Jess Marsh

Jess Marsh

School of Biological Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.


I am an ARC Industry Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences. I combine taxonomy and systematics with conservation biology to tackle the challenge of working out what species we have, what is threatening them, and how we can best conserve them. My research focuses on invertebrates, mostly spiders and I have a particular interest in short range endemic species, whose entire range is restricted to a small area, with perhaps the epitome of this being obligate cave-dwelling species, whose whole range can be restricted to a single cave.

My current research is centered on using molecular and morphological techniques to uncover the invertebrate diversity of the caves of the Nullarbor Plain, South Australia and Western Australia, and to develop management guidelines to aid in the conservation of this scientifically important and often imperilled biodiversity.

My major research interests include:

Taxonomy and systematics of troglobiont spiders

Conservation biology of short-range endemic taxa

Ecology of subterranean invertebrate fauna

  • Journals

    Year Citation
    2025 Ashman, K. R., Ward, M., Dickman, C. R., Harley, D., Valentine, L., Woinarski, J., . . . Lindenmayer, D. B. (2025). Policy decisions matter: Cessation of logging benefits 34 threatened species in Victoria, Australia. Plos One, 20(3 March), e0319531.
    DOI
    2025 Ward, M., Possingham, H. P., Wintle, B. A., Woinarski, J. C. Z., Marsh, J. R., Chapple, D. G., . . . Watson, J. E. M. (2025). The estimated cost of preventing extinction and progressing recovery for Australia's priority threatened species.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(6), e2414985122.
    DOI Scopus1
    2024 Woinarski, J. C. Z., Braby, M. F., Gibb, H., Harvey, M. S., Legge, S. M., Marsh, J. R., . . . Murphy, B. P. (2024). This is the way the world ends; not with a bang but
    a whimper: Estimating the number and ongoing
    rate of extinctions of Australian non-marine
    invertebrates. Cambridge Prisms: Extinction, 2, e23-1-e23-11.

    DOI Scopus3
    2023 Marsh, J. R., Bradford, T. M., & Cooper, S. J. B. (2023). Strong Population Genetic Structure for the Endangered Micro-Trapdoor Spider Moggridgea rainbowi (Mygalomorphae, Migidae) in Unburnt Habitat after Catastrophic Bushfires. Diversity, 15(7), 827-1-827-16.
    DOI Scopus1
    2023 Dielenberg, J., Bekessy, S., Cumming, G. S., Dean, A. J., Fitzsimons, J. A., Garnett, S., . . . Wintle, B. A. (2023). Australia's biodiversity crisis and the need for the Biodiversity Council. Ecological Management and Restoration, 24(2-3), 69-74.
    DOI Scopus3
    2023 Marsh, J. R., Milner, S. J., Shaw, M., Stempel, A. J., Harvey, M. S., & Rix, M. G. (2023). A Case for Below-Ground Dispersal? Insights into the Biology, Ecology and Conservation of Blind Cave Spiders in the Genus Troglodiplura (Mygalomorphae: Anamidae). Insects, 14(5), 449-1-449-22.
    DOI Scopus2
    2022 Marsh, J. R., Stevens, M. I., & Framenau, V. W. (2022). A taxonomic revision of the tube-web spiders of the genus Ariadna (Araneae: Segestriidae) in Tasmania. Zootaxa, 5105(2), 151-201.
    DOI Scopus2
    2022 Marsh, J. R., Stevens, M. I., Bradford, T., & Framenau, V. W. (2022). The Tube-Web Spiders of the Genus Ariadna (Araneae: Segestriidae) from South Australia and Victoria. Taxonomy, 2(4), 370-461.
    DOI Scopus1
    2022 Marsh, J. R., & Glatz, R. V. (2022). Assessing the impact of the black summer fires on Kangaroo Island threatened invertebrates: towards rapid habitat assessments for informing targeted post-fire surveys. Australian Zoologist, 42(2), 479-501.
    DOI Scopus2
    2022 Ward, M., Southwell, D., Gallagher, R. V., Raadik, T. A., Whiterod, N. S., Lintermans, M., . . . Legge, S. (2022). Modelling the spatial extent of post-fire sedimentation threat to estimate the impacts of fire on waterways and aquatic species. Diversity and Distributions, 28(11), 2429-2442.
    DOI Scopus10
    2022 Marsh, J. R., Bal, P., Fraser, H., Umbers, K., Latty, T., Greenville, A., . . . Woinarski, J. C. Z. (2022). Accounting for the neglected: Invertebrate species and the 2019–2020 Australian megafires. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 31(10), 2120-2130.
    DOI Scopus13
    2022 Legge, S., Woinarski, J. C. Z., Scheele, B. C., Garnett, S. T., Lintermans, M., Nimmo, D. G., . . . Tingley, R. (2022). Rapid assessment of the biodiversity impacts of the 2019–2020 Australian megafires to guide urgent management intervention and recovery and lessons for other regions. Diversity and Distributions, 28(3), 571-591.
    DOI Scopus71
    2021 Moggridgea rainbowi: Marsh, J. (2021).
    DOI
    2021 Dorey, J. B., Rebola, C. M., Davies, O. K., Prendergast, K. S., Parslow, B. A., Hogendoorn, K., . . . Caddy-Retalic, S. (2021). Continental risk assessment for understudied taxa post-catastrophic wildfire indicates severe impacts on the Australian bee fauna. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 27(24), 17 pages.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS9 Europe PMC4
    2021 Marsh, J. R., Hudson, P., & Framenau, V. W. (2021). A ghost in the salt: A new species of halotolerant tube-web spider in the genus Ariadna (Araneae: Segestriidae). Zootaxa, 4952(3), 580-588.
    DOI Scopus3
    2021 Zephyrarchaea austini: Marsh, J. & Harvey, M. (2021).
    DOI
    2021 Marsh, J. (2021). Nunciella kangarooensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
    DOI
    2021 Metaballus mesopterus: Glatz, R. & Marsh, J. (2021).
    DOI
    2018 Marsh, J. R., Baehr, B. C., Glatz, R. V., & Framenau, V. W. (2018). New species of tube web spiders of the genus Ariadna from South Australia (Araneae, Segestriidae). Evolutionary Systematics, 2(2), 137-149.
    DOI Scopus5
    - Marsh, J. R., Harrison, S. E., Wilson, J. D., & Rix, M. G. (n.d.). A new species of the spiny trapdoor spider genus Blakistonia (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae) from Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Australian Journal of Taxonomy, 59, 1.
    DOI
    - Marsh, J. R. (n.d.). Five new species of mouse spiders in the genus Missulena (Mygalomorphae: Actinopodidae) from national parks and conservation reserves in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Taxonomy, 1-23.
    DOI
  • Book Chapters

