Assoc Prof Andy Le Brocque

Fields of Research (FoR)

• Environmental Science and Management not elsewhere classified ( 050299 )
  

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Environmental Knowledge ( 050201 )
  

• Terrestrial Ecology ( 060208 )
  

• Community Ecology(excl. Invasive Species Ecology) ( 060202 )
  

• Ecology not elsewhere classified ( 060299 )
  

• Ecology ( 060200 )
  

• Ecological Impacts of Climate Change ( 050101 )
  

• Landscape Ecology ( 050104 )
  

Research interests
Effects of land use on biodiversity; vegetation-environment relationships; habitat and condition assessment; health of remnant vegetation in production landscapes; ecosystem services.

Current Projects:

Water relations, drought resilience and landscape function in the upper Murray-Darling Basin

Floodplain wetland hydro-ecology: ecological system dynamics and links to landscape and climate

Responses of eucalypt systems to groundwater and climate variability: critical thresholds & state transitions

Professional memberships
Ecological Society of Australia; Society for Conservation Biology

USQ Research affiliations

• Institute for Agriculture and the Environment (IAgE)
  

• International Centre for Applied Climate Sciences (ICACS)
  

Currently teaching courses/programs
ECO8011 Global Issues in Sustainability (ONL)
REN1201 Environmental Studies (ONC & ONL)
REN2200 Ecology for Sustainability (ONC & ONL)
REN3301 Biodiversity and Conservation (ONC & ONL)
REN3302 Sustainable Resource Use (ONC & ONL)
REN8101 Environment, Society & Sustainability (ONL)
REN8202 Conservation for Sustainable Futures (ONL)

Teaching experience(Tertiary)
25 Years

Administrative responsibilities
School Coordinator (Academic), School of Agricultural, Computational & Environmental Sciences

Research most recent
Kath, J., Le Brocque, A., Reardon-Smith, K. and Apan, A. (2019) Remotely sensed agricultural grassland productivity responses to land use and hydro-climatic drivers under extreme drought and rainfall. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 268. pp. 11-22

Le Brocque A.F., Kath J. & Reardon-Smith K. (2018) Chronic groundwater decline: a multi-decadal analysis of groundwater trends under extreme climate cycles. Journal of Hydrology (in press). doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.04.059

Le Brocque A.F. & Wagner, P.M. (2018) Passive brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) woodland regeneration fails to recover floristic composition in an agricultural landscape. Austral Ecology, Available Online, DOI: 10.1111/aec.12578.

Kath, J., Le Brocque, A.F., & Maron, M., (2016) Using a Bayesian network model to assess ecological responses to hydrological factor interactions. Ecohydrology 9, 1-23. DOI: 10.1002/eco.1597.

Sangha, K.A., Le Brocque, A.F., Costanza, R. & Cadet-James, Y., (2015) Application of capability approach to assess the role of ecosystem services in the well-being of Indigenous Australians. Global Ecology & Conservation, 4, 445-458. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2015.09.001

Sangha, K.A., Le Brocque, A.F., Costanza, R. & Cadet-James, Y., (2015) Ecosystems and indigenous well-being: An integrated framework. Global Ecology & Conservation, 4, 197-206. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2015.06.008.

Kath, J., Reardon-Smith, K., Le Brocque, A.F., Dyer, F., Dafny, E., Fritz, L., & Batterham, M., (2014) Groundwater decline and tree change in floodplain landscapes: identifying non-linear threshold responses in canopy condition. Global Ecology & Conservation 2, 148-160.

Abdullah, Z.Z., Apan; A., Maraseni, T.K., Le Brocque, A.F. (2014) Spectral discrimination of bulloak (Allocasuarina luehmannii) and associated woodland for habitat mapping of the endangered Bulloak Jewel butterfly (Hypochrysops piceata) in southern Queensland. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, Vol. 8 [DOI: 10.1117/1.JRS.8.083561]

Kath, J., Le Brocque, A., Leyer, I., and Mosner, E. (2014) Hydrological and land use determinants of Eucalyptus camaldulensis occurrence in floodplain wetlands. Austral Ecology, in press, DOI: 10.1111/aec.12126.

Le Brocque, A.F., Case, H. and Dearnaley, J.D.W. (2013) Response of soil fungal richness and composition to Lantana camara L. infestation in the Toowoomba region, South-East Queensland, Australia. Australasian Mycologist, 31, 17-23.

Collard, Stuart J. and Le Brocque, Andrew F. and Zammit, Charlie (2011) Effects of local-scale management on herbaceous plant communities in Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) agroecosystems of southern Queensland, Australia. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 142 (3-4). pp. 176-183. ISSN 0167-8809

Collard, S.J., Le Brocque A.F. & Zammit C. (2009) Bird assemblages in fragmented agricultural landscapes: the role of small brigalow remnants and adjacent land uses. Biodiversity & Conservation 18:1649–1670

Le Brocque A.F., Goodhew K., & Zammit C. (2009) Overstorey tree density and understorey regrowth effects on plant composition, stand structure and floristic richness in grazed woodlands in eastern Australia. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 129: 17-27.

Downie, A.F., Le Brocque, A.F. and Dearnaley, J.D.W. (2008) The mycorrhizal fungal associations of the vulnerable Sophora fraseri (Fabaceae). Australasian Mycologist 27: 57-65.

Research most notable
Le Brocque A.F. and Buckney R.T. (1995) Vegetation and environment patterns on soils derived from Hawkesbury Sandstone and Narrabeen substrata in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales. Australian Journal of Ecology 20:229-238.

Le Brocque A.F., Goodhew K., & Zammit C. (2009) Overstorey tree density and understorey regrowth effects on plant composition, stand structure and floristic richness in grazed woodlands in eastern Australia. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 129: 17-27.

Morrison D.A., Le Brocque A.F. & Clarke P.J. (1995) An assessment of some improved techniques for estimating the abundance of sedentary organisms. Vegetatio 120:131-145.

Publications in ePrints

Kath, Jarrod and Le Brocque, Andrew and Reardon-Smith, Kathryn and Apan, Armando (2019) Remotely sensed agricultural grassland productivity responses to land use and hydro-climatic drivers under extreme drought and rainfall. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 268. pp. 11-22. ISSN 0168-1923

Le Brocque, Andrew F. and Kath, Jarrod and Reardon-Smith, Kathryn (2018) Chronic groundwater decline: a multi-decadal analysis of groundwater trends under extreme climate cycles. Journal of Hydrology, 561. pp. 976-986. ISSN 0022-1694

Le Brocque, Andrew F. and Wagner, Peter M. (2018) Passive brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) woodland regeneration fails to recover floristic composition in an agricultural landscape. Austral Ecology. pp. 1-15. ISSN 1442-9985

Le Brocque, Andrew F and Kath, Jarrod and Reardon-Smith, Kate and Apan, Armando (2017) Drivers of grassland resistance and recovery to long term drought. In: 6th Joint Conference of the Ecological Society of Australia and the New Zealand Ecological Society (EcoTAS 2017) , 26 Nov-1 Dec 2017, Cypress Lakes Resort, Polkolbin, New South Wales.

Le Brocque, Andrew F. and Kath, Jarrod and Reardon-Smith, Kate and Apan, Armando (2016) Groundwater decline and climatic variability: Implications for groundwater linked agro-ecosystems. In: 2016 Ecological Society of Australia Annual Conference: Diversity: Pattern, Process and Prospects (ESA 2016), 29 Nov - 2 Dec 2016, Fremantle, WA, Australia.

View full listing in ePrints

Approved research supervisor in the area of:

• Terrestrial Ecology ( 060208 )
  

• Community Ecology(excl. Invasive Species Ecology) ( 060202 )
  

• Ecology not elsewhere classified ( 060299 )
  

• Ecological Impacts of Climate Change ( 050101 )
  

• Landscape Ecology ( 050104 )
  

Research topics

• The Role of Ecosystem Services in Supporting Resilient Farming Systems
  

Associate Professor Andy Le Brocque has lectured in ecology, conservation and sustainability at USQ since 1996 and currently co-ordinates and teaches courses in ecology, conservation biology, environmental science and sustainability. He has served as School Coordinator (Academic), Program Coordinator (Undergraduate, Honours, P/G programs in Sustainability Science) and on USQ's Academic Board and Faculty Board (former Faculty of Science). Assoc. Prof. Le Brocque has researched and published in the areas of plant-environment relationships, biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes, and plant-fungal relationships and is a member of the Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Systems. He has served/advised on a number of local natural resource committees in the Darling Downs region, helped establish USQ¿s environment and sustainability committee and has served on a national seed producer biosafety committee. He has also worked as a botanist, Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, conducting vegetation assessments, as a consultant for the NSW Environment Protection Agency, and researcher with the University of Technology Sydney examining diazinon toxicity in rainbow fish.