William F. Laurance Explained

William F. Laurance
Birth Date:12 October 1957
Citizenship:Joint citizenship (US, Australia)
Field:Biologist,
conservationist
Work Institutions:James Cook University Smithsonian Institution
Alma Mater:University of California, Berkeley

William F. Laurance (born 12 October 1957), also known as Bill Laurance,[1] is Distinguished Research Professor at James Cook University, Australia and has been elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.[2] He has received an Australian Laureate Fellowship from the Australian Research Council.[3] He held the Prince Bernhard Chair for International Nature Conservation at Utrecht University, Netherlands from 2010 to 2014.[4]

Early life

William F. Laurance grew up in the western US, in Oregon and Idaho.[5] He initially aspired to direct his own zoo, but later turned to ecology and conservation biology.

Since he was interested in nature conservation, he decided in the early 1980s to study imperiled tropical forests for his PhD. During this time, he also became involved in some heated conservation issues[6] in Australia and elsewhere.

Professional career

Laurance has published eight books and nearly 900 scientific and popular articles.[7] These include two edited volumes,[8] [9] as well as analyses of conservation-policy challenges in the Brazilian Amazon,[10] Gabon,[11] Southeast Asia,[12] and New Guinea.[13] He has also synthesized changing trends,[14] new initiatives,[15] and major debates[16] in tropical conservation science and policy.

He is among the most highly cited scientists globally in the fields of ecology, environmental science, and evolution[17] His works have been cited more than 95,000 times, and his Hirsch's h index of 150 [17] (as per December 2023) is the highest of any environmental scientist or ecologist in Australia and ranked number 6 globally.[17] He has published more than four dozen papers to date in Science[18] and Nature.

He has conducted long-term research across the world's tropics, from the Amazon Basin to the Asia-Pacific region and Congo Basin.

In his long-term studies of habitat fragmentation in the Amazon Basin, he introduced concepts, including "biomass collapse",[19] the "hyperdynamism hypothesis",[20] the "landscape-divergence hypothesis",[21] the large spatial scale of some edge effects,[22] the key role of matrix tolerance in determining species'[23] responses to fragmentation, and the importance of synergisms between fragmentation and other environmental insults.[24]

His scientific interests include assessing the impacts of deforestation,[25] logging,[26] hunting,[27] wildfires,[28] road expansion,[29] and climatic change[30] on tropical ecosystems and biodiversity.

Laurance has also studied the drivers of global amphibian declines;[31] quantifying the threats to tropical protected areas;[32] evaluating potential effects of global atmospheric changes on the species composition, dynamics;[33] and carbon storage of intact tropical forests;[34] and understanding how droughts affect tropical tree communities.[35]

Laurance is also involved with the Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative,[36] a $15 million program run by Yale University and the Smithsonian Institution to train environmental decision-makers across Latin America and Southeast Asia. Laurance also writes in popular magazines about environmental policies in the tropics.[37] [38]

Awards and honours

His awards include the 2008 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation Biology (co-winner with Thomas Lovejoy), the Heineken Environment Prize, and a Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Conservation Biology.

