Building capacity for adaptive management in protected areas through improved systems for monitoring and evaluation. The project demonstrates how evaluation can lead to improved management of protected areas. Effectively managed protected areas are essential for biodiversity conservation. Improved management, and hence improved conservation outcomes will flow from enhanced use of monitoring and evaluation data in decision-making. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in management will allow mana ....Building capacity for adaptive management in protected areas through improved systems for monitoring and evaluation. The project demonstrates how evaluation can lead to improved management of protected areas. Effectively managed protected areas are essential for biodiversity conservation. Improved management, and hence improved conservation outcomes will flow from enhanced use of monitoring and evaluation data in decision-making. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in management will allow managers to better allocate resource for more effective conservation outcomes. The project establishes connections with all protected area management agencies in Australia, and will contribute to the development of national policy and practice in protected area evaluation and reporting, thus helping to meet national and international reporting obligations. Read moreRead less
Spatial-dynamic models to identify optimal fire mosaics, based on demography, dispersal and fire responses of plants, birds and reptiles. Inappropriate fire regimes threaten native species with extinction. The threat is higher in cleared landscapes where habitat is isolated and recolonisation unlikely. Furthermore, climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of intense bushfires. To meet the priority goals Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, and Responding to Climate Change, landscape-sca ....Spatial-dynamic models to identify optimal fire mosaics, based on demography, dispersal and fire responses of plants, birds and reptiles. Inappropriate fire regimes threaten native species with extinction. The threat is higher in cleared landscapes where habitat is isolated and recolonisation unlikely. Furthermore, climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of intense bushfires. To meet the priority goals Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, and Responding to Climate Change, landscape-scale fire management is essential. We will use simulation models based on detailed biological data and fire-behaviour to explore large-scale and long-term consequences of alternate fire management policies. Our project will enable fire mosaics to be implemented that maintain biodiversity and will identify effective fire management responses to climate change, and habitat fragmentation.Read moreRead less
Development and Testing of an Australia-wide Biodiversity Conservation Assessment and Planning System. This project aims to develop and test a Conservation Planning System that can be used by governments, industry, land managers and other stakeholders concerned with the long-term conservation of Australia's biodiversity. The project comprises three interrelated research foci: (1) addressing knowledge gaps about large scale ecological processes critical to long term biodiversity conservation toge ....Development and Testing of an Australia-wide Biodiversity Conservation Assessment and Planning System. This project aims to develop and test a Conservation Planning System that can be used by governments, industry, land managers and other stakeholders concerned with the long-term conservation of Australia's biodiversity. The project comprises three interrelated research foci: (1) addressing knowledge gaps about large scale ecological processes critical to long term biodiversity conservation together with the landscape linkages needed to maintain their integrity; (2) developing and testing a new computer based conservation assessment and planning tool that incorporates information about these ecological processes; and (3) investigating how these can be used to facilitate biodiversity conservation assessment and planning.Read moreRead less