Current Work
The development of plantation forestry has implications for habitat availability for animals. Plantation forests differ in structure and plant species composition to native forests. We are investigating how these forest differ and the consequences of these differences for maintaining faunal populations. Our work has identified differences in mammal, bird, frog and lizard assemblages. We have investigated how changes in the thermal environment are likely to impact on lizard communities in these habitats and we are currently investigating how these habitats influence the ecology of birds. We are finalising some work with State Forests on the effect of different forestry management techniques on foraging in bats. In particular the study has focused on the effect of clutter (unthinned regrowth forest) on foraging in the Little Forest Bat.
New research has focused on developing models to predict the distribution of vegetation, using spatial information to improve the predictability of niche-based models. The research will be further developed to understand the role of disturbances in the landscape and use hyperspectral data to identify disturbances and species identity across larger geographic areas.
Current students
PhD
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Maria Adams
Relationships between spatial patterns of bats and moths in harvested forests
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Beth Mott
Predicting communities in disturbed areas from physiological responses of animals
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Tina Hsu
Hardwood plantations as habitat for birds
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Mick Ashcroft
The spatial variation of environmental factors on the Illawarra Escarpment and their influence on vegetation patterns.
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Future opportunities
• Investigating how plantations influence composition of other taxa, such as invertebrates, bats etc.
• Do habitats change as plantation's age? How might this influence faunal populations?
Current publications
Adams. M.D., Law, B.S. and French, K.O. (2005). Effect of lights on activity levels of forest bats: implications for bat species inventories and ecological research. Wildlife Research.32, 173-82.
Other Kris French Research Pages:
Urban Ecology
Weed Ecology
Endangered Species
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