JCU > Research Portfolio > Dr Ben Hirsch

About

I am interested in the intersection of animal behavior and ecology: how does ecology affect the behavior of animals and how can the behavior of animals affect their ecosystems? To this end, I’ve studied a variety of mammal species such as: ring-tailed and white-nosed coatis, beach mice, agoutis, raccoons, and capuchin monkeys. My work has focused on social behavior, predator-prey interactions, seed dispersal, urban ecology, movement ecology, and disease ecology. My current research seeks to understand basic and applied behavioral ecology questions in the Queensland wet tropics region.

Teaching

BS2460: Fundamentals of Ecology (Level 2; TSV)
BS5460: Fundamentals of Ecology (Level 5; TSV)
BZ2490: Toolkit for the Field Biologist (Level 2; CNS & TSV)
BZ3220: Population and Community Ecology (Level 3; TSV)
BZ3225: Technological Applications in Ecology (Level 3; CNS & TSV)
BZ5220: Population and Community Ecology (Level 5; TSV)
BZ5225: Technological Applications in Ecology (Level 5; CNS & TSV)
BZ5990: Toolkit for the Field Biologist (Level 5; CNS & TSV)

Interests

Research

Behavioral ecology Seed dispersal Predator-prey interactions Social behavior Urban ecology Movement ecology Disease ecology

Experience

2014 to 2015 - Post-doctoral researcher, University of Florida (Pensacola, FL)
2011 to 2014 - Post-doctoral researcher, The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
2008 to 2011 - Post-doctoral researcher, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama)
2007 to 2008 - Post-doctoral fellow, Smithsonian Institute (Washington DC)
2007 - Resident professor, Organization for Tropical Studies (Costa Rica)

Research Disciplines

Socio-Economic Objectives

Publications

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

Alavi S, Vining A, Caillaud D, Hirsch B, Havmøller R, Havmøller L, Kays R and Crofoot M (2022) A Quantitative Framework for Identifying Patterns of Route-Use in Animal Movement Data. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9.
Bruce T, Williams S, Amin R, L'Hotellier F and Hirsch B (2022) Laying low: Rugged lowland rainforest preferred by feral cats in the Australian Wet Tropics. Ecology and Evolution, 12 (7).
de la Fuente A, Krockenberger A, Hirsch B, Cernusak L and Williams S (2022) Predicted alteration of vertebrate communities in response to climate-induced elevational shifts. Diversity and Distributions, 28 (6). pp. 1180-1190
Fleming C, Deznabi I, Alavi S, Crofoot M, Hirsch B, Medici E, Noonan M, Kays R, Fagan W, Sheldon D and Calabrese J (2022) Population-level inference for home-range areas. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 13 (5). pp. 1027-1041
Harel R, Alavi S, Ashbury A, Aurisano J, Berger-Wolf T, Davis G, Hirsch B, Kalbitzer U, Kays R, Mclean K, Núñez C, Vining A, Walton Z, Havmøller R and Crofoot M (2022) Life in 2.5D: Animal Movement in the Trees. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10.
Kelly C, Schwarzkopf L, Gordon I, Pople A, Kelly D and Hirsch B (2022) Dancing to a different tune: changing reproductive seasonality in an introduced chital deer population. Oecologia, 200. pp. 285-294
de la Fuente A, Hirsch B, Cernusak L and Williams S (2021) Predicting species abundance by implementing the ecological niche theory. Ecography, 44 (11). pp. 1723-1730
Havmøller L, Loftus J, Havmøller R, Alavi S, Caillaud D, Grote M, Hirsch B, Tórrez-Herrera L, Kays R and Crofoot M (2021) Arboreal monkeys facilitate foraging of terrestrial frugivores. Biotropica, 53 (6). pp. 1685-1697
Kelly C, Schwarzkopf L, Gordon I and Hirsch B (2021) Population growth lags in introduced species. Ecology and Evolution, 11 (9). pp. 4577-4587
Leahy L, Scheffers B, Andersen A, Hirsch B and Williams S (2021) Vertical niche and elevation range size in tropical ants: implications for climate resilience. Diversity and Distributions, 27 (3). pp. 485-496
Noonan M, Martinez-Garcia R, Davis G, Crofoot M, Kays R, Hirsch B, Caillaud D, Payne E, Sih A, Sinn D, Spiegel O, Fagan W, Fleming C and Calabrese J (2021) Estimating encounter location distributions from animal tracking data. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 12 (7). pp. 1158-1173
Hirsch B, Malpass E and Di Blanco Y (2020) Interindividual spacing affects the finder’s share in ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua). Behavioral Ecology, 31 (1). pp. 232-238

More: ResearchOnline@JCU stores 44+ research outputs authored by Dr Ben Hirsch from 2002 onwards.

Current Funding

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Ecological Society of Australia - Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment

Demographic, genetic and dietary analysis of introduced chital deer (Axis axis) in the dry tropics.

Indicative Funding: $5,300 over 1 year
Summary: This project aims to detail the dietary richness of chital deer diet, and explore the association between individual dietary quality and body condition. This will be achieved utilising faecal sample DNA metabarcoding techniques to sequence and analyse the dietary items consumed by chital deer, in combination with faecal chromatography techniques to estimate dietary quality, and exploration of animal morphometric data to investigate the variance in body condition among individuals. My results will detail the dietary items that are associated with chital deer of higher body condition, and more importantly, the dominant vegetation communities that chital deer may utilise to facilitate further range expansion.
Investigators: Matthew Quin, Ben Hirsch, Lin Schwarzkopf and Jan Strugnell (College of Science & Engineering)
Keywords: Chital deer (Axis axis); Habitat preference; Invasive species; DNA metabarcoding; Faecal analysis; Dietary analysis

Australian Research Council - Linkage - Projects

Understanding population growth time lags in invasive species: Chital deer as a model system.