Fellowships and councils

Conservation and public outreach

In 2013 Laurance founded ALERT—the Alliance of Leading Environmental Researchers & Thinkers. This organization, which Laurance leads, is engaged in scientific and conservation advocacy and currently reaches 1-2 million readers each week using a range of social-media platforms. Laurance has also been involved in scores of conservation initiatives via his involvement with professional scientific societies, including the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Society for Conservation Biology, and American Society of Mammalogists. These include his efforts to:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Prof Bill Laurance - Research Portfolio - James Cook University.
  2. Web site: Fellows elected in 2015. 27 December 2017.
  3. Web site: 2010 Australian Laureate Fellows – Professor William Laurance.
  4. Web site: Prince Bernhard Chair holders. 14 January 2015.
  5. Book: Laurance, William. Stinging Trees and Wait-a-Whiles: Confessions of a Rainforest Biologist. 2000. University of Chicago. Chicago. registration. 85. rancher.. 978-0-226-46896-9.
  6. Book: Laurance, William . Stinging Trees and Wait-a-Whiles: Confessions of a Rainforest Biologist . registration . Chicago Press . 2000. 9780226468969 .
  7. Queenborough. Simon A.. Ira R. Cooke . The Habits of Successful Ecologists, or Does Facebook count as 'outreach'?. Bulletin of the British Ecological Society. 2011. 42. 1. 40–42.
  8. Book: Laurance, W. F.. C. A. Peres . Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests. 2006. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 534.
  9. Book: Laurance, W. F., and R. O. Bierregaard Jr. . Tropical Forest Remnants Ecology, Management, and Conservation of Fragmented Communities. . Chicago Press . 1997 . 616.
  10. Laurance . W. . A crisis in the making: Responses of Amazonian forests to land use and climate change . 10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01433-5 . Trends in Ecology & Evolution . 13 . 10 . 411–415 . 1998 . 21238369.
  11. Laurance . W. F. . Alonso . A. . Lee . M. . Campbell . P. . Challenges for forest conservation in Gabon, Central Africa . 10.1016/j.futures.2005.07.012 . Futures . 38 . 4 . 454–470 . 2006 .
  12. Grainger . A. . Boucher . D. H. . Frumhoff . P. C. . Laurance . W. F. . Lovejoy . T. . McNeely . J. . Niekisch . M. . Raven . P. . Sodhi . N. S. . Venter . O. . Pimm . S. L. . 10.1016/j.cub.2009.10.001 . Biodiversity and REDD at Copenhagen . Current Biology . 19 . 21 . R974–R976 . 2009 . 19922850. free . 2009CBio...19.R974G .
  13. Laurance . W. F. . Kakul . T. . Keenan . R. J. . Sayer . J. . Passingan . S. . Clements . G. R. . Villegas . F. . Sodhi . N. S. . 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2010.00156.x . Predatory corporations, failing governance, and the fate of forests in Papua New Guinea . Conservation Letters . 4 . 2 . 95–100 . 2011 . 2011ConL....4...95L . 30932205 .
  14. Laurance. W. F.. Tipping the balance. The Ecologist. 2008. 37–41.
  15. Laurance . W. F. . Better REDD than Dead (Response from Laurance) . 10.1641/B580819 . BioScience . 58 . 8 . 677 . 2008 . free .
  16. 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.00_11-2.x. Tropical Logging and Human Invasions. Conservation Biology. 15. 4–5. 2001. Laurance. William F.. 1 . 20 April 2024 . 2001ConBi..15....4L . 84907640 .
  17. Web site: Citation indices for William Laurance.
  18. Web site: Papers in Science Daily..
  19. Laurance . W. F. . Biomass Collapse in Amazonian Forest Fragments . 10.1126/science.278.5340.1117 . Science . 278 . 5340 . 1117–1118 . 1997 . 1997Sci...278.1117L .
  20. Laurance . W. F. . Lovejoy . T. E. . Vasconcelos . H. L. . Bruna . E. M. . Didham . R. K. . Stouffer . P. C. . Gascon . C. . Bierregaard . R. O. . Laurance . S. G. . Sampaio . E. . 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.01025.x . Ecosystem Decay of Amazonian Forest Fragments: A 22-Year Investigation . Conservation Biology . 16 . 3 . 605–618 . 2002 . 876102 . free . 2002ConBi..16..605L .
  21. Laurance . W. F. . Nascimento . H. E. M. . Laurance . S. G. . Andrade . A. . Ewers . R. M. . Harms . K. E. . Luizão . R. C. C. . Ribeiro . J. E. . Bennett . Peter . 10.1371/journal.pone.0001017 . Habitat Fragmentation, Variable Edge Effects, and the Landscape-Divergence Hypothesis . PLOS ONE . 2 . 10 . e1017 . 2007 . 17925865. 1995757 . 2007PLoSO...2.1017L . free .
