Jonathan Cornelius

Contact details

Campus:	Cairns
Phone:	+61 7 4042 1789
Skype:	jonathancornelius
Email:	jonathan.cornelius@jcu.edu.au

Research and teaching interests

My interests focus on understanding and facilitating the role of tree biodiversity and agroforestry in meeting human needs, particularly in tropical agricultural landscapes. Specific interests include:

• Domestication and seed systems of agroforestry timber and fruit trees

• Economic impact of tree improvement and other agroforestry research

• Estimation of genetic parameters and their interpretation

• Human impacts on genetics of natural tree populations, particularly through fragmentation, disturbance and negative (“dysgenic”) selection

• Participatory approaches to training curricula

• Quantitative genetic variation in forest trees

• Smallholder plantation forestry, particularly of mahogany and related species

Current projects

I coordinate JCU's Agroforestry Unit, which implements a number of research and development projects in Far North Queensland, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu

Teaching

Subject coordinator:

BZ 3520 / 5520 Agroecology

BZ 3625 / 5625 Tropical Agroforestry

Teaching roles in:

BZ 2420 / 5420 Ecological genetics

BZ 3510 / 5510 Plants and people

Recent publications

Cornelius J.P., C. Sotelo Montes, J. Ugarte, J.C. Weber (in press). The effectiveness of phenotypic selection in natural populations: a case study from the Peruvian Amazon. Silvae Genetica.

Page T., Tate H., Cornelius J.P. Reproductive biology of commercially valuable Santalum spp.: development of flowers and inflorescences, breeding systems, and inter-specific crossability (in press). Euphytica.

Weber J.C., Sotelo Montes C, Cornelius JP, Ugarte J. 2011. Genetic variation in tree growth, stem form and mortality of Guazuma crinita in slower- and faster-growing plantations in the Peruvian Amazon. Silvae Genetica 60:70-78.

Cornelius, J.P., Mesén, J.F., Ohashi, S., Ugarte-Guerra, L.J., Wightman, K.E. 2010. Smallholder production of agroforestry germplasm: experiences and lessons from Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Peru. Forests, Trees and Livelihoods 19: 201-216.

Cornelius, J.P. 2010. Tree domestication by the World Agroforestry Centre and partners in the Peruvian Amazon:. Lessons learned and future prospects. ICRAF Working Paper 107. World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi. 86pp.

Leakey, R.R.B. and Cornelius J.P. 2010. Guest editorial. Special issue on Agroforestry Tree Domestication. Forests, Trees and Livelihoods. 19: 199-200

Cornelius, J.P., Weber, J.C., Sotelo-Montes, C., Ugarte-Guerra, L.J. 2010. Phenotypic correlations and site effects in a Peruvian landrace of peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth). Euphytica (2010) 173:173–183.

Cornelius, J.P. 2009. The utility of the predictive decapitation test as a tool for early genetic selection for Hypsipyla tolerance in big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King). Forest Ecology and Management 257 (2009): 1815-1821.

Cornelius, J.P. 2009. Manejo y desarrollo de germoplasma para la agroforestería en los trópicos: una orientación [Management and development of agroforestry germplasm in the tropics: an orientation]. Pp. 517-536 in Porro, R. (Ed.) Alternativa Agroflorestal na Amazônia em Transformação [Agroforestry Alternatives for an Amazonia in Transition]. EMBRAPA, Brasilia. 835pp.

Guariguata, M., Cornelius, J.P., Locatelli, B., Forner, C., Sánchez-Azofeifa, G.A. 2008. Mitigation needs adaptation: tropical forestry and climate change. Mitigation and adaptation strategies for global change 13 (8)793-808

De la Torre, A., López, C., Yglesias, E., Cornelius, J.P. 2008. Genetic (AFLP) diversity of nine Cedrela odorata populations in Madre de Dios, southern Peruvian Amazon. Forest Ecology and Management 255(2): 334-339.

Wightman, K.E., Ward, S.E., Haggar, J.P., Rodríguez Santiago, B., Cornelius, J.P. 2008. Performance and genetic variation of big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) in provenance and progeny trials in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management 255 (2008) 346–355.

Clement, C.R., Cornelius, J.P., Pinedo-Panduro, M., Yuyama, K.2007. Native fruit tree improvement in Amazonia: an overview. In Akinnefesi, F.K., Leakey, R.B., Sileshi, G., Matacala, P., Kwesiga, F. (eds) Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics: Domestication, Utilization and Commercialization. CABI, 464p.