ORCID Profile
0000-0002-6673-4475
Current Organisations
University of Sydney
,
Monash University
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Conservation and Biodiversity | Land Use and Environmental Planning | Host-Parasite Interactions | Phylogeny and Comparative Analysis | Community Planning | Ecology | Invertebrate Biology | Environmental Science and Management | Urban and Regional Planning | Evolutionary Biology | Terrestrial Ecology | Environmental Management And Rehabilitation | Urban Design | Community Ecology
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Urban and Industrial Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity | Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Urban and Industrial Environments | Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences | Health Status (e.g. Indicators of Well-Being) | Remnant vegetation and protected conservation areas | Rehabilitation of degraded farmland | Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity at Regional or Larger Scales | Expanding Knowledge in Built Environment and Design | Remnant vegetation and protected conservation areas |
Related Links
Publications
Ecological diversification of the Australian Coptotermes termites and the evolution of mound building.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-03-2017
DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12878
Persistence and survival of the spider Nephila plumipes in cities: do increased prey resources drive the success of an urban exploiter?
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-12-2016
Urbanisation at multiple scales is associated with larger size and higher fecundity of an orb-weaving spider
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 20-08-2014
Invasive rabbits host immature Ixodes ticks at the urban-forest interface
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2020
Counting Ticks (Acari: Ixodida) on Hosts Is Complex: A Review and Comparison of Methods
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 25-06-2019
DOI: 10.1093/JME/TJZ094
Abstract: Locating and counting parasites on a host is a fundamental aspect of ecological research and basic veterinary and clinical practice. Variability in the biology and behavior of both hosts and parasites creates many methodological, logistical, and ethical considerations that must be made to collect this deceptively simple measurement. We identified methods that are used to count ticks (Acari: Ixodida, Leach 1815) on hosts by reviewing the methods sections of relevant published studies. Unfortunately, there is no best method agreed upon by scientists to collect ticks from hosts. In general, we suggest that studies focusing purely on counting ticks on hosts should use more sensitive methods to determine patterns of tick distribution on the surfaces of unconscious or deceased hosts in order to provide host body regions to target in future studies to maximize tick detection ability and limit the costs of research for researchers and the host animals involved. As ticks are counted on hosts for many different reasons, researchers must be goal oriented and chose methods that are appropriate for addressing their specific aims.
How Urban Forest Managers Evaluate Management and Governance Challenges in Their Decision-Making
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 02-09-2020
DOI: 10.3390/F11090963
Abstract: Decisions about urban forests are critical to urban liveability and resilience. This study aimed to evaluate the range of positions held by urban forest managers from local governments in the state of Victoria, Australia, regarding the management and governance challenges that affect their decision-making. This study was based on a Q-method approach, a procedure that allows researchers to evaluate the range of positions that exist about a topic in a structured manner based on the experiences of a wide group of people. We created statements on a wide range of urban forest management and governance challenges and asked urban forest managers to rate their level of agreement with these statements via an online survey. Managers generally agreed about the challenges posed by urban development and climate change for implementing local government policies on urban forest protection and expansion. However, there were ergent views about how effective solutions based on increasing operational capacities, such as increasing budgets and personnel, could address these challenges. For some managers, it was more effective to improve critical governance challenges, such as inter-departmental and inter-municipal coordination, community engagement, and addressing the culture of risk aversion in local governments. Urban forest regional strategies aimed at coordinating management and governance issues across cities should build on existing consensus on development and environmental threats and address critical management and governance issues not solely related to local government operational capacity.
