Dr Claire Foster
Areas of expertise
- Ecology 0602
- Terrestrial Ecology 060208
- Community Ecology (Excl. Invasive Species Ecology) 060202
- Conservation And Biodiversity 050202
Research interests
My research focuses on terrestrial conservation biology. I am particularly interested in ecological disturbances and species interactions, and how feedbacks between these processes affect ecosystem structure, function and composition.
Biography
I am an ARC DECRA Fellow at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, studying the role that native and invasive herbivores play in forest dynamics and bushfire recovery.
Previously, I worked as a Research Fellow on an ARC Linkage Project investigating the influence of animals on fire regimes. I have also completed postdoctoral positions in biodiversity surrogates and fire ecology. In 2018 I completed an Endeavour Research Fellowship, studying at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
My PhD research investigated the interactive effects of prescribed fire and herbivory on the flora and fauna of a eucalypt forest understory.
Researcher's projects
ARC DECRA Project 2022 -
'Kangaroos, feral herbivores and bushfires: Consequences for forest dynamics'
ARC Linkage Project 2018-2022
‘Fauna, Fuel and FIre: Effects of native animals on fuel dynamics and bushfire risks' with David Lindenmayer, Geoff Cary, Paul Kardol, David Wardle.
Current student projects
Matt Chard (Fenner School, ANU)
PhD: Fauna, Fuel & Fire: Feedbacks of macropod herbivory on fire regimes (Primary Supervisor)
Jackie O'Sullivan (Fenner School, ANU)
PhD: Quantifying the ecological role of surface rocks on reptile conservation in agricultural landscapes (Co-supervisor)
Past student projects
Sophia Cain (Fenner School, ANU) - 2021
Honours:Effects of Macropod Herbivory on Intraspecific Plant Trait Variation – Consequences for Forest Flammability? (Primary Supervisor)
Margot Schneider (Fenner School, ANU) - 2020-2021 (mid year)
Honours:Past fire shaping future fuel: The influence of fire regimes on leaf chemical composition of Eucalyptus pilularis (Primary Supervisor)
Publications
- Lindenmayer, D, Blanchard, W, Blair, D et al. 2021, 'The response of arboreal marsupials to long-term changes in forest disturbance', Animal Conservation, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 246-258.
- Cary GJ, Blanchard W, Foster CN, Lindenmayer DB (2021) Effects of altered fire intervals on critical timber production and conservation values. International Journal of Wildland Fire 30: 322-328.
- Foster CN, Banks SC, Cary GJ, Johnson CN, Lindenmayer DB, Valentine LE (2020) Animals as Agents in Fire Regimes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 35 (4), pp. 346-356.
- Barton, P, Westgate, M, Foster, C et al 2020, 'Using ecological niche theory to avoid uninformative biodiversity surrogates', Ecological Indicators, vol. 108, pp. 1-7.
- Lindenmayer, D, Blanchard, W, Foster, C et al. 2020, 'Habitat amount versus connectivity: An empirical study of bird responses', Biological Conservation, vol. 241.
- Lindenmayer, D, Foster, C, Westgate, M et al. 2020, 'Managing interacting disturbances: Lessons from a case study in Australian forests', Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 57, no. 9, pp. 1711-1716.
- Scheele, B, Pasmans, F, Skerratt, L et al. 2020, 'Response to Comment on Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity', Science, vol. 367, no. 6484, pp. 1-4.
- Scheele, B, Pasmans, F, Skerratt, L et al 2019, 'Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity', Science, vol. 363, no. 6434, pp. 1459-1463pp.
- Foster, C & Scheele, B 2019, 'Feral-horse impacts on corroboree frog habitat in the Australian Alps', Wildlife Research, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 184-190.
- Foster, C, O'Loughlin, L, Sato, C et al 2019, 'How practitioners integrate decision triggers with existing metrics in conservation monitoring', Journal of Environmental Management, vol. 230, pp. 94-101.
- Lindenmayer, D, Lane, P, Foster, C et al. 2019, 'Do migratory and resident birds differ in their responses to interacting effects of climate, weather and vegetation?', Diversity and Distributions, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 449-461.
- Lindenmayer, D, Westgate, M, Scheele, B et al. 2019, 'Key perspectives on early successional forests subject to stand-replacing disturbances', Forest Ecology and Management, vol. 454.
