Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101466
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Can Indigenous land management forestall an extinction crisis? This project aims to test the theory that a lack of Indigenous land management precipitated the collapse of Australia's mammal fauna. Current rates of species extinction exceed background rates by 100-1000 times, because of changes to ecosystems by humans. Paradoxically, Australia’s most pressing extinction crisis could be due to too little human disturbance. This project will test Indigenous land management’s capacity to forestall f ....Can Indigenous land management forestall an extinction crisis? This project aims to test the theory that a lack of Indigenous land management precipitated the collapse of Australia's mammal fauna. Current rates of species extinction exceed background rates by 100-1000 times, because of changes to ecosystems by humans. Paradoxically, Australia’s most pressing extinction crisis could be due to too little human disturbance. This project will test Indigenous land management’s capacity to forestall further mammal declines and restore degraded ecosystems, and enhance Indigenous livelihoods. Anticipated outcomes include on-ground principles for integrating Indigenous knowledge into biodiversity conservation, and transformative insights on the interdependence of humans and their environment.Read moreRead less
Using decision theory to design smart plant surveys. Threatened species may remain unprotected, or weeds detected too slowly if, because of imperfect detection, a species is believed to be absent when it is in fact present. This project will develop new theory and combine it with new estimates of detection rates to minimise the impact of imperfect detection on management decisions.
Weathering the perfect storm: mitigating the post-fire impacts of invasive predators on small desert vertebrates. Wildfires deplete food and shelter resources for many native vertebrates, exposing them to increased predation from invasive predators such as the red fox and feral cat. Focusing on the fire-prone spinifex grasslands of central Australia, this project firstly identifies the role of specific refuge habitats that provide native species with protection in the post-fire environment, and ....Weathering the perfect storm: mitigating the post-fire impacts of invasive predators on small desert vertebrates. Wildfires deplete food and shelter resources for many native vertebrates, exposing them to increased predation from invasive predators such as the red fox and feral cat. Focusing on the fire-prone spinifex grasslands of central Australia, this project firstly identifies the role of specific refuge habitats that provide native species with protection in the post-fire environment, and then proposes an innovative experimental program to quantify and mitigate predation-impacts. The results will stimulate new thinking about predator-prey theory and, in an environment predicted to experience more wildfires in future, provide guidance about how to protect the rich biotic resources of the continental interior. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100157
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,343.00
Summary
Breaking the link between predators and bushfire for fauna conservation. This project aims to quantify how bushfires amplify the impacts of invasive predators (feral cats and foxes) on native fauna. Through innovative field experiments and empirical modelling, this project expects to generate new knowledge in the key areas of wildlife conservation, fire ecology and invasive species management. Expected outcomes of this project include transformative insights into how threats interact to influenc ....Breaking the link between predators and bushfire for fauna conservation. This project aims to quantify how bushfires amplify the impacts of invasive predators (feral cats and foxes) on native fauna. Through innovative field experiments and empirical modelling, this project expects to generate new knowledge in the key areas of wildlife conservation, fire ecology and invasive species management. Expected outcomes of this project include transformative insights into how threats interact to influence biodiversity and greatly enhanced capacity to manage bushfires and invasive predators. These advances should provide significant benefits, including improved conservation of threatened species, advances in ecological theory and improved capacity to predict and respond to environmental change.Read moreRead less
Improving the reintroduction success of mammals. Improving the reintroduction success of mammals. This project intends to improve the anti-predator traits of mammals and reduce the population density of introduced predators, using a novel two-pronged approach to combat predation by introduced predators. Predation by cats and foxes is the chief cause of reintroduction failure in Australian mammals. This project will look to improve the reintroduction success of burrowing bettongs outside predator ....Improving the reintroduction success of mammals. Improving the reintroduction success of mammals. This project intends to improve the anti-predator traits of mammals and reduce the population density of introduced predators, using a novel two-pronged approach to combat predation by introduced predators. Predation by cats and foxes is the chief cause of reintroduction failure in Australian mammals. This project will look to improve the reintroduction success of burrowing bettongs outside predator-free sanctuaries by exposing individuals to predators before release and by harnessing the suppressive effects of dingoes on introduced predators. Anticipated outcomes are improved re-introduction protocols for threatened mammals and re-established populations of endangered wildlife outside predator-free-sanctuaries.Read moreRead less
Tackling prey naïveté in Australia's threatened mammals. Most threatened mammal reintroductions fail due to predation from introduced cats and foxes. This project will develop new techniques for improving their predator avoidance behaviour including using natural selection through exposure to real predators, and screening for traits linked to effective predator avoidance.
