Research and Publications
The Myall Lakes Dingo/Dapin project is a scientific research project focused on informing evidence-based management. It aims to further our understanding of dingo social ecology and the impact(s) of dingoes on humans and other species in the ecosystem, and vice versa.
MLDP research projects tend to focus on aspects of dingo ecology or the impacts of dingoes that may be applied to wildlife management. This includes the development and testing of potential coexistence tools and strategies.
As dingo social ecology has arguably been overlooked in the literature to date, another major aim of the MLDP is to deepen our collective understanding of dingo social behaviour and ecology, which we tackle by following the fates and fortunes of individual dingoes in several known packs over the long-term.
Graduate student research projects form the bulk of the research outputs to date, and a list of research publications can be found below.
Student theses:
- Alting, B. F. (2025). Ecology and interactions of dingoes in a human-modified landscape. PhD thesis, UNSW Sydney.
- Gamage, D. (2024). Ultrasonic playbacks deter wild dingoes: implications for threatened species conservation. Honours thesis, UNSW Sydney.
- Cheung, J. (2024). Characterising dingo and fox diets using DNA metabarcoding within the Myall Lakes region. Honours thesis, UNSW Sydney.
Research papers and book chapters:
- Alting, B. F., Pitcher, B. J., Rees, M. W., Ferrer-Paris, J.R. & Jordan, N. R. (2024). Population density and ranging behaviour of a generalist carnivore varies with human population. Ecology and Evolution https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11404
- Walker, B. J., Letnic, M., Bucknall, M. P., Watson, L., & Jordan, N. R. (2024). Male dingo urinary scents code for age class and wild dingoes respond to this information. Chemical Senses https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjae004
- Jordan, N. R., Campbell-Ward, M., Vandersteen, J., Colman, N., Alting, B., Gamage, D., Cairns, K.M., Bell, M., Altuna, J. & Pitcher, B. J. (2023). Inferring interspecific killing of Red Fox by Dingo from wounds and inter-canine distance measures–and a call for more data. Australian Zoologist, 43(2), 276-280. https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2023.030
- Gorta, S. B., Alting, B., Claridge, A., & Henderson, T. (2021). Apparent piebald variants in quolls (Dasyurus): examples of three recent cases in the spotted-tailed quoll Dasyurus maculatus. Australian Mammalogy, 43(3), 373-377. https://doi.org/10.1071/AM20058
Other reports and outputs:
Credit: Alex Dibnah. A dingo in a campground.
