John M. MartinInstitute of Science and Learning · Taronga Conservation Society Australia
John M. Martin
Doctor of Philosophy
About
53
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Introduction
Skills and Expertise
Publications
Publications (53)
As crises of biodiversity loss and climate change have intensified, so too have efforts to promote human behaviours that ameliorate these global stressors. Leveraging people's connectedness with nature is proposed as a means of inspiring pro-nature behaviours at a personal and societal scale. However, it is only recently that studies have begun to...
Foraging innovations can give wild animals access to human-derived food sources¹. If these innovations spread, they can enable adaptive flexibility² but also lead to human-wildlife conflicts³. Examples include crop-raiding elephants⁴ and long-tailed macaques that steal items from people to trade them back for food⁵. Behavioural responses by humans...
Context: Accurate and precise monitoring practises are key for effective wildlife conservation management; providing reliable estimates of spatiotemporal changes in species abundance on which sound decision-making can be based. Advancements in drone and satellite technology are providing new standards for survey accuracy and precision and have grea...
Generally, urbanization is a major threat to biodiversity; however, urban areas also provide habitats that some species can exploit. Flying-foxes (Pteropus spp.) are becoming increasingly urbanized; which is thought to be a result of increased availability and temporal stability of urban food resources, diminished natural food resources, or both. P...
Australian brush‐turkeys (Alectura lathami) are atypical urban colonising birds due to their poor flight and dispersal ability, ground foraging and nesting behaviour, and lack of parental care for their chicks. Despite this, they have become increasingly common in urban areas in Australia, including major cities such as Sydney and Brisbane. The dri...
People who regard nature as important and personally meaningful are often compelled to conserve it. This compulsion is increasingly vital in a world where global climate and biodiversity crises are worsening, with younger generations set to bear most of the resulting ecological burden. By understanding why children and adolescents value nature, we...
A bstract
Background
Animals are important vectors for the dispersal of a wide variety of plant species, and thus play a key role in maintaining the health and biodiversity of natural ecosystems. On oceanic islands, flying-foxes are often the only seed dispersers or pollinators. However, many flying-fox populations are currently in decline, partic...
A preference to associate with kin facilitates inclusive fitness benefits, and increased tolerance or cooperation between kin may be an added benefit of group living. Many species exhibit preferred associations with kin, however it is often hard to disentangle active preferences from passive overlap, for example caused by limited dispersal or inher...
In recent years, ecologists have embraced the human dimensions of their discipline and expanded their remit to explore issues traditionally addressed by the social sciences and environmental humanities. This expansion offers opportunities to engage with diverse methodologies, some of which challenge the orthodoxies of conservation research; however...
Urban expansion is a major threat to natural ecosystems but also creates novel opportunities that adaptable species can exploit. The grey-headed flying-fox ( Pteropus poliocephalus ) is a threatened, highly mobile species of bat that is increasingly found in human-dominated landscapes, leading to many management and conservation challenges. Flying-...
Pacific Island bats are utterly fascinating, yet under threat and overlooked. Meet 4 species https://theconversation.com/pacific-island-bats-are-utterly-fascinating-yet-under-threat-and-overlooked-meet-4-species-165765 Paci c Island bats are utterly fascinating, yet under threat and overlooked. Meet 4 species
Global conservation is increasingly reliant on young people forming meaningful connections with urban nature. However, interactions with nearby nature do not inspire all children and adolescents living in cities to act pro-environmentally. Our survey of over 1,000 school students from Sydney, Australia, revealed that 28% of respondents maintained s...
Birds in the bin
It is by now well accepted that humans are not the only animal to have complex culture, and we have also found that ecological novelty can lead to cultural innovation. Klump et al. documented the emergence of an evolving set of behaviors in response to human-generated resources, specifically garbage bins, in sulphur-crested cockato...
Urbanization creates novel ecological spaces where some species thrive. Geographical urbanization promotes human–wildlife conflict; however, we know relatively little about the drivers of biological urbanization, which poses impediments for sound wildlife management and conservation action. Flying-foxes are extremely mobile and move nomadically in...
Citizen science projects provide valuable ecological data owing to their capacity to collect a wide variety of data at scales that would be difficult to achieve through traditional methods. A trade‐off exists between the complexity of data collected and participation, with projects typically falling into a continuum between documenting the presence...
Accurate and precise monitoring of species abundance is essential for determining population trends and responses to environmental change. However, traditional population survey methods can be unreliable and labour‐intensive, which complicates the effective conservation and management of many threatened species. We developed a method of using drone...
Conservation relies upon a primary understanding of changes in a species’ population size, distribution, and habitat use. Bats represent about one in five mammal species in the world, but understanding for most species is poor. For flying-foxes, specifically the 66 Pteropus species globally, 31 are classified as threatened (Vulnerable, Endangered,...
Background:
Effective conservation management of highly mobile species depends upon detailed knowledge of movements of individuals across their range; yet, data are rarely available at appropriate spatiotemporal scales. Flying-foxes (Pteropus spp.) are large bats that forage by night on floral resources and rest by day in arboreal roosts that may...
