"The spatial variation of environmental factors on the Illawarra Escarpment and their influence on vegetation patterns"
Research Interests
The spatial distribution of environmental factors on the Illawarra Escarpment, near Wollongong, Australia, and their influence on the distribution of vegetation. Current research has focused on maximum and minimum temperatures, exposure to winds, and disturbance, but soil moisture and nutrients are also of interest.
Methods for improving the accuracy of environmental predictors and vegetation models. Current research has been attempting to incorporate spatial processes into methods that often ignore the interactions between a site and neighbouring locations.
Using environmental models to improve hyperspectral image classification.
Representative Publications
Ashcroft, M.B. (in press). A method for improving landscape scale temperature predictions and the implications for vegetation modelling. Ecological Modelling.
Ashcroft, M.B. (submitted). The impact of predictor accuracy on vegetation modelling: A comparison between temperature, elevation, slope and aspect. Ecological Modelling.
Conferences:
Ashcroft, M.B (2005). Temperature predictions using low pass filters and their application to vegetation models. Ecological Society of Australia, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, 29 November – 3 December.
Abbreviated CV
2003 – MEnvSci, University of Wollongong 1993 – BMath/BE(Elec), University of Wollongong
