
Overview
Background
Conserving biodiversity is essential for maintaining the health of the environment upon which human life and wellbeing relies. But the task will only get harder, with human pressures increasing in magnitude and ubiquity. My research tackles questions central to this challenge. A particular focus is biodiversity net gain policy, particularly the design and consequences of biodiversity offsetting, as well as the conservation and restoration of Australia’s woodlands and woodland bird assemblages. I collaborate with a broad network of individuals and organisations including government and non-government bodies to help achieve effective uptake of research findings into policy and environmental management. Sound conservation policy is essential if we are to apply ecological knowledge to reduce and ultimately halt biodiversity declines. I provide guidance on offset/no net loss/net gain policy development internationally including in Malaysia, the UK, Mozambique, and Guinea, and to intergovernmental convening bodies including IPBES, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the IUCN. I currently chair the IUCN’s Impact Mitigation and Ecological Compensation Thematic Group, am a director of BirdLife Australia and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, and am a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and The Biodiversity Council. My research group is part of the Centre for Biodiversity & Conservation Science.
Availability
- Professor Martine Maron is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), Monash University
- Doctor of Philosophy, Monash University
- Postgraduate Diploma, University of Southern Queensland
Research interests
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Conservation policy
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Community ecology
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Woodland conservation and management
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Threatened species
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Spatial ecology
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Biodiversity accounting
Research impacts
I collaborate with conservation policymakers at State, National (e.g. New Zealand, Australia, Mozambique) and international (IUCN, UN, IPBES) levels to achieve policy change and benefits for biodiversity. Example impacts include:
- Science input to the drafting process of goals and targets for the Convention on Biological Diversity post-2020 Global Biodiversity Strategy (Diaz et al. 2020)
- Led writing of the first international policy on biodiversity offsetting for the IUCN
- Development of the Conceptual Framework for Land Degradation Neutrality, adopted by 129 countries to date, to implement the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
- Designed several widely-used tools to implement best-practice application of the mitigation hierarchy, including Australia’s Environmental Offsets Assessment Guide and Reef Trust Financial Contributions Offsets Calculator, New Zealand’s offset accounting model, and Mozambique’s new Impact Mitigation decree
- Participated in the Consultative Group and Technical Group advising the EPBC Act review drafting proposed new National Environmental Standards for Australia for the Samuel Review
- Achieved listing of a Key Threatening Process under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act: “Aggressive exclusion of birds from potential woodland and forest habitat by over-abundant noisy miners (Manorina melanocephala)” and authored the Threat Abatement Advice for this KTP
- Developed a definition, condition scoring approach, and nomination for “Temperate and Subtropical Woodland Bird Community” for listing as a threatened under the EPBC Act (currently under consideration)
Works
Search Professor Martine Maron’s works on UQ eSpace
2022
Journal Article
Biodiversity risks and safeguards of China’s hydropower financing in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries
Narain, Divya, Teo, Hoong Chen, Lechner, Alex Mark, Watson, James E.M. and Maron, Martine (2022). Biodiversity risks and safeguards of China’s hydropower financing in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. One Earth, 5 (9), 1019-1029. doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.08.012
2022
Journal Article
Eight things you should never do in a monitoring program: an Australian perspective
Lindenmayer, David B., Woinarski, John, Legge, Sarah, Maron, Martine, Garnett, Stephen T., Lavery, Tyrone, Dielenberg, Jaana and Wintle, Brendan A. (2022). Eight things you should never do in a monitoring program: an Australian perspective. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 194 (10) 701, 1-14. doi: 10.1007/s10661-022-10348-6
2022
Journal Article
Fledge or fail: Nest monitoring of endangered black-cockatoos using bioacoustics and open-source call recognition
Teixeira, Daniella, Linke, Simon, Hill, Richard, Maron, Martine and van Rensburg, Berndt J. (2022). Fledge or fail: Nest monitoring of endangered black-cockatoos using bioacoustics and open-source call recognition. Ecological Informatics, 69 101656, 101656. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2022.101656
2022
Journal Article
Credible biodiversity offsetting needs public national registers to confirm no net loss
Kujala, Heini, Maron, Martine, Kennedy, Christina M., Evans, Megan C., Bull, Joseph W., Wintle, Brendan A., Iftekhar, Sayed M., Selwood, Katherine E., Beissner, Kahli, Osborn, Dave and Gordon, Ascelin (2022). Credible biodiversity offsetting needs public national registers to confirm no net loss. One Earth, 5 (6), 650-662. doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.05.011
2022
Journal Article
A step change needed to secure a nature-positive future—Is it in reach?
