Jose Facelli

Jose Facelli

School of Biological Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.


Fundamentally I am a plant ecologist interested in how plants interact with each other, with the animals that eat them, and the multiple soil microbes that either act as pathogens or symbionts.

I apply this research to plant invasion ecology, restoration ecology, and arid land ecology.
Currently my main research interest focus on the interactions between invasive plants and soil microorganisms, and how the plant-soil microbes interactions affect the process of invasion of natural ecosystems, and hinder the restoration of degraded ones.

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 Co-Supervisor Impacts of livestock on soil function and ecosystem services in South Australia's rangelands. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Rebecca Rose Greening
  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2019 - 2022 Principal Supervisor Soil, Growth, Arthropods, and Competition: Native parasitic vine Cassytha pubescens and its indirect ecological effects on native and invasive host species Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Bernardo Jose O'Connor D'Arlach Espinoza
    2019 - 2023 Principal Supervisor Monitoring and Restoration of natural temperate grasslands in South Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Diego Roy Guevara Torres
    2017 - 2020 Co-Supervisor Himalayan Forests: Resource for Rural Livelihood, Massive Carbon Sink and Indicators of Changing Climate Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Tshewang Dorji
    2016 - 2022 Co-Supervisor Prescribed Burns in Heathy Swamps Favour Establishment of Threatened Flora Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr James Trezise
    2014 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Interactions Between Native and Exotic Plants in the Context of Grassland Restoration and the Importance of Below-ground Processes Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Monique Smith
    2013 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Insects, Orchids and Fire: The Effects of Fire Pollinators in Eucalypt Woodlands of South Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Anita Evelyn Marquart
    2013 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Clonal Integration in Ochtochloa Compressa under Extreme Environmental Conditions Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Mobarak Sahal M Al Mosallam
    2011 - 2015 Principal Supervisor Fallen logs: creating patchiness in chenopod shrublands of South Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Alexandra Stoner Bowman
    2011 - 2015 Principal Supervisor Regrowth and recruitment of the rare shrub Logania saxatilis in response to fire Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Ute Susanne Grehn
    2010 - 2016 Co-Supervisor The Influence of Abiotic Factors on the Impact of a Native Stem Hemiparasite on Introduced Versus Native Hosts Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Robert Michael Cirocco
    2010 - 2015 Co-Supervisor Levelling the Playing Field: Exploring Methods of Reducing Weed Competition to Improve the Establishment of Native Ground Cover on Former Agricultural Land Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Emanuelle Gerlach
    2010 - 2024 Principal Supervisor The biology of Cassytha pubescens An Australian native hemiparasitic vine Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Elizabeth Claire Maciunas
    2009 - 2017 Co-Supervisor Canopy Dieback and Decline in Pink Gums, Eucalyptus fasciculosa, F.Muell in the Mt Lofty Ranged and Adjoining Plains Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Sonia Croft
    2008 - 2012 Principal Supervisor Acacia Victoriae and its Association with Sugary-Exudate Producing Herbivorous Insects and Trailing Dominant Ants in Semi-arid Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Nyree Shirley Weichel
    2008 - 2012 Principal Supervisor Soil Seed Banks and Vegetation Dynamics in an Acacia papyrocarpa Open Woodland Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Emma Steggles
    2007 - 2010 Principal Supervisor Cassytha pubescens: Germination Biology and Relationships with Native and Introduced Hosts Master of Science Master Full Time Mr Hong Tsang
    2007 - 2011 Co-Supervisor Impact of Willows on Aquatic Invertebrate Communities Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Wahizatul Afzan Bt. Azmi
    2007 - 2012 Co-Supervisor Susceptibility of Native Plant Species to Phytopthora Cinnamomi and the Spread of Phytopthora Dieback in South Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Kiong Hook Kueh
    2005 - 2010 Principal Supervisor The Reproductive Ecology of Two Terrestrial Orchids, Caladenia rigida and Caladenia tentaculata Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Renate Faast
    2005 - 2011 Principal Supervisor Impact of Mineral Exploration on Ecosystem Characters and Mallee Vegetation of Pinkawillinie Conservation Park, South Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Lindy Scott
    2004 - 2007 Co-Supervisor Ecological Benefits of 'Environmental Flows' in the Eastern Mt. Lofty Ranges Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Brian Deegan
    2003 - 2008 Principal Supervisor Rainfall Regime and Optimal Root Distribution in the Australian Perennial Grass, Austrodanthonia caespitosa (Gaudich.) Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Grant Williamson
    2003 - 2010 Co-Supervisor Eucalyptus Camaldulensis (River Red Gum) Biogeochemistry: An Innovative Tool for Mineral Exploration Programs in the Curnamona Province and Adjacent Regions Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Karen Hulme
    2003 - 2009 Co-Supervisor The Role of the Reintroduction of Greater Bilbies (Macrotis lagotis) and Burrowing Bettongs (Bettongia lesueur) in the Ecological Restoration of an Arid Ecosystem: Foraging Diggings, Diet, and Soil Seed Banks Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Janet Newell
    2001 - 2006 Co-Supervisor The Biodiversity Impacts of Shrub Loss in a Semi-arid Environment: Responses of Arthropods, with Particular Reference to Ants Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Sylvia Clarke
    2001 - 2011 Principal Supervisor Broad Crowned Trees and the Hydraulic Limitation Hypothesis Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Martin Escoto-Rodriguez
    2000 - 2004 Principal Supervisor The effect of resource dynamics on invasive annual and native perennial grasses in grasslands of the mid-north of South Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Tanja Lenz
    1999 - 2002 Principal Supervisor Resource dynamics and positive and negative interactions between plants in arid systems Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Jane Prider
    1999 - 2006 Co-Supervisor Impacts of environmental weed invasion on arthropod biodiversity and associated
    community structure and processes
    Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Dr Claire Stephens
    1999 - 2005 Co-Supervisor Effects of sedimentation on the structure of a phaeophycean dominated macroalgal community Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr David Turner
    1997 - 2003 Principal Supervisor The Intensity of Competitive Interactions as a Function of Fertility, in Mediterranean-type old fields in South Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Brenton Ladd
    1997 - 2002 Co-Supervisor Production ecology and ecophysiology of turf algal communities on a temperate reef (West Island, South Australia) Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Margareth Copertino
    1996 - 2002 Principal Supervisor A Comparison of the Effects Of Grazing and Mining on Vegetation of selected Parts of Northern South Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Francis John Badman

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