Dr Sean Tomlinson
ARC Grant-Funded Researcher (A)
School of Biological Sciences
Faculty of Sciences
I am a conservation physiologist interested in the trade-offs and interactions between physiological or morphological adaptations and the environment or ecological niche. Furthermore, I am interested in the implications that these limitations have for the ecological role and services provided by the target organisms.
I have explored these patterns in:
the endothermy and digestive physiology of mammals, and how this constrains the energetics;
the thermal biology of ectotherms, particularly insects; and
the hydrothermal characteristics of seeds, particularly the germination of rare species.
In all instances, I have tried to guide conservation or ecological restoration practices using the insights that I have gained.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2016 - 2020 Postdoctoral Fellow Curtin University 2016 - 2016 Sessional Lecturer University of Notre Dame Australia 2010 - 2014 Postdoctoral Research Associate University of Western Australia -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2007 - 2012 The University of Western Australia Australia PhD 2000 - 2004 The University of Western Australia Australia BSc (Hons) -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2020 Tomlinson, S., Lewandrowski, W., Elliott, C. P., Miller, B. P., & Turner, S. R. (2020). High-resolution distribution modeling of a threatened short-range endemic plant informed by edaphic factors. Ecology and Evolution, 10(2), 763-777.
2020 Phillips, R., Bohman, B., Brown, G., Tomlinson, S., & Peakall, R. (2020). A specialised pollination system using nectar-seeking thynnine wasps in Caladenia nobilis (Orchidaceae). Plant biology (Stuttgart, Germany), 22(2), 157-166.
Scopus1 WoS12020 White, L., Catterall, C., Tomlinson, S., & Taffs, K. (2020). Rare or overlooked? The distribution of Hairy Jointgrass in north coast New South Wales, Australia, and implications for its conservation status. Journal for Nature Conservation, 54, 15 pages.
2020 Cross, S., Craig, M., Tomlinson, S., & Bateman, P. (2020). I don't like crickets, I love them: invertebrates are an important prey source for varanid lizards. Journal of Zoology, 310(4), 323-333.
2020 Rajapakshe, R. P., Turner, S. R., Cross, A. T., & Tomlinson, S. (2020). Hydrological and thermal responses of seeds from four co-occurring tree species from southwest Western Australia.. Conservation Physiology, 8(1), 1-14.
2019 Cross, S., Tomlinson, S., Craig, M., & Bateman, P. (2019). The Time Local Convex Hull method as a tool for assessing responses of fauna to habitat restoration: A case study using the perentie (Varanus giganteus: Reptilia: Varanidae). Australian Journal of Zoology, 67(1), 27-37.
2019 Tomlinson, S. (2019). Starvation and stress: no place to call home.. Conservation physiology, 7(1), coz047.
2019 Cross, S., Tomlinson, S., Craig, M., Dixon, K., & Bateman, P. (2019). Overlooked and undervalued: The neglected role of fauna and a global bias in ecological restoration assessments. Pacific Conservation Biology, 25(4), 331-341.
Scopus42019 Tomlinson, S. (2019). The mathematics of thermal sub-optimality: nonlinear regression characterization of thermal performance of reptile metabolic rates. Journal of Thermal Biology, 81, 49-58.
Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC12019 Saatkamp, A., Cochrane, A., Commander, L., Guja, L. K., Jimenez-Alfaro, B., Larson, J., . . . Walck, J. L. (2019). A research agenda for seed-trait functional ecology.. The New phytologist, 221(4), 1764-1775.
Scopus23 WoS20 Europe PMC22018 Tomlinson, S., Dalziell, E. L., Withers, P. C., Lewandrowski, W., Dixon, K. W., & Merritt, D. J. (2018). Measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry. Journal of Experimental Biology, 221(7), jeb172874-1-jeb172874-8.
2018 Tarszisz, E., Tomlinson, S., Harrison, M. E., Morrogh-Bernard, H. C., & Munn, A. J. (2018). An ecophysiologically informed model of seed dispersal by orangutans: linking animal movement with gut passage across time and space. Conservation Physiology, 6(1), coy013-1-coy013-15.