A new host and additional localities for the rare psyllid Acizzia keithi Taylor and Moir (Hemiptera: Psyllidae)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-04-2011
Responses of insectivorous bats and nocturnal insects to local changes in street light technology
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-05-2019
DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12772
It is safe to go out on a limb: within-tree leaf age and location do not alter predation risk for insect herbivores
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-11-2016
DOI: 10.1111/AEN.12183
Dangerous Ideas in zoology: Plenary session 2
Publisher: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
Date: 06-2017
DOI: 10.7882/AZ.2016.037
Head capsule stacking by caterpillars: Morphology complements behaviour to provide a novel defence
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 29-02-2016
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.1714
Abstract: Herbivores employ a variety of chemical, behavioural and morphological defences to reduce mortality from natural enemies. In some caterpillars the head capsules of successive instars are retained and stacked on top of each other and it has been suggested that this could serve as a defence against natural enemies. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the survival of groups of the gumleaf skeletoniser Uraba lugens Walker caterpillars, allocated to one of three treatments: “−HC,” where stacked head capsules were removed from all in iduals, “+HC,” where the caterpillars retained their stacked head capsules, and “mixed,” where only half of the caterpillars in a group had their stacked head capsules removed. We found no difference in predation rate between the three treatments, but within the mixed treatment, caterpillars with head capsules were more than twice as likely to survive. During predator choice trials, conducted to observe how head capsule stacking acts as a defence, the predatory pentatomid bug attacked the −HC caterpillar in four out of six trials. The two attacks on +HC caterpillars took over 10 times longer because the bug would poke its rostrum through the head capsule stack, while the caterpillar used its head capsule stack to deflect the bug’s rostrum. Our results support the hypothesis that the retention of moulted head capsules by U. lugens provides some protection against their natural enemies and suggest that this is because stacked head capsules can function as a false target for natural enemies as well as a weapon to fend off attackers. This represents the first demonstration of a defensive function.
Urban forest governance and decision-making: A systematic review and synthesis of the perspectives of municipal managers
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2019
A multistressor, multitrait approach to assessing the effects of wind and dust on Eucalyptus tereticornis
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-2016
DOI: 10.3732/AJB.1600112
Abstract: Plants are routinely subjected to multiple environmental stressors, and the ability to respond to these stressors determines species survival and ecological breadth. Despite stressors such as wind and dust significantly influencing plant development, morphology, and chemistry, the combined influence of these factors is yet to be investigated. We used a manipulative glasshouse approach to compare the morphological, physiological, and biomechanical responses of Eucalyptus tereticornis to the independent and combined effects of wind and dust. Wind decreased both E. tereticornis height and stem flexural stiffness. Additionally, wind had no effect on leaf physiology, nor did dust have any significant effect on any of the traits measured. Our results suggest that wind and dust in combination may have an additive effect on several plant traits and provide new insight into the effects and importance of studying wind, dust, and different stress combinations.
Landscapes within landscapes: A parasite utilizes different ecological niches on the host landscapes of two host species
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.ACTATROPICA.2019.02.022
Abstract: Parasites are distributed across populations of hosts, but also across microhabitats on or inside hosts: together the host population distribution and "host landscape" distribution comprise a part of the ecological niche of a parasite. In this paper we examine how a generalist parasite, the tick Ixodes holocyclus, is distributed at both the host population and host landscape scales in two species of host (Perameles nasuta and Rattus rattus) that co-occur. We anaesthetized wildlife to locate ticks from five generalized host body regions we then analysed the distribution of ticks among the populations of hosts (aggregation) and the distribution of ticks among the available host body regions as niches. Ixodes holocyclus is more aggregated in the R. rattus population. At the host landscape scale, I. holocyclus's utilized niche includes the entire surface of P. nasuta equally, while the niche on R. rattus is focused on the head. Differences in tick aggregation between host species may reflect tick habitat suitability at the host landscape scale, as well as differences in ecological and evolutionary histories. By exploring the distribution of parasites at multiple scales, including host landscapes, we can better understand the complex ecology of parasites.
Effect of copper on multiple successional stages of a marine fouling assemblage
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 30-10-2017
DOI: 10.1080/08927014.2017.1384468
Abstract: Copper based paints are used to prevent fouling on the hulls of ships. The widely documented effect of copper on hull assemblages may be primarily due to direct effects on the invertebrates themselves or indirect effects from copper absorbed into the microbial biofilm before settlement has commenced. Artificial units of habitat were exposed to varied regimes of copper to examine (1) the photosynthetic efficiency and pigments of early-colonising biofilms, and (2) subsequent macroinvertebrate assemblage change in response to the different regimes of copper. Macroinvertebrate assemblages were found to be less sensitive to the direct effects of copper than indirect effects as delivered through biofilms that have been historically exposed to copper, with some species more tolerant than others. This raises further concern for the efficacy of copper as a universal antifoulant on the hulls of ships, which may continue to assist the invasion of copper-tolerant invertebrate species.
