Dr David A Newell BSc(Hons), PhD (SCU) My primary research interest is in the ecology of endangered amphibians and in gaining an improved understanding their population biology through the use of capture mark recapture and patch occupancy studies. Collectively, amphibians are thought to be the most extinction prone vertebrates of modern times and in order to adequately conserve them, we need an improved understanding of the factors that threaten them. Many of these species are narrow range endemics that are susceptible to climate change and disease impacts and as such the development of rigorous long term approaches to population monitoring are required. I have been undertaking long-term monitoring in the World Heritage rainforests of northern NSW for over a decade and work closely with park managers in the development of improved conservation outcomes. Increasingly these areas are also used for recreation and if not carefully managed can inadvertently impact on the World Heritage values. I also have an interest in the use of web-based technologies to capture community knowledge of species distributions via interactive mapping technologies and am currently using this to map cane toad distribution in New South Wales.
Journal articles
Population recovery following decline in an endangered stream-breeding frog (mixophyes fleayi) from subtropical Australia (with Ross L. Goldingay and Lyndon O. Brooks), PLoS One (2013)
Amphibians have undergone dramatic declines and extinctions worldwide. Prominent among these have been the streambreeding...
Crowd sourcing for conservation: Web 2.0 a powerful tool for biologists (with Margaret M. Pembroke and William E. Boyd), Future Internet (2012)
The advent and adoption of Web 2.0 technologies offers a powerful approach to enhancing the...
Recent invasions of World Heritage rainforests in north-east New South Wales by the cane toad Bufo marinus, Australian Zoologist (2011)
The cane toad Bufo marinus is well recognised as a threat to biodiversity in northern...
A preliminary assessment of disturbance to rock outcrops in Gibraltar Range National Park (with Ross L. Goldingay), Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales (2006)
The significance of habitat disturbance within protected areas remains poorly understood. This study assessed habitat...
Overview of the conservation status of Australian frogs (with Jean Marc Hero, Clare Morrison, Graeme R. Gillespie, J Dale Roberts, Edward A. Meyer, Keith R. McDonald, Francis L. Lemckert, Michael J. Mahony, William S. Osborne, Harry B. Hines, Steve Richards, Conrad J. Hoskin, John M. Clarke, Naomi Doak, and Luke P. Shoo), Pacific Conservation Biology (2006)
A review of the current conservation status of Australian amphibians was recently completed as part...
Book chapters
Conserving reptiles and frogs in the forests of New South Wales (with Ross L. Goldingay), Conservation of Australia's forest fauna (2004)
Status of rainforest stream frogs in northeastern New South Wales: decline or recovery? (with Ross L. Goldingay and Mark Graham), Declines and disappearances of Australian frogs (1999)
Rainforest stream-dwelling frogs have declined dramatically throughout eastern Australia. We collected baseline information on the...