Research Scientist

       Email:  dsutherland@penguins.org.au

       Phone: + 61 (3) 59512850

       Mail:     Phillip Island Nature Parks, PO Box 97, Cowes Vic. 3922, Australia


Professional Area

Vertebrate ecology and population modelling


Current projects

  • Distribution and abundance of breeding seabirds in Victoria
  • Population trends in little penguins
  • Seabird nest predation: predators and impacts
  • Ecotourism and seabird population demographics
  • Evaluating artificial nest-boxes for Little Penguin conservation
  • Consequences for seabirds of rehabilitating Summerland Peninsula
  • Seabird terrestrial habitat selection and predictive modelling
  • Fox control, monitoring and eradication on Phillip Island
  • Mesopredator release and trophic cascades following pest control
  • Faunal community interactions on Phillip Island
  • Re-establishing faunal diversity on Phillip Island

Bibliograhy

Duncan joined the Research Department at Phillip Island Nature Parks in January 2010, following a research position with the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation and the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre investigating the impact of fox baiting on native predators.  Prior to this he has worked with the Western Australian Department of Agriculture and Food assessing the potential impact of exotic birds and mammals in Australia and completing his Ph.D. on population regulation in feral house mice.  At Phillip Island, Duncan’s focus is on identifying the factors affecting little penguin population dynamics, the demographic consequences of conservation management actions and ecotourism, the impact of mammalian and avian predators in a multi-predator system, and estimating the distribution and abundance of seabirds in Victoria.  He is a Council Member of the Australian Mammal Society and an Honorary Fellow at Melbourne University.


Education

2005 - Ph.D. (Ecology), Monash University, Clayton
1998 - Honours (Zoology), Monash University, Clayton



Current students

  • Jennyffer Cruz. Effects of predation and resource availability on western brushtail possums. (Ph. D., University of Queensland, Gatton)
  • Kasun Ekanayake. The ecology of Little Ravens as nest predators (Ph. D., Deakin University, Burwood)
  • Anthony Rendall. Habitat dependent abundance and distribution of introduced rodents on Phillip Island. (Honours, Deakin University, Burwood)


Selected recent publications

Sutherland, D. R. & Dann, P. (2012) Improving accuracy of population size estimates for burrow nesting seabirds. Ibis.154, 488-498. DOI: 10.1111/j.1474-919X.2012.01234.x

Berry, O., Algar, D., Angus, J., Hamilton, N., Hilmer, S. & Sutherland, D. R. (in press) Genetic tagging reveals a significant impact of poison baiting on an invasive species. Journal of Wildlife Management.

Sutherland, D. R., Glen, A. S. & de Tores, P. J. (2011) Could controlling mammalian carnivores lead to mesopredator release of carnivorous reptiles? Proceedings B, 278, 641-648. DOI:10.1098/rspb.2010.2103.

De Tores, P. J., Sutherland, D. R., Clarke, J. R., Hill, R. F., Garretson, S. W., Bloomfield, L., Strümpher, L., Glen, A. S. & Cruz, J. (2011) Assessment of risks to non-target species from an encapsulated toxin in a bait proposed for control of feral cats. Wildlife Research. 38, 39-50. DOI: 10.1071/wr10105

Sutherland, D. R. & Predavec, M. (2010). Universal trap timer design to examine temporal activity of wildlife. Journal of Wildlife Management. 74, 906-909. DOI: 10.2193/2009-217

Glen A. S., Sutherland D. R. & Cruz J. (2010) An improved method of microhabitat assessment relevant to predation risk. Ecological Research. 25, 311–314. DOI: 10.1007/s11284-009-0653-y

Glen A. S., Berry O., Sutherland D. R., Garretson S., Robinson T. & De Tores P. J. (2010) Forensic DNA confirms intraguild killing of a chuditch (Dasyurus geoffroii) by a feral cat (Felis catus). Conservation Genetics. 11 1099-1101. DOI: 10.1007/s10592-009-9888-y

Jacob, J., Hinds, L. A., Singleton, G. R., Sutherland, D. R., and Ylönen, H. (2007). Is the reproductive potential of wild house mice regulated by extrinsic or intrinsic factors? Austral Ecology, 32: 202-209. DOI: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.2007.01680.x

Sutherland, D. R., and Singleton, G. R. (2006). Self-regulation within outbreak populations of feral house mice: a test of alternative models. Journal of Animal Ecology75: 584-594. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01081.x

Sutherland, D. R., Spencer, P., B. S., Singleton, G. R., and Taylor, A. C. (2005). Kin interactions and changing social structure during a population outbreak of feral house mice. Molecular Ecology 14, 2803-2814. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02623.x