Correction: Macrofaunal responses to edges are independent of habitat-heterogeneity in experimental landscapes (PLoS ONE)
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 09-04-2013
DOI: 10.1371/ANNOTATION/C6BCDDF5-835C-417F-A32E-201537AD4924
Urban children and adolescents’ perspectives on the importance of nature
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 30-05-2022
Decision-making of municipal urban forest managers through the lens of governance
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2020
Life history of an urban-tolerant spider shows resilience to anthropogenic habitat disturbance
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1093/JUE/JUX004
Focus groups identify optimum urban nature in four Australian and New Zealand cities
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-11-2019
Environmental drivers of spider community composition at multiple scales along an urban gradient
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-11-2017
Plenary Session 4 on the value of protected areas for fauna conservation
Publisher: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.7882/AZ.2017.042
Mines over matter: Effects of foliar particulate matter on the herbivorous insect, Helicoverpa armigera
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-08-2019
DOI: 10.1111/JEN.12560
Petrol exhaust pollution impairs honey bee learning and memory
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-10-2019
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.05405
Particulate matter deposition on roadside plants and the importance of leaf trait combinations
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2016
Dealing with your past: Experience of failed predation suppresses caterpillar feeding behaviour
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2014
Correction to: Wellbeing and urban living: nurtured by nature
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-2018
A limited legacy effect of copper in marine biofilms
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARPOLBUL.2016.06.011
Abstract: The effects of confounding by temporal factors remains understudied in pollution ecology. For ex le, there is little understanding of how disturbance history affects the development of assemblages. To begin addressing this gap in knowledge, marine biofilms were subjected to temporally-variable regimes of copper exposure and depuration. It was expected that the physical and biological structure of the biofilms would vary in response to copper regime. Biofilms were examined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, chlorophyll-a fluorescence and field spectrometry and it was found that (1) concentrations of copper were higher in those biofilms exposed to copper, (2) concentrations of copper remain high in biofilms after the source of copper is removed, and (3) exposure to and depuration from copper might have comparable effects on the photosynthetic microbial assemblages in biofilms. The persistence of copper in biofilms after depuration reinforces the need for consideration of temporal factors in ecology.
Urbanisation and wing asymmetry in the western honey bee (Apis mellifera, Linnaeus 1758) at multiple scales
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 03-12-2018
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.5940
Abstract: Changes in the mean and variance of phenotypic traits like wing and head morphology are frequently used as indicators of environmental stress experienced during development and may serve as a convenient index of urbanization exposure. To test this claim, we collected adult western honey bee ( Apis mellifera Linnaeus 1758, Hymenoptera, Apidae) workers from colonies located across an urbanization gradient, and quantified associations between the symmetries of both wing size and wing shape, and several landscape traits associated with urbanization. Landscape traits were assessed at two spatial scales (three km and 500 m) and included vegetation and anthropogenic land cover, total road length, road proximity and, population and dwelling density. We then used geometric morphometric techniques to determine two wing asymmetry scores—centroid size, a measure of wing size asymmetry and Procrustes distance, a measure of wing shape asymmetry. We found colony dependent differences in both wing size and shape asymmetry. Additionally, we found a negative association between wing shape asymmetry and road proximity at the three km buffer, and associations between wing shape asymmetry and road proximity, anthropogenic land cover and vegetation cover at the 500 m buffer. Whilst we were unable to account for additional variables that may influence asymmetry including temperature, pesticide presence, and parasitism our results demonstrate the potential usefulness of wing shape asymmetry for assessing the impact of certain landscape traits associated with urbanization. Furthermore, they highlight important spatial scale considerations that warrant investigation in future phenotypic studies assessing urbanization impact.
Are urban bandicoots solely to blame for tick concerns?
Publisher: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.7882/AZ.2015.008
An invasive human commensal and a native marsupial maintain tick populations at the urban fringe
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-01-2023
DOI: 10.1111/MVE.12643
Abstract: Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) are major disease vectors globally making it increasingly important to understand how altered vertebrate communities in urban areas shape tick population dynamics. In urban landscapes of Australia, little is known about which native and introduced small mammals maintain tick populations preventing host‐targeted tick management and leading to human–wildlife conflict. Here, we determined (1) larval, nymphal, and adult tick burdens on host species and potential drivers, (2) the number of ticks supported by the different host populations, and (3) the proportion of medically significant tick species feeding on the different host species in Northern Sydney. We counted 3551 ticks on 241 mammals at 15 sites and found that long‐nosed bandicoots ( Perameles nasuta ) hosted more ticks of all life stages than other small mammals but introduced black rats ( Rattus rattus ) were more abundant at most sites (33%–100%) and therefore important in supporting larval and nymphal ticks in our study areas. Black rats and bandicoots hosted a greater proportion of medically significant tick species including Ixodes holocyclus than other hosts. Our results show that an introduced human commensal contributes to maintaining urban tick populations and suggests ticks could be managed by controlling rat populations on urban fringes.
