Projects 9
Publications 30
Awards 1

Contact Details

Senior Research Fellow

Biography

I am a Senior Research Fellow at the College of Science and Engineering, placed at the Australian Tropical Herbarium. I am broadly interested in the evolutionary ecology of plants. My main focus of research is on the rapid evolution of locally adapted traits of invasive species across broad biogeographical scales, with a special focus on reproduction, reproductive systems, and seed ecology.

I am the Editor-in-Chief of Web Ecology the Open Access journal of the European Ecological Federation, free to read, free to publish.

Research

Research Interests

Invasive plant ecology: Invasions are unique unplanned experiments allowing to study in real time local adaptation and evolution, and how natural communities respond to them. My approach is based on three angles: biogeography, reproductive ecology, and seed ecology.

Biogeography: Biogeographic comparisons of closely related invasive and non-invasive species provide novel insights into invasive ecology. My studies indicate that local adaptation and reproductive isolation can occur at fastest rates than it was previously thought.

Reproductive biology: I have pioneered the discovery of reproductive barriers arising between native and non-native populations of an invasive species.  This has implications in how rapidly evolved locally adapted traits can be inherited.

Seed ecology: Seeds are crucial for the establishment and persistence of invasive weeds. Understanding weed seed dynamics and to take advantage of that knowledge to be able to effectively and efficiently manage plant invasions.

Projects

Teaching

Research Advisor Accreditation

Advisor Type

Primary Advanced


Taught Modules

[BZ5235] Biological InvasionsCoordinator, Lecturer
2026
[BZ3235] Biological InvasionsCoordinator, Lecturer
2026
[BZ3235] Biological InvasionsCoordinator, Lecturer
2024
[BZ3235] Biological InvasionsCoordinator, Lecturer
2025
[BZ5235] Biological InvasionsCoordinator, Lecturer
2024
[BZ5235] Biological InvasionsCoordinator, Lecturer
2025

Current JCU Research Students

A biogeographic perspective of the physiological and chemical traits of an Thesis Topic: invasive weed under global climate change
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)
Future savannas: How do climate and disturbance explain the plant community dynamics of tropical savannas North Queensland and West Timor?
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)

Completed JCU Research Students

No specialist pollinators? No problem for some plant invasions
Doctor of Philosophy (Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies)- 2025

Current Honours and External Research Students

Assessing invasive plant risks and impacts on threatened native plant species of the Australian Wet Tropics.
HONOURS- 2026
Environmental factors involved in scale-dependent spatial patterning in tuberous savanna herbs: Tephrosia varians and Tephrosia turpinii
COURSEWORK_MASTERS- 2026

Completed Honours and External Research Students

Invasive species-ecological and genomic approaches towards understanding local adaptation and early stages of allopatric speciation.
PHD
Environmental clines as pools of invasive genotypes preadapted to climate change.
HONOURS
Biogeographical variation of herbivore response and competitive ability of Centaurea species.
RESEARCH_MASTERS
Life history and ecology of the endangered Vincetoxicum rupicola
HONOURS
Interactive seed and mucilage identification key for Lamiaceae in Portugal.
RESEARCH_MASTERS
Proposing a Methodological Framework for Natural Product Discovery: A Case Study Utilising Australia’s Weeds of National Significance
COURSEWORK_MASTERS