Indicative Funding: $394,015 over 5 years, in partnership with QLD Department of Agriculture and Fisheries ($80,000)
Summary: Lags in population growth of introduced species are common, but poorly understood. Chital deer (Axis axis) are an invasive species introduced to Australia over 130 years ago, but their numbers have only increased dramatically in the past 30-40 years. We will use data collected from wild animals, landholder surveys, and computer simulation models to clarify causes of sudden population expansion in more detail. Understanding lags will allow us to understand their causes, and better control populations of invasive species. By predicting drivers of rapid population growth, we can better mitigate the associated economic and environmental costs of invasive species.
Investigators: Ben Hirsch, Lin Schwarzkopf and Jan Strugnell in collaboration with Tony Pople (College of Science & Engineering and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries)
Keywords: chital (Axis axis); Invasive Species; landscape geneticfs; beef production demography; deer

Human Frontier Science Program - Research Grant

Communication and coordination of collective behaviour across spatial scales in animal societies

Indicative Funding: $324,302 over 5 years (administered by University of Konstanz)
Summary: We will test commonalities and differences in group coordination tasks using spatial movement and active communication in three species of social mammals.
Investigators: Ari Standburg-Peshkin, Ben Hirsch, Kay Holekamp, Marta Manser and Marie Roch (Universitat Konstanz, College of Science & Engineering, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Universitat Zurich and San Diego State University)
Keywords: Coati (Nasua narica); animal tracking; group coordination; computer models; Communication; animal vocalizations

Australasian Wildlife Management Society - Postgraduate student research award

Predicting habitat vulnerable to invasion: Diet and body condition of introduced chital deer (Axis axis) in the Australian dry tropics

Indicative Funding: $2,000 over 1 year
Summary: This project aims to detail the dietary richness of chital deer diet, and explore the association between individual dietary quality and body condition. This will be achieved utilising faecal sample DNA metabarcoding techniques to sequence and analyse the dietary items consumed by chital deer, in combination with faecal chromatography techniques to estimate dietary quality, and exploration of animal morphometric data to investigate the variance in body condition among individuals. My results will detail the dietary items that are associated with chital deer of higher body condition, and more importantly, the dominant vegetation communities that chital deer may utilise to facilitate further range expansion.
Investigators: Matthew Quin, Ben Hirsch, Lin Schwarzkopf and Jan Strugnell (College of Science & Engineering)
Keywords: Chital deer (Axis axis); Habitat preference; Invasive species; DNA metabarcoding; Faecal analysis; Dietary analysis

Skyrail Rainforest Foundation - Rainforest Protection Grant

Determinants of spatial variation in population density in a tropical folivore community: conservation implications in a changing environment

Indicative Funding: $10,000 over 2 years
Summary: Climate change is the greatest threat to the preservation of global biodiversity. Our capacity to predict species? vulnerability and make informed conservation management decisions relies on understanding processes that control species population size. However, the factors that limit species populations are generally unknown due to the intrinsic difficulties of studying species across their entire range. This project will study the factors that limit the populations of ringtail possums in the Australian Wet Tropics at a landscape scale. The empirical knowledge gained will be used to forecast species response to a changing thermal, nutritional, and toxicological environment using mechanistic niche modelling.
Investigators: Alejandro de la Fuente Pinero, Stephen Williams and Ben Hirsch (College of Science & Engineering)
Keywords: Climate Change; Macroecology; Animal-plant interaction; Pseudocheiridae; conservatiion biology; Landscape ecology

Wet Tropics Management Authority - Student Research Grant Scheme

Feral cats in the North Queensland Wet Tropics region: understanding the behavioural and ecological interactions that affect conservation outcomes.

Indicative Funding: $3,945 over 2 years
Summary: The project aims to determine how feral cats, as an invasive pest species, are influencing native biodiversity and trophic interactions within the wet tropics landscape. This project will address the knowledge gap surrounding the ecosystem level impacts of feral cats and whether they pose a major threat to native species in the region. We will investigate how cats are distributed throughout the habitat and test if human development e.g. roads are facilitating access into protected areas. If significant cat populations are found within the region, we will identify their likely ecological effects, which will lead to evidenced based mitigation strategies.
Investigators: Thomas Bruce, Ben Hirsch and Stephen Williams (College of Science & Engineering)
Keywords: Feral Cat; Camera-trapping; Occupancy; Habitat Preference; Population Ecology; Species Interactions

Supervision

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

Rufous bettongs (Aepyprymnus rufescens) on northern Australian rangelands (Masters , Secondary Advisor)
Demographic, genetic and dietary analysis of introduced chital deer (axis axis) in the North Queensland dry tropics (PhD , Primary Advisor)
Determinants of spatial variation in population density in a tropical folivore community: Conservation implications in a changing environment (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

Completed

Ontogeny of problem solving in a native Australian rodent, the fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rat Melomys cervinipes (2022, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Climatic variability and the vulnerability of rainforest biota to a warming world (2022, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
Ecology of chital deer in north Queensland (2022, PhD , Primary Advisor)
Feral cat ecology in the Australian Wet Tropics; Occupancy, interactions, and management. (2023, PhD , Primary Advisor)

Collaboration

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.