Prof. Dave Kelly - Research
Research Interests
Plant ecology especially plant-animal interactions (seed predation, seed dispersal, pollination, herbivory). Plant demography and life histories. Conservation biology.
Current research projects
Reproductive biology of native plants and their interactions with native bird and insect pollinators.
We are studying how reducded bird densities is affecting the seed set and dispersal of native plants on the mainland. Species studied include rare endemic mistletoes (Peraxilla spp and Alepis flavida), tree fuchsia (Fuchsia excorticata), and kowhai (Sophora microphylla).
Mast seeding (irregular variation between years in seed output), and the evolutionary reasons for its maintenance (such as predator satiation), in various New Zealand perennial plants.
We have shown that New Zealand has the most variable flowering patterns of any plant species in the world (species of Chionochloa from Fiordland hold the record), that large numbers of species here all flower in synchrony with each other in response to La Nina events (with 1998/99 being a spectacular flowering year for many species), and that the reasons for this vary among species (Chionochloa benefits by satiating invertebrate seed predators, while Nothofagus benefits by enhancing wind pollination).
The impact of native and introduced animals on native plants, including native lizards as dispersal agents, introduced rats as seed predators, and introduced goats as major herbivores.
Mathematical modelling of various biological processes (weed growth, the impact of biological control agents on weeds, and plant/herbivore co-evolution involving inducible defences).