Luke Shoo works on the ecology and conservation of forest ecosystems.  Luke has a strong interest in tropical conservation issues and actions to reduce deforestation and restore degraded environments. He was a Research Fellow on a collaborative Australian Research Council Linkage project with City of Gold Coast aiming to develop new methods to help environmental managers allocate restoration funds for vegetation recovery. Luke was also a key researcher on a collaborative Caring for Our Country ‘Mobilising Landholders’ project working to restore habitat and connectivity in the upland rainforests of the Wet Tropics including experimental conversion of pasture to rainforest which received a Climate Adaptation Champions award in 2012 from the National Climate Change Adaptation and Research Facility.

Research Fellow, The University of Queensland, November 2010 – 2018

Current Address:

School of Biological Sciences
The University of Queensland
St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia

E-mail: l.shoo@uq.edu.au

Phone: +61-7-3365 2709

Selected Publications:

(for a complete list of see ResearcherID)

2016

Clive McAlpine, C., Catterall, C.P., Mac Nally, R., Lindenmayer, D., Reid, J.L., Holl, K.D., Bennett, A.F., Runting, R.K., Wilson, K., Hobbs, R., Seabrook, L., Cunningham, S., Moilanen, A., Maron, M., Shoo, L., Lunt, I., Vesk, P., Rumpff, L., Martin, T.G., Thomson, J., Possingham, H. (2016). Integrating plant- and animal-based perspectives for more effective restoration of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 14, 37-45 [doi:10.1002/16-0108.1].

Shoo, L.P., Freebody, K., Kanowski, J., Catterall, C.P. (2016) Slow recovery of tropical old field rainforest regrowth and the value and limitations of active restoration. Conservation Biology 30, 121-132 [doi: 10.1111/cobi.12606].

 2015

Pearce, E., Schmidt, S., Franks, A.J., Shoo, L.P. (2015) Species turnover of corticolous bryophyte assemblages over 15 years in an Australian subtropical cloud forest. Austral Ecology 40, 877-885 [doi: 10.1111/aec.12268].

Doughty, P., Kealley, L., Shoo, L.P., Melville, J. (2015) Revision of the Western Australian pebble-mimic dragon species-group (Tympanocryptis cephalus: Reptilia: Agamidae). Zootaxa 4039, 85-117 [http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4039.1.3].

Anderson, A.S., Marques, T., Shoo, L.P., Williams, S.E. (2015) Detectability in audio-visual surveys of tropical rainforest birds: the influence of species, weather and habitat characteristics. PLoS ONE 10: e0128464 [doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128464].

2014

Scheffers, B.R., Phillips, B. Shoo, P. (2014) Asplenium bird’s nest ferns in rainforest canopies are climate-contingent refuges for frogs. Global Ecology and Conservation 2, 37-46 [10.1016/j.gecco.2014.06.004].

Parsons, S.A., Congdon, R.A., Shoo, L.P., Valdez-Ramirez, V., Williams, S.E. (2014) Spatial variability in litterfall, litter standing crop and litter quality in a tropical rain forest region. Biotropica 46, 378-386 [doi: 10.1111/btp.12113].

Gageler, R., Bonner, M., Kirchhof, G., Amos, M., Robinson, N., Schmidt, S., Shoo, L.P. (2014) Early response of soil properties and function to riparian restoration. PLoS ONE 9(8), e104198 [doi: 1371/journal.pone.0104198].

Melville, J., Smith, K., Hobson, R., Hunjan, S., Shoo, L.P. (2014) The role of integrative taxonomy in the conservation management of cryptic species: the taxonomic status of endangered earless dragons (Agamidae: Tympanocryptis) in the grasslands of Queensland, Australia. PLoS ONE 9(7), e101847 [doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0101847].

Elgar, A.T., Freebody, K., Pohlman, C.L., Shoo, L.P., Catterall, C.P. (2014) Overcoming barriers to seedling regeneration during forest restoration on tropical pasture land and the potential value of woody weeds. Frontiers in Plant Science, 5:200 [doi:10.3389/fpls.2014.00200].

