Duncan Mackay
Associate Professor
Biological Sciences
Flinders University
Australia
Biography
I completed an Honours degree at Sydney University studying the homing behaviour of limpets and then took an abiding interest in movement and foraging behaviours to the University of Texas at Austin where I did my PhD on the searching behaviours of ovipositing checkerspot butterflies. On returning to Australia, I continued my research on butterflies during a postdoc with CSIRO before commencing as an academic at Flinders. My current research interests are centred around the biology and conservation of insect-plant interactions, including pollination, herbivory and seed dispersal.
Research Interest
I am interested in the behavioural ecology, conservation and evolution of plant-insect interactions. I am particularly interested in the biology of mutualistic interactions such as pollination seed dispersal. I am also working on the conservation of plants that occur on mound springs in the arid northern regions of South Australia, as well as on the conservation of butterfly species in South Australia.
Publications
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Davies, R., Whalen, M., Mackay, D.A., Taylor, D. and Pisanu, P. (2013). Does soil seed bank diversity limit post-fire regeneration in small, fragmented, long-unburnt remnants of fire adapted vegetation? Biological Conservation, 158 pp. 287-295.
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Rawson, T., Davies, R., Whalen, M. and Mackay, D.A. (2013). Fire-related cues and germination from the soil seed bank of senescent remnants of mallee vegetation on Eastern Kangaroo Island. Austral Ecology, 38(2) pp. 139-151
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Gellie, N., Beaumont, K.P., Mackay, D.A., Whalen, M.A. and Clarke, L.J. (2015). Growth responses of Baumea juncea (Cyperaceae) plants from inland artesian spring and coastal habitats to salinity and water logging treatments. Australian Journal of Botany, 63 pp. 517-525.
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Beaumont, K.P., Mackay, D.A. and Whalen, M.A. (2016). Ant defence of a dioecious shrub, Adriana quadripartita (Euphorbiaceae), with extrafloral nectaries. Australian Journal of Botany, 64 pp. 539-546.
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Bestland, E.A., George, A., green, G., Olifent, V., Mackay, D.A. and Whalen, M.A. (2017). Groundwater dependent pools in seasonal and permanent streams in the Clare Valley of South Australia. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 9 pp. 216-235.