  22. Laurance . W. F. . Oliveira . A. A. . Laurance . S. G. . Condit . R. . Nascimento . H. E. M. . Sanchez-Thorin . A. C. . Lovejoy . T. E. . Andrade . A. . d'Angelo . S. . Ribeiro . J. E. . Dick . C. W. . 10.1038/nature02383 . Pervasive alteration of tree communities in undisturbed Amazonian forests . Nature . 428 . 6979 . 171–175 . 2004 . 15014498. 2004Natur.428..171L . 2027.42/83306 . 731347 . free .
  23. Nascimento . H. E. M. . Andrade . A. A. C. S. . Camargo . J. L. C. . Laurance . W. F. . Laurance . S. G. . Ribeiro . J. E. L. . 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00344.x . Effects of the Surrounding Matrix on Tree Recruitment in Amazonian Forest Fragments . Conservation Biology . 20 . 3 . 853–860 . 2006 . 16909577. 25867280 . free . 2006ConBi..20..853N .
  24. Laurance . W. F. . Useche . D. C. . 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01336.x . Environmental Synergisms and Extinctions of Tropical Species . Conservation Biology . 23 . 6 . 1427–1437 . 2009 . 20078643. 2009ConBi..23.1427L . 7175589 .
  25. Laurance . W. F. . Albernaz . A. K. M. . Schroth . G. . Fearnside . P. M. . Bergen . S. . Venticinque . E. M. . Da Costa . C. . 10.1046/j.1365-2699.2002.00721.x . Predictors of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon . Journal of Biogeography . 29 . 5–6 . 737–748 . 2002 . 2002JBiog..29..737L . 31032936 .
  26. Laurance. W. F.. Effects of logging on wildlife in the tropics. Conservation Biology. 1997. 11. 2. 311–312. 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1997.011002308.x. 83484135 .
  27. Velho . N. . Karanth . K. K. . Laurance . W. F. . Hunting: A serious and understudied threat in India, a globally significant conservation region . 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.01.022 . Biological Conservation . 148 . 210–215 . 2012 . 1 . 2012BCons.148..210V . 86382071 .
  28. Laurance . W. F. . Slow burn: The insidious effects of surface fires on tropical forests . 10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00064-8 . Trends in Ecology & Evolution . 18 . 5 . 209–212 . 2003 .
  29. Laurance . W. F. . Croes . B. M. . Tchignoumba . L. . Lahm . S. A. . Alonso . A. . Lee . M. E. . Campbell . P. . Ondzeano . C. . 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00420.x . Impacts of Roads and Hunting on Central African Rainforest Mammals . Conservation Biology . 20 . 4 . 1251–1261 . 2006 . 16922241. 2006ConBi..20.1251L . 24818895 .
  30. Laurance . W. F. . Forest-climate interactions in fragmented tropical landscapes . 10.1098/rstb.2003.1430 . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . 359 . 1443 . 345–352 . 2004 . 15212089. 1693331.
  31. Laurance . W. F. . McDonald . K. R. . Speare . R. . 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10020406.x . Epidemic Disease and the Catastrophic Decline of Australian Rain Forest Frogs . Conservation Biology . 10 . 2 . 406–413 . 1996 . 1996ConBi..10..406L .
  32. Laurance . W. F. . Useche . D. . Rendeiro . J. . Kalka . M. . Bradshaw . C. J. A. . Sloan . S. P. . Laurance . S. G. . Campbell . M. . Abernethy . K. . Alvarez . P. . Arroyo-Rodriguez . V. . Ashton . P. . Benítez-Malvido . J. . Blom . A. . Bobo . K. S. . Cannon . C. H. . Cao . M. . Carroll . R. . Chapman . C. . Coates . R. . Cords . M. . Danielsen . F. . De Dijn . B. . Dinerstein . E. . Donnelly . M. A. . Edwards . D. . Edwards . N. . P. . Forget . P. M. . Farwig . Fashing . F. . Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas . 10.1038/nature11318 . Nature . 489 . 7415 . 290–294 . 2012 . 22832582. 2012Natur.489..290L . 29 . 1808/11092 . 2214915 . free .
  33. Laurance. W. F.. Forest-climate interactions in fragmented tropical landscapes.. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 359. 1443. 2005. University Press, Oxford, U.K.. 31–38. 15212089. 10.1098/rstb.2003.1430. 1693331.
  34. Phillips . O. L. . Oliver Phillips (ecologist) . Malhi . Y. . Yadvinder Malhi. Higuchi . N. . Laurance . W. F. . Nunez . P. V. . Vasquez . R. M. . Laurance . S. G. . Ferreira . L. V. . Stern . M. . Brown . S. . Grace . J. . Changes in the Carbon Balance of Tropical Forests: Evidence from Long-Term Plots . 10.1126/science.282.5388.439 . . 282 . 5388 . 439–442 . 1998 . 9774263. 1998Sci...282..439P .
  35. Laurance . W. F. . Williamson . G. B. . Delamônica . P. . Oliveira . A. . Lovejoy . T. E. . Gascon . C. . Pohl . L. . Effects of a strong drought on Amazonian forest fragments and edges . 10.1017/S0266467401001596 . Journal of Tropical Ecology . 17 . 6 . 771–785 . 2001 . 39299988 .
  36. Web site: ELTI meeting, 2008.