Shoo, L.P., O’Mara, J., Perhans, K., Rhodes, J.R., Runting, R., Schmidt, S., Trail, L.W., Weber, L.C., Wilson, K.A., Lovelock, C.E. (2014) Moving beyond the conceptual: specificity in regional climate adaptation actions for biodiversity in South East Queensland, Australia. Regional Environmental Change 14, 435-447 [doi:1007/s10113-012-0385-3].

Shoo, P., Wilson, R., Williams, Y.M. Catterall, C.P. (2014) Putting it back: woody debris in young restoration plantings to stimulate return of reptiles. Ecological Management and Restoration 15, 84-87 [doi: 10.1111/emr.12079].

Weber, L.C., Vanderwal, J., Schmidt, S., McDonald, B.J.F., Shoo, L.P. (2014) Patterns of rainforest plant endemism relate to stable mesic refugia and species dispersal limitations. Journal of Biogeography 41, 222-238 [doi: 10.1111/jbi.12219]

2013

Shoo, L.P., Catterall, C.P. (2013) Stimulating natural regeneration of tropical forest on degraded land: approaches, outcomes and information gaps. Restoration Ecology 21, 670-677 [doi:10.1111/rec.12048].

Scheffers, B.R., Brunner, R.M., Ramirez, S.D., Shoo, L.P., Diesmos, A., Williams, S.E. (2013) Thermal buffering of microhabitats is a critical factor mediating warming vulnerability of frogs in the Philipine biodiversity hotspot. Biotropica 45, 628-635 [doi:10.1111/btp.12042].

Monasterio, C., Shoo, L.P., Salvador, A., Iraeta, P., Diaz, J. (2013) High temperature constrains reproductive success in a temperate lizard: implications for distribution range limits and the impacts of climate change. Journal of Zoology 291, 136-145 [doi:10.1111/jzo.12057].

Anderson, A.S., Storlie, C.J., Shoo, L.P., Pearson, R.G., Williams, S.E. (2013) Current analogues of future climate indicate the likely response of a sensitive montane tropical avifauna to a warming world. PLoS ONE 8(7), e69393 [doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069393].

Warren, R., VanDerWal, J. Price, J., Welbergen, J.A., Atkinson, I., Ramirez-Villegas, J., Osborn, T.J., Jarvis, A., Shoo, L.P., Williams, S.E., Lowe, J. Quantifying the benefit of early climate change mitigation in avoiding biodiversity loss. Nature Climate Change 3, 678-682 [doi:10.1038/nclimate1887].

Shoo, L.P., Scarth, P., Schmidt, S., Wilson, K.A. (2013). Reclaiming degraded rainforest: what can we expect? Restoration Ecology 21, 481-489 [doi:1111/j.1526-100X.2012.00916.x].

Shoo, L.P., Hoffmann, A.A., Garnett, S. Pressey, R.L., Williams, Y.M., Taylor, M., Falconi, L., Yates, C., Scott, J.K., Alagador, D., Williams, S.E. (2013) Making decisions to conserve biodiversity under climate change. Climatic Change 119, 239-246 [doi:10.1007/s10584-013-0699-2].

Bonner, M., Schmidt, S., Shoo, L.P. (2013). A meta-analytical global comparison of aboveground biomass accumulation between tropical secondary forests and monoculture plantations. Forest Ecology and Management 291, 73-86 [doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2012.11.024].

2012

Parsons, S., Congdon, R.A., Storlie, C.J., Shoo, L.P., Williams, S.E. (2012). Regional patterns and controls of leaf decomposition in Australian tropical rainforests. Austral Ecology 37, 845-854 [doi:10.1111/j.1442-9993.2011.02347.x].

Anderson, A.S., Reside, A.E., VanDerWal, J.J., Shoo, L.P., Pearson, R.G., Williams, S.E. (2012). Immigrants and refugees: the importance of dispersal in mediating biotic attrition under climate change. Global Change Biology 18, 2126-2134 [doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02683.x].

