Here are the latest publications from members of the Davis lab (lab members in bold, * = adjunct appointment), please contact us if you would like a PDF of any of these papers.

2023

Leseberg, N.P., Kurt, A., Evans, M.C., Nou, T., Spillias, S., Stone, Z., Walsh, J.C., Murphy, S.A., Bamford, M.J., Burbidge, A.H., Crossing, K., Davis, R.A., Garnett, S.T., Kavanagh, R.P., Murphy, R., Read, J., Read, J., Leeuwen, S., Watson, A.W.T., Watson, J.E.M., Maron, M. (2023). Establishing effective conservation management strategies for a poorly-known endangered species: a case study using Australia’s Night Parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis). Biodiversity and Conservation. Accepted.

Li, Y., Hopkins, A.J.M. and Davis, R.A. (2023). Goin, going, gone. The Diminishing Capacity of Museum Specimen Collections to Address Global Change Research: A Case Study on Urban Reptiles. Animals. 13: 1078.

Treloar, S., Lohr, C.A., Hopkins, A.J., Ottewell, K., McArthur, S. and Davis, R.A. (2023). Scat DNA as a non-invasive method for estimating the abundance of the vulnerable mala Lagorchestes hirsutus. Wildlife Research. Online Early.

2022

Carter, R.S., Lohr, C.A., Burbidge, A.H., Davis, R.A. (2022). Eaten out of house and home: local extinction of Abrolhos painted button‐quail Turnix varius scintillans due to invasive mice, herbivores and rainfall decline. Biological Invasions. Online early.

Cowan, M. A., Moore, H. A., Hradsky, B. A., Jolly, C. J., Dunlop, J. A., Wysong, M. L., Hernandez-Santin, L., Davis, R. A., Fisher, D. O., Michael, D. R., Turner, J. M., Gibson, L. A., Knuckey, C. G., Henderson, M., Nimmo, D. G. (2022). Non-preferred habitat increases the activity area of the endangered northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) in a semi-arid landscape. Australian Mammalogy. Online Early.

Davis, R.A., Joseph, L. and Johnstone, R. (2022). Status of the Barking Owl Ninox connivens in south-western Australia. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club. 142: 366-376.

Davis, R.A., Valentine, L.E. and Craig, M.D. (2022). Do bird communities differ with post-fire age in Banksia woodlands of south-western Australia? International Journal of Wildland Fire. Online Early.

Bateman, P.W., Benken, R., Glowacki, R. and Davis, R.A. (2022). A most unusual tail: Scoliosis in a wild Australian skink, and reported incidences and suggested causes of similar malformations amongst squamates. Austral Ecology.

2021

Van Etten, E.J., Davis, R.A. and Doherty, T. (2021). Fire in semi-arid shrublands and woodlands: spatial and temporal patterns in an Australian landscape. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 9. Special issue Fire regimes in desert ecosystems: drivers impacts and changes.

Kestel, J., Phillips, R., Anthony, J.,  Davis, R.A. and Krauss, S. (2021). Unexpectedly low paternal diversity is associated with infrequent pollinator visitation for a bird‐pollinated plant. Oecologia. 196: 937-950.

Alison L. Ritchie, Lauren N. Svejcar Bronwyn M. Ayre, Julian Bolleter, Aaron Brace, Michael D. Craig, Belinda Davis, Robert A. Davis, Eddie J.B. Van Etten, Joseph B. Fontaine, William M. Fowler, Ray H. Froend, Christine Groom, Giles E. St. J. Hardy, Paula Hooper, Anna J.M. Hopkins, Michael Hughes, Siegfried L. Krauss, Matthias Leopold, Ben P. Miller, Russell G. Miller, Cristina E. Ramalho, Katinka X. Ruthrof, Christopher Shaw, Jason C. Stevens, Ryan Tangney, Leonie E. Valentine, Erik J. Veneklaas, Richard J. Hobbs.  (2021). A threatened ecological community: research advances and priorities for Banksia Woodlands. Australian Journal of Botany. Turner Review. 69: 53-84.

Treloar, S., Lohr, C., Hopkins, A.J.M. and Davis, R.A. (2021). Rapid population expansion of Boodie (Burrowing Bettong, Bettongia lesueur) creates potential for resource competition with Mala (Rufous Hare-wallaby, Lagorchestes hirsutus). Ecological Management and Restoration. Special issue on optimum management of overabundant macropods. 22: S1: 54-57.

