ORCID Profile
0000-0001-6491-9145
Current Organisation
Northern Territory Government
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-07-2018
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13178
Abstract: Formal engagement of indigenous peoples in conservation is increasing globally and leads to multiple benefits to communities while contributing to national and international bio ersity goals and obligations. This and ongoing declines in bio ersity have led to calls to increase opportunities for indigenous people to engage in managing their estates. However, there is no overarching understanding of indigenous peoples' involvement in conservation, which limits the identification of new opportunities. We amalgamated information across governments and large nongovernmental organizations in the mega erse country of Australia to quantify the involvement of indigenous people in management of threatened species. We identified 153 Australian-based projects undertaken by different indigenous groups around the nation in 2015 and 2016 that included explicit funds for management of threatened species or threatened ecosystems. Most were in remote parts of western and northern Australia. Almost one-quarter of all threatened animals and 2% of threatened plants were the subject of some formal conservation action by indigenous people. Occurrence records for 1574 threatened species showed that 823 (89.2%) of 923 species recorded on indigenous peoples' lands were not listed in management projects. This gap may represent new opportunities for conservation initiatives. Because at least 59.5% of Australia's threatened species occur on indigenous peoples' lands, efforts to build appropriate and effective indigenous conservation alliances are vital. However, it is also important to recognize that threatened species are part of complex social, ecological, economic and cultural systems, and to achieve successful outcomes requires consideration of indigenous peoples' priorities, rights, and obligations and relationships with their traditionally owned land and sea.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1071/PC18055
Abstract: Australia’s two cranes, the brolga (Antigone rubicunda) and Australian sarus crane (Antigone antigone gillae), form dry-season flocks on the Atherton Tablelands in north Queensland, Australia, where they forage almost exclusively amongst planted crops. The long-term relationship between cranes and farmers is therefore critical to their conservation, especially as the cranes can sometimes cause significant economic damage to crops. We interviewed farmers to explore their current attitudes to cranes and their intentions for land use that might affect the birds. We found that most farmers tolerated the cranes, particularly when they feed among stubble. Most, however, are increasing the efficiency of their agronomic practices, harvesting combinable crops such as maize and peanuts in ways that are beginning to reduce post-harvest crop residues. There is also a rapid trend away from field crops to perennial and tree crops that have a higher return per unit area. Both trends may reduce foraging opportunities for the cranes and, unless managed effectively, are likely to increase the potential for damage and conflict with farmers in the field crops that remain.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-03-2022
DOI: 10.1002/RSE2.254
Abstract: The spatial extent of terrestrial vegetation types reliant on groundwater in arid Australia is poorly known, largely because they are located in remote areas that are expensive to survey. In previous attempts, the use of traditional remote sensing approaches failed to discriminate vegetation using groundwater from surrounding vegetation. Difficulties in discerning vegetation groundwater use by remote sensing may be exacerbated by the unpredictable rainfall patterns and lack of annual wet and dry seasons common in arid Australia. This study presents a novel approach to mapping terrestrial groundwater‐dependent ecosystems (GDEs) by applying singular value decomposition (SVD) to time‐series of vegetation indices derived from Landsat‐8 data, to isolate the temporal and spatial sources of variation associated with groundwater use. In‐situ data from 442 sites were used to supervise and validate logistic regression models and neural networks, to determine whether sites could be correctly classified as GDEs using components obtained from the SVD. These results were used to produce a probability map of GDE occurrence across a 557 000 ha study area. Overall accuracy of the final classification map was 79%, with 72% of sites correctly identified as GDEs (true positives) and 16% incorrectly classified as GDEs (false positives). The approach is broadly applicable in arid regions globally, and is easily validated if general background knowledge of regional vegetation exists. Globally, and going forward, increased water extraction is expected to severely limit water available for GDEs. Successfully mapping GDEs in arid environments is a critical step towards their sustainable management, and the human and natural systems reliant upon them.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-12-2020
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13620
