School of Environmental Sciences
Assoc Prof David Watson
BSc (Hons) Monash, PhD Kansas
Position Associate Professor in Ecology
Campus Thurgoona Campus
Office Room 119, SES Building
Phone (02) 6051 9621
Fax (02) 6051 9897
EMAIL DAVID WATSON 
Member of ILWS
Dave is an ecologist interested in the factors affecting diversity patterns. He has conducted numerous empirical and theoretical studies of the determinants of diversity, ranging from cloud–forests of southern Mexico to arid shrublands in central Australia. He has a particular interest in mistletoe and has suggested that it operates as a keystone resource in forests throughout the world. Recent projects on Barro Colorado Island, Panama and in Washington state complement ongoing studies in south-eastern Australia, including the long term project RIFLE (Resources in Fragmented Landscapes Experiment).
Teaching Summary
- GEO105 Australian Environments
- BIO216 Conservation Biology
- BIO431 Avian Systematics
- BIO433 Ornithological Methods
In addition, Dave is the Course Coordinator for the Ornithology Programme, and leader of the Ecology and Biodiversity Groups within the Institute for Land, Water and Society.
Research Students
- Laurence Barea (PhD)
- Anna Burns (PhD)
- Andrew Carter (PhD)
- Raoul Davion (PhD)
- Matthew Humphrey (PhD)
- Karolina Petrovic (PhD)
- John Rawsthorne (Honours)
- Elisa Tack (PhD)
Research Interests
Most of Dave’s research is centred around a deceptively simple question: “Why are there more species in some areas than others?” This issue is at the centre of community ecology, and he have addressed it in a number of ways—detailed community-level field studies in Australia and Latin America, species-specific studies of distribution and abundance, theoretical advances, empirical studies based on previously published data, and synthetic reviews consolidating existing information and proposing new hypotheses to guide future research. Most of this work has been conducted in fragmented landscapes—both anthropogenic and natural—and he has stressed the importance of temporal scale in sculpting observed patterns. He has complemented this community-level distributional approach with a resource-based approach, treating mistletoe as a model system. While representing a different approach to scholarship, involving experimental methods and inter-disciplinary collaboration, the fundamental goal remains the same—resolving the unequal distribution of organismal diversity on the planet. While some of Dave’s research is theoretical, most is applied and has a direct influence on improving our understanding of natural systems and enhancing their management. His work has informed conservation and management policy in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Mexico and the “Standardized Search” approach to conducting bird surveys he developed has gained international prominence. In addition to community and species-level ecology, part of his research programme also relates to evolutionary biology. Implicit in any ecological research is the assumption that the units being evaluated—species—are valid and correctly diagnosed. Dave explored this assumption in detail, and suggested that the number of bird species currently recognized may greatly underestimate their actual diversity.
Recent and Ongoing Projects
- The standardized search: a patch-scale approach to conducting bird surveys, using results-based stopping rules to standardise sample completeness
- A conceptual framework for the study of islands, fragments and other patchy ecosystems, highlighting the crucial role of temporal scale
- Determinants of diversity in fragmented landscapes, especially involving resource-based approaches
- The relationship between body mass and clutch volume across birds
- Mistletoe as a determinant of diversity in woodlands and forests worldwide, including studies of litterfall, canopy arthropod communities, vertebrate richness and nutrient dynamics
- In addition to these ongoing projects, I encourage prospective students to contact me and discuss potential projects.