Narain, Divya, Bull, Joseph W., Alikhanova, Shahzoda, Evans, Megan C., Markham, Robert and Maron, Martine (2022). A step change needed to secure a nature-positive future—Is it in reach?. One Earth, 5 (6), 589-592. doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.05.016
2022
Journal Article
The minimum land area requiring conservation attention to safeguard biodiversity
Allan, James R., Possingham, Hugh P., Atkinson, Scott C., Waldron, Anthony, Di Marco, Moreno, Butchart, Stuart H. M., Adams, Vanessa M., Kissling, W. Daniel, Worsdell, Thomas, Sandbrook, Chris, Gibbon, Gwili, Kumar, Kundan, Mehta, Piyush, Maron, Martine, Williams, Brooke A., Jones, Kendall R., Wintle, Brendan A., Reside, April E. and Watson, James E. M. (2022). The minimum land area requiring conservation attention to safeguard biodiversity. Science, 376 (6597), 1094-1101. doi: 10.1126/science.abl9127
2022
Journal Article
Reduced fire frequency over three decades hastens loss of the grassy forest habitat of an endangered songbird
Stone, Zoë L., Maron, Martine and Tasker, Elizabeth (2022). Reduced fire frequency over three decades hastens loss of the grassy forest habitat of an endangered songbird. Biological Conservation, 270 109570, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109570
2022
Journal Article
Quantifying the “avoided” biodiversity impacts associated with economic development
Bull, Joseph W, Sonter, Laura J, Gordon, Ascelin, Maron, Martine, Narain, Divya, Reside, April E, Sánchez, Luis E, Shumway, Nicole, von Hase, Amrei and Quétier, Fabien (2022). Quantifying the “avoided” biodiversity impacts associated with economic development. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 20 (6), 370-378. doi: 10.1002/fee.2496
2022
Journal Article
The consequences of coastal offsets for fisheries
Ma, Deqiang, Rhodes, Jonathan and Maron, Martine (2022). The consequences of coastal offsets for fisheries. Journal of Applied Ecology, 59 (4), 1157-1167. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.14129
2022
Journal Article
Aligning ecological compensation policies with the Post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to achieve real net gain in biodiversity
Simmonds, Jeremy S., Hase, Amrei, Quétier, Fabien, Brownlie, Susie, Maron, Martine, Possingham, Hugh P., Souquet, Mathieu, zu Ermgassen, Sophus O. S. E., ten Kate, Kerry, Costa, Hugo M. and Sonter, Laura J. (2022). Aligning ecological compensation policies with the Post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to achieve real net gain in biodiversity. Conservation Science and Practice, 4 (3) e12634. doi: 10.1111/csp2.12634
2022
Journal Article
Creating past habitat maps to quantify local extirpation of Australian threatened birds
Ward, Michelle, Watson, James E. M., Possingham, Hugh P., Garnett, Stephen T., Maron, Martine, Rhodes, Jonathan R., MacColl, Chris, Seaton, Richard, Jackett, Nigel, Reside, April E., Webster, Patrick and Simmonds, Jeremy S. (2022). Creating past habitat maps to quantify local extirpation of Australian threatened birds. Environmental Research Letters, 17 (2) 024032, 024032. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac4f8b
2021
Journal Article
Use of citizen science datasets to test effects of grazing exclusion and replanting on Australian woodland birds
Gibson, Michelle, Maron, Martine, Taws, Nicki, Simmonds, Jeremy S. and Walsh, Jessica C. (2021). Use of citizen science datasets to test effects of grazing exclusion and replanting on Australian woodland birds. Restoration Ecology, 30 (7) e13610. doi: 10.1111/rec.13610
2021
Other Outputs
Should we cull noisy miners? After decades of research, these aggressive honeyeaters are still outsmarting us
Melton, Courtney, Reside, April, Simmonds, Jeremy, Maron, Martine, Clarke, Michael and McDonald, Paul (2021, 10 13). Should we cull noisy miners? After decades of research, these aggressive honeyeaters are still outsmarting us The Conversation
2021
Journal Article
Evaluating the evidence of culling a native species for conservation benefits
