Mr Zachary Amir
Casual Academic & Casual Academic (General)
School of the Environment
Affiliate of Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science
Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science
Principal Data Scientist (TERN Wildlife Observatory)
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Researcher biography
I am a quantitative wildlife ecologist who uses and develops novel statistical methods coupled with research computing to understand species interactions and how wildlife communities are impacted by a wide range of contemporary disturbances.
I am currently a Principal Data Scientist working on developing the Wildlife Observatory of Australia (WildObs) that aims to bring together siloed camera trap data into a user-friendly continental database. I recently completed my PhD in wildlife ecology and conservation at the University of Queensland in the Ecological Cascades Lab where I studied food web dynamics among Southeast Asian tropical forest vertebrates. Before moving to Australia, I worked towards the conservation of several different threatend reptile and amphibian species in the USA. When I am not stuck behind my computer, you can find me outdoors looking for wildlife, biking, hiking, camping, and surfing.
Journal Articles
Bruce, Tom, Amir, Zachary, Allen, Benjamin L, Alting, Brendan F., Amos, Matt, Augusteyn, John, Ballard, Guy‐Anthony, Behrendorff, Linda M., Bell, Kristian, Bengsen, Andrew J., Bennett, Ami, Benshemesh, Joe S., Bentley, Joss, Blackmore, Caroline J., Boscarino‐Gaetano, Remo, Bourke, Lachlan A., Brewster, Rob, Brook, Barry W., Broughton, Colin, Buettel, Jessie C., Carter, Andrew, Chiu‐Werner, Antje, Claridge, Andrew W., Comer, Sarah, Comte, Sebastien, Connolly, Rod M., Cowan, Mitchell A., Cross, Sophie L., Cunningham, Calum X. ... Luskin, Matthew S. (2025). Large‐scale and long‐term wildlife research and monitoring using camera traps: a continental synthesis. Biological Reviews, 100 (2), 530-555. doi: 10.1111/brv.13152
Rew-Duffy, Miranda, Maron, Martine, Diete, Rebecca, Leung, Luke, Hunter, John, Amir, Zachary and Reside, April (2025). Geographic variation in mammal and reptile responses to fire and livestock grazing regimes. Journal of Applied Ecology, 62 (4), 834-847. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.70011
Burton, A. Cole, Beirne, Christopher, Gaynor, Kaitlyn M., Sun, Catherine, Granados, Alys, Allen, Maximilian L., Alston, Jesse M., Alvarenga, Guilherme C., Calderón, Francisco Samuel Álvarez, Amir, Zachary, Anhalt-Depies, Christine, Appel, Cara, Arroyo-Arce, Stephanny, Balme, Guy, Bar-Massada, Avi, Barcelos, Daniele, Barr, Evan, Barthelmess, Erika L., Baruzzi, Carolina, Basak, Sayantani M., Beenaerts, Natalie, Belmaker, Jonathan, Belova, Olgirda, Bezarević, Branko, Bird, Tori, Bogan, Daniel A., Bogdanović, Neda, Boyce, Andy, Boyce, Mark ... Kays, Roland (2024). Mammal responses to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 8 (5), 924-935. doi: 10.1038/s41559-024-02363-2
Mendes, Calebe P., Albert, Wido R., Amir, Zachary, Ancrenaz, Marc, Ash, Eric, Azhar, Badrul, Bernard, Henry, Brodie, Jedediah, Bruce, Tom, Carr, Elliot, Clements, Gopalasamy Reuben, Davies, Glyn, Deere, Nicolas J., Dinata, Yoan, Donnelly, Christl A., Duangchantrasiri, Somphot, Fredriksson, Gabriella, Goossens, Benoit, Granados, Alys, Hearn, Andrew, Hon, Jason, Hughes, Tom, Jansen, Patrick, Kawanishi, Kae, Kinnaird, Margaret, Koh, Sharon, Latinne, Alice, Linkie, Matthew, Loi, Federica ... Luskin, Matthew Scott (2024). CamTrapAsia: A dataset of tropical forest vertebrate communities from 239 camera trapping studies. Ecology, 105 (6) e4299, 1-3. doi: 10.1002/ecy.4299
Lee, Samuel Xin Tham, Amir, Zachary, Moore, Jonathan H., Gaynor, Kaitlyn M. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2024). Effects of human disturbances on wildlife behaviour and consequences for predator-prey overlap in Southeast Asia. Nature Communications, 15 (1) 1521, 1-12. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-45905-9
Mendes, Calebe P., Liu, Xiaohan, Amir, Zachary, Moore, Jonathan H. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2024). A multi-scale synthesis of mousedeer habitat associations in Southeast Asia reveals declining abundance but few extirpations in fragments and edges. Austral Ecology, 49 (2) e13470, 1-17. doi: 10.1111/aec.13470
Luskin, Matthew Scott, Arnold, Lindsey, Sovie, Adia, Amir, Zachary, Chua, Marcus Aik Hwee, Dehaudt, Bastien, Dunn, Ashlea, Nursamsi, Ilyas, Moore, Jonathan H. and Mendes, Calebe P. (2023). Mesopredators in forest edges. Wildlife Letters, 1 (3), 107-118. doi: 10.1002/wll2.12023
