Staff profile

Qualifications

• BSc (Hons), PhD, Syd.

Teaching areas

• Coordinator Zoology Honours
• ZOO2AFE - Australian Fauna and Ecology
• ZOO3EPA - Mallee Field Course
• CBE2IC - Issues in Conservation Biology
• CBE3AC - Applications in Conservation Biology

Research interests

Determinants of assemblage structure
Much of my work focuses on factors that affect the structure of ant assemblages. Dominant ants are thought to structure ant communities through a competition hierarchy, but there are few experimental tests of this theory. I have performed experimental removals of dominant ants and behavioural experiments in Australia and Sweden to test how competition affects community structure. I collaborate with Kate Parr at Oxford University to examine the role of other factors, including habitat structure and resource availability, in determining ant community structure globally. I am also a member of the global ant database collaboration www.antmacroecology.org/projects.html, which aims to improve our understanding of global patterns of ant diversity and occurrence.

Restoration ecology
I am interested in how restoration of habitats and fauna affects invertebrate biodiversity and the role of invertebrates in ecosystem functions. Our work in this area includes investigation of the effects of revegetation of degraded farmland on ant-hemiptera mutualisms and their broader consequences for ecosystems. We are also investigating whether morphological traits of insects, an indicator of their functional roles, respond to revegetation and other restoration activities. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Saul Cunningham at CSIRO and Adrian Manning and David Lindenmayer at the Australian National University.

My research group is experimentally testing how the restoration of threatened native omnivores, such as the bilby, that were once widespread and common in Australia, influences populations of the arthropods that constitute their diet. This project focuses on both biodiversity and functional roles of insects in semi-arid mallee and is supported by the Australia and Pacific Science foundation and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and more details can be found at: apscience.org.au/projects/APSF_09_4/apsf_09_4.html.

I have also worked extensively on the restoration of saproxylic insect communities in northern Sweden, and am currently engaged in a study examining the colonisation abilities of species threatened by fragmentation of their habitats resulting from forestry in collaboration with Mats Dynesius at Umeå University and Joakim Hjältén at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. This work is supported by the Umeå Centre for Biodiversity.

Responses of insect functional traits to the environment
Animal size has been shown to respond predictably to the environment, with body size commonly increasing along temperature gradients. In collaboration with David Warton (University of New South Wales) and Nigel Andrew (University of New England), I am investigating how a range of other functionally important morphological features of insects respond to climatic gradients. This work is supported by the Australian Research Council and will allow us to make predictions as to how insect communities may evolve in response to climate change.

For more information, visit the Insect Ecology page.

Landscape ecology
More recently, I have commenced a collaboration with Nick Murphy (Genetics), the Fire Ecology Group and the Department of the Environment and Sustainability to investigate the role of refuges from fire in maintaining populations of functionally important invertebrate detritivores in fire-prone landscapes. For more information, visit the Insect Ecology page

Supervision

Visit the Insect Ecology page for details.

Selected recent publications (2007-2011)

- view a full list of publications (PDF 120KB)