Abstract: Indigenous Peoples’ lands cover over one‐quarter of Earth's surface, a significant proportion of which is still free from industrial‐level human impacts. As a result, Indigenous Peoples and their lands are crucial for the long‐term persistence of Earth's bio ersity and ecosystem services. Yet, information on species composition on these lands globally remains largely unknown. We conducted the first comprehensive analysis of terrestrial mammal composition across mapped Indigenous lands based on data on area of habitat (AOH) for 4460 mammal species assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. We overlaid each species’ AOH on a current map of Indigenous lands and found that 2695 species (60% of assessed mammals) had ≥10% of their ranges on Indigenous Peoples’ lands and 1009 species (23%) had % of their ranges on these lands. For threatened species, 473 (47%) occurred on Indigenous lands with 26% having % of their habitat on these lands. We also found that 935 mammal species (131 categorized as threatened) had ≥ 10% of their range on Indigenous Peoples’ lands that had low human pressure. Our results show how important Indigenous Peoples’ lands are to the successful implementation of conservation and sustainable development agendas worldwide.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-07-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-02-2018
DOI: 10.1111/JOCN.14277
Abstract: To explore service provision for Victorian regional refugee families from the perspective of maternal and child health nurses. Increasingly, more families from a refugee background are resettling in regional Victoria. The refugee journey has significant effect on families. Refugee families with infants and young children can be provided with support by maternal and child health services however, many families experience barriers to ongoing engagement with this service. This descriptive study used focus group and questionnaire. A purposive s le of 26 maternal and child health nurses was drawn from six municipalities throughout regional Victoria, where higher numbers of people from a refugee background resettle. Six focus groups were held in 2014. Audio-recorded narratives were transcribed, prior to inductive thematic analysis. This descriptive study used focus group and questionnaire. A purposive s le of 26 Maternal and Child Health nurses was drawn from six municipalities throughout regional Victoria where higher numbers of people from a refugee background resettle. Six focus groups were held in 2014. Audio-recorded narratives were transcribed verbatim, prior to inductive thematic analysis. Participating nurses were experienced nurses, averaging 12 years in the service. Four major themes emerged from thematic analysis: "How to identify women from a refugee background" "The Maternal and Child Health nurse role when working with families from a refugee background" "Interpreting issues" and "Access to other referral agencies." Nurses worked to develop a relationship with families, attending to a complex mix of issues which were complicated by language barriers. Nurses found their role in supporting refugee families required additional time and more home visits. To provide best practice, maternal and child health nurses need (i) ongoing professional development (ii) time, flexibility and creativity to build relationships with refugee families and (iii) better access to services that enhance communication, such as interpreting services and translated resources. Nurses require ongoing professional development to help them address the multifaceted needs of families of refugee background. With limited resources available in regional areas, accessing further education can be challenging. Distance education models and organisational support could provide nurses with educational opportunities aimed at improving service provision and clinical practice.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-11-2019
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13220
Abstract: Although evidence-based approaches have become commonplace for determining the success of conservation measures for the management of threatened taxa, there are no standard metrics for assessing progress in research or management. We developed 5 metrics to meet this need for threatened taxa and to quantify the need for further action and effective alleviation of threats. These metrics (research need, research achievement, management need, management achievement, and percent threat reduction) can be aggregated to examine trends for an in idual taxon or for threats across multiple taxa. We tested the utility of these metrics by applying them to Australian threatened birds, which appears to be the first time that progress in research and management of threats has been assessed for all threatened taxa in a faunal group at a continental scale. Some research has been conducted on nearly three-quarters of known threats to taxa, and there is a clear understanding of how to alleviate nearly half of the threats with the highest impact. Some management has been attempted on nearly half the threats. Management outcomes ranged from successful trials to complete mitigation of the threat, including for one-third of high-impact threats. Progress in both research and management tended to be greater for taxa that were monitored or occurred on oceanic islands. Predation by cats had the highest potential threat score. However, there has been some success reducing the impact of cat predation, so climate change (particularly drought), now poses the greatest threat to Australian threatened birds. Our results demonstrate the potential for the proposed metrics to encapsulate the major trends in research and management of both threats and threatened taxa and provide a basis for international comparisons of evidence-based conservation science.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 12-12-2019
DOI: 10.1101/2019.12.11.873695
