Associate Professor Ricky Spencer

Journal Articles

• Maheshwari, B., Hagare, D., Spencer, R., Dollin, J., Reynolds, J., Atkins, D., Packham, R., Batelaan, O., Sitharam, T., Lan, Y., Arora, M., Kashyap, R., Kartha, S., Sathasivan, A. and Dutta, S. (2023), 'Training young water professionals in leadership and transdisciplinary competencies for sustainable water management in India', World Water Policy, vol 9, no 3 , pp 300 - 314.
• Issac, A., Mullassery, H., Lakshmi, T., Hagare, D., Maheshwari, B., Dollin, J., Packham, R. and Spencer, R. (2023), 'Transdisciplinary approach for planning the expansion of irrigation infrastructure at a regional scale', World Water Policy, vol 9, no 3 , pp 371 - 387.
• Shivakumar, S., Shanmuganathan, M., Goonetilleke, A., Day, D., Sarkar, A., Hagare, D., Maheshwari, B., Spencer, R., Thimmegowda, M., Mailapalli, D., Purkait, M. and Mahadevappa, S. (2023), 'Managing floods in Chennai City as part of situation understanding and improvement project', World Water Policy, vol 9, no 3 , pp 349 - 370.
• Petrov, K., Sutcliffe, S., Truscott, H., Kutay, C., Eisemberg, C., Spencer, R., Lawler, I., Bower, D., Van Dyke, J. and Georges, A. (2023), 'Turtles in trouble. Conservation ecology and priorities for Australian freshwater turtles', Austral Ecology, vol 48, no 8 , pp 1603 - 1656.
• Ensbey, M., Legge, S., Jolly, C., Garnett, S., Gallagher, R., Lintermans, M., Nimmo, D., Rumpff, L., Scheele, B., Whiterod, N., Woinarski, J., Ahyong, S., Blackmore, C., Bower, D., Burbidge, A., Burns, P., Butler, G., Catullo, R., Chapple, D., Dickman, C., Doyle, K., Ferris, J., Fisher, D., Geyle, H., Gillespie, G., Greenlees, M., Hohnen, R., Hoskin, C., Kennard, M., King, A., Kuchinke, D., Law, B., Lawler, I., Lawler, S., Loyn, R., Lunney, D., Lyon, J., MacHunter, J., Mahony, M., Mahony, S., McCormack, R., Melville, J., Menkhorst, P., Michael, D., Mitchell, N., Mulder, E., Newell, D., Pearce, L., Raadik, T., Rowley, J., Sitters, H., Southwell, D., Spencer, R., West, M. and Zukowski, S. (2023), 'Animal population decline and recovery after severe fire : relating ecological and life history traits with expert estimates of population impacts from the Australian 2019-20 megafires', Biological Conservation, vol 283 .
• Colbert, P., Spencer, R. and Janzen, F. (2022), 'Developmental asynchrony might not reduce fitness in early life in painted turtles', Frontiers in Physiology, vol 13 .
• Ryeland, J., Derham, T. and Spencer, R. (2021), 'Past and future potential range changes in one of the last large vertebrates of the Australian continent, the emu Dromaius novaehollandiae', Scientific Reports, vol 11, no 1 .
• Santori, C., Spencer, R., Thompson, M., Whittington, C. and Van Dyke, J. (2021), 'Hatchling short-necked turtles (Emydura macquarii) select aquatic vegetation habitats, but not after one month in captivity', Aquatic Ecology, vol 55, no 1 , pp 85 - 96.
• Sung, Y., Liew, J., Chan, H., Lee, W., Wong, B., Dingle, C., Karraker, N., Spencer, R. and Fong, J. (2021), 'Assessing the diet of the endangered Beale's eyed turtle (Sacalia bealei) using faecal content and stable isotope analyses : implications for conservation', Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, vol 31, no 10 , pp 2804 - 2813.
• Santori, C., Keith, R., Whittington, C., Thompson, M., Van Dyke, J. and Spencer, R. (2021), 'Changes in participant behaviour and attitudes are associated with knowledge and skills gained by using a turtle conservation citizen science app', People and Nature, vol 3, no 1 , pp 66 - 76.
• Ryeland, J., House, C., Umbers, K. and Spencer, R. (2021), 'Optimal clutch size and male incubation investment in the male-only incubating emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)', Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, vol 75, no 12 .
• Petrov, K., Spencer, R., Malkiewicz, N., Lewis, J., Keitel, C. and Van Dyke, J. (2020), 'Prey-switching does not protect a generalist turtle from bioenergetic consequences when its preferred food is scarce', BMC Ecology, vol 20, no 1 .