Moore, Jonathan H., Gibson, Luke, Amir, Zachary, Chanthorn, Wirong, Ahmad, Abdul Hamid, Jansen, Patrick A., Mendes, Calebe P., Onuma, Manabu, Peres, Carlos A. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). The rise of hyperabundant native generalists threatens both humans and nature. Biological Reviews, 98 (5), 1829-1844. doi: 10.1111/brv.12985
Honda, Arata, Amir, Zachary, Mendes, Calebe P., Moore, Jonathan H. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). Binturong ecology and conservation in pristine, fragmented and degraded tropical forests—ERRATUM. Oryx, 58 (2), 1-1. doi: 10.1017/s0030605323000935
Honda, Arata, Amir, Zachary, Mendes, Calebe P., Moore, Jonathan H. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). Binturong ecology and conservation in pristine, fragmented and degraded tropical forests. Oryx, 58 (2), 218-227. doi: 10.1017/s0030605322001491
Decœur, Henri, Amir, Zachary, Mendes, Calebe P., Moore, Jonathan H. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). Mid-sized felids threatened by habitat degradation in Southeast Asia. Biological Conservation, 283 110103, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110103
Carr, Elliot, Amir, Zachary, Mendes, Calebe P., Moore, Jonathan H., Nursamsi, Ilyas and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). The highs and lows of serow (Capricornis sumatraensis): multi-scale habitat associations inform large mammal conservation strategies in the face of synergistic threats of deforestation, hunting, and climate change. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 71, 400-416. doi: 10.26107/RBZ-2023-0030
Nursamsi, Ilyas, Amir, Zachary, Decoeur, Henri, Moore, Jonathan H. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). Sunda pangolins show inconsistent responses to disturbances across multiple scales. Wildlife Letters, 1 (2), 59-70. doi: 10.1002/wll2.12010
Lamperty, Therese, Chiok, Wen Xuan, Khoo, Max D. Y., Amir, Zachary, Baker, Nick, Chua, Marcus A. H., Chung, Yi Fei, Chua, Yen Kheng, Koh, Joshua J.‐M., Lee, Benjamin P. Y.‐H., Lum, Shawn K. Y., Mendes, Calebe P., Ngiam, Jonathan, ODempsey, Anthony, Png, Kenny G. C., Sophie, Adia R., Tan, Lorraine, Teo, Robert, Thomas, Noel, Tianjiao, Li, Tze‐Ming, Bryan Lim, Loo, Adrian H. B., Wardle, David A. and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). Rewilding in Southeast Asia: Singapore as a case study. Conservation Science and Practice, 5 (3) e12899, 1-11. doi: 10.1111/csp2.12899
Hendry, Alexander, Amir, Zachary, Decoeur, Henri, Mendes, Calebe Pereira, Moore, Jonathan H., Sovie, Adia and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2023). Marbled cats in Southeast Asia: Are diurnal and semi‐arboreal felids at greater risk from human disturbances?. Ecosphere, 14 (1) e4338, 1-15. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.4338
Amir, Zachary, Sovie, Adia and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2022). Inferring predator–prey interactions from camera traps: a Bayesian co‐abundance modeling approach. Ecology and Evolution, 12 (12) e9627, e9627. doi: 10.1002/ece3.9627
Amir, Zachary, Moore, Jonathan H., Negret, Pablo Jose and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2022). Megafauna extinctions produce idiosyncratic Anthropocene assemblages. Science Advances, 8 (42) eabq2307, 1-11. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abq2307
Dunn, Ashlea, Amir, Zachary, Decoeur, Henri, Dehaudt, Bastien, Nursamsi, Ilyas, Mendes, Calebe, Moore, Jonathan H., Negret, Pablo Jose, Sovie, Adia and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2022). The ecology of the banded civet (Hemigalus derbyanus) in Southeast Asia with implications for mesopredator release, zoonotic diseases, and conservation. Ecology and Evolution, 12 (5) e8852, e8852. doi: 10.1002/ece3.8852
Dehaudt, Bastien, Amir, Zachary, Decoeur, Henri, Gibson, Luke, Mendes, Calebe, Moore, Jonathan H., Nursamsi, Ilyas, Sovie, Adia and Luskin, Matthew Scott (2022). Common palm civets Paradoxurus hermaphroditus are positively associated with humans and forest degradation with implications for seed dispersal and zoonotic diseases. Journal of Animal Ecology, 91 (4), 794-804. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13663
Thesis
Amir, Zachary (2024). Megafauna losses and predatory interactions in tropical forests. PhD Thesis, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/2f2f18f