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Academic Staff - Dr Mathew Crowther

Mathew Crowther Photo
Position: Senior Lecturer
Phone: +61 2 9351 7661
Fax: +61 2 9351 4119
Mobile Phone: N/A
Email: mathew.crowther@sydney.edu.au
Location: Room 225C
Address: A08 - Heydon-Laurence Building, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
Links: Wildlife Health and Population Management
DEERG

Areas of Interest

My research covers a wide range of topics in the areas of ecology and evolution of small mammals (rodents and dasyurids). These include:

  • Morphological, ecological and molecular systematics of small mammals. Environmental effects on morphology and reproduction of house mice.
  • Use of GIS in predictions of mammal habitat.
  • Population Viability Analysis and population dynamics of small mammals. Conservation biology and ecology of mammals and birds.
  • Population control in pest mammals.

Research Output

Journal Publications

  • Dickman, C.R., Parnaby, H.E., Crowther, M.S. & King, D.H. (1998). Antechinus agilis (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae): A new species from south-eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 46, 1-26.
  • Crowther, M.S., Dickman, C.R. & Lynam, A.J. (1999) .Sminthopsis griseoventer boullangerensis (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae), a new subspecies of the S. murina complex from Boullanger Island Western Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 47, 215-43.
  • Van Dyck, S. & Crowther, M.S. (2000). Reassessment of northern representatives of the Antechinus stuartii complex (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae): A. subtropicus sp. nov. and A. adustus new status. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 45, 611-35.
  • Crowther, M.S. (2002). Distributions of Antechinus stuartii – A. flavipes complex species as predicted by bioclimatic modeling. Australian Journal of Zoology 50, 77-91.
  • Crowther, M.S. (2002). Morphological variation within Antechinus agilis and A. stuartii (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae). Australian Journal of Zoology 50, 339-56.
  • Crowther, M.S., Spencer, P.B.S., Alpers, D. & Dickman, C.R. (2002). Taxonomic status of the Mardo (Antechinus flavipes leucogaster): a morphological, molecular, reproductive and bioclimatic approach. Australian Journal of Zoology 50, 627-57.
  • Wroe, S., Myers, T., Seebacher, F., Kear, B., Gillespie, A., Crowther, M.S. & Salisbury. S. (2003). An alternative method for predicting body-mass: the case of the Pleistocene marsupial lion. Paleobiology 29, 404-12.
  • Masters, P., Dickman, C.R. & Crowther, M.S. (2003). The effects of cover reduction on mulgara Dasycercus cristicauda (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae), rodent and invertebrate populations in central Australia: Implications for land management. Austral Ecology 28, 658-65.
  • Crowther, M.S., Sumner, J. & Dickman, C.R. (2003). Speciation of Antechinus stuartii and A. subtropicus (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) in eastern Australia: molecular and morphological evidence. Australian Journal of Zoology 51, 443-62.
  • Murray, B.R., Brown, A.H.D., Dickman, C.R. & Crowther, M.S. (2004). Geographic gradients in seed mass in relation to climate. Journal of Biogeography 31, 379-88.
  • Wroe, S., Crowther, M.S., Dortch, J. & Chong, J. (2004). The size of the largest marsupial and why it matters? Proceedings of the Royal Soceity of London B. 271, S34-S36.
  • McAllan, B.M., Dickman, C.R. & Crowther, M.S. (2006). Photoperiod as a reproductive cue in the marsupial genus Antechinus: ecological and evolutionary consequences. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 87, 365-379.
  • Holleley, C.E., Dickman, C.R., Crowther, M.S. & Oldroyd, B.P. (2006). Size breeds success: multiple paternity, multivariate selection and male semelparity in a small marsupial, Antechinus stuartii. Molecular Ecology 15, 3439–48.
  • Pizzuto T.A., Finlayson, G.R., Crowther, M.S. & Dickman, C.R. (2007). Microhabitat use by the brush-tailed bettong (Bettongia penicillata) and burrowing bettong (B. lesueur) in semi-arid New South Wales, Wild. Res. 34, 271-9.
  • Daly, B.G., Dickman, C.R. & Crowther, M.S. (2007). Selection of habitat components by two species of agamid lizards in sandridge desert, central Australia. Austral Ecology 32, 825-33.
  • Daly, B.G., Dickman, C.R. & Crowther, M.S. (2008). Causes of habitat divergence in two species of agamid lizards in arid central Australia: a mechanistic analysis. Ecology 89, 65-76.
  • McAllan, B.M., Westman, W., Crowther, M.S. & Dickman, C.R. (2008). The effects of temperature on growth and reproduction in Australian populations of the House Mouse (Mus domesticus). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 94, 21–30.
  • O’Brien, C.M., Crowther, M.S., Dickman, C.R. & Keating, J. (2008). Metapopulation dynamics and threatened species management: why does the broad-toothed rat (Mastacomys fuscus) persist. Biological Conservation 141, 1962-71.
  • Letnic, M., Crowther, M.S. & Koch, F. (2009). Does a top-predator provide an endangered rodent with refuge from an invasive mesopredator? Animal Conservation 12, 302-12.
  • Lunney, D., Crowther, M.S., Shannon, I. & Bryant, J.V. (2009). Combining a map-based public survey with an estimation of site occupancy to determine the recent and changing distribution of the koala in New South Wales. Wildlife Research 26, 262-73.
  • Vine, S.J., Crowther, M.S., Lapidge, S.J., Dickman, C.R., Mooney, N. Piggott, M.P. & English, A.E. (2009). Comparison of methods to detect rare and cryptic species: a case study using the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Wildlife Research 26, 436-46.
  • Crowther, M.S., McAlpine, C.A., Lunney, D., Shannon, I. & Bryant J.V. (2009). Using broad-scale, community survey data to compare species conservation strategies across regions: a case study of the koala in adjacent catchments. Ecological Management and Restoration 10, S88-S96.
  • Navnith, M. Finlayson, G.R., Crowther M.S. & Dickman, C.R. (2009). The diet of the re-introduced greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) in the mallee woodlands of western New South Wales. Australian Zoologist 35, 90-5.
  • Stojanovic, D., Maguire G., Weston, M.A., Dickman, C.R. & Crowther, M.S. (2009). Attempted incubation and nest-maintenance behaviour of artificially deployed quail egg clutches by Hooded Plovers Thinornis rubricollis. Wader Study Group Bulletin 116, 41-3.
  • Letnic, M., Koch, F., Gordon, C., Crowther, M.S. & Dickman C.R. (2009). Keystone effects of an alien top-predator stem extinctions of native mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society of. London B 276, 3249-56.

