Lindell Bromham

Contacts

Contact email:lindell.bromham@anu.edu.au
Contact phone:+61 2 6125 9545
Location:Rm W211, Level 2, RN Robertson Building (46)
Centre:Division of Ecology and Evolution

Group membership

Group Leader, Bromham Group - Macroevolution, molecular evolution & Language evolution

I am interested in ways of testing ideas about macroevolutionary patterns and mechanisms, particularly the way that phylogenies constructed from DNA sequence data can be used to understand evolutionary past and processes. But in order to use molecular data to understand evolution, we need to understand how evolutionary information is recorded in the genome.

Research interests

  • How patterns of trait evolution on phylogenies reveal macroevolutionary mechanisms, particularly for traits that reduce lineage diversification
  • Analysis of DNA sequence data to reconstruct the construction of species assemblages over time.
  • How patterns and rates of molecular evolution are influenced by species characteristics, environment, and macroevolutionary processes.

Recent grants

  • Origins of a biodiversity hotspot flora: diversification of the Australian Proteaceae (M Cardillo, L Bromham, Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grant DP110103168)
  • Exploring evolvability: its causes, consequences and practical applications in a changing environment (Bromham: ARC future fellowship FT0992193)
  • Evolution of halophytes: a phyloinformatic approach to understanding and exploiting the traits underlying salt-tolerance in plants (Bromham, Cantrill, Murphy, Flowers, Dillon, Crayn: ARC Linkage LP100100143)
  • Phyloinformatics and biodiversity: developing bioinformatic tools for understanding the dynamics of extinction and invasion within species assemblages (Bromham: ARC discovery DP0880502).

Projects

Selected publications

  • Bromham L, Cowman PF, Lanfear R (2013) Parasitic plants have increased rates of molecular evolution across all three genomes. BMC Evolutionary Biology 13:126 Doi:12610.1186/1471-2148-13-126)
  • Duchene D, Bromham L (2013)Rates of molecular evolution and diversification in plants: chloroplast substitution rates correlate with species richness in the Proteaceae.  BMC Evolutionary Biology 13:65 DOI:10.1186/1471-2148-13-65
  • Hanna, E. & Cardillo, M. (in press) Clarifying the relationship between torpor and anthropogenic extinction risk in mammals. J. Zool. Lond.
  • Bennett, T.H., Flowers, T.J., Bromham, L. (2013) Repeated evolution of salt-tolerance in grasses. Biol Letts 9, 20130029 
  • Bromham, L. & Bennett, T.H. (in press) Salt tolerance evolves more frequently in C4 grass lineages. J. Evol. Biol.
  • Warren, D.L., A.N. Wright, S.N. Seifiert, and H.B. Shaffer. (in press) Incorporating model complexity and spatial sampling bias into ecological niche models of climate change risks faced by California vertebrate species of concern. Diversity and Distributions
  • Moray, C., Lanfear, R. & Bromham, L. (2014) Domestication and the Mitochondrial Genome: Comparing Patterns and Rates of Molecular Evolution in Domesticated Mammals and Birds and Their Wild Relatives. Genome Biology and Evolution 6: 161-169
  • Bromham, L., Saslis-Lagoudakis, C.H., Bennett, T.H., Flowers, T.J. (2013) Soil alkalinity and salt tolerance: adapting to multiple stresses. Biol Letts 9(5) 20130642
  • Hanna, E. & Cardillo, M. (2013) Island mammal extinctions are determined by interactive effects of life history, island biogeography and mesopredator suppression. Glob. Ecol. Biogeog.
  • Cardillo, M. & Pratt, R.C. (2013) Evolution of a hotspot genus: geographic variation in speciation and extinction rates in Banksia (Proteaceae). BMC Evol Biol, 13:155
  • Duchene, D., et al. (2013) Phylogenetic evidence for recent diversification of obligate coral-dwelling gobies compared with their host corals (PDF, 326KB). Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 69: 123-132
  • Warren, D.L. (2013) "Niche modeling": that unpleasant sensation means it's working. Trends Ecol Evol 28: 193-194
  • Duchene, D. & Bromham, L. (2013) Rates of molecular evolution and diversification in plants: chloroplast substitution rates correlate with species-richness in the Proteaceae. BMC Evol Biol, 13:65
  • Hanna, E. & Cardillo, M. (2013) A comparison of current and reconstructed historic geographic range sizes as predictors of extinction risk in Australian mammals. Biol. Cons, 158:196–204.

All publications

Lindell teaches BIOL3206 (Evolution of Diversity), and the Vice Chancellor's course VCUG3001 (Unravelling Complexity).