• Barton, P.S., Gibb, H., Manning, A.D., Lindenmayer, D.B., Cunningham, S.A. (in press) Experimental reduction of native vertebrate grazing benefits beetle diversity at multiple scales. Journal of Applied Ecology
• Gibb, H. & Johansson, T. (2011) Field tests of interspecific competition in ant assemblages: Revisiting the dominant red wood ants. Journal of Animal Ecology DOI search
• Narendra, A., Gibb, H. & Mustak, A.T.M. (2011) Structuring of ant assemblages in Western Ghats, India: The role of habitat, disturbance and invasive species. Insect Conservation and Diversity DOI search
• Gibb, H. & Cunningham, S.A. (2011) Habitat contrasts reveal a shift in the trophic position of ant assemblages. Journal of Animal Ecology 80: 119-127. DOI search
• Barton, P.S., Gibb, H., Manning, A.D., Lindenmayer, D.B., Cunningham, S.A. (2011) Morphological traits and phylogenetic position as predictors of microhabitat use and response to habitat manipulation in a ground-dwelling beetle assemblage. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society 102: 301-310. DOI search
• Gibb, H. & Parr, C.L. (2010). How does habitat complexity affect ant foraging success? A test of functional responses on three continents. Oecologia164: 1061-1073. DOI search
• Weiser, M.D., Sanders, N.J., Agosti, D., Andersen, A.N., Cerdá, X., Ellison, A.M., Fisher, B.L., Gibb, H., Gotelli, N.J., Gove, A.D., Guénard, B., Janda, M., Kaspari, M., Lessard J.-P., Longino, J.T., Majer, J.D., Menke, S.B., McGlynn, T.P., Parr, C.L., Philpott, S.M., Retana, J., Suarez, A., Vasconcelos, H.L., Yanoviak, S.P. and Dunn, R.R. (in press) A global model of canopy ant diversity: Do mechanisms on the ground drive patterns in the trees? Biology Letters DOI search
• Barton, P.S., Manning, A.D., Gibb, H., Lindenmayer, D.B., Cunningham, S.A. (2010) Fine-scale heterogeneity in beetle assemblages under co-occurring Eucalyptus in the same subgenus. Journal of Biogeography37: 1927-1937.DOI search
• Hjältén, J., Gibb, H. & Ball, J.P. (2010) How does low intensity burning after clear-felling affect mid-boreal insect assemblages? Basic and Applied Ecology 11: 363-372. DOI search Stenbacka, F., Hjältén, J., Hilszczański, J., Ball, J.P., Gibb, H., Johansson, T. & Danell, K. (2010). Saproxylic parasitoid (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonoidea) communities in managed boreal forest landscapes. Insect Conservation and Diversity 3: 114-123
• Gibb, H. & Cunningham, S.A. (2010) Revegetation of farmland restores function and composition of epigaeic beetle assemblages. Biological Conservation 143:677-687. DOI search
• Gibb, H. & Johansson, T. (2010) Harvesting of hemipteran honeydew by boreal ants is affected by forest management. Annales Zoologici Fennici 47: 99-110
• Gibb, H. & Cunningham, S.A. (2009) Arboreal sugars affect ecological dominance in ant assemblages across a restoration chronosequence. Insectes Sociaux 56: 405-412. DOI search
• Barton, P., Manning, A.D., Gibb, H., Lindenmayer, D.B. & Cunningham, S.A. (2009). Conserving ground-dwelling beetles in an endangered woodland community: Multi-scale habitat effects on assemblage diversity. Biological Conservation 142: 1701-1709. DOI search
• Dunn, R.R., Agosti, D., Andersen, A.N., Arnan, X., Bruhl, C.A., Cerda, X., Ellison, A.M., Fisher, B.L., Fitzpatrick, M.C., Gibb, H., Gotelli, N.J., Gove, A.D, Guenard, B., Janda, M, Kaspari, M.E., Laurent, E.J., Lessard, J-P, Longino, J.T., Majer, J.D., Menke, S.B, McGlynn, T.P., Parr, C.L., Philpott, S.M., Pfeiffer, M., Retana, J., Suarez, A.V., Vasconcelos, H.L., Weiser, M.D., & Sanders, N.J. (2009) Climatic drivers of hemispheric asymmetry in global patterns of ant species richness. Ecology Letters 12: 324-333.DOI search
• Gibb, H., Hilszczański, J., Hjältén, J., Danell, K., Ball, J.P., Pettersson, R.B., & Atlegrim, O. (2008). Responses of parasitoids to saproxylic hosts and habitat: a multi-scale study using experimental logs. Oecologia 155: 63-74. DOI search
• Dunn, R.R., Sanders, N.J., Fitzpatrick, M.C., Laurent, E., Lessard, J-P., Agosti, D., Andersen, A., Bruhl, C., Cerda, X., Ellison, A., Fisher, B., Gibb, H., Gotelli, N., Gove, A., Guenard, B., Janda, M., Kaspari, M., Longino, J.T., Majer, J., McGlynn, T.P., Menke, S., Parr, C., Philpott, S., Pfeiffer, M., Retana, J., Suarez, A., Vasconcelos, H. (2007). Global Ant Biodiversity and Biogeography--A New Database and its Possibilities. Myrmecological News 10: 77-83 DOI search
• Hjältén, J., Johansson, T., Atlegrim, O., Danell, K., Ball, J.P., Pettersson, R., Gibb, H. & Hilszczański J. (2007). The importance of type (logs, snags or the top of trees) and treatment (shading or burning) of dead wood for its attractiveness to saproxylic beetles. Basic and Applied Ecology 8: 364-376. DOI search
• Hilszczański, J., Gibb, H. & Bystrowski, C. (2007). Effect of salvage on insect natural enemies of Ips typographus (L.) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) during its latency phase in old growth mixed lowland forest. Journal of Pest Science 80: 99-107.DOI search
• Johansson, T., Gibb, H., Hjältén, J., Pettersson, R.B., Hilszczański, J., Alinvi, O., Ball, J.P., & Danell, K. (2007). The effects of substrate manipulations and forest management on predators of saproxylic beetles. Forest Ecology and Management 242: 518-527. DOI search
• Johansson, T., Hjältén, J., Gibb, H., Hilszczański, J., Stenlid, J., Ball, J.P., Pettersson, R.B., Alinvi, O. & Danell, K. (2007). Variable response of different functional groups of saproxylic beetles to substrate manipulation and forest management: Implications for conservation strategies. Forest Ecology and Management 242: 496-510. DOI search
• Gibb, H., Hjältén, J. (2007). Effects of low severity burning after clear-cutting on mid-boreal ant communities in the two years after fire. Journal of Insect Conservation 11: 169-175 DOI search