• Chessman, B., McGilvray, G., Ruming, S., Jones, H., Petrov, K., Fielder, D., Spencer, R. and Georges, A. (2020), 'On a razor's edge : status and prospects of the critically endangered Bellinger River snapping turtle, Myuchelys georgesi', Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, vol 30, no 3 , pp 586 - 600.
• Stanford, C., Iverson, J., Rhodin, A., Dijk, P., Mittermeier, R., Kuchling, G., Berry, K., Bertolero, A., Bjorndal, K., Blanck, T., Buhlmann, K., Burke, R., Congdon, J., Diagne, T., Edwards, T., Eisemberg, C., Ennen, J., Forero-Medina, G., Frankel, M., Fritz, U., Gallego-Garcia, N., Georges, A., Gibbons, J., Gong, S., Goode, E., Shi, H., Hoang, H., Hofmeyr, M., Horne, B., Hudson, R., Juvik, J., Kiester, R., Koval, P., Le, M., Lindeman, P., Lovich, J., Luiselli, L., McCormack, T., Meyer, G., Paez, V., Platt, K., Platt, S., Pritchard, P., Quinn, H., Roosenburg, W., Seminoff, J., Shaffer, H., Spencer, R., Van Dyke, J., Vogt, R. and Walde, A. (2020), 'Turtles and tortoises are in trouble', Current Biology, vol 30, no 12 , pp 721 - 735.
• Santori, C., Spencer, R., Thompson, M., Whittington, C., Burd, T., Currie, S., Finter, T. and Van Dyke, J. (2020), 'Scavenging by threatened turtles regulates freshwater ecosystem health during fish kills', Scientific Reports, vol 10 .
• Santori, C., Thompson, M., Van Dyke, J., Whittington, C. and Spencer, R. (2020), 'Smartphone citizen science for turtles : identifying motives, usage patterns and reasons why citizens stop participating', Australian Zoologist, vol 40, no 3 , pp 438 - 448.
• Skelton, C., Cook, A., West, P., Spencer, R. and Old, J. (2019), 'Building an army of wombat warriors : developing and sustaining a citizen science project', Australian Mammalogy, vol 41, no 2 , pp 186 - 195.
• Doherty, T., Driscoll, D., Nimmo, D., Ritchie, E. and Spencer, R. (2019), 'Conservation or politics? : Australia's target to kill 2 million cats', Conservation Letters, vol 12, no 4 .
• Van Dyke, J., Spencer, R., Thompson, M., Chessman, B., Howard, K. and Georges, A. (2019), 'Conservation implications of turtle declines in Australia's Murray River system', Scientific Reports, vol 9 .
• Spencer, R., Van Dyke, J., Petrov, K., Ferronato, B., McDougall, F., Austin, M., Keitel, C. and Georges, A. (2018), 'Profiling a possible rapid extinction event in a long-lived species', Biological Conservation, vol 221 , pp 190 - 197.
• Petrov, K., Stricker, H., Van Dyke, J., Stockfeld, G., West, P. and Spencer, R. (2018), 'Nesting habitat of the broad-shelled turtle (Chelodina expansa)', Australian Journal of Zoology, vol 66, no 1 , pp 4 - 14.
• Petrov, K., Lewis, J., Malkiewicz, N., Van Dyke, J. and Spencer, R. (2018), 'Food abundance and diet variation in freshwater turtles from the mid-Murray River, Australia', Australian Journal of Zoology, vol 66, no 1 , pp 67 - 76.
• McGlashan, J., Thompson, M., Janzen, F. and Spencer, R. (2018), 'Environmentally induced phenotypic plasticity explains hatching synchrony in the freshwater turtle Chrysemys picta', Journal of Experimental Zoology. Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology, vol 329, no 6-7 , pp 362 - 372.
• Santori, C., Spencer, R., Van Dyke, J. and Thompson, M. (2018), 'Road mortality of the eastern long-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis) along the Murray River, Australia : an assessment using citizen science', Australian Journal of Zoology, vol 66, no 1 , pp 41 - 49.
• Georges, A., Spencer, R., Kilian, A., Welsh, M. and Zhang, X. (2018), 'Assault from all sides : hybridization and introgression threaten the already critically endangered Myuchelys georgesi (Chelonia: Chelidae)', Endangered Species Research, vol 37 , pp 239 - 247.