The Multifaceted Nature of Vulnerability in Managed Bees: A Response to Klein et al.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2017
A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-01-2021
AusTraits, a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-09-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41597-021-01006-6
Abstract: We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field c aigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and in idual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised in idual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.
Collaborating with qualitative researchers to co‐design social‐ecological studies
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-03-2022
DOI: 10.1111/AEC.13172
Abstract: In recent years, ecologists have embraced the human dimensions of their discipline and expanded their remit to explore issues traditionally addressed by the social sciences and environmental humanities. This expansion offers opportunities to engage with erse methodologies, some of which challenge the orthodoxies of conservation research however, ecologists do not have the expertise to use social science methodologies in their work. In this Toolkit, we outline ways to improve social‐ecological research and outcomes through partnerships with qualitative researchers. Ecologists – who lack the epistemological and methodological preparation needed for productive qualitative or mixed methods study design – have often used quantitative methods to investigate social‐ecological systems. Though this has enhanced our ecological knowledge and led to the development of evidence‐based conservation practices, the bio ersity crisis continues to worsen as a result of human behaviours. Qualitative inquiry offers powerful insights into the drivers of social and behavioural phenomena but remains under‐represented in ecological research despite its broadening demographic. This presents a substantial missed opportunity that warrants rectifying. Here, we outline the qualitative research paradigm and highlight its benefits to ecology and ecologists. We also discuss a range of pitfalls and caveats ecologists encounter by not using appropriate qualitative research designs to support the exploration of their questions. We conclude by providing guidance for ecologists who intend to conduct research embracing qualitative or mixed paradigm designs. In order to address the human dimensions of ecology and conservation, it is essential to engage qualitative experts within and beyond the ecological science community. When fruitful collaborations form, research teams are able to approach some of ecology's most challenging problems from new perspectives, incorporating the views and knowledge of stakeholders on whom we rely for success.
Use of spider silk for nest building by the Regent Honeyeater Anthochaera phrygia and the Helmeted Honeyeater Lichenostomus melanops cassidix
Publisher: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.7882/AZ.2013.001
Flower choice by the stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria is not influenced by colour-similarity to a higher-reward flower in the same patch
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-02-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S13592-023-00997-Y
Abstract: Floral choice by bees is influenced by the bees’ previous experience with flowers. For ex le, bees may learn to associate particular flower colours with rewards and prefer flowers of that colour in a given patch. In this study, we assessed whether floral choice by the stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria was influenced by colour similarity to a high-quality neighbour flower, while it contained nectar, and then when it was empty of nectar. We trained T. carbonaria to visit highly rewarding artificial flowers (50% (v/v) honey solution) within a patch that also contained two types of less-rewarding artificial flowers (20% (v/v) honey solution): one of the same colour (though different pattern) as the high-quality flower and one a different colour (and pattern) to the other two flowers. Colonies were tested with blue and yellow colour sets, where either the blue flower was most rewarding and the yellow the least, or vice versa. We then compared preferences between the two equal-quality flowers in the patch under two conditions: (i) when nectar was available from the high-quality flower, and (ii) when the nectar was removed from the high-quality flower. We found that, when available, high-quality flowers were always visited more than low-quality flowers. Under this condition, adjacent lower-quality flowers in the patch received similar levels of visitation, regardless of their colour. When the reward was removed from the high-quality flower (simulating an emptied flower), foragers quickly switched to using the remaining two equal-quality flowers in the patch, but again showed no preference for the similar-coloured flower. Our results indicate that T. carbonaria are adaptable foragers capable of quickly learning and responding to floral reward changes in their foraging environment. At least under our experimental conditions, we found no evidence that T. carbonaria floral choice is influenced by colour similarity to a high-quality resource in the same foraging location.
