Aaron Greenville

Desert Ecology Research Group
School of Biological Sciences
Heydon-Laurence Building A08
University of Sydney
NSW 2006

Research Interest

I began my association with the Dickman Lab in 1999, when I was a third year student undertaking a project with Prof. Chris Dickman. The work was continued during Honours where I studied the tight habitat association of Lerista labialis with the dune crests of the Simpson Desert. Since then I have worked for Chris off-and-on on various desert ecology projects. When I was not working in the lab, I undertook a research project at Arid Recovery in South Australia investigating the comparative use of rabbit, bilby and bettong warrens by native species. I also worked for two years as an Ecology Fieldworker for Forests NSW searching for threatened species throughout the State Forests of the Hunter Region.

Now my primary role as a Research Assistant is to assist with the two current ARC-funded projects by Prof. Chris Dickman and A.Prof Glenda Wardle (see Research). In addition I provide data analysis, GIS support and help with the day to day running of the research group.

I have taken the next step and enrolled into a PhD. I'm investigating ecological interactions in arid Australia, both within and between trophic groups, and how external environmental factors, such as rainfall and wildfire, influence these interactions. I hope to develop models for these interactions, using our long-term datasets (>22 years). These models will be used to predict how the Australian arid zone will change under different climate and species scenarios.

I have been fortunate to see the Simpson Desert during one of its wettest periods in 2000 and through the current drought. I have experienced flooding rains and dry dust storms. This has highlighted to me how amazing the environment of arid Australia is and how the reptiles, mammals, birds and plants cope under what we would consider extreme circumstances. This environment continues to surprise me and provides unique challenges for field work.

Publications

Greenville A. C., Wardle G. M., Dickman Christopher R. (2012) Extreme climatic events drive mammal irruptions: regression analysis of 100-year trends in desert rainfall and temperature. Ecology and Evolution, 2, 2645-2658.

Dickman C. R., Greenville A. C., Tamayo B. & Wardle G. M. (2011) Spatial dynamics of small mammals in central Australian desert habitats: the role of drought refugia. Journal of Mammalogy 92, 1193-209.

Letnic, M., Greenville, A., Denny, E., Dickman, C. R., Tischler, M., Gordon, C. and Koch, F. (2011). Does a top predator suppress the abundance of an invasive mesopredator at a continental scale? Global Ecology and Biogeography, 20, 343-353.

Dickman, C. R., Greenville, A. C., Beh, C.-L., Tamayo, B. and Wardle, G. M. (2010). Social organization and movements of desert rodents during population "booms" and "busts" in central Australia. Journal of Mammalogy, 91, 798-810.

Greenville A. C., Dickman C. R., Wardle G. M. & Letnic M. (2009) The fire history of an arid grassland: the influence of antecedent rainfall and ENSO. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 18, 631-639.

Greenville A. C. & Dickman C. R. (2009) Factors affecting habitat selection in a specialist fossorial skink. Biol J Linn Soc, 97, 531-544.

Read J. L., Carter J., Moseby K. M. & Greenville A. (2008) Ecological roles of rabbit, bettong and bilby warrens in arid Australia. Journal of Arid Environments, 72, 2124-2130.

Greenville, A.C. and Dickman, C.R. (2005). Ecology of Lerista labialis in the Simpson Desert: reproduction and diet. Journal of Arid Environments, 60, 611-625.

Media

Changes predicted for the Simpson Desert's droughts and flooding rains

Simpson Desert so hot right now (ABC NT Country Hour)

Sydney University Student wins young scientist grant