Scopus2 WoS22018 Tomlinson, S., Webber, B. L., Bradshaw, S. D., Dixon, K. W., & Renton, M. (2018). Incorporating biophysical ecology into high-resolution restoration targets: insect pollinator habitat suitability models. Restoration Ecology, 26(2), 338-347.
Scopus8 WoS62018 Tarszisz, E., Tomlinson, S., Harrison, M. E., Morrough-Bernard, H. C., & Munn, A. J. (2018). Gardeners of the forest: effects of seed handling and ingestion by orangutans on germination success of peat forest plants. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 123(1), 125-134.
Scopus2 WoS42018 Tomlinson, S., Rummer, J., Hultine, K., & Cooke, S. (2018). Crossing boundaries in conservation physiology. Conservation Physiology, 6(1), coy015-1-coy015-5.
2018 Tomlinson, S. (2018). Some seriously fishy research puts holes in movement barriers. Conservation Physiology, 6(1), 1 page.
2018 Tarszisz, E., Tomlinson, S., Harrison, M., Morrogh-Bernard, H., & Munn, A. (2018). Corrigendum: Gardeners of the forest: Effects of seed handling and ingestion by orangutans on germination success of peat forest plants [Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 123, 1, (2018), 125�134]doi 10.1093/biolinnean/blx133. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 124(2), 278.
2017 Dalziell, E. L., & Tomlinson, S. (2017). Reduced metabolic rate indicates declining viability in seed collections: an experimental proof-of-concept. CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY, 5(1), 10 pages.
Scopus3 WoS22017 Tomlinson, S., Dixon, K. W., Didham, R. K., & Bradshaw, S. D. (2017). Landscape context alters cost of living in honeybee metabolism and feeding.. Proceedings. Biological sciences, 284(1848), 20162676.
Scopus4 WoS42017 Tomlinson, S. (2017). Down the rabbit hole: how complex do eco-physiological models need to be?. Conservation physiology, 5(1), cox015.
2016 Nevill, P. G., Tomlinson, S., Elliott, C. P., Espeland, E. K., Dixon, K. W., & Merritt, D. J. (2016). Seed production areas for the global restoration challenge.. Ecology and evolution, 6(20), 7490-7497.
Scopus25 WoS24 Europe PMC42016 Tomlinson, S. (2016). Novel approaches to the calculation and comparison of thermoregulatory parameters: Non-linear regression of metabolic rate and evaporative water loss in Australian rodents.. Journal of thermal biology, 57, 54-65.
Scopus4 WoS42016 Ayton, S., Tomlinson, S., Phillips, R., Dixon, K., & Withers, P. (2016). Phenophysiological variation of a bee that regulates hive humidity, but not hive temperature. Journal of Experimental Biology, 219(10), 1552-1562.
Scopus5 WoS4 Europe PMC22015 Tomlinson, S., & Phillips, R. D. (2015). Differences in metabolic rate and evaporative water loss associated with sexual dimorphism in thynnine wasps. Journal of Insect Physiology, 78, 62-68.
Scopus9 WoS9 Europe PMC42015 Tomlinson, S., Dixon, K. W., Didham, R. K., & Bradshaw, S. D. (2015). Physiological plasticity of metabolic rates in the invasive honey bee and an endemic Australian bee species. Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology, 185(8), 835-844.
Scopus6 WoS6 Europe PMC22015 Tomlinson, S., & Menz, M. H. (2015). Does metabolic rate and evaporative water loss reflect differences in migratory strategy in sexually dimorphic hoverflies?. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology, 190, 61-67.
Scopus8 WoS8 Europe PMC42014 Tomlinson, S., Withers, P. C., & Maloney, S. K. (2014). Huddling behaviour and energetics of Sminthopsis spp. (Marsupialia, Dasyruidae) in response to environmental challenge. Physiology and Behavior, 128, 9-15.
Scopus3 WoS2 Europe PMC12014 Tomlinson, S., Arnall, S., Munn, A., Bradshaw, S., Maloney, S., Dixon, K., & Didham, R. (2014). Applications and implications of ecological energetics. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 29(5), 280-290.