• Rhodin, A., Stanford, C., Dijk, P., Eisemberg, C., Luiselli, L., Mittermeier, R., Hudson, R., Horne, B., Goode, E., Kuchling, G., Walde, A., Baard, E., Berry, K., Bertolero, A., Blanck, T., Bour, R., Buhlmann, K., Cayot, L., Collett, S., Currylow, A., Das, I., Diagne, T., Ennen, J., Forero-Medina, G., Frankel, M., Fritz, U., Garcia, G., Gibbons, J., Gibbons, P., Shiping, G., Guntoro, J., Hofmeyr, M., Iverson, J., Kiester, A., Lau, M., Lawson, D., Lovich, J., Moll, E., Paez, V., Palomo-Ramos, R., Platt, K., Platt, S., Pritchard, P., Quinn, H., Rahman, S., Randrianjafizanaka, S., Schaffer, J., Selman, W., Shaffer, H., Sharma, D., Haitao, S., Singh, S., Spencer, R. and et al, .. (2018), 'Global conservation status of turtles and tortoises (Order Testudines)', Chelonian Conservation and Biology, vol 17, no 2 , pp 135 - 161.
• Van Dyke, J., Ferronato, B. and Spencer, R. (2018), 'Current conservation status of Australian freshwater turtles', Australian Journal of Zoology, vol 66, no 1 , pp 1 - 3.
• Spencer, R. (2018), 'How much long-term data are required to effectively manage a wide-spread freshwater turtle?', Australian Zoologist, vol 39, no 4 , pp 568 - 575.
• McGlashan, J., Thompson, M., Van Dyke, J. and Spencer, R. (2017), 'Thyroid hormones reduce incubation period without developmental or metabolic costs in Murray River short-necked turtles (Emydura macquarii)', Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, vol 90, no 1 , pp 34 - 46.
• Spencer, R., Van Dyke, J. and Thompson, M. (2017), 'Critically evaluating best management practices for preventing freshwater turtle extinctions', Conservation Biology, vol 31, no 6 , pp 1340 - 1349.
• Dormer, J., Old, J., Van Dyke, J. and Spencer, R. (2016), 'Incubation temperature affects development order of morphological features and staging criteria in turtle embryos', Journal of Zoology, vol 299, no 4 , pp 284 - 294.
• Spencer, R., Van Dyke, J. and Thompson, M. (2016), 'The ethological trap : functional and numerical responses of highly efficient invasive predators driving prey extinctions', Ecological Applications, vol 26, no 7 , pp 1969 - 1983.
• McGlashan, J., Loudon, F., Thompson, M. and Spencer, R. (2015), 'Hatching behavior of eastern long-necked turtles (Chelodina longicollis) : the influence of asynchronous environments on embryonic heart rate and phenotype', Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology, vol 188 , pp 58 - 64.
• Old, J., Spencer, R. and Wolfenden, J. (2014), 'The Common Myna (Sturnus tristis) in urban, rural and semi-rural areas in Greater Sydney and its surrounds', Emu, vol 114, no 3 , pp 241 - 248.
• Spencer, R. and Janzen, F. (2014), 'A novel hypothesis for the adaptive maintenance of environmental sex determination in a turtle', Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol 281, no 1789 .
• Spencer, R., Georges, A., Lim, D., Welsh, M. and Reid, A. (2014), 'The risk of inter-specific competition in Australian short-necked turtles', Ecological Research, vol 29, no 4 , pp 767 - 777.
• Loudon, F., Spencer, R., Strassmeyer, A. and Harland, K. (2013), 'Metabolic circadian rhythms in embryonic turtles', Integrative & Comparative Biology, vol 53, no 1 , pp 175 - 182.
• Blamires, S. and Spencer, R. (2013), 'Influence of habitat and predation on population dynamics of the freshwater turtle Myuchelys georgesi', Herpetologica, vol 69, no 1 , pp 46 - 57.
• McGlashan, J., Spencer, R. and Old, J. (2012), 'Embryonic communication in the nest : metabolic responses of reptilian embryos to developmental rates of siblings', Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol 279, no 1734 , pp 1709 - 1715.
• Spencer, R. (2012), 'Embryonic heart rate and hatching behavior of a solitary nesting turtle', Journal of Zoology, vol 287, no 3 , pp 169 - 174.
• Old, J. and Spencer, R. (2011), 'Development of online learning activities to enhance student knowledge of animal behaviour prior to engaging in live animal handling practical sessions', Open Journal of Animal Sciences, vol 1, no 2 , pp 65 - 76.
• Spencer, R. and Janzen, F. (2011), 'Hatching Behavior in Turtles', Integrative and Comparative Biology, vol 51, no 1 , pp 100 - 110.
