I am a quantitative ecologist with 25 years experience studying ecology, biodiversity and conservation in the tropics. My research has been conducted in locations including; Colombia, India, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, as well Australia. This has involved large collaborative projects funded through international organisations (i.e. Conservation International) and smaller, individual student-based studies.

My primary interest is understanding fundamental biological processes. As such, I am not restricted to individual “focal” taxa or ecosystems. My research interests include a range of taxonomic groups and spans from local-scale ecological processes to broad scale patterns in species distributions and diversity. Based on my breadth of experience, I currently lead a team of researchers from Industry, Government and University sectors developing a biodiversity monitoring program as part of the Australian National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) for deployment across Australian. I am also contributing to TERNs development of a standard set of environmental monitoring protocols for the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment. 

Teaching

• BS2460: Fundamentals of Ecology (Level 2; CNS & TSV)
• BZ3215: Conservation Biology (Level 3; TSV)
• BZ3220: Population and Community Ecology (Level 3; CNS & TSV)
• BZ5215: Conservation Biology (Level 5; CNS)
• BZ5220: Population and Community Ecology (Level 5; CNS & TSV)
• SC5202: Quantitative Methods in Science (Level 5; CNS & TSV)

Interests

Research

• Biodiversity monitoring

Experience

• 2020 to present - Honorary Fellow & Regional Ambassador, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
• 2016 to present - College of Science and Engineering Board, James Cook University
• 2014 to present - Assoc. Prof., James Cook University (Cairns)
• 2018 to 2020 - Lead, Ecosystem Processes Platform, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
• 2016 to 2018 - Associate Dean Learning and Teaching, James Cook University (Cairns)

Research Disciplines

• Environmental management (4104)
• Ecology (3103)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Terrestrial systems and management (1806)

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

• Green H, Larsen P, Koci J, Edwards W and Nelson P (2023) Long-term effects of gypsum on the chemistry of sodic soils. Soil and Tillage Research, 233.
• McGuire A, Edwards W and Northfield T (2023) The infection efficacy of Metarhizium strains (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) against the Queensland fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni (Diptera: Tephritidae). Journal of Economic Entomology, 116 (2). pp. 627-631
• Hopkins J, Edwards W and Schwarzkopf L (2022) Invading the soundscape: exploring the effects of invasive species’ calls on acoustic signals of native wildlife. Biological Invasions, 24. pp. 3381-3393
• Kemp D, Edwards W and White T (2022) Captivating color: evidence for optimal stimulus design in a polymorphic prey lure. Behavioral Ecology, 33 (4). pp. 670-678
• Hopkins J, Edwards W, Laguna J and Schwarzkopf L (2021) An endangered bird calls less when invasive birds are calling. Journal of Avian Biology, 52 (1).
• Katovai E, Katovai D, Campbell M, Laurance S, Edwards W and Laurance W (2021) Structural recovery of logged forests in the Solomon Islands: implications for conservation and management. Tropical Conservation Science, 14.
• Pardo L, Edwards W, Campbell M, Gómez-Valencia B, Clements G and Laurance W (2021) Effects of oil palm and human presence on activity patterns of terrestrial mammals in the Colombian Llanos. Mammalian Biology, 101. pp. 775-789
• Hoffmann L, Edwards W, York P and Rasheed M (2020) Richness of primary producers and consumer abundance mediate epiphyte loads in a tropical seagrass system. Diversity, 12 (10).
• Sparrow B, Edwards W, Munroe S, Wardle G, Guerin G, Bastin J, Morris B, Christensen R, Phinn S and Lowe A (2020) Effective ecosystem monitoring requires a multi-scaled approach. Biological Reviews, 95 (6). pp. 1706-1719
• Cleverly J, Eamus D, Edwards W, Grant M, Grundy M, Held A, Karan M, Lowe A, Prober S, Sparrow B and Morris B (2019) TERN, Australia's land observatory: addressing the global challenge of forecasting ecosystem responses to climate variability and change. Environmental Research Letters, 14 (9).
• Cox C, Edwards W, Campbell M, Laurance W and Laurance S (2019) Liana cover in rainforest canopies is not predicted from local ground-based measures. Austral Ecology, 44 (5). pp. 759-767
• Pardo L, Campbell M, Cove M, Edwards W, Clements G and Laurance W (2019) Land management strategies can increase oil palm plantation use by some terrestrial mammals in Colombia. Scientific Reports, 9.

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 85+ research outputs authored by Prof Will Edwards from 1995 onwards.

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

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

• Water-use efficiency responses and effect of environmental stresses on plants from different rainfall gradients in Australia (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Attract and infect the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni, using entomopathogenic fungi (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Predicting and Limiting Future Land Cover change due to Infrastructure Expansion in the Tropics (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Evaluation of hunting Sustainablility and the Potential Role of Protected Areas in YUS: Implications for Conservation. (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• The functional traits of rainforest plant species that increase their sensitivity to drought. (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Using Sound to explore the population dynamic, bioacoustic interaction, patterns and acoustic community in frogs (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Rainforest plant flammability and recovery post-fire (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Distribution, ecology and conservation of the Magnificent Broodfrog (Pseudophryne Covacevichae) in North Queensland (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Sticky fingers: functional morphology of toepads and associated external attachment structures (Gekkota: diplodactylidae) (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

Completed

• Diversity and habitat use of medium-large sized mammals across oil palm landscapes in the Llanos region of Colombia (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Foraging niche specialisation and resource use in tropical seabirds: implications for management (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Biological processes influencing the success of invasive ants (2019, PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Evolution and ecological adaptations of microornamentation in Australian geckos (Gekkota, Squamata) (2020, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Invading the soundscape: the impacts of vocal invasive species (2021, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• From factors to contexts: analysing changes and interactions in behaviour, venom profiles and body state of Australian funnel-web spiders (2023, PhD , Advisor Mentor)

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit Research Data Australia.

• Hoffmann, L. (2020) Richness of primary producers and consumer abundance mediate epiphyte loads in a tropical seagrass system. James Cook University

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.