Scopus56 WoS51 Europe PMC312014 Tomlinson, S., Mathialagan, P., & Maloney, S. (2014). Special K: Testing the potassium link between radioactive rubidium (⁸⁶Rb) turnover and metabolic rate. Journal of Experimental Biology, 217(7), 1040-1045.
Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC22014 Nevill, P., Bradbury, D., Williams, A., Tomlinson, S., & Krauss, S. (2014). Genetic and palaeo-climatic evidence for widespread persistence of the coastal tree species Eucalyptus gomphocephala (Myrtaceae) during the Last Glacial Maximum. Annals of Botany, 113(1), 55-67.
Scopus16 WoS15 Europe PMC102013 Mason, L., Tomlinson, S., Withers, P., & Main, B. (2013). Thermal and hygric physiology of Australian burrowing mygalomorph spiders (Aganippe spp.). Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology, 183(1), 71-82.
Scopus16 WoS13 Europe PMC62013 Tomlinson, S., Maloney, S. K., Withers, P. C., Voigt, C. C., & Cruz-Neto, A. P. (2013). From doubly labelled water to half-life; validating radio-isotopic rubidium turnover to measure metabolism in small vertebrates. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 4(7), 619-628.
Scopus7 WoS82012 Tomlinson, S., Withers, P. C., & Maloney, S. K. (2012). Comparative thermoregulatory physiology of two dunnarts, Sminthopsis macroura and Sminthopsis ooldea (Marsupialia:Dasyuridae). Australian Journal of Zoology, 60(1), 54-63.
Scopus5 WoS32012 Tomlinson, S., Withers, P., & Maloney, S. (2012). Flexibility in thermoregulatory physiology of two dunnarts, Sminthopsis macroura and Sminthopsis ooldea (Marsupialia; Dasyuridae). Journal of Experimental Biology, 215(13), 2236-2246.
Scopus8 WoS9 Europe PMC32012 Tomlinson, S., & Phillips, R. (2012). Metabolic rate, evaporative water loss and field activity in response to temperature in an ichneumonid wasp. Journal of Zoology, 287(2), 81-90.
Scopus17 WoS152008 Tomlinson, S., & Withers, P. (2008). Biogeographical effects on body mass of native Australian and introduced mice, Pseudomys hermannsburgensis and Mus domesticus: An inquiry into Bergmann's Rule. Australian Journal of Zoology, 56(6), 423-430.
Scopus4 WoS42007 Tomlinson, S., Withers, P., & Cooper, C. (2007). Hypothermia versus torpor in response to cold stress in the native Australian mouse Pseudomys hermannsburgensis and the introduced house mouse Mus musculus. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - A Molecular and Integrative Physiology, 148(3), 645-650.
Scopus30 WoS29 Europe PMC8
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Other Supervision Activities
Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name 2019 - ongoing Principal Supervisor Community structure and ecophysiology of hymenopteran pollinators in restored Jarrah forests Curtin University — Master — Emily Tudor 2018 - ongoing Co-Supervisor Threat assessment and recovery strategies for the Western Spiny-tailed Skink (Egernia stokesii badia) Curtin University — Doctorate — Holly Bradley 2017 - ongoing Co-Supervisor Thermal and droughting tolerance of seed germination as drivers of rarity and endemism Curtin University — Doctorate — Subhashi Rajapakshe 2017 - ongoing Co-Supervisor Metabolic correlates of seed storage and aging Curtin University — Doctorate — Harrison Palmer 2016 - 2020 Co-Supervisor Behavioural responses of Varanid lizards to mine site restoration Curtin University — Doctorate — Sophie Cross 2016 - 2019 Co-Supervisor The metabolic ecology of seed storage Curtin University — Postdoctorate — Emma Dalziell 2014 - ongoing Co-Supervisor Implications for wind management in restoration ecology, linking ecosystem aerodynamics to physiological drivers in arid and semi-arid systems The University of Western Australia — Doctorate — Erica David
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Committee Memberships
Date Role Committee Institution Country 2019 - 2020 Member Scientific Advisory Committee Perth Zoo Australia
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