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Dr Adam Frew

Dr Adam Frew
Name Adam Frew
Position Lecturer (Environment and Sustainability)
Section School of Sciences
Office L314
Location Toowoomba Campus
Phone +61 7 4631 5535
Extension 5535
Email
Qualifications BSc(Hons) St Andrews , PhD Western Sydney
Homepage https://www.adamfrew.net/
The views expressed on staff homepages may not reflect the views of the University.

Dr Adam Frew is an ecologist interested in plant interactions with fungi and herbivores. In particular, the main focus of his research is on the ecology of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and understanding how the mycorrhizal symbiosis can affect plant defences against herbivores. His research also looks to understand how mycorrhizal fungal communities respond to environmental change and/or land management within agricultural and natural ecosystems. Adam forms part of the ecology team within the School of Sciences and is an affiliated member of the Centre for Crop Health. He teaches into a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses on ecology, environmental science and sustainability. Prior to his appointment at USQ, Adam completed his PhD at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at Western Sydney University before taking on a Charles Sturt University Postdoctoral Research Fellowship based in Wagga Wagga, NSW.


Fields of Research (FoR)

  • Ecology ( 060200 )
  • Microbial Ecology ( 060504 )
  • Plant Biology ( 060700 )
  • Ecological Impacts of Climate Change ( 050101 )
  • Soil Biology ( 050303 )

Research interests
Ecology of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; plant-herbivore interactions; plant defense against insect herbivores; community ecology; sustainable plant production

Professional memberships
Memberships:
Member of Ecological Society of Australia
Member of British Ecological Society
Member of Australasian Mycological Society
Chair of the Equity and Diversity working group for the Ecological Society of Australia

Journal Editorial Appointments:
Associate Editor for Functional Ecology
Associate Editor for Pedobiologia (Journal of Soil Ecology)
Editor for Austral Ecology

USQ Research affiliations

  • Centre for Crop Health (CCH)

Currently teaching courses/programs
REN1201 Environmental Studies (ONC & ONL)
REN2200 Ecology for Sustainability (ONC & ONL)
REN8101 Environment, Society & Sustainability (ONL)
REN8202 Conservation for Sustainable Futures (ONL)
REN3302 Sustainable Resource Use (ONC & ONL)
REN8302 Sustainability Science (ONL)

Teaching experience(Tertiary)
1 Years

Research most recent
Frew, A. (2020), Contrasting effects of commercial and native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculants on plant biomass allocation, nutrients and phenolics, Plants, People, Planet, (in press) doi:10.1002/ppp3.10128

Johnson, Scott N. and Hartley, Susan E. and Ryalls, James M. W. and Frew, Adam and Hall, Casey R. (2020) Targeted plant defense: silicon conserves hormonal defense signaling impacting chewing but not fluid-feeding herbivores. Ecology:e03250. pp. 1-20. ISSN 0012-9658

Frew, A., Powell J.R., Johnson, S.N. (2020), Aboveground resource allocation in response to root herbivory as affected by the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, Plant and Soil, vol. 447, 463-473

Frew, A. (2019) Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity increases growth and phosphorus in C3 and C4 crop plants, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Vol. 135, 248-250

Frew, A., Price, J.N. (2019) Mycorrhizal-mediated plant-herbivore interactions in a high CO2 world, Functional Ecology, Vol. 33, 1376-1385

Frew, A., Weston, L.A., Gurr, G.M. (2019) Silicon reduces herbivore performance via different mechanisms, depending on host-plant species, Austral Ecology, Vol. 44, 1092-1097

Frew, A., Powell, J.R., Glauser, G., Bennett, A.E., Johnson, S.N. (2018) Mycorrhizal fungi enhance nutrient uptake but disarm defences in plant roots, promoting plant-parasitic nematode populations, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Vol. 126, 123-132

Johnson, S.N., Ryalls, J.M.W., Gherlenda, A.G., Frew, A., Hartley, S.E. (2018) Benefits from below: Silicon supplementation maintains legume productivity under predicted climate change scenarios, Frontiers in Plant Science,9,202

Johnson, S.N., Lopaticki, G., Aslam, T.J., Barnett, K., Frew, A., Hartley, S.E., Hiltopld, I., Nielsen, U.N., Ryalls, J.M.W. (2018) Dryland management regimes alter forest habitats and understory arthropod communities, Annals of Applied Biology, Vol. 172, 282-294

Frew, A., Weston, L.A., Reynolds, O.L., Gurr, G.M. (2018) The role of silicon in plant biology: A paradigm shift in research approach, Annals of Botany, Vol. 121, 1265-1273


Research most notable
Frew, A., Powell, J.R., Allsopp, P.G., Sallam, N., Johnson, S.N. (2017) Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi promote silicon accumulation in plant roots, reducing the impacts of root herbivory, Plant and Soil, Vol. 419, 423-433

Frew, A., Powell, J.R., Sallam, N., Allsopp, P.G., Johnson, S.N. (2016) Trade-offs between silicon and phenolic defenses may explain enhanced performance of root herbivores on phenolic-rich plants, Journal of Chemical Ecology, Vol. 42, 768-771


Publications in ePrints

Frew, Adam (2020) Contrasting effects of commercial and native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculants on plant biomass allocation, nutrients, and phenolics. Plants, People, Planet. pp. 1-5.

Frew, Adam and Le Brocque, Andy and Nimmo, Dale and Egidi, Eleonora and Price, Jodi and Greenwood, Leanne (2020) How fungi’s knack for networking boosts ecological recovery after bushfires. The Conversation, 20 March 2020. pp. 1-8.

Johnson, Scott N. and Hartley, Susan E. and Ryalls, James M. W. and Frew, Adam and Hall, Casey R. (2020) Targeted plant defense: silicon conserves hormonal defense signaling impacting chewing but not fluid‐feeding herbivores. Ecology:e03250. pp. 1-20. ISSN 0012-9658

Frew, Adam and Powell, Jeff R. and Johnson, Scott N. (2019) Aboveground resource allocation in response to root herbivory as affected by the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. Plant and Soil. ISSN 0032-079X

Frew, Adam (2019) Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity increases growth and phosphorus uptake in C3 and C4 crop plants. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 135. pp. 248-250. ISSN 0038-0717

View full listing in ePrints

Approved research supervisor in the area of:

  • Microbial Ecology ( 060504 )
  • Ecological Impacts of Climate Change ( 050101 )
  • Soil Biology ( 050303 )


Research topics