Overview
Background
Matthew heads the Ecological Cascades Lab [link] in the UQ School of the Environment, is a Chief Investigator with the UQ Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, is the Director of the TERN Wildlife Observatory of Australia, and is an ARC DECRA Fellow from 2022-2025.
We are accepting qualified PhD students for domestic and international wildlife projects. Potential PhD topics include: How does the loss of apex predators influence lower trophic levels? How does selective hunting of particular species (e.g. pigs) affect non-hunted competitors (e.g. deer)? How does wildlife influence plant communities and traits? How do invasive predators affect biodiversity? How can we integrate existing camera trap datasets to conduct powerful analyses and for monitoring? How will climate change impact the phenology of trees and thus fruit resources for animals?
Our lab is interested in all aspects of wildlife ecology, including food-web ecology, plant-animal interactions, and applied conservation science. We have experience with tropical forests in Southeast Asia using a variety of flora and fauna sampling techniques (cameras, vegetation surveys, fenced animal exclosures, invasive species, hunting surveys, and before-after zoonotic disease). We also run the largest camera trapping surveys across the Wet Tropics forests of Queensland. Most sampling is geared to assess the impacts of habitat fragmentation, agriculture, hunting, climate change, and invasive species on wildlife communities and plant-animal interactions.
Prior to joining UQ, Matthew worked with the Smithsonian Institute’s Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) to coordinate surveys of wildlife communities in Sumatra, Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. These projects link apex predators to herbivores to trees and have revealed how oil palm expansion has restructured ecological communities and triggered trophic cascades. Matthew has now begun a large long-term project in the Dja Faunal Reserve of Cameroon with the Congo Basin Institute and collaborates closely with UCLA on these projects. Matthew obtained his PhD in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from the University of California, Berkeley.
Availability
- Dr Matthew Luskin is:
- Available for supervision
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of California
Works
Search Professor Matthew Luskin’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2024
Journal Article
CamTrapAsia: A dataset of tropical forest vertebrate communities from 239 camera trapping studies
Mendes, Calebe P., Albert, Wido R., Amir, Zachary, Ancrenaz, Marc, Ash, Eric, Azhar, Badrul, Bernard, Henry, Brodie, Jedediah, Bruce, Tom, Carr, Elliot, Clements, Gopalasamy Reuben, Davies, Glyn, Deere, Nicolas J., Dinata, Yoan, Donnelly, Christl A., Duangchantrasiri, Somphot, Fredriksson, Gabriella, Goossens, Benoit, Granados, Alys, Hearn, Andrew, Hon, Jason, Hughes, Tom, Jansen, Patrick, Kawanishi, Kae, Kinnaird, Margaret, Koh, Sharon, Latinne, Alice, Linkie, Matthew, Loi, Federica ... Luskin, Matthew Scott (2024). CamTrapAsia: A dataset of tropical forest vertebrate communities from 239 camera trapping studies. Ecology, 105 (6), e4299. doi: 10.1002/ecy.4299
Featured
2023
Journal Article
Mesopredators in forest edges
Luskin, Matthew Scott, Arnold, Lindsey, Sovie, Adia, Amir, Zachary, Chua, Marcus Aik Hwee, Dehaudt, Bastien, Dunn, Ashlea, Nursamsi, Ilyas, Moore, Jonathan H. and Mendes, Calebe P. (2023). Mesopredators in forest edges. Wildlife Letters, 1 (3), 107-118. doi: 10.1002/wll2.12023
Featured
2023
Journal Article
The rise of hyperabundant native generalists threatens both humans and nature