• Pascoe, J., Mulley, R., Spencer, R. and Chapple, R. (2011), 'Diet analysis of mammals, raptors and reptiles in a complex predator assemblage in the Blue Mountains, eastern Australia', Australian Journal of Zoology, vol 59, no 5 , pp 295 - 301.
• Georges, A., Spencer, R., Welsh, M., Shaffer, H., Walsh, R. and Zhang, X. (2011), 'Application of the precautionary principle to taxa of uncertain status : the case of the Bellinger River turtle', Endangered Species Research, vol 14, no 2 , pp 127 - 134.
• Colbert, P., Spencer, R. and Janzen, F. (2010), 'Mechanism and cost of synchronous hatching', Functional Ecology, vol 24, no 1 , pp 112 - 121.
• Schwanz, L., Spencer, R., Bowden, R. and Janzen, F. (2010), 'Climate and predation dominate juvenile and adult recruitment in a turtle with temperature-dependent sex determination', Ecology, vol 91, no 10 , pp 3016 - 3026.
• Spencer, R. and Janzen, F. (2010), 'Demographic consequences of adaptive growth and the ramifications for conservation of long-lived organisms', Biological Conservation, vol 143, no 9 , pp 1951 - 1959.
• Schwanz, L., Bowden, R., Spencer, R. and Janzen, F. (2009), 'Nesting ecology and offspring recruitment in a long-lived turtle: Ecological Archives E090-119', Ecology, vol 90, no 6 , pp 1709 - 1709.
• Spencer, R. and Baxter, G. (2006), 'Effects of fire on the structure and composition of open eucalypt forests', Austral Ecology, vol 31, no 5 , pp 638 - 646.
• Spencer, R., Janzen, F. and Thompson, M. (2006), 'Counterintuitive density-dependent growth in a long-lived vertebrate after removal of nest predators', Ecology, vol 87, no 12 , pp 3109 - 3118.
• Spencer, R. and Thompson, M. (2005), 'Experimental analysis of the impact of foxes on freshwater turtle populations', Conservation Biology, vol 19, no 3 , pp 845 - 854.
• Fuller, S., Bull, C., Murray, K. and Spencer, R. (2005), 'Clustering of related individuals in a population of the Australian lizard, Egernia frerei.', Molecular Ecology, vol 14 , pp 1207 - 1213.
• Spencer, R., Cavanough, V., Baxter, J. and Kennedy, M. (2005), 'Adult free zones in small mammal populations: Response of Australian native rodents to reduced cover', Austral Ecology, vol 30, no 8 , pp 868 - 876.
• Blamires, S., Spencer, R., King, P. and Thompson, M. (2005), 'Population parameters and life-table analysis of two coexisting freshwater turtles: Are the Bellinger River turtle populations threatened?', Wildlife Research, vol 32, no 4 , pp 339 - 347.
• Bowen, K., Spencer, R. and Janzen, F. (2005), 'A comparative study of environmental factors that affect nesting in Australian and North American freshwater turtles', Journal of Zoology, vol 267, no 4 , pp 397 - 404.
• Spencer, R. and Thompson, M. (2003), 'The significance of predation in nest site selection of turtles: An experimental consideration of macro- and microhabitat preferences', Oikos, vol 102, no 3 , pp 592 - 600.
• Kennedy, M., Spencer, R. and Baxter, G. (2003), 'Using small mammals to test ecological processes driving population and community processes after fire in a nutrient poor environment', Integrative and Comparative Biology, vol 43, no 6 , pp 843 - 843.
• Spencer, R. and Clark, W. (2003), 'Testing a theoretical model of nest site selection in turtles and water birds.', Integrative and Comparative Biology, vol 43, no 6 .
• Spencer, R. and Janzen, F. (2003), 'Ecology and evolution of TSD in turtles: the value of long-term research and the effects of climate change', Integrative and Comparative Biology, vol 43, no 6 .
• Spencer, R. (2002), 'Experimentally testing nest site selection: Fitness trade-offs and predation risk in turtles', Ecology, vol 83, no 8 , pp 2136 - 2144.
• Spencer, R. (2002), 'Growth patterns of two widely distributed freshwater turtles and a comparison of common methods used to estimate age', Australian Journal of Zoology, vol 50, no 5 , pp 477 - 490.
• Spencer, R., Thompson, M. and Banks, P. (2001), 'Hatch or wait? A dilemma in reptilian incubation', Oikos, vol 93, no 3 , pp 401 - 406.