Available Projects

Activities

Other Activities

Education

Associations

Employment

Awards

Languages

Output

Lopresti, Laura C.; Montesinos Torres, Daniel; Sosenski, Paula; Parra-Tabla, Victor; Lach, Lori (2026) 'No evidence for missed mutualists in an invasive plant with the buzz pollination syndrome'. Ecosphere, 17 (4). [DOI]
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Lopresti, Laura C.; Lach, Lori; Montesinos Torres, Daniel (2026) 'Tolerance of intraspecific competition contributes to invasion success, despite drought and inbreeding'. Oikos, . [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Pärtel, Meelis; Tamme, Riin; Carmona, Carlos P.; Riibak, Kersti; Moora, Mari; Bennett, Jonathan A.; Chiarucci, Alessandro; Chytrý, Milan; de Bello, Francesco; Eriksson, Ove; Harrison, Susan; Lewis, Robert John; Moles, Angela T.; Öpik, Maarja; Price, Jodi N.; Amputu, Vistorina; Askarizadeh, Diana; Atashgahi, Zohreh; Aubin, Isabelle; Azcárate, Francisco M.; Barrett, Matthew D.; Bashirzadeh, Maral; Bátori, Zoltán; Beenaerts, Natalie; Bergholz, Kolja; Birkeli, Kristine; Biurrun, Idoia; Blanco-Moreno, José M.; Bloodworth, Kathryn J.; Boisvert-Marsh, Laura; Boldgiv, Bazartseren; Brancalion, Pedro H. S.; Brearley, Francis Q.; Brown, Charlotte; Bueno, C. Guillermo; Buffa, Gabriella; Cahill, James F.; Campos, Juan A.; Cangelmi, Giacomo; Carbognani, Michele; Carcaillet, Christopher; Cerabolini, Bruno E. L.; Chevalier, Richard; Clavel, Jan S.; Costa, José M.; Cousins, Sara A. O.; Čuda, Jan; Dairel, Mariana; Dalle Fratte, Michele; Danilova, Alena; Davison, John; Deák, Balázs; Del Vecchio, Silvia; Dembicz, Iwona; Dengler, Jürgen; Dolezal, Jiri; Domene, Xavier; Dvorsky, Miroslav; Ejtehadi, Hamid; Enrico, Lucas; Epikhin, Dmitrii; Eskelinen, Anu; Essl, Franz; Fan, Gaohua; Fantinato, Edy; Fazlioglu, Fatih; Fernández-Pascual, Eduardo; Ferrara, Arianna; Fidelis, Alessandra; Fischer, Markus; Flagmeier, Maren; Forte, T’ai G. W.; Fraser, Lauchlan H.; Fujinuma, Junichi; Furquim, Fernando F.; Garris, Berle; Garris, Heath W.; Giorgis, Melisa A.; Giusso del Galdo, Gianpietro; González-Robles, Ana; Good, Megan K.; Guardiola, Moisès; Guarino, Riccardo; Guerrero, Irene; Guillemot, Joannès; Güler, Behlül; Guo, Yinjie; Haesen, Stef; Hejda, Martin; Heleno, Ruben H.; Høye, Toke T.; Hrivnák, Richard; Huang, Yingxin; Hunter, John T.; Iakushenko, Dmytro; Ibáñez, Ricardo; Ingerpuu, Nele; Irl, Severin D. H.; Janíková, Eva; Jansen, Florian; Jeltsch, Florian; Jentsch, Anke; Jiménez-Alfaro, Borja; Jõks, Madli; Jouri, Mohammad H.; Karami, Sahar; Katal, Negin; Kelemen, András; Khairullin, Bulat I.; Khuroo, Anzar A.; Komatsu, Kimberly J.; Konečná, Marie; Kook, Ene; Korell, Lotte; Koroleva, Natalia; Korznikov, Kirill A.; Kozhevnikova, Maria V.; Kozub, Łukasz; Laanisto, Lauri; Lager, Helena; Lanta, Vojtech; Lasagno, Romina G.; Lembrechts, Jonas J.; Li, Liping; Lisner, Aleš; Liu, Houjia; Liu, Kun; Liu, Xuhe; Lucas-Borja, Manuel Esteban; Ludewig, Kristin; Lukács, Katalin; Luther-Mosebach, Jona; Macek, Petr; Marignani, Michela; Michalet, Richard; Miglécz, Tamás; Moeslund, Jesper Erenskjold; Moeys, Karlien; Montesinos Torres, Daniel; Moreno-Jiménez, Eduardo; Moysiyenko, Ivan; Mucina, Ladislav; Muñoz-Rojas, Miriam; Murillo, Raytha A.; Nambahu, Sylvia M.; Neuenkamp, Lena; Normand, Signe; Nowak, Arkadiusz; Nuche, Paloma; Oja, Tatjana; Onipchenko, Vladimir G.; Pachedjieva, Kalina L.; Paganeli, Bruno; Peco, Begoña; Peralta, Ana M. L.; Pérez-Haase, Aaron; Peri, Pablo L.; Petraglia, Alessandro; Peyre, Gwendolyn; Plaza-Álvarez, Pedro Antonio; Plue, Jan; Prentice, Honor C.; Prokhorov, Vadim E.; Radujković, Dajana; Rahmanian, Soroor; Reitalu, Triin; Ristow, Michael; Robin, Agnès A.; Robles, Ana Belén; Rodríguez Ginart, Daniel A.; Román, Raúl; Roos, Ruben E.; Rosati, Leonardo; Sádlo, Jiří; Salimbayeva, Karina; Sánchez de Dios, Rut; Sanchir, Khaliun; Sattler, Cornelia; Scasta, John D.; Schmiedel, Ute; Schrader, Julian; Schultz, Nick L.; Sellan, Giacomo; Serra-Diaz, Josep M.; Silan, Giulia; Skálová, Hana; Skobel, Nadiia; Sonkoly, Judit; Štajerová, Kateřina; Svitková, Ivana; Świerszcz, Sebastian; Ta (2025) 'Global impoverishment of natural vegetation revealed by dark diversity'. Nature, 641 :917-924. [DOI]