2011

Monasterio, C., Shoo, L.P., Salvador, A., Siliceo, I., Diaz, J.A. (2011). Thermal constraints on embryonic development as a proximate cause for elevational range limits in two Mediterranean lacertid lizards. Ecography 34, 1030-1039. [doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.2011.06905.x]

Smith, K.L., Harmon, L.J., Shoo, L.P., Melville, J. (2011). Evidence that stabilizing selection constrains phenotypic evolution in a cryptic species complex of agamid lizards. Evolution 65, 976-992. [doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01211.x]

Shoo, L.P., Olson, D.H., McMenamin, S.K., Murray, K.A., Van Sluys, M., Donnelly, M.A., Stratford, D., Terhivuo, J., Merino-Viteri, A., Herbert, S.M., Bishop, P.J., Corn, P.S., Dovey, L., Griffiths, R.A., Lowe, K., Mahony, M., McCallum, H., Shuker, J.D., Simpkins, C., Skerratt, L.F., Williams, S.E., Hero, J-M. (2011). Engineering a future for amphibians under climate change. Journal of Applied Ecology 48, 487-492. [doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2010.01942.x]

Laurance, W.F., Useche, D.C., Shoo, L.P., Herzog, S.K., Kessler, M., Escobar, F., Brehm, G., Axmacher, J.C., Chen, I.C., Gámez, L.A., Hietz, P., Fiedler, K., Pyrcz, T., Wolf, J., Merkord, C.L., Cardelus, C., Marshall, A.R., Ah-Peng, C., Aplet, G.H., del Coro Arizmendi, M., Baker, W.J., Barone, J., Brühl, C.A., Bussmann, R.W., Cicuzza, D., Eilu, G., Favila, M.E., Hietz, P., Hemp, A., Hemp, C., Homeier, J., Huey, R.B., Hurtado, J., Jankowski, J., Kattán, G., Kluge, J., Krömer, T., Lees, D., Lehnert, M., Longino, J.T., Lovett, J., Martin, P.H., Patterson, B.D., Pearson, R.G., Peh, K.S.-H., Richardson, B., Richardson, M., Samways, M., Senbeta, F., Smith, T.B., Utteridge, T., Watkins, J.E., Wilson, R., Williams, S.E., Thomas, C.D. (2011). Global warming, elevational ranges and the vulnerability of tropical biota. Biological Conservation 144, 548-557. [doi:1016/j.biocon.2010.10.010]

Shoo, L.P., Storlie, C., VanDerWal, J., Little, J., Williams, S.E. (2011). Targeted protection and restoration to conserve tropical biodiversity in a warming world. Global Change Biology 17, 186-193. [doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02218.x]

2010

Anderson, A., Monasterio, C., Shoo, L.P. 2010. Breeding behaviour of the poorly known Australian hylid frog Litoria longirostris. Herpetofauna 40, 9-12.

Williams, S.E., Shoo, L.P., Henriod, R., Pearson, R.G. (2010). Elevational gradients in assemblage structure and productivity of rainforest birds in the Australian Wet Tropics bioregion. Austral Ecology 35, 650-664. [doi:10.1111/j.1442-9993.2009.02073.x]

Shoo, L.P., Storlie, C., Williams, Y.M., Williams, S.E. (2010). Potential for mountaintop boulder fields to buffer species against extreme heat stress under climate change. International Journal of Biometeorology 54, 475-478. [doi:1007/s00484-009-0286-4]

Williams, S.E., VanDerWal, J., Isaac, J., Shoo, L.P., Storlie, C., Fox, S., Bolitho, E.E., Moritz, C., Williams, Y.M., Hoskin, C.J. (2010). Distributional, life history specialization, and phylogeny of the rain forest vertebrates in the Australia Wet Tropics. Ecology 91, 2493.

2009

Williams, S.E., Williams, Y.M., VanDerWal, J., Isaac, J.L., Shoo, L.P., Johnson, C.N. (2009). Ecological specialization and population size in a biodiversity hotspot: how rare species avoid extinction. PNAS 106, 19737-19741. [doi:1073/pnas.0901640106]

Shoo, L.P., Anderson, A., Williams, S.E. (2009). On the isolated Lewin’s Honeyeater population (Meliphaga lewinii amphochlora) from the McIlwraith Range uplands, Cape York Peninsula, Australia: estimates of population size and distribution. EMU-Austral Ornithology 109, 288-293. [doi:1071/MU08062]

Parsons, S.A., Shoo, L.P., Williams, S.E. (2009). Volume measurements for quicker determination of forest litter standing crop. Journal of Tropical Ecology 25, 665-669. [doi: 10.1017/S0266467409990241]

