{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = David M. Watson | image = File:Dave_xmas_tree.jpg | caption = DM Watson standing next to the hemi-parasitic plant, /Nuytsia floribunda/ in 2007 | birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria | education = The University of Kansas | title = Professor of Ecology }}
'''David M. Watson''' is an Australian ornithologist and ecologist who is also a scientific specialist on mistletoes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sciencealert.com/parasitic-plants-more-dryad-than-dracula|title=Parasitic Plants More Dryad Than Dracula|last=Beemster|first=Margrit|website=ScienceAlert|language=en-gb|access-date=2020-02-13|archive-date=13 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213045852/https://www.sciencealert.com/parasitic-plants-more-dryad-than-dracula}}</ref> He served on the New South Wales Threatened Species Scientific Committee from 2015 until publicly resigning in June 2017 in protest after the NSW Berejiklian government passed a bill granting heritage status to feral horses in the Kosciuszko National Park.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/wilful-disregard-scientist-quits-nsw-panel-over-wild-horses-bill-20180607-p4zk19.html|title='Wilful disregard': Scientist quits NSW panel over wild horses bill|last=Hannam|first=Peter|date=2018-06-07|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-07/government-scientist-quits-over-nsw-protection-of-feral-horses/9845142|title=Scientific adviser quits over NSW plan to protect brumbies|last=Slezak|first=Michael|date=2018-06-07|website=ABC News|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/podcast/david-watson-the-impact-of-wild-horses-on-our-national-parks/|title=David Watson - The impact of wild horses on our national parks|last=Heathcote|first=Angela|website=Australian Geographic|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Watson|first=David M.|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/11/feral-horses-are-incompatible-with-a-world-heritage-area-its-one-or-the-other|title=Feral horses are incompatible with a world heritage area. It's one or the other {{!}} David M Watson|date=2018-06-11|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-02-13|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
== Education == Watson completed a BSc (Honours) in biology from Monash University in 1994 with a thesis titled "The dynamics of bird communities in remnant buloke (''Allocasuarina luehmanni'') woodlands". Watson completed a PhD in 1999 at the University of Kansas, with a thesis "Temporal scale and the consequences of habitat fragmentation: Case studies on Mesoamerican highland birds"<ref>{{Cite book|last=Watson|first=David M.|title=Temporal scale and the consequences of habitat fragmentation: Case studies on Mesoamerican highland birds|publisher=The University of Kansas|year=1999|isbn=978-0-599-64944-6|location=Lawrence, KS, USA}}</ref> based on fieldwork centered in Oaxaca, Mexico.
== Career == Watson is an ecologist with a research focus on habitat fragmentation and the ecological interactions between plants and birds. He has an interest in the tools of ecological monitoring such as survey methods and acoustic monitoring. He became fascinated with mistletoe during his Honours degree<ref>{{Cite book|last=Watson|first=David|title=Mistletoes of Southern Australia|publisher=CSIRO|year=2011|isbn=978-0-643-10083-1|location=Melbourne, Australia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Watson|first=David M.|date=1997-06-01|title=The Importance of Mistletoe to the White-fronted Honeyeater Phylidonyris albifrons in Western Victoria|journal=Emu - Austral Ornithology|volume=97|issue=2|pages=174–177|doi=10.1071/MU97021|issn=0158-4197}}</ref> and subsequently wrote a global review of mistletoes as a keystone resource in forests and woodlands worldwide.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Watson|first=David M.|date=2001|title=Mistletoe—A Keystone Resource in Forests and Woodlands Worldwide|journal=Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics|volume=32|issue=1|pages=219–249|doi=10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.32.081501.114024}}</ref> After this publication, he conducted a large removal experiment of mistletoes from woodlands in Australia and showed that mistletoes acted as drivers of bird diversity, especially insectivores.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/07/11/3542895.htm?site=science/tricks|title=Study finds mistletoe key to landscape|last=Salleh|first=Anna|date=2012-07-11|website=www.abc.net.au|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Watson|first1=David M.|last2=Herring|first2=Matthew|date=2012-09-22|title=Mistletoe as a keystone resource: an experimental test|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=279|issue=1743|pages=3853–3860|doi=10.1098/rspb.2012.0856|pmc=3415901|pmid=22787026}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Watson|first=David M.|date=2015-12-07|title=Disproportionate Declines in Ground-Foraging Insectivorous Birds after Mistletoe Removal|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=10|issue=12|article-number=e0142992|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0142992|issn=1932-6203|pmc=4671714|pmid=26640895|bibcode=2015PLoSO..1042992W |doi-access=free}}</ref> He wrote ''Mistletoes of Southern Australia'' in 2011<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/mistletoes-of-southern-australia/|title=Mistletoes of Southern Australia|website=www.newsouthbooks.com.au|language=en|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref> (2nd ed., 2019)/.<ref>{{Cite book|last=PUBLISHING|first=CSIRO|url=https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7857|title=Mistletoes of Southern Australia|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.publish.csiro.au/australian-mistletoes/|title=Australian Mistletoes: unwrapping the mysteries of these intriguing native plants|date=2019-12-02|website=CSIRO PUBLISHING|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref> Currently, his research focus is on the effects of mistletoe on tree health and soils, mostly in farming and production landscapes, including macadamia crops in Queensland,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.goodfruitandvegetables.com.au/story/5994611/macadamias-battling-mistletoe-menace/|title=Macadamias battling mistletoe menace|date=2019-04-18|website=Good Fruit & Vegetables|language=en|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref> the introduction of mistletoe in urban trees to increase biodiversity within the urban landscape,<ref>Gardening Australia. {{Citation|title=A Sucker for Biodiversity - Mistletoe|date=2019-12-20|url=https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/a-sucker-for-bioiversity---mistletoe/11796786|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|language=en|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Making trees better with mistletoe|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjwdyqJJGVM|language=en|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref> and conservation of sandalwood in Western Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|last=CSU Media Release|date=2019|title=Conserving the ecological and economic value of sandalwood in arid Australia|url=https://news.csu.edu.au/feature/conserving-the-ecological-and-economic-value-of-sandalwood-in-arid-australia|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-04|website=news.csu.edu.au|language=en-AU|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404040306/https://news.csu.edu.au/feature/conserving-the-ecological-and-economic-value-of-sandalwood-in-arid-australia |archive-date=2019-04-04 }}</ref> Watson uses social media and public talks to try and revise the reputation of mistletoe from just a parasite to a "ecological Robin Hood" which supports and encourages biodiversity.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-03-21 |title=Mistletoe goes from parasitic tree killer to ecological kiss of life |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-22/native-mistletoe-blossoms-positive-parasite/105008220 |access-date=2025-05-08 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref>
Watson developed the 'standardized search' using the Chao estimator equations to easily construct species accumulation curves in the field to ensure that wildlife monitoring between sites is comparable.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Watson|first=David M.|date=2003|title=The 'standardized search': An improved way to conduct bird surveys|journal=Austral Ecology|language=en|volume=28|issue=5|pages=515–525|doi=10.1046/j.1442-9993.2003.01308.x|issn=1442-9993}}</ref> He was also one of five chief instigators of the Australian Acoustic Observatory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://acousticobservatory.org/|title=Australian Acoustic Observatory {{!}} A20|website=Australian Acoustic Observatory {{!}} A20|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref>
Watson, in his persona of "Dr Dave" has appeared in three series of educational videos including Dr Dave in Box-Gum Grassy Woodlands,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC1CEAA22BDF5BD7D|title=What have we got here? With Dr. Dave - Series 1|website=YouTube|language=en|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wirraminna.org.au/portfolio/dr-dave-in-box-gum-grassy-woodlands/|title=Dr Dave in Box-Gum Grassy Woodlands|last=Wirraminna and Petaurus Education Group|website=www.wirraminna.org.au|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref> Dr Dave in the Murray Catchment<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wirraminna.org.au/portfolio/dr-dave-in-the-murray-catchment/|title=Dr Dave in the Murray Catchment|last=Wirraminna and Petaurus Education Group|website=www.wirraminna.org.au|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref> and Dr Dave in the Outback<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wirraminna.org.au/portfolio/dr-dave-in-the-outback/|title=Dr Dave in the Outback|last=Wirraminna and Petaurus Education Group|website=www.wirraminna.org.au|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5Oe_wGmcw4uWQNDkMgL9Lt-FebTvUjQv|title=Dr Dave in the Outback|website=YouTube|language=en|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref>
Watson is currently a Professor of Ecology at Charles Sturt University in Albury, NSW, Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.csu.edu.au/research/ilws/team/profiles/members/david-watson|title=David M Watson|last=ILWS|website=www.csu.edu.au|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref>
== Personal life == Watson is married with three children.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.csu.edu.au/feature/a-world-after-human-extinction-life-forms-we-should-protect-and-life-forms-likely-to-survive|title=A world after human extinction: life forms we should protect and life forms likely to survive|last=Tomkins|first=Rebecca|website=news.csu.edu.au|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official website|https://ecosystemunraveller.com}} * {{Google Scholar id|0H8jNBoAAAAJ}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, David M.}} Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:Australian ornithologists Category:Australian ecologists