Watching migrating whales: ensuring the sustainability of a growing whale-watch industry. Whale-watching is a huge growth industry, contributing $270 million to Australia in 2003. Yet most whalewatching targets species listed under the EPBC Act 1999 as species slowly recovering from massive overexploitation. Current protection measures are historical (ie best-guess) rather than scientific in origin. We will assess the scientific basis for these protection measures by experimentally manipulating ....Watching migrating whales: ensuring the sustainability of a growing whale-watch industry. Whale-watching is a huge growth industry, contributing $270 million to Australia in 2003. Yet most whalewatching targets species listed under the EPBC Act 1999 as species slowly recovering from massive overexploitation. Current protection measures are historical (ie best-guess) rather than scientific in origin. We will assess the scientific basis for these protection measures by experimentally manipulating tour boat behaviour, and by determining the economic feasibility of the industry. By doing so we will increase the long-term sustainability of the industry, a valuable tourist industry for regional Australia.Read moreRead less
Modelling and control of mosquito-borne diseases in Darwin using long-term monitoring. Management of mosquito populations is a high public health priority because these insects can spread diseases such as malaria, dengue, Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus, Murray Valley encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis and Kunjin/West Nile virus. Our research into the effectiveness of mosquito control programs in Darwin is of immediate national relevance and priority given the need to Safeguard Australia ....Modelling and control of mosquito-borne diseases in Darwin using long-term monitoring. Management of mosquito populations is a high public health priority because these insects can spread diseases such as malaria, dengue, Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus, Murray Valley encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis and Kunjin/West Nile virus. Our research into the effectiveness of mosquito control programs in Darwin is of immediate national relevance and priority given the need to Safeguard Australia from invasive diseases. There is an urgency to undertake our research because global environmental change and increasing movements of people (particularly military personnel) from overseas regions where these diseases are endemic is increasing the vulnerability of northern Australia to the (re)establishment of mosquito borne diseases.Read moreRead less
Identifying and managing the ecological impacts of free-ranging wild horses. Wild horses cause significant ecological damage in conservation areas in Australia, but experimental research examining horse impacts is lacking. Our approach is to assess ecological impacts of wild horses in Guy Fawkes River National Park, a significant wilderness in northern NSW. We will describe the relationship between horse abundance and environmental impacts, experimentally determine how horse exclusion affects ....Identifying and managing the ecological impacts of free-ranging wild horses. Wild horses cause significant ecological damage in conservation areas in Australia, but experimental research examining horse impacts is lacking. Our approach is to assess ecological impacts of wild horses in Guy Fawkes River National Park, a significant wilderness in northern NSW. We will describe the relationship between horse abundance and environmental impacts, experimentally determine how horse exclusion affects key environmental variables, and test the sensitivity of threatened plants to wild horse browsing and trampling. A key outcome will be development of scientifically-validated protocols for assessing horse impacts, and for managing wild horses in other areas of eastern Australia.Read moreRead less
Managing agricultural landscapes to maximise biodiversity gains: the case of the regent parrot. This project provides crucial knowledge to achieve an Environmentally Sustainable Australia (National Research Priority) and meets a principal aim of the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development-to develop sustainable agriculture while protecting the biological resources on which they depend. We achieve this through a novel approach linking production targets and conservation trade-o ....Managing agricultural landscapes to maximise biodiversity gains: the case of the regent parrot. This project provides crucial knowledge to achieve an Environmentally Sustainable Australia (National Research Priority) and meets a principal aim of the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development-to develop sustainable agriculture while protecting the biological resources on which they depend. We achieve this through a novel approach linking production targets and conservation trade-offs with agricultural landscape design and management. This information will underpin the development of policies to improve the environmental performance of Australian agriculture, ensure farming enterprises maximise benefits obtained from native ecosystems, and guarantee profitable and viable rural industries.Read moreRead less
Building sound ecological restoration strategies for endangered amphibians. This project integrates the principles of ecology and restoration ecology to secure the persistence of a population of an endangered frog in the context of a large urban renewal and ecological rehabilitation precinct at the Sydney Olympic Park. Habitat rehabilitation at the site provides an unrivalled opportunity for ecology to provide robust scientific direction and support for conservation management practices and deve ....Building sound ecological restoration strategies for endangered amphibians. This project integrates the principles of ecology and restoration ecology to secure the persistence of a population of an endangered frog in the context of a large urban renewal and ecological rehabilitation precinct at the Sydney Olympic Park. Habitat rehabilitation at the site provides an unrivalled opportunity for ecology to provide robust scientific direction and support for conservation management practices and develops the site as a model site illustrating adaptive management practices. The project investigates the role of two threatening processes in amphibian decline in a habitat management context and the outcomes have wide implications for the global amphibian decline. Read moreRead less
