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***Postdoctoral fellowships available for 2022 on biodiversity-related aspects of emerging environmental markets*** please email me if interested to learn more m.maron@uq.edu.au
We are a group of landscape ecology and conservation policy researchers working with Prof Martine Maron and based at The University of Queensland, Australia. We are a part of the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science. Our major research areas include:
How can we improve environmental outcomes from conservation policy?
We work on a range of environmental policy mechanisms, especially those relating to net outcome accounting in conservation and ecosystem services. For example, biodiversity offsetting is increasingly being used as a policy instrument to reconcile development and conservation, but development of its conceptual foundations and effective implementation lags behind. We work on improving implementation of the mitigation hierarchy and offset policy, including development of defensible and transparent systems for accounting for conservation gains and losses. We develop new approaches and decision-support tools to improve transparency and consistency in impact mitigation policy and practice.
How does deforestation and disturbance affect faunal diversity, and how can we improve conservation outcomes in modified landscapes?
Our research examines large-scale landscape transformation such as land clearing, its causes and consequences. We explore how different large-scale patterns of clearing, fire, forest management alter the capacity of landscapes to support species and conversely, how these patterns can be manipulated to improve species persistence and diversity. At finer scales, we examine how resource availability and interspecific interactions affect species condition, behaviour and distribution. Case studies include the ecosystem-altering native bird, the noisy miner, and threatened species such as the eastern bristlebird and red-tailed black-cockatoo.
Our lab members collaborate with a broad network of researchers, practitioners and organisations including government and non-government bodies to help achieve effective uptake of research findings into policy and environmental management. Browse our site for more information about current and recent projects, lab members, and publications.