Oviposition Behavior of Culex annulirostris (Diptera: Culicidae) Is Affected by the Recent Presence of Invasive Gambusia holbrooki (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae)
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 24-03-2019
DOI: 10.1093/JME/TJZ027
Abstract: Constructed wetlands are popular tools for managing threatened flora and fauna in urban settings, but there are concerns that these habitats may increase mosquito populations and mosquito-related public health risks. Understanding the interactions occurring between mosquitoes of public health concern and co-occurring organisms is critical to informing management of these habitats to mitigate potential health risks and balance the multiple values of urban wetlands. This study examined how oviposition behavior of Culex annulirostris Skuse, the most important pest mosquito species associated with freshwater wetland habitats in Australia, is influenced by the presence of Gambusia holbrooki Girard, a widespread invasive fish. Water was collected from urban wetlands that are intensively managed to reduce G. holbrooki populations to assist conservation of locally threatened frogs, and adjacent unmanaged wetlands where G. holbrooki was abundant. Laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the oviposition response by Cx. annulirostris to water s les from these two habitats. Experiments were conducted on two occasions, once in February following draining and refilling of the urban wetlands, and repeated following a substantial rainfall event in March. The results clearly demonstrate that ovipositing mosquitoes were able to detect and avoid water derived from habitats containing fish, even in the absence of the fish themselves. Understanding how invasive species affect the behavior and spatial distribution of pest species such as Cx. annulirostris will enable future wetland design and management to maximize benefits of urban wetlands and minimize potential public health risks.
Habitat complexity does not affect arthropod community composition in roadside greenspaces
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2018
Are psyllids affiliated with the threatened plants Acacia ausfeldii, A. dangarensis and A. gordonii at risk of co-extinction?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-05-2012
Defining greenspace: Multiple uses across multiple disciplines
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2017
Extinction, de-extinction & conservation: A dangerous mix of ideas
Publisher: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.7882/AZ.2016.012
Acute exposure to urban air pollution impairs olfactory learning and memory in honeybees
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-09-2019
DOI: 10.1007/S10646-019-02081-7
Abstract: While the ecological effects of pesticides have been well studied in honeybees, it is unclear to what extent other anthropogenic contaminants such as air pollution may also negatively affect bee cognition and behaviour. To answer this question, we assessed the impacts of acute exposure to four ecologically relevant concentrations of a common urban air pollutant-diesel generated air pollution on honeybee odour learning and memory using a conditioned proboscis extension response assay. The proportion of bees that successfully learnt odours following direct air pollution exposure was significantly lower in bees exposed to low, medium and high air pollutant concentrations, than in bees exposed to current ambient levels. Furthermore, short- and long-term odour memory was significantly impaired in bees exposed to low medium and high air pollutant concentrations than in bees exposed to current ambient levels. These results demonstrate a clear and direct cognitive cost of air pollution. Given learning and memory play significant roles in foraging, we suggest air pollution will have increasing negative impacts on the ecosystem services bees provide and may add to the current threats such as pesticides, mites and disease affecting colony fitness.
Creating better cities: how biodiversity and ecosystem functioning enhance urban residents’ wellbeing
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-11-2014
Exhausting all avenues: why impacts of air pollution should be part of road ecology
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-08-2017
DOI: 10.1002/FEE.1521
Urban forest invertebrates: how they shape and respond to the urban environment
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-05-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S11252-022-01240-9
Abstract: Invertebrates comprise the most ersified animal group on Earth. Due to their long evolutionary history and small size, invertebrates occupy a remarkable range of ecological niches, and play an important role as “ecosystem engineers” by structuring networks of mutualistic and antagonistic ecological interactions in almost all terrestrial ecosystems. Urban forests provide critical ecosystem services to humans, and, as in other systems, invertebrates are central to structuring and maintaining the functioning of urban forests. Identifying the role of invertebrates in urban forests can help elucidate their importance to practitioners and the public, not only to preserve bio ersity in urban environments, but also to make the public aware of their functional importance in maintaining healthy greenspaces. In this review, we examine the multiple functional roles that invertebrates play in urban forests that contribute to ecosystem service provisioning, including pollination, predation, herbivory, seed and microorganism dispersal and organic matter decomposition, but also those that lead to disservices, primarily from a public health perspective, e.g., transmission of invertebrate-borne diseases. We then identify a number of ecological filters that structure urban forest invertebrate communities, such as changes in habitat structure, increased landscape imperviousness, microclimatic changes and pollution. We also discuss the complexity of ways that forest invertebrates respond to urbanisation, including acclimation, local extinction and evolution. Finally, we present management recommendations to support and conserve viable and erse urban forest invertebrate populations into the future.