Melton, Courtney B., Reside, April E., Simmonds, Jeremy S., Mcdonald, Paul G., Major, Richard E., Crates, Ross, Catterall, Carla P., Clarke, Michael F., Grey, Merilyn J., Davitt, Galen, Ingwersen, Dean, Robinson, Doug and Maron, Martine (2021). Evaluating the evidence of culling a native species for conservation benefits. Conservation Science and Practice, 3 (12) e549. doi: 10.1111/csp2.549
2021
Journal Article
Private reserves suffer from the same location biases of public protected areas
d'Albertas, Francisco, González-Chaves, Adrian, Borges-Matos, Clarice, Zago de Almeida Paciello, Vitor, Maron, Martine and Metzger, Jean Paul (2021). Private reserves suffer from the same location biases of public protected areas. Biological Conservation, 261 109283, 109283. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109283
2021
Journal Article
The mismeasure of conservation
Pressey, Robert L., Visconti, Piero, McKinnon, Madeleine C., Gurney, Georgina G., Barnes, Megan D., Glew, Louise and Maron, Martine (2021). The mismeasure of conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 36 (9), 808-821. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.06.008
2021
Journal Article
Scientific foundations for an ecosystem goal, milestones and indicators for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework
Nicholson, Emily, Watermeyer, Kate E., Rowland, Jessica A., Sato, Chloe F., Stevenson, Simone L., Andrade, Angela, Brooks, Thomas M., Burgess, Neil D., Cheng, Su-Ting, Grantham, Hedley S., Hill, Samantha L., Keith, David A., Maron, Martine, Metzke, Daniel, Murray, Nicholas J., Nelson, Cara R., Obura, David, Plumptre, Andy, Skowno, Andrew L. and Watson, James E. M. (2021). Scientific foundations for an ecosystem goal, milestones and indicators for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 5 (10), 1338-1349. doi: 10.1038/s41559-021-01538-5
2021
Other Outputs
Biodiversity risks and safeguards of China’s hydropower investments in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Countries
Narain, Divya, Teo, Hoong, Lechner, Alex, Watson, James and Maron, Martine (2021). Biodiversity risks and safeguards of China’s hydropower investments in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Countries. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-778318/v1
2021
Journal Article
Talk is cheap: nations must act now to achieve long-term ambitions for biodiversity
Watson, James E. M., Simmonds, Jeremy S., Narain, Divya, Ward, Michelle, Maron, Martine and Maxwell, Sean L. (2021). Talk is cheap: nations must act now to achieve long-term ambitions for biodiversity. One Earth, 4 (7), 897-900. doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2021.06.012
2021
Journal Article
Vocal signals of ontogeny and fledging in nestling black-cockatoos: implications for monitoring
Teixeira, Daniella, Hill, Richard, Barth, Michael, Maron, Martine and van Rensburg, Berndt J. (2021). Vocal signals of ontogeny and fledging in nestling black-cockatoos: implications for monitoring. Bioacoustics, 31 (4), 1-18. doi: 10.1080/09524622.2021.1941257
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Martine Maron is:
- Available for supervision
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Available projects
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Ecological and conservation impacts of noisy miner Manorina melanocephala control in subtropical woodlands
This exciting project aims to develop a greater understanding of the effects of noisy miners Manorina melaocephala on the health of subtropical woodland ecosystems, and test an experimental approach to reducing negative impacts. The fieldwork will be based in the woodland landscapes around the UQ Hidden Vale Wildlife Centre in south-east Queensland, about 1.5 hours from the St Lucia campus. You would be joining the vibrant Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science at the University of Queensland.
We are seeking students with experience in Australian bird and/or plant identification and survey methods, and an enthusiasm for field-based work. Field expenses are funded, but the successful applicant would need to apply for PhD candidature and scholarship through The University of Queensland: Doctor of Philosophy - Study - The University of Queensland (uq.edu.au). At this stage, we are only able to accept applications from domestic students.
