School for Field Studies Australia

12/05/2026

We are thrilled to share our latest publication: a deep dive into the biodiversity of an ~8-hectare patch of semideciduous forest on the Atherton Tablelands. 🌿

Locally known as Mabi Forest, this is an endangered ecosystem, making every discovery within it incredibly significant. Our survey compiled records of over 600 species of plants and animals, most of which we observed firsthand in the field.

A few highlights from the study:

🐾 It was heartening to confirm that the forest’s namesake—the Mabi (Lumholtz’s Tree-kangaroo)—is still actively using this patch as habitat.

🐜 While the mammals get the spotlight, invertebrates were the true stars of diversity, with over 190 species identified (and we know that’s just the tip of the iceberg!).

🌱 We documented vital populations of threatened plants like Breynia macranthus, Phyllanthera grayi, and Gymnema stramineum.

🍄 We also produced the first-ever surveyed list of non-vascular plants (mosses and their allies) for this area.

This project underscores how even small forest remnants can be powerhouses of biodiversity.

Check out the open access article on:
https://www.nqnat.org/volume/56/2026

Check out the iNaturalist project where we uploaded all the observations of the project:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/biodiversity-of-a-mabi-forest-on-thomas-road

The survey is by no means comprehensive, but we hope this work forms a basis for conservation and continuing biodiversity research in these fascinating forest ecosystems.

Especially grateful to Andi Cairns and Will Cairns for contributing to and welcoming the survey at their property. Kudos and thanks to all Centre for Rainforest Studies staff and students who contributed to the survey effort.

Mia Miller-Derhé, Siggy Heise-Pavlov, Deborah Apgaua, Mairin Rogers, Victoria Holman, Victoria Nazarov, Reese Farrow, Joshua Stephenson

Liz Carlson, Solphie Colbert, Gray Dallaire, James Leone, Jalynette Sanchez, Caelon Shugrue, Ellery Stanzel, Caroline White, Dominika Zdziebko, Camryn Zoeller, Benjamin Gravel, Stella Lindbergh

Our thanks also to editor Ana Palma and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the paper.



The School for Field Studies

21/02/2026

Thrilled to share this recent work involving academics at the SFS Australia that has been published in an issue in New Phytologist as part of a global effort in understanding plant wood density.

Understanding plant wood density is crucial for accurately predicting forest carbon storage, ecosystem resilience to drought, and tree mortality rates, serving as a master trait that shapes forest strategies. Global studies indicate that variations in wood density are driven by climate and environmental filters, making it a critical metric for informed vegetation management and climate modelling.
This comprehensive study involving over 100 authors around the world highlights that intraspecific variation—differences within species—accounts for roughly 15% of global wood density variation. Analyzing over 109,000 records from over 16,800 plant species, the findings show that trees in extreme environments produce denser wood, which is crucial for improving the accuracy of climate models and carbon storage estimations.

Congratulations to all authors from around the world for this truly massive effort.

David Tng Deborah Apgaua

Wood density is central for estimating vegetation carbon storage and a plant functional trait of great ecological and evolutionary importance. However, the global extent of wood density variation is ...

10/12/2025

Earlier in July, one of the projects that we have been working on for quite a while finally came to fruition as a publication in a special issue article in the American Journal of Botany.

We had spent a research season collecting plants from a tropical regenerative agroforest to do flammability trials. We wanted to propose a concept of using diverse food forest systems to make agricultural landscapes more fire-smart. By trialling the flammability of a wide range of crop or ornamental plants, we hope to provide a database of relative plant flammability that would inform practitioners or farmers who might be interested to build green firebreaks to help mitigate fire risks on their farms or properties.

More than just talking about plant flammability, we were also very pleased to be able to work at and showcase a diverse agroforestry system that follows regenerative principles. To us, it seemed like diverse plantings of selected plants with low flammability would make for a nice natural solution that could complement other well known fire mitigation strategies.

Check out our paper at: https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajb2.70075

or listen to the podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/fight-fire-with-food-forests/

The study was supervised by our faculty Deborah Apgaua and David Tng.
Congratulations to our student co-authors Ashley Pacheco (also illustrator of the agroforest profile), Hannah Goodman, Lexi Hankenson, Alejandro Ortiz, Henry Maxwell M., Joseph Fisk and also fellow staff co-authors The School for Field Studies, Emily Bischoff, Sophia Love, Victoria Holman. Special thanks also to Neil Hawes & Jane Hawes for their kind permission to conduct this study on their regenerative farm Regen Hub.

Premise The increased frequency of droughts and wildfires in recent decades poses a significant risk to agricultural lands and private property. Given the negative impact of fires on food production...