Moore, Jonathan H., Gibson, Luke, Amir, Zachary, Chanthorn, Wirong, Ahmad, Abdul Hamid, Jansen, Patrick A., Mendes, Calebe P., Onuma, Manabu, Peres, Carlos A. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). The rise of hyperabundant native generalists threatens both humans and nature. Biological Reviews, 98 (5), 1829-1844. doi: 10.1111/brv.12985
Featured
2023
Journal Article
Landscape-scale benefits of protected areas for tropical biodiversity
Brodie, Jedediah F., Mohd-Azlan, Jayasilan, Chen, Cheng, Wearn, Oliver R., Deith, Mairin C. M., Ball, James G. C., Slade, Eleanor M., Burslem, David F. R. P., Teoh, Shu Woan, Williams, Peter J., Nguyen, An, Moore, Jonathan H., Goetz, Scott J., Burns, Patrick, Jantz, Patrick, Hakkenberg, Christopher R., Kaszta, Zaneta M., Cushman, Sam, Coomes, David, Helmy, Olga E., Reynolds, Glen, Rodríguez, Jon Paul, Jetz, Walter and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). Landscape-scale benefits of protected areas for tropical biodiversity. Nature, 620 (7975), 807-812. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06410-z
Featured
2023
Journal Article
Mid-sized felids threatened by habitat degradation in Southeast Asia
Decœur, Henri, Amir, Zachary, Mendes, Calebe P., Moore, Jonathan H. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). Mid-sized felids threatened by habitat degradation in Southeast Asia. Biological Conservation, 283 110103, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110103
Featured
2023
Journal Article
The mass mortality of Asia's native pigs induced by African swine fever
Luskin, Matthew Scott, Moore, Jonathan H., Mendes, Calebe P., Nasardin, Musalmah Bt, Onuma, Monubu and Davies, Stuart J. (2023). The mass mortality of Asia's native pigs induced by African swine fever. Wildlife Letters, 1 (1), 8-14. doi: 10.1002/wll2.12009
Featured
2023
Journal Article
Rewilding in Southeast Asia: Singapore as a case study
Lamperty, Therese, Chiok, Wen Xuan, Khoo, Max D. Y., Amir, Zachary, Baker, Nick, Chua, Marcus A. H., Chung, Yi Fei, Chua, Yen Kheng, Koh, Joshua J.‐M., Lee, Benjamin P. Y.‐H., Lum, Shawn K. Y., Mendes, Calebe P., Ngiam, Jonathan, ODempsey, Anthony, Png, Kenny G. C., Sophie, Adia R., Tan, Lorraine, Teo, Robert, Thomas, Noel, Tianjiao, Li, Tze‐Ming, Bryan Lim, Loo, Adrian H. B., Wardle, David A. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). Rewilding in Southeast Asia: Singapore as a case study. Conservation Science and Practice, 5 (3) e12899, 1-11. doi: 10.1111/csp2.12899
Featured
2022
Journal Article
Megafauna extinctions produce idiosyncratic Anthropocene assemblages
Amir, Zachary, Moore, Jonathan H., Negret, Pablo Jose and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2022). Megafauna extinctions produce idiosyncratic Anthropocene assemblages. Science Advances, 8 (42) eabq2307, 1-11. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abq2307
Featured
2021
Journal Article
Wildlife disturbances as a source of conspecific negative density-dependent mortality in tropical trees
Luskin, Matthew Scott, Johnson, Daniel J., Ickes, Kalan, Yao, Tze Leong and Davies, Stuart J. (2021). Wildlife disturbances as a source of conspecific negative density-dependent mortality in tropical trees. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288 (1946) 20210001, 1-10. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0001
Featured
2020
Journal Article
When do Janzen–Connell effects matter? A phylogenetic meta‐analysis of conspecific negative distance and density dependence experiments
Song, Xiaoyang, Lim, Jun Ying, Yang, Jie and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2020). When do Janzen–Connell effects matter? A phylogenetic meta‐analysis of conspecific negative distance and density dependence experiments. Ecology Letters, 24 (3) ele.13665, 608-620. doi: 10.1111/ele.13665
2024
Journal Article
Remote sensing of artisanal and small-scale mining: a review of scalable mapping approaches