Quantifying the importance of urban trees to people and nature through tree removal experiments
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-07-2023
DOI: 10.1002/PAN3.10509
Abstract: Experimentally manipulating urban tree abundance and structure can help explore the complex and reciprocal interactions among people, bio ersity and the services urban forests provide to humans and wildlife. In this study we take advantage of scheduled urban tree removals to experimentally quantify the benefits that urban trees provide to humans and wildlife. Specifically, we aim to understand how trees affect: (1) bird and mammal abundance and ersity, as well as an ecological process (predation) and (2) people's perception responses, such as the importance that people assign to the trees, wildlife and the site. We designed two independent Before‐after‐control‐impact (BACI) experiments based on two sites where tree removals were occurring (impact sites): an urban park and a residential street, both located in the Greater Melbourne Area, Australia. We selected three control sites for each impact site, or four per experiment. Ecological data were collected through field surveys, and social data on people's perceptions through intercept questionnaires among park and street users. Data were analysed using a GLMMs to determine the combined effect of time (before and after) and treatment (impact and controls). At the urban park, the abundance of nectarivorous birds and possums both declined by 62% following tree removal, while invertebrate predation increased by 82.1%. The level of importance people assigned to the urban park and to the trees at the site decreased after tree removal, and people's attitudes towards tree planting became more positive, meaning more people wanted to plant more trees at the site. None of these changes were observed in the street experiment where fewer and smaller trees were removed, suggesting that effects may be highly specific to context, where factors such as tree volume, ersity and arrangement influence the magnitude of social–ecological effects observed. By demonstrating the social–ecological effect of removing urban trees, we provide evidence that urban trees provide critical habitat to urban wildlife and are perceived as an important aspect of the human experience of urban nature. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Effectiveness of vegetation-based biodiversity offset metrics as surrogates for ants
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-10-2017
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.12794
Abstract: Bio ersity offset schemes are globally popular policy tools for balancing the competing demands of conservation and development. Trading currencies for losses and gains in bio ersity value at development and credit sites are usually based on several vegetation attributes combined to yield a simple score (multimetric), but the score is rarely validated prior to implementation. Inaccurate bio ersity trading currencies are likely to accelerate global bio ersity loss through unrepresentative trades of losses and gains. We tested a model vegetation multimetric (i.e., vegetation structural and compositional attributes) typical of offset trading currencies to determine whether it represented measurable components of compositional and functional bio ersity. Study sites were located in remnant patches of a critically endangered ecological community in western Sydney, Australia, an area representative of global conflicts between conservation and expanding urban development. We s led ant fauna composition with pitfall traps and enumerated removal by ants of native plant seeds from artificial seed containers (seed depots). Ants are an excellent model taxon because they are strongly associated with habitat complexity, respond rapidly to environmental change, and are functionally important at many trophic levels. The vegetation multimetric did not predict differences in ant community composition or seed removal, despite underlying assumptions that bio ersity trading currencies used in offset schemes represent all components of a site's bio ersity value. This suggests that vegetation multimetrics are inadequate surrogates for total bio ersity value. These findings highlight the urgent need to refine existing offsetting multimetrics to ensure they meet underlying assumptions of surrogacy. Despite the best intentions, offset schemes will never achieve their goal of no net loss of bio ersity values if trades are based on metrics unrepresentative of total bio ersity.
Peri-urban black rats host a rich assembly of ticks and healthier rats have more ticks
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.TTBDIS.2019.03.007
Abstract: The black rat Rattus rattus has a distribution that includes much of Earth's terrestrial surface, and has adapted to exploit both habitats extensively modified by humans and rural habitats. Despite the fact that R. rattus are nearly ubiquitous, few studies have investigated urban or peri-urban R. rattus as potential hosts for ticks. In this study, we identified the species of ticks that parasitize R. rattus in a remnant bush area within Sydney, Australia. We then examined the relationship between ticks and R. rattus by testing several rat body characteristics as predictors of tick abundance. We show that larva and nymphs of five species of native Australian tick parasitize R. rattus in urban Australia. The most abundance species was Ixodes holocyclus, a tick of veterinary and human health concern. We found that ticks were more abundant on R. rattus in better condition, for larva and nymphs of I. holocyclus and I. tasmani. Rattus rattus supports a rich assembly of ticks in a remnant forest in urban Australia, and as the R. rattus in best condition have the most ticks, tick parasitism at the levels observed does not appear to negatively impact R. rattus. Our findings illustrate that R. rattus, and other human commensal species, may be important hosts for ticks in human modified environments.
Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 18-03-2022
Abstract: Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by s ling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale.
Macrofaunal Responses to Edges Are Independent of Habitat-Heterogeneity in Experimental Landscapes
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 08-04-2013
Activity and movement of small mammal tick hosts at the urban fringes of Sydney, Australia
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2023
DOI: 10.1071/WR22069
Management of urban wetlands for conservation can reduce aquatic biodiversity and increase mosquito risk
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-03-2020
Associations between wildlife observations, human-tick encounters and landscape features in a peri-urban tick hotspot
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-06-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S11252-023-01385-1
Abstract: Zoonotic disease vectors, their wildlife hosts, and the surrounding landscape interact in complex ways that vary spatially, temporally and with anthropogenic change. Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) are one of the most important vectors of human disease globally but managing the risk of tick bites in urban areas requires a detailed understanding of these complex vector-host-environment relationships at multiple spatial scales. Extensive knowledge gaps of these interactions in Australia limits options for managing ticks and exacerbates human-wildlife conflict. To address this, we used an online survey to determine the potential drivers of human-tick encounters operating at the local, yard scale and at the broader, landscape scale in a peri-urban area of Australia. We explored the relationships between reported tick encounters in yards and yard traits, host sightings (yard-scale) and broader landscape traits (landscape-scale). We found that sightings of potential hosts such as long-nosed bandicoots ( Perameles nasuta ) and brush-turkeys ( Alectura lathami ), and broader landscape traits such as distance to wet sclerophyll forest, were important predictors of reported tick encounters. Yard traits such as garden mulching and leaf litter cover showed no relationships with tick encounters. However, garden mulching and the absence of pets were predictors of frequent bandicoot sightings in yards. Mulching over 20m 2 , moderate to dense leaf litter cover on lawns, and living adjacent to bush were predictors of frequent brush-turkey sightings in yards. Our results suggest that residents may be able to reduce tick encounter risk by making yards less attractive to potential hosts. The observed relationships provide a critical foundation for field studies that can determine underlying mechanisms and inform appropriate tick management in urban environments. Graphical abstract
Flight initiation distance changes across landscapes and habitats in a successful urban coloniser
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-03-2020
AusTraits – a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 07-01-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.01.04.425314
Abstract: We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of measurements of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 375 traits across 29230 taxa from field c aigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and in idual taxa descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological parameters (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised in idual-, species- and genus-level observations coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties. This data descriptor provides information on version 2.1.0 of AusTraits which contains data for 937243 trait-by-taxa combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data to increase our collective understanding of the Australian flora.
Urban children’s connections to nature and environmental behaviors differ with age and gender
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 29-07-2021
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0255421
Abstract: Global conservation is increasingly reliant on young people forming meaningful connections with urban nature. However, interactions with nearby nature do not inspire all children and adolescents living in cities to act pro-environmentally. Our survey of over 1,000 school students from Sydney, Australia, revealed that 28% of respondents maintained strong nature connections. Younger students (aged 8–11) were more strongly connected with nature than their older peers (aged 12–14), and environmental behaviors were negatively associated with increasing age. Differences between boys and girls were less consistent, resulting in part from differential functioning of questionnaire items. Regardless, girls were more willing than boys to volunteer for conservation. Our findings suggest that policies designed to strengthen urban children’s nature connections will be most effective if they explicitly address the “adolescent dip” and other emerging demographic patterns, thereby ensuring all young people reap the health, wellbeing, and conservation benefits of connecting with nature.
Habitat Traits Associated with Mosquito Risk and Aquatic Diversity in Urban Wetlands
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-03-2019
Wellbeing and urban living: nurtured by nature
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-09-2017
Elevated volatile concentrations in high-nutrient plants: Do insect herbivores pay a high price for good food?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-05-2014
DOI: 10.1111/EEN.12124
Light pollution at the urban forest edge negatively impacts insectivorous bats
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2019
Impact of empty flowers on foraging choice and movement within floral patches by the honey bee, Apis mellifera
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-10-2023
Exposure to wind alters insect herbivore behaviour in larvae of Uraba lugens (Lepidoptera: Nolidae)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-10-2016
DOI: 10.1111/AEN.12175
Determining predator identity from attack marks left in model caterpillars: guidelines for best practice
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-06-2014
DOI: 10.1111/EEA.12207
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