ORCID Profile
0000-0003-0582-9048
Current Organisations
Australian National University
,
CSIRO
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 10-08-2017
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 18-07-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1111/EMR.12077
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1111/EMR.12244
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-09-2014
DOI: 10.1111/AVSC.12131
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1071/BT17114
Abstract: Travelling stock reserves (TSRs) are thought to represent some of the highest-quality and least degraded remnants of threatened temperate woodland in south-eastern Australia. These public reserves have not had the same high levels of grazing pressure and other disturbances as woodland remnants on private land. Thus, TSRs are expected to be important for the protection of bio ersity in heavily cleared and modified landscapes. We tested the hypothesis that land tenure had significant effects on the quality of woodlands by comparing vegetation structural attributes between TSRs and remnant vegetation used for primary production purposes. Vegetation attributes were monitored in 155 permanent plots over 5 years in remnant temperate woodland sites in the Riverina bioregion of New South Wales. Overall, TSRs supported higher native plant species richness and were characterised by higher ground cover of native shrubs and less cover of exotic plant species than agricultural production areas. We found land tenure had significant effects on some vegetation attributes demonstrated to be important for threatened fauna. We attribute these results to TSRs having a history of lower grazing pressure compared with remnants managed for agricultural production. Our study provides empirical evidence to support the high conservation value of TSRs in formerly woodland-dominated, but now extensively cleared agricultural landscapes.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-03-2019
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
Date: 06-02-2019
DOI: 10.3897/NEOBIOTA.42.30797
Abstract: A substantial body of work underlies the theory and practice of early intervention in the management of invasive alien plants, but less attention has been paid to the strategic management of widespread weeds, especially in the context of natural asset recovery. The assumption lingers amongst some researchers and land managers that removing weeds will automatically lead to positive bio ersity outcomes, with the more weed removed, the better the outcome. However, this is often not the case, particularly for long-established weed species whose dominance has created impoverished communities with little capacity for passive recovery. A common result may be wasted investment in weed control and, in the extreme, net negative impacts upon asset values. We present a conceptual model for the management of weed-impacted assets, plus guidance for its application, with a view to improving asset recovery practice. Weed removal should be calibrated by asset recovery, which may mean not seeking to completely remove a weed at a given spatial scale. Our model focusses on weed removal that is enough to initiate asset recovery, but not more than is necessary to promote maximum expression of asset resilience, particularly in the context of secondary invasions. Optimal management efficiency will involve a proportional allocation of resources to control, monitoring and revegetation activities that is appropriate to the stage of asset recovery, as well as a willingness to revise a management goal if the original one cannot be achieved within existing constraints on resources.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-10-2014
DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12198
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-03-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-019-40654-Y
Abstract: Effective control of an invasive species is frequently used to infer positive outcomes for the broader ecosystem. In many situations, whether the removal of an invasive plant is of net benefit to bio ersity is poorly assessed. We undertook a 10-year study on the effects of invasive shrub management (bitou bush, Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp. rotundata ) on native flora and fauna in a eucalypt forest in south-eastern Australia. Bitou bush eradication is a management priority, yet the optimal control regime (combination of herbicide spray and fire) is difficult to implement, meaning managed sites have complex management histories that vary in effectiveness of control. Here we test the long-term response of common bio ersity indicators (species richness, abundance and ersity of native plants, birds, herpetofauna and small mammals) to both the management, and the post-management status of bitou bush (% cover). While average bitou bush cover decreased with management, bitou bush consistently occurred at around half of our managed sites despite control efforts. The relationship between bio ersity and bitou bush cover following management differed from positive, neutral or negative among species groups and indicators. Native plant cover was lower under higher levels of bitou bush cover, but the abundance of birds and small mammals were positively related to bitou bush cover. Evidence suggests that the successful control of an invader may not necessarily result in beneficial outcomes for all components of bio ersity.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-08-2019
DOI: 10.1002/FEE.2097
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-05-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2016
DOI: 10.1002/ECY.1473
Abstract: The entry of secondary invaders into, or their expansion within, native communities is contingent on the changes wrought by other (primary) invaders. When primary invaders have altered more than one property of the recipient community, standard descriptive and modeling approaches only provide a best guess of the mechanism permitting the secondary invasion. In rainforest on Christmas Island, we conducted a manipulative field experiment to determine the mechanism of invasion success for a community of land snails dominated by non-native species. The invasion of rainforest by the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes) has facilitated these land snails, either by creating enemy-free space and/or increased habitat and resources (in the form of leaf litter) through the removal of the native omnivorous-detritivorous red land crab (Gecarcoidea natalis). We manipulated predator densities (high and low) and leaf litter (high and low) in replicated blocks of four treatment combinations at two sites. Over the course of one wet season (five months), we found that plots with high leaf litter biomass contained significantly more snails than those with low biomass, regardless of whether those plots had high or low predation pressure, at both the site where land crabs have always been abundant, and at the site where they have been absent for many years prior to the experiment. Each site was dominated by small snail species (<2 mm length), and through handling size and predation experiments we demonstrated that red crabs tend not to handle and eat snails of that size. These results suggest that secondary invasion by this community of non-native land snails is facilitated most strongly by habitat and resource augmentation, an indirect consequence of red land crab removal, and that the creation of enemy-free space is not important. By using a full-factorial experimental approach, we have confidently determined-rather than inferred-the mechanism by which primary invaders indirectly facilitate a community of secondary invaders.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-06-2017
DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12504
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1071/WR14174
Abstract: Context Competition for space and resources within a fragmented landscape may change interspecific interactions within the remaining available habitat. These changes may inhibit the persistence of one species but facilitate the success of another. The yellow-throated miner (Manorina flavigula) is an ex le of a successful species, reportedly more common in the landscape as a result of fragmentation yet the consequences of its success are still relatively unknown. Aims To investigate whether the yellow-throated miner had negative impacts on bird community assemblages, particularly small insectivorous species, and whether its presence resulted in higher psyllid abundances and lower tree health, similar to impacts noted for other miner species. Methods We undertook this study near Walpeup in Victoria’s Mallee region, a highly fragmented, agriculture-dominated, semiarid landscape. Yellow-throated miner colonies and control sites free of miners were identified and surveyed for bird species present, psyllid abundance and measures of tree health. Conclusions The presence of the yellow-throated miner was associated with a significant reduction in bird species richness, lower abundance of small birds and a dissimilar community composition. Psyllid abundance was higher in miner colonies and tree health was significantly lower. Small insectivorous birds compete directly with miners for resources and, as such, are likely targeted by interspecific aggressive behaviour. The absence of small species from miner colonies most likely caused a trend in increased psyllid abundance and subsequently reduced tree health. Implications Our findings suggest that management of these miners is likely required to prevent further loss of bio ersity in this fragmented landscape. The loss of bird species and reduced tree health due to the influence of the yellow-throated miner presents one of the greatest threats to these communities nationally and a challenging conservation problem.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-03-2020
DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12859
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-04-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.3964
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-08-2017
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.3315
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 06-04-2018
Location: Australia
No related grants have been discovered for Luke O'Loughlin.