Rehabilitating a changing landscape: using the latest advances in koala ecology to direct adaptive management. The koala has been identified as one of the world's flagship species suffering from environmental change. In contrast to the decline of koalas in New South Wales generally, the eucalypts planted in Gunnedah to combat salinity led to an increase in koalas. However, the startlingly high death rate of Gunnedah koalas (25 per cent of the population) in the heatwave during the drought in 200 ....Rehabilitating a changing landscape: using the latest advances in koala ecology to direct adaptive management. The koala has been identified as one of the world's flagship species suffering from environmental change. In contrast to the decline of koalas in New South Wales generally, the eucalypts planted in Gunnedah to combat salinity led to an increase in koalas. However, the startlingly high death rate of Gunnedah koalas (25 per cent of the population) in the heatwave during the drought in 2009 must be understood. There are also new threats brought about by intensive land modification. This project aims to determine the effects of environmental change on the koala population through a study of landscape ecology, leaf chemistry, disease epidemiology and koala movements. This aims to lead to better management decisions for arboreal fauna.Read moreRead less
Predicting metapopulation dynamics with multiple patch states. Classical theory allows metapopulations to have subpopulations in one of two states, occupied or unoccupied. However, patches may have their own dynamic created by ecological succession or disturbance processes such as grazing. We will develop new theory incorporating patch dynamics, and test the theory on a spatially explicit metapopulation in the real world, the mound spring invertebrates of the Great Artesian Basin. We will use th ....Predicting metapopulation dynamics with multiple patch states. Classical theory allows metapopulations to have subpopulations in one of two states, occupied or unoccupied. However, patches may have their own dynamic created by ecological succession or disturbance processes such as grazing. We will develop new theory incorporating patch dynamics, and test the theory on a spatially explicit metapopulation in the real world, the mound spring invertebrates of the Great Artesian Basin. We will use the theory to forecast the risk of extinction for these endemic species, and develop methods to quantify the statistical power of monitoring for environmental trends.Read moreRead less
Landscape-scale monitoring and adaptive management of woodland birds in the Mt Lofty Ranges. Despite the fundamental role of scientific monitoring in nature conservation, its research importance and potential is widely neglected. There is an urgent need to improve quantitative rigour, particularly to ensure adequate statistical power is achieved when monitoring at a landscape scale. We will apply new analytical tools to the problem of devising a powerful and flexible monitoring regime for a high ....Landscape-scale monitoring and adaptive management of woodland birds in the Mt Lofty Ranges. Despite the fundamental role of scientific monitoring in nature conservation, its research importance and potential is widely neglected. There is an urgent need to improve quantitative rigour, particularly to ensure adequate statistical power is achieved when monitoring at a landscape scale. We will apply new analytical tools to the problem of devising a powerful and flexible monitoring regime for a highly threatened woodland bird community in South Australia. Monitoring will be embedded within a decision-making framework with explicit links to local management agencies. Results will be broadly applicable across agricultural areas of Australia, where bird assemblages are in general decline.Read moreRead less
Landscape level effects on dispersal behaviour and gene flow in the logrunner, a rainforest restricted bird. Dispersal is thought to be critical for the persistence of small avian populations in fragmented landscapes. However, our knowledge of dispersal is limited. I will combine behavioural observations on radiotagged birds and powerful genetic markers to examine the effects of habitat fragmentation on the dispersal behaviour of a rainforest restricted bird, the logrunner. This study will deter ....Landscape level effects on dispersal behaviour and gene flow in the logrunner, a rainforest restricted bird. Dispersal is thought to be critical for the persistence of small avian populations in fragmented landscapes. However, our knowledge of dispersal is limited. I will combine behavioural observations on radiotagged birds and powerful genetic markers to examine the effects of habitat fragmentation on the dispersal behaviour of a rainforest restricted bird, the logrunner. This study will determine how landscape structure influences the movement of juvenile logrunners, investigate the causes and consequences of variation in juvenile dispersal behaviour, and use molecular data to determine how connectivity between habitats effects the genetic structure of logrunner populations.Read moreRead less
The conservation of widely distributed species: implications of differences between western and eastern koala populations. Koalas are an iconic species in Australia, generating $2.5 billion in tourist income alone. This project will be a first to test cross-regional variations in koala-habitat relationships, with implications for conservation of other species occupying broad geographical ranges. It will also predict the effect of future climate change on western koala populations living at the ....The conservation of widely distributed species: implications of differences between western and eastern koala populations. Koalas are an iconic species in Australia, generating $2.5 billion in tourist income alone. This project will be a first to test cross-regional variations in koala-habitat relationships, with implications for conservation of other species occupying broad geographical ranges. It will also predict the effect of future climate change on western koala populations living at the margin of their ecological tolerances. It will provide regional natural resource management bodies and state conservation agencies with a sound ecological framework to conserve western koalas in the long term. Regional communities will benefit from involvement by incorporating new conservation knowledge into sub-catchment and property management planning.Read moreRead less