2020

Lohr, C., Lohr, M., Burbidge, A. and Davis, R.A. (2020). Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity across urban and agricultural landscapes in an Australian owl. Emu. 120: 275-285.

Radley, P., van Etten, E., Blake, D. and Davis, R.A. (2020). Identifying critical feeding and breeding habitat for an island endemic bird threatened by sea level rise. Biotropica. 53: 422– 432.

Lohr, M.T., Krauss, S., Spencer, P.B.S, Anthony, J., Burbidge, A.H. and Davis, R.A. (2020). Widespread genetic connectivity in Australia’s most common owl, despite extensive habitat fragmentation. Emu. 120: 249-259.

Hernandez-Santin, L., Henderson, M., Molloy, S. , Dunlop, J. and Davis, R.A. (2020). Spatial ecology of an endangered carnivore, the Pilbara northern quoll). Australian Mammalogy. Accepted.

Main, M., Davis, R.A., Blake, D., Mills, H. and Doherty, T.S. (2020). Human impact and bioclimatic drivers of red fox home range size globally. Diversity and Distributions. 26: 1083-1092.

Lettoof, D.C., Lohr, M., Busetti, F., Bateman, P.W. and Davis, R.A. (2020). Toxic time bombs: Frequent detection of anticoagulant rodenticides in urban reptiles at multiple trophic levels. Science of the Total Environment. 724:138218.

Radley, P., Davis, R.A. and Doherty, T. (2020) Impacts of Invasive Rats And Tourism On A Threatened Island Bird: the Palau Micronesian Scrubfowl. Bird Conservation International. Early View.

2019

Davis, R.A. and Douglas, T.D. (2019). Feathered jewels: birds of the Yule Brook Region, pp. 285-295 In Lambers, H. (Ed). A jewel in the crown of a global biodiversity hotspot. Kwongan Foundation and Naturalists Club Inc, Perth. 444pp.

Molloy, S.W., Burbidge, A.H*., Comer, S. and Davis, R.A. (2019). Using climate change models to inform the recovery of a critically endangered parrot, the Western Ground Parrot.  Oryx 54: 52-61.

Davis, R.A., Roberts, D. and Lohr, C. (2019). Amphibian survival and population viability in an agricultural landscape with a drying climate. Population Ecology. 61: 102-112.

2018

Oversby, W., Ferguson, S.M., Davis, R.A. and Bateman, P.W. (2018). Bad news for bobtails: understanding predatory behaviour of a resource-subsidised corvid towards an island endemic reptile. Wildlife Research 45 (7): 595-601.

Dornelas M, Antão LH, Moyes F, et al. including Davis, R.A. (2018). BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 27: 760-786.

Davis, A., Lepczyk, C., Haman, K., Modren, C., Crow, S., Jensen, N. and Lohr, M. (2018). Toxoplasma gondii detection in fecal samples from domestic cats (Felis catus) in Hawai’i. Pacific Science, 72:1-19 (early view).

Lohr, M. (2018). Anticoagulant rodenticide exposure in an Australian predatory bird increases with proximity to developed habitat. Science of the Total Environment, 643: 134-144.

Davis, R.A. and Watson, D.M. (2018). Vagrants as vanguards of range shifts in a dynamic world. Biological Conservation. 224: 238-241.

Lohr, M. T. and Davis, R.A. (2018). Anticoagulant rodenticide use, non-target impacts and regulation: a case study from Australia. Science of the Total Environment. 634: 1372-1384.

Ha, J., Cruz, J., Kremer, S., Camacho, V. and Radley, P. (2018). Trends in avian roadside surveys over a 20 year period on Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Pacific Science, 72: 81-93.

Radley, P., Davis, R.A., Dekker, R., Molloy, S.W., Blake, D. and Heinsohn, R. (2018). Vulnerability of megapodes (Megapodiidae; Aves) to climate change and related threats. Environmental Conservation. 45 (4): 396-406.

2017

Virens, J., Davis, R.A. and Doherty, T.S. (2017). Two records of amelanism in the Australian skink Ctenotus fallens (Storr, 1974). Herpetology Notes. 10: 453-455.