03/12/2025

This 2025 Wet semester, it was wet, so we looked at mosses and liverworts!

05/04/2025

We are thrilled to share another new article, titled "Bryophyte diversity in a remnant upland rainforest on the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, Australia," which is now live at North Queensland Naturalist.
https://www.nqnat.org/_files/ugd/eb4488_f6a9735fae2c4ff9b212e24e6e57a22c.pdf

Mosses and allied plants, collectively called bryophytes, are a group of vital yet often overlooked component of the flora in the Australian Wet Tropics bioregion. For this reason, we thought it would be nice to look into the miniature world of these plants.

A few years ago a number of our directed research students Zoe, Camilla and Aiden did a project looking at the diversity bryophytes in a small patch ~6 ha of endangered Mabi forest within Hallorans Hill Conservation Park, Atherton. We surveyed of bryophytes across various microhabitats and substrates.

📊 Key Findings:
44 species of moss
41 species of liverworts
2 species of hornworts

The high diversity of bryophytes (80+ species) recorded underscores the need for further research and conservation efforts in Mabi forests.

🔍 Read the full paper to explore our findings and their implications for bryophyte ecology in the Wet Tropics.

Congratulations and thanks to all co-authors and everyone involved in this research!
Zoe Strothkamp, Camilla Mancini, Aiden Nelsen, Victoria Holman, Sophie Love, Emily Bischoff, Emily Bischoff, Deborah Apgaua, Andi Cairns.

This article also pays tribute to one of our co-authors, the late and eminent bryologist David Meagher.



The School for Field Studies

30/03/2025

Exciting News! 🌿 Our latest research on biodiversity is now published!

And it is now live on North Queensland Naturalist!
https://www.nqnat.org/_files/ugd/eb4488_3b879d825f144e8abf508e2466806258.pdf

Last November, during the Fall semester, students and staff from the Centre for Rainforest Studies, School for Field Studies, participated in a bioblitz event in Malanda, Queensland. The event took place in a public park with a revegetated strip of riparian forest.

Key Highlights:
- Over 260 plant species and 180 animal species observed
- 300 participants, including local naturalists and the public
- Successful public engagement through citizen science

We concluded that involving the public as citizen scientists is a fantastic way to raise awareness of nature and understand local biodiversity.

Congrats to all the students and local naturalists who coauthored the paper! Special thanks to journal editor Don Franklin, the SFS Fall 2024 cohort, and all contributors of plant and animal observations.

Check out the full article and join us in celebrating this achievement by our student group!



Victoria Holman, Deborah Apgaua,

21/06/2024

Wonder to meet up with Brent Curry, an alumni from the Wet 2001 semester (23 years ago!!), who has come up to visit, along with his fiancee, Marcela. Talking to Brent, he told us that his SFS experience inspired him to expand his horizons and travel, and he has visited over 100 countries since.

06/05/2024

The Wet 2024 semester has come to an end, and as we part with our lovely students we wish them the best in their upcoming journey. Thanks for making the semester a success!



A shout out also to all Centre for Rainforest Studies staff who kept things running, Sigrid Heise-Pavlov, Mia Miller-Derhé, Deborah Apgaua, David Tng, Sophie Love, Victoria Holman, Emily Bischoff, Hawes, Katie Callaghan, Chris Osmond, Anna Chahuneau, and the various guest lecturers and community partners who supported our field exercises and directed research.
Special thanks to Sophie Love for the photo.

04/05/2024

Revegetation efforts are essential for restoring habitat necessary for the survival of endemic, often endangered species within the Atherton Tablelands. However, revegetation is a historically controversial topic in the region due to a past of highly contentious environmental movements. This study, carried out by Wet semester 2024 students Hannah Brazus, Rosie Saglimbeni and Devon Fisher and advisor Dr Mia Miller-Derhé, explores how local landowners perceive revegetation and the barriers and benefits they encounter when engaging in it. Ultimately, this study aims to develop effective strategies for increasing revegetation efforts in the Tablelands region while supporting landowners.



Thanks also to Anna Chahuneau for her expert advice on video-making.

02/05/2024

This semester we did a project close to home where we set up an arboretum at the Australia campus. With the blessing of our traditional landowners, our Wet semester directed research group, Ella Martin, Emma Kaplan, Emma Kenney and Margaret Muldoon with advisors David Tng and Deborah Apgaua have set out to set up a biocultural arboretum - a place where we envision that our local traditional landowners can come to share their knowledge and their stories with their mob and others.



A great thanks also to Anna Chahuneau for her expert guidance on video making.