    Year Citation
    2024 Marsh, J. (2024). Caving for Spiders. In H. P. Waudby (Ed.), Wild Science Unexpected Encounters When Working in Nature. CSIRO PUBLISHING.
    2023 Marsh, J., Bal, P., Fraser, H., Greenville, A., Latty, T., Moir, M., . . . Woinarski, J. (2023). Impacts of the 2019-20 wildfires on Australian invertebrates.. In L. Rumpff, S. Legge, S. van Leeuwen, B. Wintle, & J. Woinarski (Eds.), Australia’s megafires: biodiversity impacts and lessons from 2019-2020 (pp. 141-153). CSIRO Publishing.
    2023 Rumpff, L., Legge, S., Marsh, J., Fraser, H., & Woinarski, J. (2023). A precautionary tale: the consequences of, and remedies for, data deficiencies and uncertainty in conservation decisions related to the 2019–20 wildfires.. In L. Rumpff, S. Legge, S. van Leeuwen, B. Wintle, & J. Woinarski (Eds.), Australia's Megafires: Biodiversity Impacts and Lessons from 2019-2020 (pp. 417-429). CSIRO Publishing.
    2023 Bluff, N., Moir, M., Marsh, J., Teixeira, D., Gray, J., Rumpff, L., . . . Woinarski, J. (2023). Of grief, spirit & hope; personal reflections of the 2019–20 wildfires.. In L. Rumpff, S. Legge, S. van Leeuwen, B. Wintle, & J. Woinarski (Eds.), Australia’s 2019-20 megafires: biodiversity impacts and lessons for the future. CSIRO Publishing.
  • Datasets

    Year Citation
    2023 Bal, P., Ogilvie, J., Foon, J. -K., Wenk, E., Yang, S., & Marsh, J. (2023). InverTraits: a curated trait database for Australian invertebrates.
    DOI

Marsh, J.M., Woods, J., Beasley-Hall, P.B. & Cooper, S.J.B. (2025-2028). A fragile window into the past: informing conservation of cave biodiversity with ancient invertebrate DNA, The Hermon Slade Foundation ($82,000, Chief Investigator)

Marsh, J.M., Woods, J., Beasley-Hall, P.B., Harvey, M.S., Rix, M.G., Deharveng, L. & Cooper, S.J.B. (2025-2028). Conserving caves: Developing tools to safeguard subterranean biodiversity, Australian Research Council ($467,691, Chief Investigator)

Marsh, J.M (2025-2028). Conserving caves: Developing tools to safeguard subterranean biodiversity, Australian Speleological Federation, ($15,000, Chief Investigator)

Marsh, J.M. (2025-2028). Taxonomy and systematics of the Australian tube-web spiders (Segestriidae). ABRS Postdoctoral Fellowship. ($300,000, Chief Investigator). DECLINED due to acceptance of ARC Industry Fellowship

 

 


Connect With Me
External Profiles