VanDerWal, J., Shoo, L.P., Johnson, C.N., Williams, S.E. (2009). Abundance and the environmental niche: environmental suitability estimated from niche models predicts the upper limit of local abundance. American Naturalist 174, 282-291. [doi:1086/600087]

VanDerWal, J., Shoo, L.P., Graham, C., Williams, S.E. (2009). Selecting pseudo-absence data for presence-only distribution modeling: how far should you stray from what you know? Ecological Modelling 220, 589-594. [doi:1016/j.ecolmodel.2008.11.010]

VanDerWal, J., Williams, S., Shoo, L.P. (2009). New approaches to understanding late Quaternary climate fluctuations and refugial dynamics in Australian wet tropical rain forests. Journal of Biogeography 36, 291-301. [doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01993.x]

2008

Williams, S.E., Shoo, L.P. (equal contribution), Isaac, J.L., Hoffmann, A.A., Langham, G. (2008). Towards an integrated framework for assessing the vulnerability of species to climate change. PLoS Biology 6(12), e325. [doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060325]

Melville, J., Shoo, L.P., Doughty, P. (2008). Phylogenetic relationships of the heath dragons (Rankinia adelaidensis and parviceps) from the southwestern Australian biodiversity hotspot. Australian Journal of Zoology 56, 159-171. [doi:10.1071/ZO07069]

Shoo, L.P., Rose, R., Doughty, P., Austin, J.J., Melville, J. (2008). Diversification patterns of pebble-mimic dragons are consistent with historical disruption of important habitat corridors in arid Australia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48, 528-542. [doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.03.022]

Shoo, L.P., VanDerWal, J. (2008). No simple relationship between aboveground tree growth and fine-litter production in tropical forests. Journal of Tropical Ecology 24, 347-350. [doi:10.1017/S0266467408004975] 

2006

Shoo, L.P., Williams, S.E., Hero, J.-M. (2006). Detecting climate change induced range shifts: where and how should we be looking? Austral Ecology 31, 22-29.

Hero, J.-M., Morrison, C., Gillespie, G., Roberts, J.D., Newell, D., Meyer, E., McDonald, K., Lemckert, F., Mahony, M., Osborne, W., Hines, H., Richards, S., Hoskin, C., Clarke, J., Doak, N., Shoo, L.P. (2006). Overview of the conservation status of Australian Frogs. Pacific Conservation Biology 12, 313-320.

2005

Shoo, L.P., Williams, S.E., Hero, J.-M. (2005a). Climate warming and rainforest birds of the Wet Tropics: using abundance data as a sensitive predictor of change in total population size. Biological Conservation 125, 335-343. [doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.04.003]

Shoo, L.P., Williams, S.E., Hero, J.-M. (2005b). Potential decoupling of trends in distribution area and population size of species with climate change. Global Change Biology 11, 1469-1476. [doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2005.00995.x]

2004

Shoo, L.P., Williams, Y. (2004). Altitudinal distribution and abundance of microhylid frogs (Cophixalus and Austrochaperina) of north-eastern Australia: baseline data for detecting biological responses to future climate change. Australian Journal of Zoology 52, 667-676. [doi:10.1071/ZO04023]

Commentary (Editorial Material, Letters, Book Reviews)

Shoo, L.P., Hoffmann, A.A., Garnett, S., Scott, J.K., Williams, S.E. (2015). Quantitative tools and simultaneous actions needed for species conservation under climate change – Reply to Shoo et al. (2013). Climatic Change 129, 9-11 [doi: 10.1007/s10584-014-1312-z].

Shoo, L.P. (2014). Restoration and the future environmental movement. Bioscience 64, 744-745.

Shoo, L.P. (2010). Planning for biodiversity in future climates. Science (Letter) 327, 1452. [doi: 1126/science.327.5972.1452-b]

Shoo, L.P., Valdez Ramirez, V. (2010). Global potential net primary production predicted from vegetation class, precipitation, and temperature: comment. Ecology 91, 921-923. [doi:10.1890/08-2018.1]

Shoo, L.P. (2008). A balance between protected lands and population growth: comment on Wittemyer et al. “Accelerated human population growth at protected area edges”. Science (E-Letter) 11 December 2008.