  37. Laurance . W. . Comment: Cursing condoms . 10.1016/S0262-4079(07)62194-0 . New Scientist . 195 . 2619 . 23 . 2007 .
  38. Laurance. W. F.. Razing Amazonia. New Scientist. 2005. 34–39.
  39. News: Bill Laurance wins 'Outstanding Contributions to Conservation' prize, Conservation Bytes.
  40. Web site: Six new Heineken Prizes 2012 Laureates.
  41. News: Past SCB Award Recipients.
  42. Laurance . W. F. . Koster . H. . Grooten . M. . Anderson . A. B. . Zuidema . P. A. . Zwick . S. . Zagt . R. J. . Lynam . A. J. . Linkie . M. . Anten . N. P. R. . Making conservation research more relevant for conservation practitioners . 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.05.012 . Biological Conservation . 153 . 164–168 . 2012 . 2012BCons.153..164L .
  43. Laurance. W.F.. Painting the rainforests REDD. Australian Geographic Magazine. 2011. 102–103.
  44. Laurance . W. . Theory meets reality: How habitat fragmentation research has transcended island biogeographic theory . 10.1016/j.biocon.2008.05.011 . Biological Conservation . 141 . 7 . 1731–1744 . 2008 . 2008BCons.141.1731L .
  45. News: JCU two join elite of researchers . 30 July 2012 . 30 January 2018 . .
  46. News: Award from Boise State University, 2010..
  47. News: Winners of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Ecology and Conservation Biology Category.
  48. Laurance . W. F. . Nascimento . H. E. M. . Laurance . S. G. . Andrade . A. . Ribeiro . J. E. L. S. . Giraldo . J. P. . Lovejoy . T. E. . Condit . R. . Chave . J. . Harms . K. E. . d'Angelo . S. . 10.1073/pnas.0609048103 . Rapid decay of tree-community composition in Amazonian forest fragments . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 103 . 50 . 19010–19014 . 2006 . 17148598. 1682011. 2006PNAS..10319010L . free .
  49. News: ATBC Presidents Since 1963.
  50. News: Opening a Pandora's box.
  51. News: Mining in Venezuelan Amazon threatens biodiversity, indigenous groups . Rhett Butler. November 9, 2006 .
  52. Laurance . W. F. . Deforestation in Amazonia . 10.1126/science.304.5674.1109b . Science . 304 . 5674 . 1109b–1111b . 2004 . 15155931. 44946831 .
  53. Book: Laurance, W. F.. W. Carson . S. Schnitzer . Tropical Forest Community Ecology . Environmental promise and peril in the Amazon. Blackwell Scientific, New York. 2008. 458–473.
  54. Laurance. W. F.. Gabon sets aside land for parks. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 2002. 17. 10. 459. 10.1016/s0169-5347(02)02609-5 .
  55. News: Undisputed jewels of South America.
  56. News: Cache of rare and undiscovered species in Panama.
  57. News: Experts: Borneo in need of urgent protection.
  58. Scharlemann . J. P. W. . Laurance . W. F. . 10.1126/science.1153103 . How Green Are Biofuels? . Science . 319 . 5859 . 43–44 . 2008 . 18174426. 32144220 .
  59. Laurance . W. F. . Koh . L. P. . Butler . R. . Sodhi . N. S. . Bradshaw . C. J. A. . Neidel . J. D. . Consunji . H. . Mateo Vega . J. . 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01448.x . Improving the Performance of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil for Nature Conservation . Conservation Biology . 24 . 2 . 377–381 . 2010 . 20184655. free . 2010ConBi..24..377L .
  60. Venter . O. . Laurance . W. F. . Iwamura . T. . Wilson . K. A. . Fuller . R. A. . Possingham . H. P. . 10.1126/science.1180289 . Harnessing Carbon Payments to Protect Biodiversity . Science . 326 . 5958 . 1368 . 2009 . 19965752. 2009Sci...326.1368V . 30626208 .
  61. News: Laurance. W. F.. China's dubious new honour . Australian Geographic Online . 2011.
  62. Laurance. W. F.. Conservacion de habitats criticos para mamiferos en el Eje Neovolcanico TransMexicano. Journal of Mammalogy. 1988. 69. 884.
  63. Laurance. W. F.. Hungry dragon. Australian Geographic Magazine. 2012. 118–119.
  64. Laurance. W. F.. Beware of the dragon: China's appetite for wood takes a heavy toll. Timber & Forestry E-News. 2012. 204. 12–13.
  65. News: China's appetite for wood takes a heavy toll on forests. Yale Environment 360 Magazine. 2011.
  66. Laurance. W. F.. The dragon and the rainforest. Tropinet. 2007. 18. 1–2.
  67. Laurance. W. F.. The need for China to reduce illegal timber imports. Newsletter of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 2006.
  68. News: Laurance. W. F.. Organised crime, illegal timber and Australia's role in deforestation.. The Conversation. 2012.
  69. News: Laurance. W. F.. Illegal logging takes 30 football fields a minutes: Why isn't Australia acting?. The Conversation. 2012.