Urbanisation is a major land use change that introduces novel sources of disturbance and risk into an ecosystem. Successful urban species modify their fear behaviour in response to the new conditions, as evolutionary mismatches between fear responses and environmental conditions are likely to have negative fitness consequences. Here we tested the e...
Parrots are often referenced in discussions of social and cognitive complexity, yet relatively little is known of their social organisation in the wild. In particular, the presence of long-lasting social ties has been highlighted as a hallmark of social complexity, however the presence of such ties can be masked in fission-fusion systems like that...
Urbanisation is altering local flora and fauna, but urban greenspaces can provide refugia for a variety of taxa. However, we often lack basic biodiversity information (e.g., species richness) for these urban greenspaces. Citizen science projects are continuously improving our understanding of ecology at broad temporal and spatial scales. But, many...
Biodiversity values need to be appropriately quantified and thence incorporated in future land development decisions. We assessed the economic and conservation-fundraising potential of vagrant Aleutian Terns in New South Wales, Australia. We found that an estimated 375–581 birdwatchers travelled far (580 ± 522 km [mean ± SD]) and reacted quickly (2...
Context: In Australia, various species of macropods (family Macropodidae) are known to occur within peri-urban areas, where they can be a source of human–wildlife conflict. Some species, such as the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), have received considerable research attention over the past few years following demands from land managers...
Adult body size, mass and condition predict reproductive success and survival, and hence fitness, in mammals and many other animals. Here, we assessed morphological variation and body condition in populations of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) along an urban to natural land use gradient in the Sydney region, Australia. The red fox was introduced into A...
Citizen science programs provide an opportunity for the public to reconnect with nature; however, pro-environmental values may not necessarily result in a high level of participation. This study assessed the values and attitudes toward ecology and conservation of 482 people, including 231 citizen scientists participating in two programs requiring e...
Context
Urbanization fragments and destroys natural landscapes, generally decreasing bird diversity. While in some cases bird diversity continuously decreases in response to urbanization, in others a non-linear response is evident, with peak bird diversity observed at intermediate levels of urbanization. But many studies previously investigating th...
1.Habitat fragmentation and land degradation, directly and indirectly caused by urbanisation, are drastically altering the world's ecosystems and are therefore driving an imperative for ecological restoration within the world's cities. Current methods for the implementation and monitoring of restoration are limited. Restoration ecology needs cost‐e...
Introduced species can cause major disruptions to ecosystems, particularly on islands. On Christmas Island, the invasive yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes) has detrimental impacts on many animals ranging from the iconic red crabs (Gecarcoidea natalis) to the Christmas Island Thrush (Turdus poliocephalus erythropleurus). However, the full ext...
Identifying which ecological and life history traits influence a species’ tolerance to urbanization is critical to understanding the trajectory of biodiversity in an increasingly urbanizing world. There is evidence for a wide array of contrasting patterns for single trait associations with urbanization. In a continental‐scale analysis, incorporatin...
Urban waterbirds are considered both serious pests and inspiring wildlife. Ibis and gulls are often vilified due to their dirty appearance and disruption of outdoor activities, while ducks are affectionately fed in parks. However, all waterbirds are potential reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens. In Sydney (Australia), we documented the relative preval...
Flying foxes (family Pteropodidae) have distinct life histories given their size, characterized by longevity, low reproductive output, and long gestation. However, they tend to decouple the age at which sexual maturity is reached from the age at which they reach adult dimensions. We examined growth, maturation, and reproduction in the Critically En...
Wildlife is persisting in urban areas of Australia even though white settler colonialism has resulted in the large-scale destruction of forested landscapes. While many bird species are in decline, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo has found emergent opportunities for flourishing within the built environment. Cockatoos are actively generating relationall...
The grey-headed flying fox ( Pteropus poliocephalus) is a species endemic to coastal eastern Australia. This study presents a comprehensive set of biochemistry, hematology, and urinalysis biomarkers from which reference values were derived. Blood samples collected from free-ranging P. poliocephalus were submitted for hematology ( n = 140) and plasm...
Contrasting trajectories of biodiversity loss and urban expansion make it imperative to understand biodiversity persistence in cities. Size-, local-, and landscape-level habitat factors of greenspaces in cities may be critical for future design and management of urban greenspaces in conserving bird biodiversity. Most current understanding of bird c...
Context. Citizen science is increasingly used to collect biodiversity data to inform conservation management, but its validity within urban greenspaces remains largely unresolved. Aims. To assess the validity of eBird data for generating biodiversity estimates within an urban greenspace. Methods. We compared data from structured avian surveys with...
Foraging decisions tend to drive individuals toward maximising energetic gains within a patchy environment. This study aims to determine the extent to which rainfall, and associated changes in food availability, can explain foraging decisions within a patchy urbanised landscape, using the Australian white ibis as a model species. Ibis density, food...
Raw datum from observation experiments of ibis abundance, consumption rates and anthropogenic food sources.
