Ross G Dwyer

University of the Sunshine Coast | USC · School of Science and Engineering

Assessing the causal factors underpinning the distribution and abundance of wildlife road‐induced mortality can be challenging. This is particularly ubiquitous for rare or elusive species, because traffic strikes occur infrequently for these populations and information about localized abundance, distribution and movements are generally lacking. Her...

Improvements in telemetry technology are allowing us to monitor animal movements with increasing accuracy, precision and frequency. The increased complexity of the data collections, however, demands additional software and programming skills to process, store and disseminate the datasets. Recent focus on data availability has also heightened the ne...

Underwater passive acoustic (PA) telemetry is becoming the preferred technology for investigating animal movement in aquatic systems; however, much of the current statistical tools for telemetry data were established from global positioning system (GPS)-based data. To understand the appropriateness of these tools for PA telemetry, we dual-tagged fr...

Colonial breeding is widespread among animals. Some, such as eusocial insects, may use agonistic behavior to partition available foraging habitat into mutually exclusive territories; others, such as breeding seabirds, do not. We found that northern gannets, satellite-tracked from 12 neighboring colonies, nonetheless forage in largely mutually exclu...

Understanding the relationship between kinship and female social preferences in mammalian societies is frequently complicated by philopatric behaviour and variation in pairwise home range overlap. While the influence of space use on association patterns is increasingly being considered in studies using network analysis, methods are needed for gener...

An ectotherm’s performance and physiological function are strongly tied to environmental temperature, and many ectotherms thermoregulate behaviourally to reach optimum body temperatures. Tropical ectotherms are already living in environments matching their thermal tolerance range and may be expected to conform to environmental temperatures. We trac...

How animals move and associate with conspecifics is rarely random, with a population’s spatial structure forming the foundation on which the social behaviours of individuals form. Studies examining the spatial–social interface typically measure averaged behavioural differences between individuals; however, this neglects the inherent variation prese...

Tag-recapture programs to monitor the movements of fish populations are among some of the longest-running citizen-science datasets to date. Here, using half a century of yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi, Carangidae) tag-recapture data collected through citizen-science projects, we report novel insights into population connectivity in Australia...

Background Acoustic telemetry has become a fundamental tool to monitor the movement of aquatic species. Advances in technology, in particular the development of batteries with lives of > 10 years, have increased our ability to track the long-term movement patterns of many species. However, logistics and financial constraints often dictate the locat...

Wildlife tourism can have adverse effects on the behaviours and movements of animals, with implications for the health and fitness of individuals and populations. We used acoustic-tracking to show that food-based attractants used in shark-tourism increases activity (15%) and burst behaviours (60%) in yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi, n = 18). I...

Animal social systems are inherently dynamic, with individuals moderating how they associate with conspecifics according to spatiotemporal shifts in population demography and resource availability. Understanding such variation is important not only to further our knowledge of a species' ecology but also to gain insights into the factors influencing...

In species where conflict is costly, individuals adopt alternative movement tactics to minimise the risk of competitive interactions. Dominant males often maintain defined territories, while less competitive males may be forced to adopt alternative tactics to maximise fitness and reduce conflict. However, the extent to which males switch tactics ac...

Unifying models have shown that the amount of space used by animals (e.g., activity space, home range) scales allometrically with body mass for terrestrial taxa; however, such relationships are far less clear for marine species. We compiled movement data from 1,596 individuals across 79 taxa collected using a continental passive acoustic telemetry...

Marine wildlife tourism is increasing in popularity, with operations targeting a wide range of taxa globally. While previous studies have mostly focused on assessing the effects of provisioning from tourism on focal species, non-focal species that unintentionally feed on supplemental food sources have largely been overlooked. This study improves ou...

Marine species and ecosystems are widely affected by anthropogenic stressors, ranging from pollution and fishing to climate change. Comprehensive assessments of how species and ecosystems are impacted by anthropogenic stressors are critical for guiding conservation and management investments. Previous global risk or vulnerability assessments have f...

Conservation and management of mobile marine species requires an understanding of how movement behaviour and space-use varies among individuals and populations, and how intraspecific differences influence exposure to anthropogenic threats. Because of their long-distance movements, broad distribution and long lifespan, whale sharks (Rhincodon typus)...

Examining the social behaviors of solitary species can be challenging due to the rarity in which interactions occur and the large and often inaccessible areas which these animals inhabit. As shared space-use is a prerequisite for the expression of social behaviors, we can gain insights into the social environments of solitary species by examining t...

The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundr...

Delineation of population structure (i.e. stocks) is crucial to successfully manage exploited species and to address conservation concerns for threatened species. Fish migration and associated movements are key mechanisms through which discrete populations mix and are thus important determinants of population structure. Detailed information on fish...

COVID-19 restrictions have led to an unprecedented global hiatus in anthropogenic activities, providing a unique opportunity to assess human impact on biological systems. Here, we describe how a national network of acoustic tracking receivers can be leveraged to assess the effects of human activity on animal movement and space use during such globa...

Using depth sensor transmitters and an array of acoustic receivers to monitor the facultative air-breathing Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri), we investigated habitat preferences and behavioral responses to seasonal hypoxic zones in a riverine impoundment. Threedimensional (3-D) kernel utilisation distribution (KUD) models revealed that d...

In social mammals, social integration is generally assumed to improve females' reproductive success. Most species demonstrating this relationship exhibit complex forms of social bonds and interactions. However, female eastern grey kangaroos ( Macropus giganteus ) exhibit differentiated social relationships, yet do not appear to cooperate directly....

Tropical rivers and estuaries are highly dynamic environments, where environmental conditions change dramatically over spatial and temporal scales. This creates both physiological and ecological challenges for euryhaline elasmobranchs, where fluctuations in salinity can impact not only osmoregulatory function but also the ability to find and acquir...

In social mammals, social integration is generally assumed to improve females' reproductive success. Most species demonstrating this relationship exhibit complex forms of social bonds and interactions. However, female eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) exhibit differentiated social relationships, yet do not appear to cooperate directly. It...

Estuarine crocodiles Crocodylus porosus inhabit freshwater, estuarine and marine environments. Despite being known to undertake extensive movements throughout and between hypo- and hyperosmotic environments, little is known on the role of the cloaca in coping with changes in salinity. In addition to the well-documented functional plasticity of the...

No-take marine protected areas (MPAs) are a commonly applied tool to reduce human fishing impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems. However, conservation outcomes of MPAs for mobile and long-lived predators such as sharks are highly variable. Here, we use empirical animal tracking data from 459 individual sharks and baited remote underwater video s...

ZoaTrack.org is a web application for visualising and analysing animal biotelemetry data. This online facility offers a robust set of free and highly accessible tools, which enables the non-specialist and specialist to better manage, store, visualise and analyse animal location data. The majority of the data stored in the facility has been collecte...

The optimal design of reserve networks and fisheries closures depends on species occurrence information and knowledge of how anthropogenic impacts interact with the species concerned. However, challenges in surveying mobile and cryptic species over adequate spatial and temporal scales can mask the importance of particular habitats, leading to uncer...

Body size and age are crucial factors influencing reproductive capacity and success. As females grow, their reproductive investment and success often increase due to improved overall physiological condition and experience gained through successive reproductive events. While much of this work has been conducted on birds and mammals, surprisingly lit...

Catadromous fish species often utilise elevated flows to migrate from freshwater to downstream spawning grounds. However, in regulated river systems artificial barriers and flow alteration can disrupt movement cues impacting fish migrations. Using a combination of acoustic telemetry, passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and gonad maturity data...

Background Over the past 15 years, the integration of localised passive telemetry networks into centralised data repositories has greatly enhanced our ability to monitor the presence and movements of highly mobile and migratory species. These large-scale networks are now generating big data, allowing meta-analyses across multiple species, locations...

Context Vehicle strike is a major issue where wildlife habitat is intersected by busy roads. Near Threatened Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi) is a large (5-10 kg) semi-arboreal mammal found in populated rural and forested areas of north-eastern Australia. Warning signs, rope bridges and underpasses have not prevented ∼20 animals bei...

Migratory species depend on connected habitats and appropriate migratory cues to complete their life cycles. Diadromous fish exemplify species with migratory life cycles by moving between connected freshwater and saltwater habitats to reproduce. However, migration increases the exposure of fish to multiple threats and it is critical that managers i...

AimUnderstanding the spatial and temporal variation in the distribution of migratory species is critical for management and conservation efforts. However, challenges in observing mobile marine species throughout their migratory pathways can impede the identification of critical habitat, linkages between these habitats and threat-mitigation strategi...

Euryhaline and freshwater elasmobranchs are considered amongst the most threatened groups of aquatic animals. The speartooth shark Glyphis glyphis has a distribution restricted to estuaries and rivers in northern Australia and Papua New Guinea. Due to this restricted range and threats from fisheries and habitat degradation, the species is currently...

The effective conservation and management of threatened species requires comprehensive knowledge about resource utilisation. Here we integrated tissue stable isotope analysis and biotelemetry to identify the predominant dietary resources of two sympatric species of freshwater turtle, and locate where those items were acquired. We deployed an array...

Animal social behaviour can have important effects on the long-term dynamics of diseases. In particular, preferential spatial relationships between individuals can lead to differences in the rates of disease spread within a population. We examined the concurrent influence of genetic relatedness, sex, age, home range overlap, time of year, and prion...

Box plots of observed association indices by season and year among adult mule deer in Saskatchewan, Canada. LG = late gestation, F = fawning, PR = pre-rut, R = rut, and EG = early gestation. Most seasons (all except PR 2010, EG 2010 and EG 2011) had a median of 0. The maximum and minimum values in every season were 1 and 0, respectively. Interquart...

Box plots of observed association indices among pairs of adult mule deer in Saskatchewan, Canada. FF = pairs of females. FM = female-male pairs. MM = pairs of males. LG = late gestation, F = fawning, PR = pre-rut, R = rut, and EG = early gestation. Most season and sex combinations (all except FM in rut, and MM in late gestation, pre-rut and early g...

Predicted (black) and observed (grey) pairwise association indices by sex class at increasing levels of volume of intersection (VI) among adult mule deer in Saskatchewan, Canada. FF = pairs of females, FM are female-males pairs, and MM are pairs of males. 95% confidence intervals depicted in dotted lines. (TIF)

Details on temporal patterns of spatial associations among mule deer in a chronic wasting disease endemic area in Saskatchewan, Canada. Tables A, B, C, D, E, F, and G; and Figures A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I. (DOCX)

Analysis of variance table of top model (model 15) for strength of pairwise spatial association among adult mule deer in Saskatchewan, Canada, and variance and standard deviation of random effect (i.e. dyad). (XLSX)

Seasonal variation of predicted (black) and observed (grey) pairwise association indices at increasing levels of volume of intersection (VI) among adult mule deer in Saskatchewan, Canada. 95% confidence intervals depicted in dotted lines. (TIF)

Datasets used to investigate factors affecting association strength (aim 1), and temporal patterns of associations (aim 2). (XLSX)

Model output with predicted association indices and pairwise comparisons. Tables H, I and J. (XLSX)

Facultative air-breathing fish can persist in hypoxic waters due to their capacity to acquire atmospheric oxygen. Most studies examining responses of air-breathing fish to aquatic hypoxia have occurred under experimental conditions. How air-breathing fish respond to hypoxic conditions in the field has received less attention. Using depth sensor tra...

Two closely-related species living in sympatry can only coexist if a shift towards a novel ecological niche occurs. For seabird species breeding in tropical regions, competitive pressures intensify due to high population densities in colonies and sporadic prey resources. Here, we used a stable isotope approach to infer inter-and intraspecific varia...

Catadromous fish species require adequate flows to migrate between fresh and saltwater habitats to reproduce. However, artificial barriers and flow alteration affect fish populations by reducing habitat connectivity and disrupting movement cues. In regulated rivers, it is critical that migratory flow requirements are quantified to optimise water al...

Nest predation is the main cause of hatch failure for many turtle populations. For loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting at the Wreck Rock rookery, adjacent to Deepwater National Park in south-east Queensland, yellow-spotted goannas (Varanus panoptes) are the main nest predator. However, no studies have documented the space use of goannas in...

Animal‐borne telemetry has revolutionized our ability to study animal movement, species physiology, demography and social structures, changing environments and the threats that animals are experiencing. While there will always be a need for basic ecological research and discovery, the current conservation crisis demands we look more pragmatically a...

In order to perform complex scientific data analysis, multiple software and skillsets are generally required. These analyses can involve collaborations between scientific and technical communities, with expertise in problem formulation and the use of tools and programming languages. While such collaborations are useful for solving a given problem,...

Management of water resources in regulated rivers is a balancing act between environmental requirements and anthropogenic uses. Understanding the environmental flow requirements for fish spawning migrations and upstream dispersal is essential in determining if current flow management rules, dam release strategies and fishway operations are effectiv...