Conference papers

Shoo, L.P., Williams, Y., Hero, J.-M. (2006) Predicting and detecting the impacts of climate change on montane birds in Australian tropical rainforests. In: Global Change in Mountain Regions (ed. M.F Price), Sapiens Publishing, UK, pp. 205-206.

Williams, S.E. Langham, G., Shoo, L.P. (2006) Macroecology in the mountains of the Australian wet tropics: the impacts of global climate change on rainforest biodiversity. In: Global Change in Mountain Regions (ed. M.F Price), Sapiens Publishing, UK, pp. 203-204.

Book chapters

Williams, S.E., Isaac, J.L., Shoo, L.P. (2008). The impact of climate change on the biodiversity and ecosystem functions of the wet tropics. In: Living in a Dynamic Tropical Forest Landscape (eds. N. Stork, S. Turton), pp. 282-294. Blackwell Publishing, Australia.

Hero, J-M., Shoo, L.P. (2003). Conservation of amphibians in the old world tropics: defining unique problems associated with a regional fauna. In: Amphibian Conservation (ed. R.D. Semlitsch), pp. 70-84. Smithsonian Books, Washington.

Other publications

Shoo, L.P. Allocating funds among restoration actions. (2015). Decision Point 86, 15.

Catterall, C.P., Shoo, L.P. and Freebody, K. (2014) Natural Regeneration and Rainforest Restoration – Outcomes, Pathways and Management of Regrowth. National Environmental Research Program, Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns, 8pp (www.nerptropical.edu.au/research).

Reside, A.E., VanDerWal, J., Phillips, B., Shoo, L.P., Rosauer, D.F., Anderson, B.J., Welbergen, J., Moritz, C., Ferrier, S., Harwood, T.D., Williams, K.J., Mackey, B., Hugh, S., Williams, S.E. (2013). Climate Change Refugia for Terrestrial Biodiversity: Defining Areas that Promote Species Persistence and Ecosystem Resilience in the Face of Global Climate Change. National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast, pp. 216. (http://www.nccarf.edu.au/publications/climate-change-refugia-terrestrial-biodiversity) [this research is being used directly by Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection to inform additions to Queensland’s protected area network – https://theconversation.com/science-can-influence-policy-and-benefit-the-public-heres-how-41668%5D

Meyer, E., Hero, J.-M., Shoo, L., Lewis, B. (2006). National Recovery Plan for the Wallum Sedgefrog and other Wallum-dependent Species. Report to Department of the Environment and Water Resources, Canberra. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Brisbane.

Software

VanDerWal, J., Falconi, L., Januchowski, S., Shoo, L., Storlie, C. (2011). SDMTools: Species Distribution Modelling Tools: Tools for processing data associated with species distribution modelling exercises. R package version 1.1-5. (http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=SDMTools)

Data sets

Catterall, C., Shoo, L. Freebody, K., Kanowski, J. (2015) Developmental trajectories of forest recovery from passive regrowth and active planting on the Atherton uplands derived from chronosequence data (NERP TE 12.2, GU and UQ) [Dataset]. Griffith University, University of Queensland [producer]. e-Atlas [distributor]. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/ [license]. Available from http://eatlas.org.au/data/uuid/bc77b7f1-5826-415e-90cc-58855da2d4de

Catterall, C., Freebody, K., Shoo, L. (2012). Aerial photo mosaic of Atherton Tablelands in June 1978 (NERP TE 12.2, Griffith, source: DERM) [Dataset]. Griffith University, Atherton Tablelands Geographical Information Services, University of Queensland [producer]. e-Atlas [distributor]. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/ [license]. Available from http://e-atlas.org.au/data/uuid/ce9d3908-9e7f-487d-9b58-bab5f2dfaff7

Funded projects

2011-2014: Catterall, C., Shoo, L.P. (joint lead CI) Harnessing natural regeneration for cost-effective rainforest restoration (NERP – $342,000)

2011-2013:  Welbergen, J., Williams, S.E., Shoo, L.P., VanDerWal, J. Global climate change and the impacts of temperature extremes on terrestrial biodiversity (ARC Discovery  – $380,000).