Dr Matthew Luskin

ARC Research Fellow

School of the Environment
Faculty of Science
m.luskin@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 52527

Overview

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.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of California

Publications

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

View all Publications

Grants

View all Grants

Supervision

View all Supervision

Publications

Featured Publications

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

Book Chapter

  • Luskin, Matthew Scott and Ke, Alison (2018). Bearded pig Sus barbatus (Müller, 1838). Ecology, conservation and management of wild pigs and peccaries. (pp. 175-183) edited by Mario Melletti and Erik Meijaard. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781316941232.020

Journal Article

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

Completed Supervision