Abstract: Indigenous Peoples’ lands cover over one-quarter of the Earth’s surface, a significant proportion of which is still free from industrial-level human impacts. As a result, Indigenous Peoples’ lands are crucial for the long-term persistence of Earth’s bio ersity and ecosystem services. Yet, information on species composition within Indigenous Peoples’ lands globally remains unknown. Here, we provide the first comprehensive analysis of terrestrial vertebrate composition across mapped Indigenous lands by using distribution range data for 20,328 IUCN-assessed mammal, bird and hibian species. We estimate that 12,521 species (62%) have ≥10% of their ranges in Indigenous Peoples’ lands, and 3,314 species (16%) have half of their ranges within these lands. For threatened species assessed, 1,878 (41.5% of all threatened of all threatened mammals, birds and hibians) occur in Indigenous Peoples’ lands. We also find that 3,989 species (of which 418 are threatened) have ≥10% of their range in Indigenous Peoples’ lands that have low human pressure. Our results are conservative because not all known Indigenous lands are mapped, and this analysis shows how important Indigenous Peoples’ lands are for the successful implementation of international conservation and sustainable development agendas.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1071/PY17170
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 14-03-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2023
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 14-07-2014
DOI: 10.3390/RS6076423
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1071/RJ15014
Abstract: Land-clearing represents the first step in agricultural development and signals a shift in landscape function towards provisioning ecosystem services, in particular food production. In the process, other types of ecosystem services are often unintentionally lost as illustrated by the associated decline in bio ersity, increased soil erosion and emission of greenhouse gases. In 2003, the Northern Territory state government in Australia promulgated a moratorium on the clearing of native vegetation on freehold land in the Douglas-Daly river catchment, an area experiencing increasing pressure from agricultural development. The moratorium was intended to limit the rate and extent of land-clearing for a period of time so that informed policy could be concurrently developed to guide future land-clearing and minimise negative impacts. Under the moratorium, land-clearing required a permit and had to conform to broad guidelines clearing was confined to freehold land, was prohibited in close proximity to wetlands, rivers and rainforest to safeguard water quality, and there were prescribed limits on percentages cleared by property, vegetation type, sub-catchment, and the whole catchment. Remotely sensed data (1977–2011) were used to explore the effectiveness of the moratorium. The analysis shows that, during moratorium years (2002–2009), clearing rates accelerated rather than slowed in the moratorium area and was mostly (81%) conducted without the required permits. The extent of land cleared after the moratorium was declared, and the fallow nature of some of this land a decade later, suggests that much of the land-clearing may have been completed in anticipation of stricter future controls. The moratorium failed because it was not formally legislated and was too broadly defined. Consequently, the non-binding nature of the land-clearing guidelines, and the absence of systematic monitoring of land cover change or penalties for clearing land without a permit, led to uninformed and uncontrolled clearing. This paper demonstrates that effective policy is only as good as its level of implementation.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1071/PC18006
Abstract: A critical step towards reducing the incidence of extinction is to identify and rank the species at highest risk, while implementing protective measures to reduce the risk of extinction to such species. Existing global processes provide a graded categorisation of extinction risk. Here we seek to extend and complement those processes to focus more narrowly on the likelihood of extinction of the most imperilled Australian birds and mammals. We considered an extension of existing IUCN and NatureServe criteria, and used expert elicitation to rank the extinction risk to the most imperilled species, assuming current management. On the basis of these assessments, and using two additional approaches, we estimated the number of extinctions likely to occur in the next 20 years. The estimates of extinction risk derived from our tighter IUCN categorisations, NatureServe assessments and expert elicitation were poorly correlated, with little agreement among methods for which species were most in danger – highlighting the importance of integrating multiple approaches when considering extinction risk. Mapped distributions of the 20 most imperilled birds reveal that most are endemic to islands or occur in southern Australia. The 20 most imperilled mammals occur mostly in northern and central Australia. While there were some differences in the forecasted number of extinctions in the next 20 years among methods, all three approaches predict further species loss. Overall, we estimate that another seven Australian mammals and 10 Australian birds will be extinct by 2038 unless management improves.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-04-2015
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-12-2011
No related grants have been discovered for Ian Leiper.