World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
45
Citations
37374
World Ranking
4726
National Ranking
56

Overview

John R. Leathwick is affiliated with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand. Their research focuses on environmental science with an emphasis on ecology, global and planetary change, ecological modeling, nature and landscape conservation, and economics and econometrics. The scientist's work spans diverse areas such as species distribution and climate change, land use and ecosystem services, isotope analysis in ecology, marine and fisheries research, wildlife ecology and conservation, ecology and vegetation dynamics studies, and coral and marine ecosystems studies.

Leathwick has contributed to several publications, notably in journals with a focus on New Zealand's ecology and marine environments. Frequent publication venues include:

  • New Zealand Journal of Ecology
  • Ocean & Coastal Management
  • Frontiers in Marine Science
  • PLoS ONE
  • SSRN Electronic Journal

Some of the recent papers authored or coauthored by Leathwick include:

  • The rise and rise of predator control: a panacea, or a distraction from conservation goals?, 2023, New Zealand Journal of Ecology
  • New Zealand Environmental Data Stack (NZEnvDS): A standardised collection of spatial layers for environmental modelling and site characterisation, 2021, New Zealand Journal of Ecology
  • Development of a Seafloor Community Classification for the New Zealand Region Using a Gradient Forest Approach, 2022, Frontiers in Marine Science
  • Species composition and turnover models provide robust approximations of biodiversity in marine conservation planning, 2021, Ocean & Coastal Management
  • Contrasting performance of marine spatial planning for achieving multiple objectives at national and regional scales, 2023, Ocean & Coastal Management

Leathwick collaborates frequently with several researchers across related fields. Notable coauthors include:

  • F Stephenson
  • Shane W. Geange
  • Carolyn J. Lundquist
  • Atte Moilanen
  • Amy Whitehead

The scientist's research covers substantial ecological and environmental modeling work that supports conservation and spatial planning. Their studies contribute to understanding species distribution, ecological impacts of land use, and marine ecosystem dynamics, often incorporating spatial data and advanced classification techniques to inform environmental management strategies.

Best Publications

  • Novel methods improve prediction of species' distributions from occurrence data

    Jane Elith;Catherine H. Graham;Robert P. Anderson;Miroslav Dudík

  • Species Distribution Models: Ecological Explanation and Prediction Across Space and Time

    Jane Elith;John R. Leathwick

  • A working guide to boosted regression trees

    J. Elith;J. R. Leathwick;T. Hastie

  • Sample selection bias and presence-only distribution models: implications for background and pseudo-absence data

    Steven J. Phillips;Miroslav Dudík;Jane Elith;Catherine H. Graham

  • Variation in demersal fish species richness in the oceans surrounding New Zealand: an analysis using boosted regression trees

    J. R. Leathwick;J. Elith;M. P. Francis;T. Hastie

  • GRASP: generalized regression analysis and spatial prediction

    Anthony Lehmann;Jacob McC Overton;John R Leathwick

  • Comparative performance of generalized additive models and multivariate adaptive regression splines for statistical modelling of species distributions

    J.R. Leathwick;J. Elith;T. Hastie

  • Predicting species distributions from museum and herbarium records using multiresponse models fitted with multivariate adaptive regression splines

    Jane Elith;John Leathwick

  • Using multivariate adaptive regression splines to predict the distributions of New Zealand's freshwater diadromous fish

    J. R. Leathwick;D. Rowe;J. Richardson;J. Elith

  • Presence-only data and the em algorithm.

    Gill Ward;Trevor Hastie;Simon Barry;Jane Elith

  • COMPETITIVE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN TREE SPECIES IN NEW ZEALAND'S OLD‐GROWTH INDIGENOUS FORESTS

    J. R. Leathwick;M. P. Austin

  • The evaluation strip: a new and robust method for plotting predicted responses from species distribution models

    Jane Elith;Simon Ferrier;Falk Huettmann;John Leathwick

  • A method for spatial freshwater conservation prioritization

    Atte Moilanen;Atte Moilanen;John Leathwick;Jane Elith

  • Novel methods for the design and evaluation of marine protected areas in offshore waters

    John Leathwick;Atte Moilanen;Malcolm Francis;Jane Elith

  • Are New Zealand's Nothofagus species in equilibrium with their environment?

    John R. Leathwick

  • Quantifying relationships between land-use gradients and structural and functional indicators of stream ecological integrity

    Joanne E. Clapcott;Kevin J. Collier;Russell G. Death;E.O. Goodwin

  • The zonation framework and software for conservation prioritization

    Atte Moilanen;Heini Kujala;John R Leathwick

  • Dispersal, disturbance and the contrasting biogeographies of New Zealand’s diadromous and non-diadromous fish species

    J. R. Leathwick;J. Elith;W. L. Chadderton;D. Rowe

  • An Environmental Domain Classification of New Zealand and Its Use as a Tool for Biodiversity Management

    J. R. Leathwick;J. McC Overton;M. McLEOD

  • Climatic relationships of some New Zealand forest tree species

    John R. Leathwick

Frequent Co-Authors

Jane Elith
Jane Elith University of Melbourne
Anthony Lehmann
Anthony Lehmann University of Geneva
Trevor Hastie
Trevor Hastie Stanford University
Malcolm P. Francis
Malcolm P. Francis National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
Atte Moilanen
Atte Moilanen University of Helsinki
Simon Ferrier
Simon Ferrier Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Kevin J. Collier
Kevin J. Collier University of Waikato
Judi E. Hewitt
Judi E. Hewitt University of Auckland
Falk Huettmann
Falk Huettmann University of Alaska Fairbanks
Mark Morrison
Mark Morrison University of Queensland

If you think any of the details on this page are incorrect, let us know.

Report an issue

We appreciate your kind effort to assist us to improve this page, it would be helpful providing us with as much detail as possible in the text box below:

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

Studying Ecology and Evolution in the USA goes beyond just natural sciences. Many students explore complementary paths through related online degrees and flexible learning options. Accredited non profit online universities provide accessible, high-quality education in fields such as biology, conservation, and public policy.

For those with military backgrounds or commitments, choosing one of the military friendly online colleges in America ensures extra support, tailored schedules, and transfer credit opportunities.

Graduates interested in community engagement might consider related fields like environmental advocacy or policy-making. With the world’s increasing focus on sustainability, options such as social work online master's programs may also be relevant for those wanting to address human and ecological wellbeing.

For students seeking quick advancement, many universities offer master psychologie à distance programs that provide accelerated, flexible learning options suited for busy professionals.

These diverse pathways help students tailor their future careers in education, research, advocacy, and beyond within Ecology, Evolution, and related fields.

Best Scientists Citing John R. Leathwick

Trending Scientists