Dr Leonie E. Valentine (Postdoctoral Research Fellow)

I have always been a wildlife nerd and was fortunate enough to grow up in the tropics where all sorts of wildlife are abundant and rather obnoxious!  After completing a Bachelor of Science at James Cook University (1999), I worked as a Research Assistant on a range of projects, including lizard reproduction, diversity of lowland frog populations, breeding behaviour of the Golden-headed Cisticola and thermoregulation in freshwater crocodiles.  I then completed a post-graduate Diploma of Research Methods (2002), and started a Masters project that was later upgraded to a Ph.D at James Cook University.  My doctoral research examined the impacts of an invasive weed (rubber vine; Cryptostegia grandiflora) and fire management on faunal assemblages in tropical savannas.  This research really instilled in me an interest in the mechanisms driving the ecological responses of fauna to disturbances.  After completing my Ph.D. (2007), I dabbled in the genetics of barramundi, before succumbing to the travelling bug!  In 2008 I worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Edith Cowan University on food resources of the endangered Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo.  I also became involved with the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy, and worked as a research ecologist for the Department of Environment to examine the responses of biodiversity to a number of threats, including declining rainfall, altered fire regimes and Phytophthora cinnamomi.  In February 2010I started my current Post-doctoral Research Fellow with the Centre of Excellence for Climate Change, Woodland and Forest Health. My research project is within Program 3, and I will be working alongside Dr Trish Fleming and Dr Giles Hardy to examine the role of fauna in maintaining ecosystem health.

Qualifications

• B.Sc. (1998) James Cook University, Australia.
• Dip. Res. Met. (2002) James Cook University, Australia.
• Ph.D. (2007) James Cook University, Australia.

Research Interests:

I am very interested in how biodiversity responds to different types of disturbances, and the underlying mechanisms driving these responses.  I am also very interested in using outcomes of scientific research to manage conservation attributes, and how humans can mitigate disturbance impacts to biodiversity.

Publications:

Peer-reviewed Publications

Valentine, L.E., Johnson, C.N. and Schwarzkopf, L. (in review) Effects of high fire frequency on resources and assemblage structure of birds in a tropical savanna. Austral Ecology.

Valentine, L.E. and Schwarzkopf, L. (2009) Effects of weed-management burning on reptile assemblages in Australian tropical savannas. Conservation Biology, 23: 109 – 113.

Isaac, J.L., Valentine, L.E. and Goodman, B.A. (2008) Demographic responses of an arboreal marsupial, the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), to a prescribed fire. Population Ecology, 50: 101 – 109.

Valentine, L.E., Roberts, B., and Schwarzkopf, L. (2007) Mechanisms driving weed avoidance by native lizards. Journal of Applied Ecology, 44: 228 – 237.

Valentine, L.E., Schwarzkopf, L., Johnson, C.N. and Grice, A.C. (2007) Burning season influences the response of bird assemblages to fire in tropical savannas. Biological Conservation, 137: 90 – 101.

Valentine, L.E. (2006) Habitat avoidance of an introduced weed by native lizards. Austral Ecology, 31: 372 – 375.

Conference Proceedings

Bower, D.S., Valentine, L.E., Grice, A.C., & Schwarzkopf, L. (2006) Reducing weed biomass by burning and grazing can adversely affect frogs. In Fifteenth Australian weeds conference papers and proceedings: managing weeds in a changing climate, 24 – 28 September 2006 (eds C. Preston, J.H. Watts & N.D. Crossman), pp. 831 – 834. Weed Management Society of South Australia Inc, Adelaide.

Valentine, L.E. (2004) Response of bird assemblages to management burning of riparian vegetation in grazed tropical savannas. 18th Annual Meeting Society for Conservation Biology, Book of Abstracts, Columbia University, 284-284.

Other Technical Publications

Wilson, B.A. and Valentine, L.E. (eds) (2009) Biodiversity values and threatening processes of the Gnangara groundwater system. Report for the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy and the Department of Environment and Conservation (11 Chapters), Perth, Australia.

• Valentine, L., Bleby, K., Swinburn, M., Kinloch, J. and Wilson, B. Chapter Two: Floristic biodiversity and vegetation condition.
• Bleby, K., Valentine, L., Reaveley, A., Wilson, B. and Huang, N. Chapter Three: Fauna biodiversity.
• Wilson, B., Valentine, L., Kinloch, J., Sonneman, T., and Swinburn, M. Chapter Six: Habitat loss and fragmentation.
• Bleby, K. Reaveley, A., Valentine, L. and Wilson, B. Chapter Seven: Fire regimes.
• Reaveley, A., Bettink, K. and Valentine, L. Chapter Eight: Impacts of introduced species on biodiversity.
• Isaac, J., Valentine, L. and Wilson, B. Chapter Ten: Potential impacts of climate change on biodiversity.

Valentine, L.E., Wilson, B., Reaveley, A., Huang, N. Johnson, B. and Brown, P. (2009) Patterns of ground-dwelling vertebrate biodiversity in the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy study area. A report for the Department of Environment and Conservation and the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy, Perth.

Finn, H., Stock, W. and Valentine, L.E. (2009) Pines and the ecology of Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) in the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy study area. A report for the Forest Products Commission and the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy.  Centre for Ecosystem Management, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.

Valentine, L.E. and Stock, W. (2008) Food resources of Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) in the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy study area. A report for the Forest Products Commission and the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy.  Centre for Ecosystem Management, Edith Cowan University, Perth.

Williams, Y.M. and Valentine, L.E. (2007) Tully Training Area Aquatic and Riparian Monitoring Program – Section 5.  Frog Monitoring for North Queensland Environmental Department of Defence, Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, James Cook University, Townsville.

Centre of Excellence for Climate Change Woodland and Forest Health
School of Veterinary Biology & Biomedical Sciences
Murdoch University
Western Australia 6150
Australia

Ph: +61 (8) 9360 2257
Email: [ Email Leonie ]

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