Evaluating the effects of fipronil, a moderately persistent new generation pesticide, on Australian native vertebrates. The Australian Plague Locust Commission is considering replacing an organophosphate pesticide with fipronil, a relatively new phenyl pyrazole pesticide, because it more specifically targets invertebrate animals. However, fipronil is more environmentally persistent, has high lipid solubility, is known to disrupt thyroid function and has wide variation in its toxicity to vertebra ....Evaluating the effects of fipronil, a moderately persistent new generation pesticide, on Australian native vertebrates. The Australian Plague Locust Commission is considering replacing an organophosphate pesticide with fipronil, a relatively new phenyl pyrazole pesticide, because it more specifically targets invertebrate animals. However, fipronil is more environmentally persistent, has high lipid solubility, is known to disrupt thyroid function and has wide variation in its toxicity to vertebrates . These characteristics place native vertebrate species at risk. Further, because peak locust activity is coincident with vertebrate breeding, there is likelihood that fipronil will affect development of young and the health of adults. We propose to launch the first comprehensive study of fipronil's effects on the health and vitality of native vertebrate adults and their offspring. We will focus on dasyurid marsupials and native birds that co-occur with plague locusts.Read moreRead less
Oral Delivery - A Viable Strategy for Fertility Control Vaccination of Kangaroos ? Local overabundance of kangaroos poses significant, environmental, economic, social and animal welfare problems in Australia. The only management tool available for free ranging populations is shooting. Fertility control is a highly desirable alternative but current 'hands on' methods are not cost-effective options for wild populations. Immunologically-mediated contraception has the potential to be such a manag ....Oral Delivery - A Viable Strategy for Fertility Control Vaccination of Kangaroos ? Local overabundance of kangaroos poses significant, environmental, economic, social and animal welfare problems in Australia. The only management tool available for free ranging populations is shooting. Fertility control is a highly desirable alternative but current 'hands on' methods are not cost-effective options for wild populations. Immunologically-mediated contraception has the potential to be such a management tool if the vaccine can be delivered effectively. The investigators and their colleagues have achieved contraception by vaccine injection in kangaroos. This project aims to establish proof-of-concept for arguably the only viable vaccine delivery option for free ranging macropods: Oral delivery via an edible pellet or lick.Read moreRead less
Urban Possum: Defining and developing an effective, humane strategy for management of urban wildlife populations. This project will provide fundamental information on the factors, which influence possum movements and behaviour in urban environments and the effectiveness of current possum relocation strategies. The project is of significance to Zoological Parks as possums at present cause extensive damage to vegetation and pose a threat to animals in the collection through possible transmission ....Urban Possum: Defining and developing an effective, humane strategy for management of urban wildlife populations. This project will provide fundamental information on the factors, which influence possum movements and behaviour in urban environments and the effectiveness of current possum relocation strategies. The project is of significance to Zoological Parks as possums at present cause extensive damage to vegetation and pose a threat to animals in the collection through possible transmission of disease. This project will lead to the development and trial of new methods for management of these populations.Read moreRead less
Grazing as a management tool for biodiversity conservation: adaptive management strategies for threatened grassland ecosystems. Lowland temperate grasslands are threatened Australian ecosystems that support an important, and in many cases threatened, biota. These habitats are significantly under-represented in the reserve system, and occur in bioregions that have been subjected to extensive vegetation clearing, intensive production and high stocking densities. This project will develop strategie ....Grazing as a management tool for biodiversity conservation: adaptive management strategies for threatened grassland ecosystems. Lowland temperate grasslands are threatened Australian ecosystems that support an important, and in many cases threatened, biota. These habitats are significantly under-represented in the reserve system, and occur in bioregions that have been subjected to extensive vegetation clearing, intensive production and high stocking densities. This project will develop strategies for maintenance of species and habitat diversity in grasslands through the application of adaptive management principles informed by rigorous ecological research. Outcomes include best-practice approaches to on- and off-reserve management in grazed ecosystems, and better approaches to the interaction between research and biodiversity conservationRead moreRead less
Developing strategies for rehabilitating floodgated coastal wetlands: linking wetland hydrology, vegetation dynamics and waterbird communities. Along the Australian eastern seaboard, historical installation of floodgates on coastal wetlands has altered the hydrology and biogeochemistry of these systems with subsequent deterioration in their ecological integrity. This project will investigate structural and functional links between hydrology, vegetation and threatened waterbirds in wetlands of t ....Developing strategies for rehabilitating floodgated coastal wetlands: linking wetland hydrology, vegetation dynamics and waterbird communities. Along the Australian eastern seaboard, historical installation of floodgates on coastal wetlands has altered the hydrology and biogeochemistry of these systems with subsequent deterioration in their ecological integrity. This project will investigate structural and functional links between hydrology, vegetation and threatened waterbirds in wetlands of the New South Wales north coast. We will develop GIS-based ecological models to identify how these links are spatially and temporally altered by floodgate manipulation. Our overarching aim is to develop scientifically-validated protocols for floodgate manipulations that will aid managers in conserving the ecological integrity of coastal floodplain wetlands.Read moreRead less