Nursamsi, Ilyas, Phinn, Stuart R., Levin, Noam, Luskin, Matthew Scott and Sonter, Laura Jane (2024). Remote sensing of artisanal and small-scale mining: a review of scalable mapping approaches. Science of the Total Environment, 951 175761, 175761. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175761
2024
Journal Article
More problems sampling wildlife with baits: Environmental food resources influence trapping rates
Dehaudt, Bastien, Moore, Jonathan, Gibson, Luke and Luskin, Matthew S. (2024). More problems sampling wildlife with baits: Environmental food resources influence trapping rates. Wildlife Letters. doi: 10.1002/wll2.12041
2024
Journal Article
Divergent seed dispersal outcomes: Interactions between seed, disperser, and forest traits
Dehaudt, Bastien, Bruce, Tom, Deblauwe, Vincent, Ferraz, António, Gardner, Brett, Bibila, Tafon Godwin ‘Babs’, LeBreton, Matthew, Mempong, Gaston, Njabo, Kevin, Nkengbeza, Standly Nkemnyi, Ordway, Elsa M., Pavan, Lucas, Russo, Nicholas J., Smith, Thomas B. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2024). Divergent seed dispersal outcomes: Interactions between seed, disperser, and forest traits. Ecology, 105 (10), e4409. doi: 10.1002/ecy.4409
2024
Journal Article
Feasibility of multi-spectral and radar data fusion for mapping Artisanal Small-Scale Mining: A case study from Indonesia
Nursamsi, Ilyas, Sonter, Laura Jane, Luskin, Matthew Scott and Phinn, Stuart (2024). Feasibility of multi-spectral and radar data fusion for mapping Artisanal Small-Scale Mining: A case study from Indonesia. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 132 104015, 104015. doi: 10.1016/j.jag.2024.104015
2024
Journal Article
Author Correction: Landscape-scale benefits of protected areas for tropical biodiversity
Brodie, Jedediah F., Mohd-Azlan, Jayasilan, Chen, Cheng, Wearn, Oliver R., Deith, Mairin C. M., Ball, James G. C., Slade, Eleanor M., Burslem, David F. R. P., Teoh, Shu Woan, Williams, Peter J., Nguyen, An, Moore, Jonathan H., Goetz, Scott J., Burns, Patrick, Jantz, Patrick, Hakkenberg, Christopher R., Kaszta, Zaneta M., Cushman, Sam, Coomes, David, Helmy, Olga E., Reynolds, Glen, Rodríguez, Jon Paul, Jetz, Walter and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2024). Author Correction: Landscape-scale benefits of protected areas for tropical biodiversity. Nature, 628 (8009), E5-E5. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07333-z
2024
Journal Article
Mammal responses to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape
Burton, A. Cole, Beirne, Christopher, Gaynor, Kaitlyn M., Sun, Catherine, Granados, Alys, Allen, Maximilian L., Alston, Jesse M., Alvarenga, Guilherme C., Calderón, Francisco Samuel Álvarez, Amir, Zachary, Anhalt-Depies, Christine, Appel, Cara, Arroyo-Arce, Stephanny, Balme, Guy, Bar-Massada, Avi, Barcelos, Daniele, Barr, Evan, Barthelmess, Erika L., Baruzzi, Carolina, Basak, Sayantani M., Beenaerts, Natalie, Belmaker, Jonathan, Belova, Olgirda, Bezarević, Branko, Bird, Tori, Bogan, Daniel A., Bogdanović, Neda, Boyce, Andy, Boyce, Mark ... Kays, Roland (2024). Mammal responses to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 8 (5), 1-12. doi: 10.1038/s41559-024-02363-2
2024
Journal Article
Effects of human disturbances on wildlife behaviour and consequences for predator-prey overlap in Southeast Asia
Lee, Samuel Xin Tham, Amir, Zachary, Moore, Jonathan H., Gaynor, Kaitlyn M. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2024). Effects of human disturbances on wildlife behaviour and consequences for predator-prey overlap in Southeast Asia. Nature Communications, 15 (1) 1521, 1-12. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-45905-9
2024
Journal Article
A multi-scale synthesis of mousedeer habitat associations in Southeast Asia reveals declining abundance but few extirpations in fragments and edges
Mendes, Calebe P., Liu, Xiaohan, Amir, Zachary, Moore, Jonathan H. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2024). A multi-scale synthesis of mousedeer habitat associations in Southeast Asia reveals declining abundance but few extirpations in fragments and edges. Austral Ecology, 49 (2) e13470, 1-17. doi: 10.1111/aec.13470
2024
Journal Article
Publisher Correction: Landscape-scale benefits of protected areas for tropical biodiversity
Brodie, Jedediah F., Mohd-Azlan, Jayasilan, Chen, Cheng, Wearn, Oliver R., Deith, Mairin C. M., Ball, James G. C., Slade, Eleanor M., Burslem, David F. R. P., Teoh, Shu Woan, Williams, Peter J., Nguyen, An, Moore, Jonathan H., Goetz, Scott J., Burns, Patrick, Jantz, Patrick, Hakkenberg, Christopher R., Kaszta, Zaneta M., Cushman, Sam, Coomes, David, Helmy, Olga E., Reynolds, Glen, Rodríguez, Jon Paul, Jetz, Walter and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2024). Publisher Correction: Landscape-scale benefits of protected areas for tropical biodiversity. Nature, 625 (7996), E28-E28. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-07007-2
2024
Journal Article
Identifying remnant biodiversity hotspots in Southern Asia reveals disequilibrium in mammalian communities
Sartor, Caroline Charão, Kaszta, Zaneta, Kamler, Jan, Hearn, Andrew J., Ash, Eric, Bolongon, Gilmoore, Can, Özgün Emre, Channa, Phan, Cheyne, Susan, Fitzmaurice, Amy, Haidir, Iding Achmad, Kyaw, Pyae Phyoe, Luskin, Matthew Scott, Singh, Priya, Rasphone, Akchousanh, Wei, Cedric Tan Kai, Yadav, Bhupendra Prasad, Cushman, Samuel A. and Macdonald, David W. (2024). Identifying remnant biodiversity hotspots in Southern Asia reveals disequilibrium in mammalian communities. Biodiversity and Conservation, 33 (11), 3057-3074. doi: 10.1007/s10531-024-02902-0
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Matthew Luskin is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Factors explaining differences in small mammal density, diversity, and biomass in Southeast Asian forests, and repercussions for tree seed predation
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr John Dwyer
-
Doctor Philosophy
Impacts of Ecosystem and Habitat Dynamics on Wildlife Conservation
Principal Advisor
-
Doctor Philosophy
Megafauna losses and predatory interactions in tropical forests
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor James Watson
-
Doctor Philosophy
Plant traits and plant-animal interactions in tropical
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr John Dwyer
-
Doctor Philosophy
Use and misuse of structural equation modelling to infer species interactions
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Richard Fuller
-
Doctor Philosophy
Australian Wet Tropics vertebrate responses to multiple threats
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Nicholas Clark, Dr Andrew Letten
-
Doctor Philosophy
Investigation into prevalence of carnivore viruses with a focus on Canine distemper virus in domestic and wild carnivores in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ricardo Soares Magalhaes, Dr Tatiana Proboste Ibertti
-
Doctor Philosophy
Learning from the Past: Analysing forest disturbance history and forecasting future forest cover in Java Island, Indonesia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stuart Phinn, Associate Professor Laura Sonter
-
Doctor Philosophy
Trophic release, ecological cascades, and zoonotic disease risk of a terrestrial predator and mesopredator guild adapted to anthropogenic disturbances in Namibia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Martine Maron
Completed supervision
-
2023
Master Philosophy
Coexistence and niche differentiation in a hyperdiverse mesopredator guild
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Salit Kark, Dr Karlina Indraswari
Media
Enquiries
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