To express your interest in this position, please contact Professor Martine Maron m.maron@uq.edu.au with a CV and cover email.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Making businesses work for biodiversity: Decision-support tools for integrating biodiversity conservation into the finance sector
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Integrating conservation with production in Queensland grazing landscapes
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Kieren McCosker
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Doctor Philosophy
New metrics to measure and track bird community condition in Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr April Reside
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Doctor Philosophy
Trophic release, ecological cascades, and zoonotic disease risk of a terrestrial predator and mesopredator guild adapted to anthropogenic disturbances in Namibia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Matthew Luskin
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Doctor Philosophy
The Influence of the Prospect of Biodiversity Offsetting on Development Impact Permitting
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Brian Head
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Doctor Philosophy
The FaunaHealth Index: A holistic approach to mammal community health.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr April Reside
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Doctor Philosophy
Conserving Koalas on Private Land under Climate Change
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Improving biodiversity offset policy for application in intact tropical landscapes
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Making businesses work for biodiversity: Decision-support tools for integrating biodiversity conservation into the finance sector
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Autecology of an endangered Australian passerine: CarpentarianGrasswren (Amytornis dorotheae)
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor James Watson
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Doctor Philosophy
Ecology and conservation of the Buff-breasted Button-quail (Turnix olivii)
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor James Watson
Completed supervision
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2022
Master Philosophy
Black-backed jackals in a mixed-use landscape in the southern Namib Desert
Principal Advisor
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Biodiversity Risks and Safeguards of Global Infrastructure Finance: The Case of China's Belt and Road Initiative
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor James Watson
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
The value of understorey vegetation to woodland and forest bird communities as a resource and potential deterrent of key threatening process: overabundant native noisy miners (Manorina melanocephala)
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr April Reside
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Impact mitigation in marine and coastal environments: policy challenges and shortfalls
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor James Watson
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Population estimates of large carnivores and their conflict with humans in East Africa and India
Principal Advisor
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Development, armed conflict and conservation: improving the effectiveness of conservation decisions in conflict hotspots using Colombia as a case study
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hugh Possingham, Associate Professor Laura Sonter, Professor James Watson
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2018
Doctor Philosophy
Habitat requirements for the reintroduction and persistence of the Northern Eastern Bristlebird (Dasyornis brachypterus)
Principal Advisor
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2017
Doctor Philosophy
Why are woodland-dependent avian insectivore populations vulnerable to declines in highly-modified landscapes?
Principal Advisor
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2017
Doctor Philosophy
Implications of vegetation clearing biases for the interpretation of landscape-scale species-area relationships
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Berndt Janse Van Rensburg
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
Effects of habitat extent and forest disturbance on bird communities in lowland Nepal
Principal Advisor
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
DRIVERS OF DIVERSITY AT THE LOCAL- AND LANDSCAPE-SCALE IN A FIRE-PRONE LANDSCAPE
Principal Advisor
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
EFFECTS OF MATRIX INTENSIFICATION ON THE DISTRIBUTION AND CONDITION OF FOREST BIRDS IN SOUTH-WEST GHANA, WEST AFRICA
Principal Advisor
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2013
Doctor Philosophy
Spatial ecology of invasive meso-size predators in agricultural landscapes.
Principal Advisor
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2012
Doctor Philosophy
Territorial competition by an aggressive species challenges the conservation of eastern Australian woodland avifauna
Principal Advisor
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Ecology and conservation of the Buff-breasted Button-quail (Turnix olivii)
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor James Watson
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
The effect of fire and livestock grazing on mammals and reptiles in Central Queensland
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr April Reside
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
From Observations to Indicators: The Status and Conservation of Taiwan's Birds
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Tatsuya Amano, Professor Richard Fuller
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Bioacoustic monitoring of breeding behaviour in the endangered Kangaroo Island glossy black-cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus, and south-eastern red-tailed black-cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus banksii graptogyne
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Berndt Janse Van Rensburg
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Conserving shorebirds in human-dominated landscapes
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Richard Fuller
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2018
Doctor Philosophy
Assessing the effects of landscape structure on the relationship between species diversity and functional diversity
Associate Advisor
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2018
Doctor Philosophy
Drivers of sociability and fission-fusion dynamics in a population of wild giraffes (Giraffa Camelopardalis)
Associate Advisor
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
Understanding the behavioural trade-offs made by blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus): the importance of resources, predation and the landscape
Associate Advisor
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
Identifying critical habitat for threatened species: concepts and challenges
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hugh Possingham
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Multi-scale patterns of habitat use by reptiles in regenerating dryland landscapes
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Craig Franklin
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Martine Maron directly for media enquiries about:
- Bird ecology
- Birds - conservation
- Conservation - birds
- Conservation biology
- Conservation policy
- Habitat offsets
- Landscape ecology
- Restoration ecology
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