Arman Pili
Research interests
I am a quantitative and applied ecologist with a particular research interest in Anthropocene biogeography, ecogeography, and macroecology.
“Lateral thinking with withered technology” (Gunpei Yokoi), I am fixated on adopting quantitative tools matured across disciplines to understand and forecast biological and ecological changes in light of Anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss.
In my post-graduate research projects, I investigated the temporal, spatial, taxonomic, and transport-pathway dimensions of the global flow of accidentally transported species; forecasted species globally that are candidates for transport and introduction; and forecasted species invasion potential at landscape to global scales. Ultimately, I developed quantitative decision support tools to future-proof biosecurity.
For my postdoctoral research project, I will extrapolate our growing understanding of alien species invasions to predict global changes in species’ biogeography, ecogeography, and macroecology in light of Anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss. I hope to develop quantitative decision-support tools for global biosecurity and global biodiversity conservation.
Projects
(1) Anthropocene biogeography, ecogeography, and macroecology (project lead). I am developing a robust and defensible hybrid framework for forecasting species’ potential distributions. My framework combines correlative species distribution models and mechanistic species dispersal simulations. A key aspect of my framework is its biological and ecological defensibility, as it will account for knowledge on (and associated caveats resulting from) species’ climatic niche shifts, species’ dispersal capabilities, and biogeographical barriers.
(2) Global skink ecogeography (project led by Prof. David G. Chapple, PhD, of Monash University, Australia). https://www.chapplelab.com/researchWe are investigating global skink ecogeography (i.e., the relationship of species geographical distribution and environment) and whether this conforms with well-known Macroecological rules. Ultimately, we hope to predict global skink ecogeography under future climate change. I am leading the quantitative correlational modelling of global skink ecogeography.
(3) Australian reptile biogeography and ecogeography (project led by Jules Farquhar of Monash University). In this passion side-project, Jules and I are investigating the biogeography and ecogeography of Australian reptiles. Jules is the source of the eureka, which covers topics on colour polymorphism, species interactions, evolution of natural history traits, and citizen science. Together, we statistically test his eureka.
(4) InvaCost 2 (project led by Prof. Franck Courchamp, PhD., of the University of Paris-Saclay). {https://invacost.fr/non-classe-fr/invacost-workshop-ii/} We are estimating the economic cost of global alien species invasions. I am involved in interpolating the economic cost of alien species invasions, and linking economic costs with ecological impacts of alien species invasions.
(5) Biodiversity informatics to support Southeast Asian biodiversity conservation (project led by Acad. Arvin C. Diesmos, Ph.D, of the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity). We are collecting, digitising, and mobilising biodiversity data in Southeast Asia. I am leading in developing hotspot maps of species richness in Southeast Asia, and in quantifying the effectiveness of Southeast Asian Protected Areas in conserving biodiversity.
(6) sTWIST – Theory and Workflows for Alien and Invasive Species Tracking(project lead by Prof. Melodie McGeoch, PhD, of La Trobe University, and Marten Winter, PhD, of German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research [iDiv]). We developed indicators of biological invasions for biosecurity decision support. I was involved mainly in the impact indicators and was responsible for developing hotspot maps of invasive alien species impacts
Links
Arman Pili
Campus Maulbeerallee
University of Potsdam
Ecology/Macroecology
Maulbeerallee 3, Building 3, Room 0.15
14469 Potsdam
Academic career
2019—2023 : Ph.D. in Biological Sciences (under examination) with Prof. David G. Chapple, PhD, at Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
2023 : Teaching Officer at Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
2023 : Science Educator/Ambassador at Arludo, Lty., Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
2019—2020 : Research Officer, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
2017—2019 : Project lead and Science Research Specialist at Herpwatch Pilipinas, Inc., Manila, the Philippines.
2015—2017 : M.Sc. in Biological Sciences major in Environmental Biology with Acad. Arvin C. Diesmos, PhD, at University of Santo Tomas, Manila, the Philippines.
2011—2015 : B.Sc. in Biological Sciences with Krystle Angelique Santiago, PhD, at Far Eastern University, Manila, the Philippines.
Service to community
Reviewer: Biological Invasions (4), Ecology and Evolution (1), Environmental Management (1), Journal of Applied Ecology (1), Journal of Biogeography (2), PeerJ (1), People and Nature (1), Philippine Journal of Science (1), Scientific Reports (1)
Grant reviewer: National Geographic (13)
Mentor and Trainer: Global Biodiversity Information Facility
Publications
Farquhar, J., Carlesso, A., Pili, A., Gale, N., Chapple, D. G. (2023). Capturing uncatalogued distribution records to improve conservation assessments of Data Deficient species: a case study using the glossy grass skink. Animal Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12892
Pili, A. N., Tingley, R., van Winkel, D., Maria, L., & Chapple, D. G. (2023). The escalating global problem of accidental human-mediated transport of alien species: A case study using alien herpetofauna interceptions in New Zealand. Biological Conservation, 278: 109860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109860
Pili, A. N., Tingley, R., Chapple, D. G., & Schumaker, N. H. (2022). virToad: simulating the spatiotemporal population dynamics and management of a global invader. Landscape Ecology, 37(9), 2273-2292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01468-y
Farquhar, J. E., Pili, A. N., & Russell, W. (2022). Using crowdsourced photographic records to explore geographical variation in colour polymorphism of an Australian varanid. Journal of Biogeography. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14500
Pili, A. N., Tingley, R., Sy, E. Y., Diesmos, M. L. L., & Diesmos, A. C. (2020). Niche shifts and environmental non-equilibrium undermine the usefulness of ecological niche models for invasion risk assessments. Scientific reports, 10(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64568-2
Pili, A. N., Sy, E. Y., Diesmos, M. L. L., & Diesmos, A. C. (2019). Island Hopping in a Biodiversity Hotspot Archipelago: Reconstructed Invasion History and Updated Status and Distribution of Alien Frogs in the Philippines1. Pacific Science, 73(3), 321-343. https://doi.org/10.2984/73.3.2
Pili, A. N., Supsup, C. E., Sy, E. Y., Diesmos, M. L. L., and Diesmos, A. C. (2019). Threat to Philippine biosecurity: spatial dynamics of invasion and distribution of alien frogs in a biodiversity hotspot archipelago. In: C.R. Veitch, M.N. Clout, A.R. Martin, J.C. Russell and C.J. West (eds.). Island Invasives: Scaling up to Meet the Challenge, pp. 337–347. Occasional Paper SSC no. 62. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.
Pending
Pili, A. N., Schumaker, N. H., Camacho-Cervantes, M., Tingley, R., & Chapple, D. G. (submitted). Landscape spatial heterogeneity and dynamic environmental conditions are essential predictors of small founding populations’ establishment success. Journal of Applied Ecology.
Wotherspoon, L., Caetano, G. H. D. O. Roll, U., Meiri, S., Pili, A.N., Tingley, R., & Chapple, D. (in review). Inferring the extinction risk of Data Deficient and Not Evaluated Australian Squamates.. Austral Ecology.
Henriksen, M., Arle, E., Pili, A. N., Clark, D., Garcia-Berthou, E., Groom, Q., Bernd, L., Carsten, M., Seebens, H., Tingley, R., Marten, W., McGeoch, M. (in review). Global indicators of the environmental impact of invasive alien species and their information status. Phylosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.