their original host and moved to different trees in the woodland in an epic game of “hide and seek.”

Results from my study will inform on the ground managers of woodlands and help to direct further research into mistletoe distribution, population dynamics and visual appearance.

What is the aim of your project?
My first and foremost aim is to aid the movement of ecologists altering the perception of Australian mistletoes from vampiric parasites sucking their host tree dry to virtual cornucopias for birds, mammals and insects, in addition to their classification as keystone resources in temperate woodlands due to their awesome leaf-litter nutrient cycling benefits.

Secondly, the primary aim of my research is to investigate the curious ‘host-mimicry’ of some mistletoe species and discover if its visual appearance plays a significant role in its relationship with the seed-dispersing birds that feast on its fruits. My research will probe the potential use of foliage search images and whether or not different birds (e.g. fruit-eating specialists versus fruit-and-insect eating) use different methods or search images to locate fruiting mistletoe.

Why did you choose to pursue a research degree as opposed to going into the work force? Why this area of research?
I chose to pursue my research degree so that I could research mistletoe, delving into a research question that fascinates me. When Andy and I connected with Dave we discussed ideas combining my interest of mistletoes and birds and eventually came up with a study investigating mistletoe-bird interactions.

What is your daily activity?
Every day in the office may include a range of tasks including data analysis, reading research papers, preparing drafts of my thesis, preparing my research for publication in a scientific research journal and organising our terrestrial plants lab discussions.

A day in the field is far more exciting and challenging. Every day you must adapt to changes in weather, adjust your expectations to cope with wild animals and spend countless hours behind my binoculars closely observing the foraging behaviour of the birds attracted to my mistletoes.

What attracted you to research at UTS Science?
To begin, my sister chose UTS for her undergraduate degree and came back from each of her field trips so enthused that she inspired me to undertake the same degree in environmental biology at UTS. Through the final assessment of ‘Forest and Mountain Ecology’ I discovered mistletoe and fell in love. From that assessment on I knew that I wanted to do further research on mistletoe with my current supervisor, who is an inspiring teacher and a supportive, encouraging supervisor.

My future
An ideal future for me would consist of an unlimited scope of mistletoe focused research, with forays into avian and mammal ecology.

In reality, I’ll pursue a career in ecological research and perhaps combine my skills in environmental science and my training in early childhood education to improve how we communicate science not only to the wider adult community but to young children, essentially fostering a curious and capable society from birth up.