Ecological forecasts of species response to fire, drought and heatwaves. This project will advance ecosystem forecasting by accounting for how legacy effects from extreme environmental events – prolonged droughts, floods, heatwaves and fires – persist into future years in vulnerable dryland ecosystems. As highly stressed environments are expected to leave increasingly large impacts on flora and fauna and exacerbate desertification, answers are urgently needed to understand and mitigate these imp ....Ecological forecasts of species response to fire, drought and heatwaves. This project will advance ecosystem forecasting by accounting for how legacy effects from extreme environmental events – prolonged droughts, floods, heatwaves and fires – persist into future years in vulnerable dryland ecosystems. As highly stressed environments are expected to leave increasingly large impacts on flora and fauna and exacerbate desertification, answers are urgently needed to understand and mitigate these impacts. This project will foster new appreciation of ecosystem features that build resilience to change, or that lead to collapse. Benefits include better forecasting tools to manage ecosystems at risk, improved security of biodiversity and food production in Australian rangelands, and training of early career researchers.Read moreRead less
Are kangaroos jeopardizing conservation outcomes? There is concern that grazing by over-abundant kangaroos is jeopardising the goals of arid conservation reserves, but there is little evidence about the extent of their impacts. The goal of this proposal is to quantify kangaroos' grazing effects on biodiversity within arid conservation reserves. The results will provide a whole ecosystem understanding of how overgrazing by kangaroos influences the biodiversity conservation value of the vast lands ....Are kangaroos jeopardizing conservation outcomes? There is concern that grazing by over-abundant kangaroos is jeopardising the goals of arid conservation reserves, but there is little evidence about the extent of their impacts. The goal of this proposal is to quantify kangaroos' grazing effects on biodiversity within arid conservation reserves. The results will provide a whole ecosystem understanding of how overgrazing by kangaroos influences the biodiversity conservation value of the vast landscapes of arid Australia. Managers of many conservation reserves, including our project partners, and policy-makers need the information that our experiments will provide to inform the development of strategies to optimise biodiversity conservation and manage the impacts of kangaroos.Read moreRead less
Adaptive management of arid and semi-arid ecosystems. Australia’s arid zones contain some of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Management must begin immediately, but our understanding of these fragile species and ecosystems is currently very limited. This project will develop and apply new research in Adaptive Management (“learning by doing”) to ensure the persistence of these rare places.
Impacts of locust control pesticides on arid-zone fauna. Impacts of locust control pesticides on arid-zone fauna. This project aims to understand how different animals encounter pesticide in the landscape through quantifying residue deposition in arid grasslands and investigating how pesticides used to control locust plagues affect fauna. This project will investigate fenitrothion and fipronil, the main pesticides used in Australia for locust control. It will develop a deposition model for aeria ....Impacts of locust control pesticides on arid-zone fauna. Impacts of locust control pesticides on arid-zone fauna. This project aims to understand how different animals encounter pesticide in the landscape through quantifying residue deposition in arid grasslands and investigating how pesticides used to control locust plagues affect fauna. This project will investigate fenitrothion and fipronil, the main pesticides used in Australia for locust control. It will develop a deposition model for aerial pesticide spraying, determine the short-term effect of sprayed pesticides on the behaviour and condition of free-ranging target fauna that use the environment differently, and quantify the relative importance of dietary and non-dietary exposure routes to gauge the importance of animal behaviour on pesticide exposure. Anticipated outcomes are improved baseline assessments for locusticides.Read moreRead less