Watson, D.M and Davis, R.A. (2017). Hopeful monsters – In defence of quests to rediscover long-lost species. Conservation Letters. Early View.

Burbidge, A.H*., Joseph, L., Toon, A., White, L.C., McGuire, A. and Austin, J.J. (2017). A case for realigning species limits in the southern Australian whipcords long recognised as the Western Whipbird (Psophodes nigrogularis). Emu. Online early.

Molloy, S.W., Davis, R.A., Dunlop, J. and Van Etten, E.J.B. (2017). Applying surrogate species presences to correct sample bias in species distribution models: a case study using the Pilbara population of the Northern Quoll. Nature Conservation 18:25-46.

Davis, R.A., Duston, G. and Szabo, J. (2017). Conservation status of threatened and endemic birds, New Britain, Papua New Guinea. Bird Conservation International. Early View.

2016

Molloy, S.W. and Davis, R.A. (2016). Resilience to agricultural habitat fragmentation in an arboreal marsupial. Australian Mammalogy. Online Early.

Lohr M.T., Lohr C.A., Keighery G., Long V. (2016) The status and distribution of non-native plants on the gazetted and territorial islands off the north coast of Western Australia. Conservation Science Western Australia 10: 8.

Doherty, T.S., Van Etten, E.J.B., Davis, R.A., , Knuckey, C., Dalgleish, S., Radford, J.Q. (2016). Ecosystem responses to fire: identifying cross-taxa conflicts and complementarities to inform management strategies. Ecosystems. Online Early.

Davis, R.A*., Doherty, T.S*., Van Etten, E.J.B., Radford, J.Q., Knuckey, C., Holmes, F. and Davis, B. (2016). Conserving long unburnt vegetation is important for bird species, guilds and diversity. Biodiversity and Conservation. 25: 2709-2722. (* joint first authors).

Lohr, M. T., & Keighery, G. (2016). Quercus (Fagaceae) in Western Australia. Western Australian Naturalist, 30, 172-175.

Lohr M.T., Keighery, G. (2016). The status and distribution of naturalised alien plants on the islands of the west coast of Western Australia. Conservation Science Western Australia 10: 1.

Molloy, S.W., Davis, R.A. and Van Etten, E.J.B. (2016). An evaluation and comparison of spatial modelling applications for the management of biodiversity: A case study on the fragmented landscapes of south-western Australia. Pacific Conservation Biology 22: 338-349.

Molloy, S.W., Davis, R.A. and Van Etten, E.J.B. (2016). Incorporating field studies into species distribution and climate change modelling: a case study of the koomal
Trichosurus vulpecula hypoleucus (Phalangeridae). PLoS One 11(4): e0154161.

Lohr, M. and Lohr, C. (2016). Weeds on Western Australia’s Islands: A historical database with records spanning from 1913 to 2014. (Dataset). AEKOS.

Saracco, J.F., Radley, P., Pyle, P., Rowan, E., Taylor, R. and Helton, L. (2016). Linking vital rates of landbirds on a tropical island to rainfall and vegetation greenness. PLoS One 11(2): e0148570. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0148570.

Cramer, V., Dunlop, J., Davis, R.A., Ellis, R., Barnett, B., Cook, A., Morris, K., van Leeuwen, S. (2016). Research priorities for the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Australian Mammalogy. 38(2): 135-148.

Loxdale, H.D.L., Davis, B.J and Davis, R.A. (2016). Known knowns and unknowns in biology. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 117(2): 386-398.

2015

Lohr, C., Passeretto, K., Lohr, M., & Keighery, G. (2015). Prioritising weed management activities in a data deficient environment: the Pilbara islands, Western Australia. Heliyon, 1(4), e00044.

Camp, R.J., Brinck, K.W., Gorresen, P.M., Amidon, F.A., Radley, P.M.,  Berkowitz,S.P. and Banko, P.C. (2015). Current land bird distribution and trends in population abundance between 1982 and 2012 on Rota, Mariana Islands. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management. 6(2): 511-540.

Krawiec, J., Krauss, S.L., Davis, R.A., Spencer, B.S. (2015). Weak genetic structuring suggests historically high genetic connectivity among recently fragmented urban populations of the scincid lizard Ctenotus fallens. Australian Journal of Zoology, 63(4): 279-286.