Book Chapters

  • Crowther, M.S., McAllan, B.M. & Dickman, C.R. (2003). Morphological Variation within Australian populations of the House Mouse: An observational and experimental approach. In ‘Rats, mice and people; Rodent Biology and Management’. (Eds G.R. Singleton, L.A. Hinds, C.J. Krebs and D.M Spratt.) pp. 350-3. ACIAR Technical Report 96.
  • McAllan, B.M., Westman, W., Crowther, M.S. & Dickman, C.R. (2003). Reproduction and growth in house mice from cold, hot and thermally moderate environments. In ‘Rats, mice and people; Rodent Biology and Management’. (Eds G.R. Singleton, L.A. Hinds, C.J. Krebs and D.M Spratt.) pp. 346-9. ACIAR Technical Report 96.
  • Crowther, M.S. & Blacket, M.J. (2003). Speciation and biogeography within the Dasyuridae, or why are there so many species of dasyurids? In Predators with Pouches: The Biology of Carnivorous Marsupials (Eds. M. Jones, C.R. Dickman, & M. Archer). pp. 124-30. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne).
  • Vine S., Crowther, M.S., Dickman, C.R., Lapidge, S. Mooney, N. & English, A. (2005). Detection of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) at low population density. In Proceedings of the Australasian Vertebrate Pest Conference, Wellington, New Zealand.
  • Dickman, C.R. & Crowther, M.S. (2009). Science and the environment. In: Environmental Biology (Ed. M.C. Calver, A. Lymbery, J. McComb & M. Bamford). pp. 23-42 (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge).
    Crowther, M.S. & Braithwaite, R.W. (2008) Brown Antechinus (Antechinus stuartii). In Mammals of Australia. pp. 94-6. (Ed. S. Van Dyck and R. Strahan). (New Holland: Sydney).
  • Crowther, M.S. (2008) Yellow-footed Antechinus (Antechinus flavipes) In Mammals of Australia.. pp. 86-8. (Ed. S. Van Dyck and R. Strahan). (New Holland: Sydney).
  • Barnett, S. & Crowther, M.S. (2008) Subtropical Antechinus (Antechinus subtropicus). In Mammals of Australia.. pp. 97-8. (Ed. S. Van Dyck and R. Strahan). (New Holland: Sydney).
  • Barnett, S. & Crowther, M.S. (2008) Rusty Antechinus (Antechinus adustus) in Mammals of Australia. (Ed. S. Van Dyck). (Ed. S. Van Dyck and R. Strahan). pp 81-2. (New Holland: Sydney).
  • Dee, J, Shrestha, K. K. & Crowther, M.S. (2008). Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Planning Education: Value Conflicts in Sydney’s Port Botany Expansion. (Proceedings of ANZAP conference: Sydney).
  • Lunney, D., Close, R., Bryant, J.V., Crowther, M.S. Shannon, I., Madden, K. & Ward, S. (2010a). The koalas of Campbelltown, south-western Sydney: does their natural history foretell of an unnatural future? In ‘A Natural History of Sydney’ (ed. P. Hutchings, D. Lunney and D. Hochuli). (Royal Zoological Society of NSW: Sydney). [In press]
  • Lunney, D., Close, R., Bryant, J. V., Crowther, M. S., Shannon, I., Madden, K., & Ward, S. (2010b). Campbelltown’s koalas: their place in the natural history of Australia. In ‘A Natural History of Sydney’. (Eds D. Lunney, P. Hutchings and D. Hochuli.) (Royal Zoological Society of NSW: Sydney.) [In press]