Rainfall records also included sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology (www.bom.gov.au)
(XLSX)
Natural history, across disciplines, is essential for the continuation of science, especially as we attempt to identify the myriad of threats that biodiversity faces in this rapidly changing world. Recording the natural history of birds is perhaps the most prominent, widespread and long-standing pursuit of this activity. Yet, there is a distinct de...
Avitourism is one of the faster growing subsectors of ecotourism, recognized for its economic value. Much of our current understanding of the economic value of avitourism revolves around bird festivals, migration events, or well-known birdwatching sites. Birdwatchers are a diverse group, some of whom competitively seek vagrant birds (i.e., birds ou...
Using a seven-year data set of visitation of an inner city park by the Australian white ibis, we investigated whether rain events were correlated with ibis abundance in the park. The park is associated with high levels of anthropogenic food, but relatively low levels of natural food sources. For all magnitudes of rainfall tested, ibis abundance sig...
Urban greenspaces are important areas for biodiversity, serving multiple uses, sometimes including conservation and biodiversity management. Citizen science provides a cheap and potentially effective method of assisting biodiversity management in urban greenspaces. Despite this potential, the minimum amount of citizen science data required to adequ...
The purpose of this study was to determine the normal fecal bacterial and fungal flora and parasite prevalence in wild passerine birds found at the Australian Botanic Garden (Mount Annan, New South Wales). Wild passerine birds (n = 186) from 28 species were captured with mist nets. Fecal Gram stains (n = 155) were made from 26 species and analyzed...
Anthropogenic habitats often provide urban wildlife the opportunity to feed on a range of nutritionally diverse foods, which may ultimately lead to human-wildlife conflict. The Australian white ibis (Threskiornis moluccus) provides an exemplar model for examining the nutritional priorities and constraints of a native vertebrate that is successfully...
Monitoring individually marked birds' movements over the long term with the aid of third-party observers can be challenging for reasons including poor tag visibility, observer error and tag failure or removal. This study tested the efficacy of the little used method of tagging birds with livestock ear-tags; fitted to the patagia of 100 sulphur-cres...
Dramatic population increases of the native white ibis in urban areas have resulted in their classification as a nuisance species. In response to community and industry complaints, land managers have attempted to deter the growing population by destroying ibis nests and eggs over the last twenty years. However, our understanding of ibis ecology is...
Australian white ibis populations have increased in many urban areas while traditional inland populations have declined. In instances where conflicts have occurred land managers have been licensed to remove nests and eggs and cull adults at a site scale. With the increase in urban populations and local management of the species, there is a need to...
To test the effectiveness of patagial marking with cattle ear-tags for Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca), 105 adults and 58 nestlings were fitted with tags on each wing. Resighting frequency of adults, survival of nestlings, breeding behavior and foraging movements were monitored. The resighting frequency of wing-tagged adults was compar...
Context. In the Sydney region, the population of Australian white ibis has dramatically increased from rare observations in the 1950s to a breeding season peak of 8900 in 2008, resulting with human -wildlife conflicts. Within natural habitats across the eastern states, the ibis population has declined, yet within urban environments ibis have been l...
The Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca) is considered to be an urban pest along the east coast of Australia. The non-specific diet and broad habitat requirements of ibis have facilitated their successful exploitation of the urban environment. Ibis are considered a pest because they pose a threat to aircraft safety, scavenge food at waste-m...
Projects
Projects (5)
To develop new approaches to improve conservation management outcomes for the grey-headed flying-fox, specifically involving:
1) Population monitoring: Capitalise on new methodologies developed by the research team to monitor flying-foxes at nationally important camps.
2) Foraging resource mapping: Develop remotely sensed landscape-scale nectar availability maps to highlight spatially explicit targets for habitat conservation and restoration.
3) Heat stress mitigation: Test the efficacy of roost microclimate manipulation for mitigating heat stress.
To develop a mechanistic understanding of the movement ecology of flying-foxes, from local to continental scales.
With this project we address key issues in the field of movement research, and provide much-needed scientific underpinnings for policy and management of Australia's flying-foxes and other mobile species.
Our approach is guided by the emerging paradigm of ‘movement ecology’ that focuses on identifying behaviour from tracking data and revealing the mechanisms that drive patterns of movement.
Details: https://www.animalecologylab.org/flying-fox-movement-ecology.html
To develop a comprehensive understanding of the vulnerability of flying-foxes to extreme heat events, and provide a much-needed evidence base for management and conservation.
To make this ambitious aim tractable, our research program focuses on answering the following questions:
• What are the ecophysiological drivers of vulnerability of Australian flying-fox species to extreme heat events?
• How can we accurately predict extreme heat-related flying-fox die-offs occurring in the immediate future? [e.g. see our Flying-fox heat-stress forecaster]
• What are the implications of extreme heat events for the long-term persistence of flying-foxes and other wildlife?
• What management responses can help lessen the impacts of these events on flying-foxes and other wildlife?
Details: https://www.animalecologylab.org/flying-fox-heat-stress.html