A Bayesian framework for metapopulation dynamics of species in endangered communities: integrating demographic, environmental and genetic data. Biodiversity conservation is a spatial and temporal problem. Populations change in time, constrained by the structure and spatial division of their habitat. This study will develop a tool that can be used to assess the influence of environmental fluctuations and landscape heterogeneity on the persistence of endemic species in the mound springs of the Gr ....A Bayesian framework for metapopulation dynamics of species in endangered communities: integrating demographic, environmental and genetic data. Biodiversity conservation is a spatial and temporal problem. Populations change in time, constrained by the structure and spatial division of their habitat. This study will develop a tool that can be used to assess the influence of environmental fluctuations and landscape heterogeneity on the persistence of endemic species in the mound springs of the Great Artesian Basin. Using a Bayesian framework to integrate data from diverse sources, we will develop models for the biodiversity impacts of groundwater withdrawal and climate change in central Australia. These tools are essential for management of this ecosystem, which has been listed as an 'endangered community' under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999.Read moreRead less
Restoration of Fragmented Brigalow Landscapes for Conservation: Evaluating Alternative Futures in a Changing Climate. Appropriate management and restoration of Australia's endangered brigalow communities will prove critical for the conservation of the nation's biodiversity assets. The Brigalow Belt South supports disproportionately high numbers of threatened fauna species. This research will provide regional, state and national natural resource management organisations with the ability to conser ....Restoration of Fragmented Brigalow Landscapes for Conservation: Evaluating Alternative Futures in a Changing Climate. Appropriate management and restoration of Australia's endangered brigalow communities will prove critical for the conservation of the nation's biodiversity assets. The Brigalow Belt South supports disproportionately high numbers of threatened fauna species. This research will provide regional, state and national natural resource management organisations with the ability to conserve threatened and unique brigalow fauna in the long-term. Regional communities will benefit as the tool will be used for multiple uses ranging from advising regional landholders on optimal management of native vegetation on their properties to maximising the value of regional landscape restoration projects.Read moreRead less
Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. This project aims to develop a novel, integrated socio-ecological approach for connecting landscapes and communities for the recovery of threatened koala populations on the New South Wales far north coast. This should increase understanding of how local landholders and land managers respond to koala recovery programs and why they respond positively and b ....Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. Conserving and recovering the koala populations on NSW Far North Coast. This project aims to develop a novel, integrated socio-ecological approach for connecting landscapes and communities for the recovery of threatened koala populations on the New South Wales far north coast. This should increase understanding of how local landholders and land managers respond to koala recovery programs and why they respond positively and become engaged for the long-term. The intended outcome is a spatial prioritisation framework for species recovery that integrates social and ecological values, and increased global knowledge of how to recover declining wildlife populations.Read moreRead less
Satellite tracking of health threats from grass pollen exposure. This project aims to discover why pollen exposure has increased since the 1960s. Grass pollens are the main environmental allergen source in Australia and the primary cause of allergic diseases. This project will investigate the ecological causes of changing pollen allergen exposures through integrating 40 years of satellite data, field phenology cameras, and pollen traps that track grass pollen sources, their evolution and impact ....Satellite tracking of health threats from grass pollen exposure. This project aims to discover why pollen exposure has increased since the 1960s. Grass pollens are the main environmental allergen source in Australia and the primary cause of allergic diseases. This project will investigate the ecological causes of changing pollen allergen exposures through integrating 40 years of satellite data, field phenology cameras, and pollen traps that track grass pollen sources, their evolution and impact areas. The outcomes are expected to advance knowledge of environmental drivers and enable more accurate pollen forecasts that alleviate the medical and socioeconomic burden of allergic diseases, estimated to cost 30 billion dollars.Read moreRead less
Impacts of habitat disruption and global change on liana-tree interactions. This project will test whether tropical rainforests in Australia, the Amazon, and Borneo respond similarly to key environmental threats, habitat fragmentation and global-change phenomena. If forests in all three regions are affected similarly, then research in tropical Australia could help predict the fate of imperilled rainforests around the world.