Doherty, T.S. (2015) Dietary overlap between sympatric dingoes and feral cats at a semi-arid rangeland site in Western Australia. Australian Mammalogy, 37: 219-224.

Doherty, T.S., Dickman, C.R., Nimmo, D.G. and Ritchie, E.G. (2015) Multiple threats, or multiplying the threats? Interactions between invasive predators and other ecological disturbances. Biological Conservation, 190:60-68.

Davis, R.A*. and Doherty, T.S*. (2015). Rapid recovery of an urban remnant reptile community following summer wildfire. PLOS ONE, 10(5): e0127925. [Open Access] (* joint co-authors).

Doherty, T.S.  and Algar, D. (2015). Response of feral cats to a track-based baiting programme using Eradicat baits. Ecological Management & Restoration 16:124-130.

Doherty, T.S., Davis, R.A. and van Etten, E.J.B. (2015). A game of cat-and-mouse: microhabitat influences rodent foraging in recently burnt, but not long unburnt shrublands. Journal of Mammalogy, 96:324-331.

Doherty, T.S., Davis, R.A., van Etten, E.J.B., Collier, N. and Krawiec, J. (2015) Response of a shrubland mammal and reptile community to a history of landscape-scale wildfire. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 24:534-543.

Doherty, T.S., Davis, R.A., van Etten, E.J.B., Algar, D., Collier, N., Dickman, C.R., Edwards, G., Masters, P., Palmer, R. and Robinson, S. (2015). A continental-scale analysis of feral cat diet in Australia. Journal of Biogeography, 42:964-975.

2014

Doherty, T.S., Bengsen, A., Davis, R.A. (2014). A critical review of habitat use by feral cats and key directions for future research and management. Wildlife Research, 41: 435-446.

Davis, R.A., Valentine, L.E., Craig, M.D., Wilson, B., Bancroft, W.J., and Mallie, M. (2014). Impact of Phytophthora-dieback on birds in Banksia woodlands in south west Western Australia. Biological Conservation 171: 136-144.

Molloy, S., Davis, R.A. and van Etten, E. (2014). Species distribution modelling using bioclimatic variables to determine the impacts of a changing climate on the western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis; Pseudocheiridae). Environmental Conservation. 41(2): 176-186.

Lohr, M.T., and Keighery, G. (2014). The status and distribution of alien plants on the islands of the south coast of Western Australia. Conservation Science Western Australia, 9: 181-200. [Open Access]

Marie, A., VanderWerf, E. A., Young, L. C., Smith, D. G., Eijzenga, J., and Lohr, M. T. (2014). Response of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (Puffinus pacificus) to eradication of black rats (Rattus rattus) from Moku’auia Island after reinvasion. Pacific Science, 68(4), 547-553.

Amidon, F., Camp, R.J., Marshall, A.P., Pratt, T.K., Williams, L., Radley, P., Cruz, J.B. (2014). Terrestrial bird population trends on Aguiguan (Goat Island), Mariana Islands. Bird Conservation International, 24:505-517.

Santiago-Quesada F., Estrella, S.M., Juan M. Sánchez-Guzmán, José A. Masero (2014). Why water birds forage at night: a test using black-tailed godwits Limosa limosa during migratory periods. Journal of Avian Biology, 45: 406-409. 

2013

Davis, R.A. and Wilcox, J.A. (2013). Adapting to suburbia: bird ecology on an urban-bushland interface in Perth, Western Australia. Pacific Conservation Biology, 19: 110-120.

Davis, R.A., Gole, C. and Roberts, J.D. (2013). Impacts of urbanisation on the native avifauna of Perth, Western Australia. Urban Ecosystems, 16: 427-452. DOI 10.1007/s11252-012-0275-y

Young, L.C., VanderWerf, E.A., Lohr, M.T., Miller, C.J., Titmus, A.J., Peters, D., Wilson, L. (2013). Multi-species predator eradication within a predator-proof fence at Ka’ena Point, Hawai’i. Biological Invasions, 15:2627-2638.

Vanderwerf, E.A., Lohr, M.T., Titmus, A.J., Taylor, P.E., Burt, M.D. (2013). Current distribution and abundance of the O’ahu ‘Elepaio (Chasiempis ibidis). Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 125:600-608.

Doherty TS, RA Davis and EJB van Etten (2013) A game of cat-and-mouse: does habitat structure and fire history influence native rodent foraging behaviour? Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 96(2):85.

2012

Bertzeletos, D., Davis, R.A. and Horwitz, P. (2012). Importance of Lake McLeod, northwestern Australia, to shorebirds: a review and an update. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 95: 115-124.

Santiago-Quesada, F., Masero, JA., Marin-Estrella, S., Sanchez-Guzman, JM., (2012). Persistent bimodal activity patterns in wild and captive black-tailed godwit Limosa limosa under different environmental conditions. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 66(3), 397-405, DOI: 10.1007/s00265-011-1285-0.

2011

Davis, R.A. and Roberts, J.D. (2011). Survival and population size of the frog Heleioporus albopunctatus in a highly modified agricultural landscape. Copeia, 2011(3): 423-29.

Marin-Estrella, S., Storey, AW., Pearson, G., Piersma, T., (2011). Potential effects of Lyngbya majuscula blooms on benthic invertebrate diversity and shorebird foraging ecology at Roebuck Bay, Western Australia: preliminary results. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 94(2), 171-179.

Radley, P., Crary, A.L., Bradley, J., Carter, C., Pyle, P. (2011). Molt patterns, biometrics, and age and gender classification of landbirds on Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 123:588-594

Lohr, M., Collins, B.M., Williams, C.K., Castelli, P.M. (2011). Life on the edge: Northern bobwhite ecology at the northern periphery of their range. Journal of Wildlife Management, 75:52-60

2010

Marin-Estrella, S., Masero, JA., (2010). Prey and prey size selection by the near-threatened Black-tailed Godwit foraging in non-tidal areas during migration. Waterbirds: the international journal of waterbird biology, 33(3), 293-299, [Open Access]

Pre-2010

Davis, R.A. and Burbidge,A.A. (2008). The Elegant Parrot (Neophema elegans) in arid regions of Western Australia. Amytornis: Western Australian Journal of Ornithology, 1: 1-5.

Davis, R.A. and Metcalf, B.M. (2008). The Night Parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis) in northern Western Australia: a recent sighting from the Pilbara region. Emu, 108: 233-36.

Davis, R.A. and Wilcox, J. (2008). Range extension of the Western Heath Dragon Rankinia adelaidensis and Gray’s Legless Lizard Delma grayii with notes on the distribution of sonuthern Swan Coastal Plain reptiles. The Western Australian Naturalist, 26: 67-70.

Davis, R.A. and Bamford, M.J. (2005). A range extension for Lerista lineopunctulata (Dumeril and Bibron 1839) and a second record of Lerista lineata, near Yalgorup, Western Australia. The Western Australian Naturalist, 25: 59-60.

Davis, R.A. and Roberts, J.D. (2005). The effects of habitat fragmentation on the population genetic structure of the Western Spotted Frog, Heleioporus albopunctatus (Anura: Myobatrachidae) in south-western Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology, 53: 167- 175.

Davis, R.A. and Roberts, J.D. (2005). Embryonic survival and egg number in small and large populations of the frog Heleioporus albopunctatus in Western Australia. Journal of Herpetology, 39: 133-138.

Davis, R.A. and Roberts, J.D. (2004). Operational sex ratio and mating behaviour of the myobatrachid frog Neobatrachus kunapalari. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 87: 97-99

Smith, M.J., Roberts, J.D, Hammond, T.J and Davis, R.A. (2003). Intraspecific variation in the advertisement call of the Sunset Frog Spicospina flammocaerulea (Anura: Myobatrachidae): a frog with a limited geographic distribution. Journal of Herpetology, 37: 285-291.

Davis, R.A. and Disney, R.H.L.D. (2002). Natural History and description of a scuttle fly (Diptera: Phoridae) predating the eggs of frogs (Anura: Myobatrachidae) in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Entomology, 42: 18-21.

Online PhD Theses

Dr Shaun Molloy. 2013. Applying the principles of spatial modelling to the management of biodiversity in the fragmented landscapes of south-western Australia. http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/870/