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Vallejo-Marin, Mario; Field, David L.; Fornoni, Juan; Montesinos Torres, Daniel; Dominguez, Cesar A.; Hernandez, Ivan; Vallejo, Gillian C.; Woodrow, Charlie; Ayala Barajas, Ricardo; Jafferi, Noah (2024) 'Biomechanical properties of non-flight vibrations produced by bees'. Journal of Experimental Biology, 227 (12). [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos, Daniel (2024) 'Invasive neo-species and how to name them'. Taxon, 73 (1):6-12. [DOI]
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Lopresti, Laura C.; Lach, Lori; Montesinos, Daniel (2024) 'The specialised buzz pollination syndrome poses a partial barrier to plant invasions'. Journal of Ecology, 112 (8):1686-1700. [DOI]
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Branco, Soraia; Irimia, Ramona; Montesinos, Daniel (2023) 'The introduction of an invasive weed was not followed by the introduction of ethnobotanical knowledge: a review on the ethnobotany of Centaurea solstitialis L. (Asteraceae)'. PeerJ, 11 . [DOI]
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Irimia, Ramona E.; Montesinos, Daniel; Chaturvedi, Anurag; Sanders, Ian; Hierro, José L.; Sotes, Gastón; Cavieres, Lohengrin A.; Eren, Özkan; Lortie, Christopher J.; French, Kristine; Brennan, Adrian Christopher (2023) 'Trait evolution during a rapid global weed invasion despite little genetic differentiation'. Evolutionary Applications, 16 (5):997-1011. [DOI]
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos, Daniel (2022) 'Fast invasives fastly become faster: invasive plants align largely with the fast side of the plant economics spectrum'. Journal of Ecology, 110 (5):1010-1014. [DOI]
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Santamarina, S.; Montesinos, D.; Alfaro-Saiz, E.; Acedo, C. (2022) 'Drought affects the performance of native oak seedlings more strongly than competition with invasive crested wattle seedlings'. Plant Biology, 24 (7):1297-1305. [DOI]
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Irimia, Ramona E.; Hierro, José L.; Branco, Soraia; Sotes, Gastón; Cavieres, Lohengrin A.; Eren, Özkan; Lortie, Christopher J.; French, Kristine; Callaway, Ragan M.; Montesinos, Daniel (2021) 'Experimental admixture among geographically disjunct populations of an invasive plant yields a global mosaic of reproductive incompatibility and heterosis'. Journal of Ecology, 109 (5):2152-2162. [DOI]
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Ferreira, Beatriz; Montesinos, Daniel; Sales, Fátima (2020) 'Mucilage in Portuguese Lamiaceae'. Botany Letters, 167 (4):430-438. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos, Daniel; Callaway, Ragan M. (2020) 'Soil origin corresponds with variation in growth of an invasive Centaurea, but not of non-invasive congeners'. Ecology, 101 (10). [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Hierro, José L.; Eren, Özkan; Montesinos, Daniel; Andonian, Krikor; Kethsuriani, Liana; Özkan, Rabia; Diaconu, Alecu; Török, Katalin; Cavieres, Lohengrin; French, Kristine (2020) 'Increments in weed seed size track global range expansion and contribute to colonization in a non-native region'. Biological Invasions, 22 (3):969-982. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos, Daniel; Graebner, Ryan C.; Callaway, Ragan M. (2019) 'Evidence for evolution of increased competitive ability for invasive Centaurea solstitialis, but not for naturalized C. calcitrapa'. Biological Invasions, 21 (1):99-110. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Irimia, Ramona E.; Lopes, Susana M.M.; Sotes, Gastón; Cavieres, Lohengrin A.; Eren, Özkan; Lortie, Christopher J.; French, Kristine; Hierro, José L.; Rosche, Christoph; Callaway, Ragan M.; Pinho e Melo, Teresa M.V.D.; Montesinos, Daniel (2019) 'Biogeographic differences in the allelopathy of leaf surface extracts of an invasive weed'. Biological Invasions, 21 (10):3151-3168. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Becerra, Pablo I.; Catford, Jane A.; Inderjit; McLeod, Morgan Luce; Andonian, Krikor; Aschehoug, Eric T.; Montesinos, Daniel; Callaway, Ragan M. (2018) 'Inhibitory effects of Eucalyptus globulus on understorey plant growth and species richness are greater in non‐native regions'. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 27 (1):68-76. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos, Daniel; Callaway, Ragan M. (2018) 'Traits correlate with invasive success more than plasticity: a comparison of three Centaurea congeners'. Ecology and Evolution, 8 (15):7378-7385. [DOI]
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos, Daniel; Correia, Marta; Castro, Sílvia; French, Kristine; Rodríguez-Echeverría, Susana (2018) 'Diminishing importance of elaiosomes for acacia seed removal in non-native ranges'. Evolutionary Ecology, 32 (6):601-621. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Elena-Irimia, Ramona; Montesinos, Daniel; Eren, Ozkan; Lortie, Christopher J.; French, Kristine; Cavieres, Lohengrin A.; Sotes, Gastón J.; Hierro, José L.; Jorge, Andreia; Loureiro, João (2017) 'Extensive analysis of native and non-native Centaurea solstitialis L. populations across the world shows no traces of polyploidization'. PeerJ, 5 . [DOI]
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos, Daniel; Callaway, Ragan M. (2017) 'Inter-regional hybrids of native and invasive Centaurea solstitialis display intermediate competitive ability'. Ecography, 40 (7):801-802. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Filipe, João C.; Montesinos, Daniel (2016) 'Inter-regional hybrids of native and non-native Centaurea sulphurea inherit increased competitive ability from the non-natives'. Plant Ecology & Diversity, 9 (4):381-386. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos, Daniel; Castro, Sílvia; Rodríguez-Echeverría, Susana (2016) 'Two invasive acacia species secure generalist pollinators in invaded communities'. Acta Oecologica, 74 :46-55. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Filipe, João C.; Jorge, Andreia; Eren, Özkan; Sotes, Gastón; Hierro, José; Montesinos, Daniel (2016) 'Invasive and non-invasive congeneric centaurea (Asteraceae) show contrasting patterns of herbivory by snails'. Plant Ecology and Evolution, 149 (2):228-232. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Correia, Marta; Montesinos, Daniel; French, Kristine; Rodríguez-Echeverría, Susana (2016) 'Evidence for enemy release and increased seed production and size for two invasive Australian acacias'. Journal of Ecology, 104 (5):1391-1399. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Xiao, Sa; Callaway, Ragan M.; Graebner, Ryan; Hierro, José L.; Montesinos, Daniel (2016) 'Modeling the relative importance of ecological factors in exotic invasion: The origin of competitors matters, but disturbance in the non-native range tips the balance'. Ecological Modelling, 335 :39-47. [DOI]
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos Torres, Daniel (2025) 'Trade-offs involved in the choice of pot vs field experiments' New Phytologist, 245 (5) :1808-1809. [DOI]
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos, Daniel (2023) 'Editorial: Pay to criticise? Rebuttal articles in open-access journals should be published for free' Web Ecology, 23 (2) :131-133. [DOI]
Journal Contribution Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos, Daniel (2019) 'Forest ecological intensification' Trends in Plant Science, 24 (6) :485-486. [DOI]
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Montesinos, D. (2015) 'Plant-plant interactions: from competition to facilitation' Web Ecology, 15 :1-2. [DOI]
Journal Contribution Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU