Doug Armstrong
Professor
of Conservation Biology, Massey University
Research Programme
Selected Publications
Postdoctoral Fellows &
Graduate Students
Role in Reintroduction
Specialist Group
Teaching
Contact Information
Research Programme
My
research since 1992 has mainly focused on population dynamics of reintroduced
forest birds, targetting questions that need to be
answered to improve the success of reintroduction programs. The bulk of
this research has involved toutouwai (New Zealand robins), hihi
(stitchbirds), and tieke
(saddlebacks) on offshore islands or mainland forest fragments, and has
addressed four general questions:
- What habitat
conditions are needed for persistence of the reintroduced population?
- To what
extent will inbreeding depression affect persistence of the reintroduced
population?
- How heavily
should source populations be harvested?
- Should translocation
be used to compensate for isolation in fragmented landscapes?
These
questions make of four of the 10 key questions that Phil Seddon and I advocated
in our 2008 paper "Directions in reintroduction biology" (see
below). Examples of individual research projects are given in the
selected publications below, and information on the reintroductions is given on
the rundown of New
Zealand reintroduction projects on the CTSG
Oceania web site. See http://www.hihiconservation.com/
for research related to hihi conservation.
Recent Publications
Fischer JH, Taylor GA, Cole R, Debski I, Armstrong DP, Wittmer HU (2020) Population growth estimates of a
threatened seabird indicate necessity for additional management following invasive
predator eradications. Animal Conservation 23:94–103.
Drummond
FM, Armstrong DP (2019) Use of
distance sampling to measure long-term changes in bird densities in a fenced
wildlife sanctuary. New Zealand. Journal of Ecology 43:1-9.
Drummond
FM, Parker KA, Lovegrove TG, Armstrong
DP (2019) Distinguishing effects of juvenile mortality and dispersal on
recruitment. Journal of Wildlife Management 83:1744-1752.
Fischer
JH, McCauley CF, Armstrong DP, Debski I, Wittmer HU (2019) Contrasting
responses of lizard occurrences to burrowing by a critically endangered seabird.
Community Ecology 20:64-74.
Johnson
PJ, Adams VM, Armstrong DP, et al
(2019) Consequences matter: Compassion in conservation means caring for
individuals, populations and species. Animals 9:1115.
McArthur
N, Boulton RL, Richard Y, Armstrong DP
(2019) The role of pine plantations in source-sink dynamics of North Island
robins New Zealand Journal of Ecology 43:1-9.
Panfylova
J, Ewen JG, Armstrong DP (2019)
Making structured decisions for reintroduced populations in the face of
uncertainty Conservation Science and Practice 1 (10), e90.
Richardson
KM, Parlato EH, … Armstrong DP (2019) Links
between personality, early natal nutrition and survival of a threatened bird.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 374 (1781), 20190373.
Sievwright
KA, Battley PF, McConnell H, Armstrong
DP, Morgan KJ (2019) Survival rates of oil-rehabilitated and non-rehabilitated
little penguins after the C/V Rena oil spill, New Zealand. Marine pollution
bulletin 146:317-325.
Williams
EM, Armstrong DP, O'Donnell CFJ
(2019) Modelling variation in calling rates to develop a reliable monitoring
method for the Australasian Bittern Botaurus
poiciloptilus Ibis 161:260-271.
Withers
S, Armstrong DP, Ward-Smith T, Parsons S, Hauber ME (2019) Improved
methods for reducing translocation mortality and obtaining reliable population
projections for reintroduction of the New Zealand Rifleman Acanthisitta
chloris Bird Conservation International 29:542–557.
Current
Postdocs and Graduate Students
·
Elizabeth Parlato, postdoctoral
fellow on Marsden Grant “Is individual variation relavant
to population dynamics?”
·
Zoe Stone, postdoctoral fellow on
MBIE-funded project “Reintroduction of birds in large landscapes”
·
Caio Kenup, PhD student “Applying structured
decision making for large-scale conservation initiatives”
·
Natalia Rangiwanga,
MSc student studying “Empowering Mātauranga Māori in
freshwater monitoring and management”
·
Adele Bittner, MSc student studying
“Optimising stream habitat assessment
for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council NERMN programme”
Role in Conservation Translocations Specialist Group
I chair
the Oceania Section of the Conservation Translocation Specialist Group CTSG).
The RSG is one of several specialist groups within the Species Survival
Commission which is part of the IUCN. My role is to advise on various issues to
do with reintroduction, facilitate contact between Oceania reintroduction
practitioners and reintroduction practitioners overseas, and facilitate
networking among reintroduction practitioners in Oceania. One initiative was
creating the CTSG Oceania web site,
which provided extensive information on what's going on in reintroduction in
Oceania, particularly in New Zealand.
Teaching
I run
a Postgraduate Programme in Conservation Biology
which offers an MSc (coursework worth 100 points plus a thesis) and PGDipSc (coursework only). I am the coordinator and
principal contributor for postgraduate papers in Conservation Biology (232.701)
and Wildlife Management (232.703), coordinate the undergraduate paper in
Applied Ecology and Resource Management (196.315). Click HERE
to see information on these courses, including brief descriptions and
timetables.
Address: Ecology 624, Massey University, PB
11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Phone: +64 6 356 9099 ext 84207
Click HERE to email me