Matthew Struebig
Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow

Queen Mary University of London, and DICE University of Kent


Contact

Fellowship based at QMUL and Kent:

School of Biological & Chemical Sciences
Queen Mary University of London, E1 4NS.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7882 7528 or ext. 4011

Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology & Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK

email: m.struebig[at]qmul.ac.uk

 


Group Leader
Stephen Rossiter

PhD students
Kalina Davies
Hao-Chih Kuo
Lee Sim Lim
Helen Ward

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My research focuses on the disturbed habitats of Southeast Asia, a region which likely exemplifies the long-term fate of other areas of the tropics. Modified landscapes have traditionally been considered to have low biodiversity value, but are becoming the most dominant land form of the future. My research evaluates the values that managed landscapes can have for biodiversity, and seeks to find ways to maintain or enhance these values. How can science inform simple, practical, management decisions to ensure biodiversity remains in modified landscapes?

I have particularly expertise with mammals, and although much of my research focuses on bats, my interests are broad and currently cover 3 areas of applied conservation science in the tropics:

Identifying areas of High Conservation Value under projections of land-use and climate change
My current fellowship research will inform biodiversity assessment in Southeast Asia by modelling mammal distributions over the main oil palm producing regions (Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay peninsula), and determining how patterns of species diversity will respond to scenarios of environmental change arising from land-use and climate changes. This research is funded by a Leverhulme Trust fellowship held jointly with Queen Mary University of London, with project partners in Indonesia and Malaysia. Outputs are designed to feed directly into the biodiversity components of HCV and REDD+ assessments, as well as wider conservation planning in the region.

Oil palm and biodiversity
With an international team of collaborators I work to evaluate ways in which the inevitable expansion in oil palm agriculture can be managed to avoid biodiversity losses. Recent reviews of impacts and mitigation of oil palm plantations appeared in Trends in Ecology and Evolution and CAB-Reviews. I also manage field projects evaluating the biodiversity value of riparian corridors and forest patches for bats in oil palm estates in Sumatra and Borneo.

Land-use change and rainforest fragmentation
My PhD study in peninsular Malaysia integrated community ecology and population genetic techniques to determine the conservation value of forest fragments. I am now continuing the community-level component of this work at the new Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems project in Sabah, where the responses of biodiversity to land-use change can be tracked as logged forests are actively being cleared for oil palm plantations.
     
  Recent Publications
Selected publications. Please email me for reprints.

Paoli G, Wells P, Meijaard E, Struebig M, Marshall A, Obidzinski K, Tan A, Rafiastanto A, Yaap B, Slik F, Morel A, Perumal B, & Wielaard N (2010) Biodiversity conservation in the REDD. Carbon Balance and Management, 5: 7 pdf.

Struebig M, Paoli G, Meijaard E (2010) A reality check for designer biofuel landscapes. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 25: 7-8.

Struebig M, Christy L, Pio D, Meijaard E (2010) Bats of Borneo: diversity, distributions and representation in protected areas. Biodiversity and Conservation. 19: 449-469.

Yaap B, Struebig M*,Paoli G, Koh LP (2010) Mitigating the biodiversity impacts of oil palm development. CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources. 5: 19. pdf

Struebig M, (2010) Reassessing the “real scenario” regarding the environmental sustainability of palm oil. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 14: 2443-2444.

Struebig M, Kingston T, Zubaid A, Le Comber S, Adnan A, Turner A, Kelly J, Bozek M & Rossiter S (2009) Conservation importance of llimestone karst outcrops for Palaeotropical bats in a fragmented landscape. Biological Conservation.142: 2089–2096. pdf

Phalan B, Fitzherbert E, Rafflegeau S, Struebig M, Verwilghen A (2009) Conservation in oil palm landscapes. Conservation Biology. 23: 244-247. pdf

Danielsen F, Beukema H, Burgess N, Parish F, Bruhl C, Donald P, Murdiyarso D, Phalan B, Reijnders L, Struebig M, Fitzherbert E (2009) Biofuel plantations on forested lands: double jeopardy for biodiversity and climate. Conservation Biology. 23: 348-358. pdf

Fitzherbert E, Struebig M, Morel A, Danielsen F, Brühl C, Donald P, & Phalan B (2008) How will oil palm expansion affect biodiversity? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 23: 538-545. pdf

Struebig M, Kingston T, Zubaid A, Adnan A & Rossiter S (2008) Conservation value of forest fragments to Palaeotropical bats. Biological Conservation. 141. 2112-2126. pdf

Struebig M, Horsburgh G, Pandhal J, Triggs A, Zubaid A, Kingston T, Dawson D & Rossiter S (2008) Isolation and characterisation of microsatellite loci in the papillose woolly bat, Kerivoula papillosa (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae). Conservation Genetics. 9. 751-756. pdf

Bates P, Struebig M, Hayes B, Furey N, Mya Mya K, Thong V, Tien P, Son N, Harrison D, Francis C & Csorba G (2007) A new species of Kerivoula (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Southeast Asia. Acta Chiropterologica. 9. 323-337. pdf

Struebig M, Harrison M, Cheyne S & Limin S (2007) Intensive hunting of large flying-foxes (Pteropus vampyrus natunae) in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Oryx. 41. 390-393. pdf

Suyanto A & Struebig M (2007) Bats of the Sangkulirang limestone karst formations, East Kalimantan - a priority region for Bornean bat conservation. Acta Chiropterologica. 9. 67-95. pdf

Presentations

Feb 2009 (SYMPOSIUM ORGANISER) ATBC Asia Pacific Chapter Conference, Chiang Mai, Thailand - Symposium: How to manage the negative impacts of oil palm expansion on biodiversity, organised with Daemeter Consulting Indonesia.

Feb 2009 (TALK) ATBC Asia Pacific Chapter Conference, Chiang Mai, Thailand - Parallel declines in bat species diversity & genetic diversity in Malaysian forest fragments.

June 2008 (INVITED SPEAKER) National University of Singapore, Singapore - Biodiversity and Ecology Seminar: Associations between bat species diversity and genetic diversity in a fragmented landscape.

April 2008 (POSTER) Zoological Society of London, London Zoo, UK - Oil palm and biodiversity discussion meeting: Patterns of land-cover change and bat diversity over a fragmented Malaysian landscape.

Sept 2007 (TALK) Instituto Gulbenkian Ciência. Lisboa, Portugal - European Science Foundation Conservation Genetics Programme Workshop: Population genetics modelling and habitat fragmentation. Bats in a fragmented Malaysian landscape: impacts of forest fragmentation on bat assemblage and population genetic structure.

June 2007 (INVITED SPEAKER). International conference on the biodiversity crisis on tropical islands, University Brunei Darussalam: Bats of Borneo: diversity, protected areas and conservation.

June 2007 (INVITED SPEAKER). International conference on the biodiversity crisis on tropical islands, University Brunei Darussalam: Forest fragments as islands: a bat perspective in Peninsular Malaysia.

May 2007 (TALK). 1st International Southeast Asian Bat Conference, Phuket, Thailand: Bats in a fragmented landscape in Peninsular Malaysia.

March 2007 (TALK). Student Conference on Conservation Science, University of Cambridge, UK: Impacts of forest fragmentation on Malaysian bats.

March 2007 (TALK). British Ecological Society Tropical Ecology Group PhD/early post-doc meeting, Leeds, UK: Impacts of forest fragmentation on assemblage and population structure of insectivorous bats in Malaysia.

Related media coverage
Last updated: January 2010
© Matt Struebig| School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Rd, E1 4NS, United Kingdom.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7882 7528 | Fax: +44 (0)20 8983 0973 |