Inferring deep ecological and evolutionary processes from observable patterns. A research group at University of Tasmania.
We are a research group at the University of Tasmania, led by ARC Australian Laureate Professor Barry Brook. We study ecological and evolutionary dynamics, global change, and conservation biology. Our study systems include plants and animals, with a focus on the unique Australian environment.
02/12/2020
Australia is doing pretty well on the endemic scale in global comparison but at the end of the day, why does it matter? Discover why in our DEEP Thought Blog Post by PhD Candidate Annie Nguyen. https://www.deep-group.com/post/what-is-endemism-and-why-should-you-care
12/08/2020
Meta-analysis: a tool to avoid drowning in a sea of information, or, 'should you be trying to get your hands on some hydroxychloroquine?' - DEEP Thought by Dr. Tom Botterill-Jones
META-ANALYSIS TRUMPS FAKE NEWS Meta-analysis: a tool to avoid drowning in a sea of information, or, ‘should you be trying to get your hands on some hydroxychloroquine?’ By Tom Botterill-James If you’ve been reading any coronavirus dominated news over the last wee while, you would have heard various advocates and naysayers f...
10/06/2020
A timely Deep Thought post from PhD Candidate Matt Fielding. For the last 60,000 years, Australia's birds have lived alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait people, developing a profound mutualistic relationship. Matt's post touches on a few of the deep-rooted connections that Indigenous Australians have established with Australian birds and highlights some of the lessons we can learn from traditional knowledge.
AUSTRALIA'S BIRDS ARE EMBEDDED WITHIN ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN CULTURE By Matthew Fielding Birds have been on the Australian continent for eons. Australia is even recognised as the origin of the songbirds that now tenderly wake us up all over the world. For the last 60,000 years, these birds have lived along side Aboriginal and Torres Strait people, developing a profou...
15/04/2020
The recent massive firestorms that incinerated much of Australia’s vegetation have left devastating impacts on our native flora and fauna. The animals most likely to survive the recent firestorms have adaptations that help them cope with fires better than other animals. We may think these fires are unprecedented, and in our experience, they are, but the fossil record tells us they’ve happened time and again. In the past, the only species left on earth had certain characteristics which allowed them to survive, but even then, survival was not guaranteed: Dr. Matt McDowell explaining bushfires as past and present drivers of extinction, in this month's DEEP Thought!
BUSHFIRES AS DRIVERS OF EXTINCTION: PRESENT & PAST By Matt McDowell The recent massive firestorms that incinerated much of Australia’s vegetation has left people reeling, but the impacts on our native flora and fauna may be even more devastating. Several stands of wet rainforests that haven’t been burnt in European memory, and lots of other vege...
08/04/2020
The ABC Four Corners 2020 Series Saving the Amazon (https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners/series/2020/video/NC2003H008S00) encapsulates last month's DEEP Thought blog post by Carley Fuller; backed by research, the written piece explains how pivotal deforestation in the Amazon is to global-scale biodiversity.
05/03/2020
A draft law signed last month in Brazil would allow for large-scale mining and oil and gas extraction to take place on designated Indigenous territories. Passage of this law would constitute a significant threat to the land rights of indigenous peoples across the country, many of whom are on the front-lines of the struggle to halt illegal deforestation - PhD candidate Carley Fuller wrote our Deep Thought for this month: https://www.deep-group.com/post/the-opening-up-of-indigenous-lands-in-brazil-is-a-threat-to-global-scale-biodiversity-conservation
19/02/2020
📢 Our DEEP group has a fancy new website! 🎉
Check it out here: http://deep-group.com
Massive thank you to Nick Nairn-Smith, Peter Vaughan and Matthew Fielding for providing exceptional photos!
18/02/2020
Using models can overcome difficulties with selection for land-cover classification!
Congratulations to Vishesh Leon Diengdoh (& co-authors) for his first PhD publication!
*Ensemble algorithm provided as R-script!
A validated ensemble method for multinomial land-cover classification Land-cover data provides valuable information for landscape management and can be generated using machine learning algorithms. Ensemble models or mode…
18/02/2020
Elephants as refugees. Interesting new paper from our PhD candidate, Tristan Derham
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10070
Elephants as refugees A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
29/01/2020
Now that we are one month ‘deep’ into 2020, we'd like to welcome three post-docs and one honours student to our group! Their projects fit nicely with the broader research aims of DEEP, with a strong emphasis on mathematical modelling to understand past extinction events and predict future biodiversity changes. Head to our website to take a closer look at the talents and interests of our new researchers!
https://www.deep-group.com ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage UTAS School of Biological Sciences
28/01/2020
Our DEEP researchers, of the University of Tasmania, Matthew Fielding & Tristan Derham, discussing the ecological consequences of the Tasmanian Emu and possibilities for introducing back into the ecosystem! Interviewed by Geogie J Burgess for ABC Hobart
Researchers ponder reintroducing emus back to Tasmania Wild emus have not roamed Tasmania since the 1800s, and researchers are now looking at the birds' poo to find answers about how they lived.