Professor Chris Johnson
Professor
B. Nat Res; PhD (UNE Armidale)
Contact Details
| Contact Campus |
Sandy Bay Campus |
| Building |
Life Sciences Building |
| Room Reference |
Rm 226 |
| Telephone |
+61 3 6226 6634 |
| Fax |
+61 3 6226 2745 |
| Email |
C.N.Johnson@utas.edu.au |
Teaching Responsibilities
Supervised Projects at UTAS and beyond
- Linda van Bommel – using livestock guardian dogs to manage the impacts of wild predators in Australia
- Hugh McGregor – behavioural ecology and impact of cats on native mammals in tropical savannas
- Bronwyn Fancourt – causes of decline of the eastern quoll
- Shannon Troy – ecology and conservation of the spotted-tail quoll in Tasmania
- Muse Opiang – distribution, ecology and conservation of long-beaked echidnas in New Guinea
- Itzel Vilchis Zamora (at JCU) – climate, parasites and immune gene diversity in tropical birds
- Leila Brook (at JCU) – interactions between a top predator (the dingo) and a mesopredators (the feral cat)
- Damian Morrant (at JCU) – ecology and management of wild dogs in the Wet Tropics of north Queensland
- Felicity Smout (at JCU) – disease ecology of wild dogs in the Wet Tropics
- Veronica Menz (at JCU) – maternal investment and offspring performance in possums
Publications
- Woinarski,J.C.Z.,Legge,S.,Fitzsimons,J.A., Traill,B.J., Burbidge,A.A.,Fisher,A., Firth, R.S.C.,Gordon,I.J., Griffiths,A.D., Johnson,C.N., McKenzie,N.L., Palmer,C., Radford,I., Rankmore,B., Ritchie,E., Ward,S. & Ziembicki,M., 2011, 'The disappearing mammal fauna of northern Australia: context, cause and response.', Conservation Letters, 4, pgs. 192-201
- Johnson, C. N. & Brook, B. W., 2011, 'Reconstructing the dynamics of ancient human populations from radiocarbon dates: 10 000 years of population growth in Australia. ', Proceedings of the Royal Society, B (published on-line May 11)
- Johnson, C. N., 2009, 'Ecological consequences of late Quaternary extinctions of megafauna. ', Proceedings of the Royal Society, B 276, pgs. 2509-2519
- VanDerWal, J., Shoo, L. P., Johnson, C. N. & Williams, S. E., 2009, 'Abundance and the environmental niche: environmental suitability estimated from niche models predicts the upper limit of local abundance.', The American Naturalist, 174, pgs. 282-291
- Johnson, C. N., Isaac, J. L. & Fisher, D. O., 2007, 'Rarity of a top predator triggers continent-wide collapse of mammal prey: dingoes and marsupials in Australia.', Proceedings of the Royal Society, B 274, pgs. 341-346
- Johnson, C., 2006, 'Australia's mammal extinctions: a 50 000 year history.', Cambridge University Press, Melbourne
- Johnson, C. N., 2002, 'Determinants of loss of mammal species during the late Quaternary ‘megafauna’ extinctions: life history and ecology, but not body size.', Proceedings of the Royal Society, B 269, pgs. 2221-2228
I am an ecologist and conservation biologist, specializing in the study of mammals. I have studied the ecology and conservation of mammals throughout Australia, from the northern tropics to Tasmania. I recently moved to the University of Tasmania from James Cook University in Townsville, where I am still an Adjunct Professor.
Research Interests
I have wide interests in basic and applied ecology, environmental history, the biology of extinction, and other topics. I am currently working on the following major projects:
- Why are small mammals declining in the tropical savannas of northern Australia? Over the last two or thee decades there have been catastrophic declines in mammal populations across the north. Even in apparently pristine environments like Kakadu, many species have disappeared. In collaboration with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and other groups in the north, I am running a large ARC Linkage-funded project that aims to find out what is causing these declines.
- What is the role of top predators in sustaining biodiversity in Australian ecosystems? Recent research throughout the world has shown that large predators like wolves and big cats are crucial to the functioning of ecosystems. In collaboration with Dr Menna Jones at UTas, Dr Michael Letnic at the University of Western Sydney and others, I am investigating whether dingoes and Tasmanian devils play similarly important roles in Australia.
- Why did Australia's Pleistocene megafauna go extinct, and what were the ecological effects of things? About 50,000 years ago, Australia lost 20 or more genera of giant marsupials, monotremes, birds and reptiles. The sudden removal of so many big animals may well have changed Australian ecosystems in fundamental ways. I am collaborating with colleagues at the University of Adelaide and the ANU on this problem. Part of this project is also investigating the ecological impacts changes in the human population of Australia during the Holocene (i.e. the last 10,000 years).
Potential projects in these and other areas are available in 2011 and beyond
Research Areas
Research Project/s