- Lindenmayer, D, Lane, P, Crane, M et al. 2019, 'Weather effects on birds of different size are mediated by long-term climate and vegetation type in endangered temperate woodlands', Global Change Biology, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 675-685.
- Lindenmayer, D, Blanchard, W, Westgate, M et al. 2019, 'Novel bird responses to successive, large-scale, landscape transformations', Ecological Monographs, vol. 89, no. 3.
- Scheele, B, Foster, C, Hunter, D et al. 2019, 'Living with the enemy: Facilitating amphibian coexistence with disease', Biological Conservation, vol. 236, pp. 52-59.
- Baker, C, Bode, M, Dexter, N et al. 2019, 'A novel approach to assessing the ecosystem-wide impacts of reintroductions', Ecological Applications, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 1-12.
- Barton, P, Evans, M, Sato, C et al. 2019, 'Higher-taxon and functional group responses of ant and bird assemblages to livestock grazing: A test of an explicit surrogate concept', Ecological Indicators, vol. 96, pp. 458-465.
- Barton, P, Evans, M, Foster, C et al. 2019, 'Towards Quantifying Carrion Biomass in Ecosystems', Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 34, no. 10, pp. 950-961.
- Foster, C, Barton, P, MacGregor, C et al 2018, 'Effects of fire regime on plant species richness and composition differ among forest,woodland and heath vegetation', Applied Vegetation Science, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 132-143.
- Lindenmayer, D, Wood, J, MacGregor, C et al 2018, 'Conservation conundrums and the challenges of managing unexplained declines of multiple species', Biological Conservation, vol. 221, pp. 279-292pp.
- Lindenmayer, D, Lane, P, Westgate, M et al. 2018, 'Tests of predictions associated with temporal changes in Australian bird populations', Biological Conservation, vol. 222, pp. 212-221.
- O'Loughlin, L, Lindenmayer, D, Smith, M et al 2018, 'Surrogates Underpin Ecological Understanding and Practice', BioScience, vol. 68, no. 9, pp. 640-642pp.
- Scheele, B, Foster, C, Banks, S et al 2017, 'The Role of Biotic Interactions in the Niche Reduction Hypothesis: A Reply to Doherty and Driscoll', Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 148-149pp.
- Scheele, B, Foster, C, Banks, S et al 2017, 'Niche Contractions in Declining Species: Mechanisms and Consequences', Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 346-355.
- Foster, C, Barton, P, Robinson, N et al. 2017, 'Effects of a large wildfire on vegetation structure in a variable fire mosaic', Ecological Applications, vol. 27, no. 8, pp. 2369-2381pp.
- Barton, P, Evans, M, Foster, C et al 2017, 'Environmental and spatial drivers of spider diversity at contrasting microhabitats', Austral Ecology, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 700-710.
- Lindenmayer, D, MacGregor, C, Wood, J et al. 2016, 'Bombs, fire and biodiversity: Vertebrate fauna occurrence in areas subject to military training', Biological Conservation, vol. 204, no. 1, pp. 276-283.
- Foster, C, Sato, C, Lindenmayer, D et al 2016, 'Integrating theory into disturbance interaction experiments to better inform ecosystem management', Global Change Biology, 22, 1325-1335.
- Foster, C, Barton, P, Sato, C et al 2016, 'Herbivory and fire interact to affect forest understory habitat, but not its use by small vertebrates', Animal Conservation, 19, 15-25.
- Foster, C, Barton, P, Sato, C et al 2015, 'Synergistic interactions between fire and browsing drive plant diversity in a forest understorey', Journal of Vegetation Science, vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 1112-1123.
- Foster, C, Barton, P, Wood, J et al 2015, 'Interactive effects of fire and large herbivores on web-building spiders', Oecologia, vol. 179, no. 1, pp. 237-248.
- Foster, C, Barton, P & Lindenmayer, D 2014, 'Effects of large native herbivores on other animals', Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 929-938.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- Kangaroos, feral herbivores and bushfires: Consequences for forest dynamics (Primary Investigator)
- Quantifying the ecological role of surface rocks on reptile conservation in agricultural landscapes (Secondary Investigator)
- The interacting effects of herbivory and fire on understorey vegetation and its dependent fauna - AAS (Primary Investigator)
