World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
32
Citations
3591
World Ranking
8123
National Ranking
110

Overview

Nicola J. Nelson is affiliated with Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, focusing primarily on the field of Environmental Science. Their research spans multiple subfields including Ecology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Global and Planetary Change, Ecological Modeling, and Nature and Landscape Conservation.

Their work notably addresses topics such as Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Species Distribution and Climate Change, Amphibian and Reptile Biology, Animal Behavior and Reproduction, Gut Microbiota and Health, Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, and Bat Biology and Ecology Studies.

Recent papers by Nicola J. Nelson include the following:

  • The tuatara genome reveals ancient features of amniote evolution, 2020, Nature
  • Diverse aging rates in ectothermic tetrapods provide insights for the evolution of aging and longevity, 2022, Science
  • Climate-change impacts exacerbate conservation threats in island systems: New Zealand as a case study, 2021, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
  • Conservation status of the world's skinks (Scincidae): Taxonomic and geographic patterns in extinction risk, 2021, Biological Conservation
  • 16S rRNA gene-based meta-analysis of the reptile gut microbiota reveals environmental effects, host influences and a limited core microbiota, 2023, Molecular Ecology

Nicola J. Nelson frequently publishes in venues such as Austral Ecology, New Zealand Journal of Ecology, Nature, Ecology and Evolution, and Science.

Collaboration is a significant aspect of their research, with frequent co-authors including:

  • Sarah K. Lamar
  • Carmen Hoffbeck
  • Michael W. Taylor
  • Diane K. Ormsby
  • Susan N. Keall

Best Publications

  • Predicting the fate of a living fossil: how will global warming affect sex determination and hatching phenology in tuatara?

    Nicola J Mitchell;Michael R Kearney;Nicola J Nelson;Warren P Porter

  • Evaluating a multigene environmental DNA approach for biodiversity assessment.

    Alexei J. Drummond;Richard D. Newcomb;Richard D. Newcomb;Thomas R. Buckley;Thomas R. Buckley;Dong Xie

  • The tuatara genome reveals ancient features of amniote evolution

    Neil J. Gemmell;Kim Rutherford;Stefan Prost;Marc Tollis;Marc Tollis

  • Establishing a New Wild Population of Tuatara (Sphenodon guntheri)

    Nicola J. Nelson;Susan N. Keall;Derek Brown;Charles H. Daugherty

  • Diverse aging rates in ectothermic tetrapods provide insights for the evolution of aging and longevity

    Unknown

  • How do reproductive skew and founder group size affect genetic diversity in reintroduced populations

    K A Miller;Nicola J Nelson;H G Smith;J A Moore;J A Moore

  • Demographic effects of temperature‐dependent sex determination: will tuatara survive global warming?

    Nicola J. Mitchell;Nicola J. Mitchell;Fred W. Allendorf;Fred W. Allendorf;Fred W. Allendorf;Susan N. Keall;Charles H. Daugherty

  • Social network structure and parasite infection patterns in a territorial reptile, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus).

    Stephanie S. Godfrey;Jennifer A. Moore;Nicola J. Nelson;C. Michael Bull

  • Sex ratio bias and extinction risk in an isolated population of Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus).

    Kristine L. Grayson;Nicola J. Mitchell;Joanne M. Monks;Susan N. Keall

  • Support for a rare pattern of temperature-dependent sex determination in archaic reptiles: evidence from two species of tuatara (Sphenodon)

    Nicola J Mitchell;Nicola J Mitchell;Nicola J Nelson;Alison Cree;Shirley Pledger

  • Avoiding aliens: Behavioural plasticity in habitat use enables large, nocturnal geckos to survive Pacific rat invasions

    Joanne M. Hoare;Shirley Pledger;Nicola J. Nelson;Charles H. Daugherty

  • Do TSD, sex ratios, and nest characteristics influence the vulnerability of tuatara to global warming?

    Nicola J. Nelson;Michael B. Thompson;Shirley Pledger;Susan N. Keall

  • Cryptic inbreeding depression in a growing population of a long‐lived species

    Helen R. Taylor;Rogan M. Colbourne;Hugh A. Robertson;Nicola J. Nelson

  • Species and Cultural Conservation in New Zealand: Maori Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Tuatara

    Kristina M. Ramstad;N. J. Nelson;G. Paine;D. Beech

  • Climate‐change impacts exacerbate conservation threats in island systems: New Zealand as a case study

    Cate Macinnis‐Ng;Angus R Mcintosh;Joanne M Monks;Nick Waipara

  • Sexual dimorphism, body size, bite force and male mating success in tuatara

    Anthony Herrel;Jennifer A. Moore;Evan M. Bredeweg;Nicola J. Nelson

  • Influence of major histocompatibility complex genotype on mating success in a free-ranging reptile population

    Hilary C Miller;Jennifer A Moore;Nicola J Nelson;Charles H Daugherty

  • Fine-scale genetic structure of a long-lived reptile reflects recent habitat modification

    J. A. Moore;H. C. Miller;C. H. Daugherty;N. J. Nelson

  • De novo sequence assembly and characterisation of a partial transcriptome for an evolutionarily distinct reptile, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)

    Hilary C Miller;Patrick J Biggs;Claudia Voelckel;Nicola J Nelson

  • Implications of social dominance and multiple paternity for the genetic diversity of a captive-bred reptile population (tuatara)

    Jennifer A. Moore;Nicola J. Nelson;Susan N. Keall;Charles H. Daugherty

  • Male‐biased sex ratio in a small tuatara population

    Nicola J. Nelson;Susan N. Keall;Shirley Pledger;Charles H. Daugherty

Frequent Co-Authors

Charles H. Daugherty
Charles H. Daugherty Victoria University of Wellington
Thomas R. Buckley
Thomas R. Buckley Landcare Research
Stephanie S. Godfrey
Stephanie S. Godfrey University of Otago
Fred W. Allendorf
Fred W. Allendorf University of Montana
Richard D. Newcomb
Richard D. Newcomb Plant & Food Research
Alison Cree
Alison Cree University of Otago
David G. Chapple
David G. Chapple Monash University
David R. Towns
David R. Towns Auckland University of Technology
Michael B. Thompson
Michael B. Thompson University of Sydney
Nigel P. French
Nigel P. French Massey University

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