Landscape-scale monitoring and adaptive management of woodland birds in the Mt Lofty Ranges. Despite the fundamental role of scientific monitoring in nature conservation, its research importance and potential is widely neglected. There is an urgent need to improve quantitative rigour, particularly to ensure adequate statistical power is achieved when monitoring at a landscape scale. We will apply new analytical tools to the problem of devising a powerful and flexible monitoring regime for a high ....Landscape-scale monitoring and adaptive management of woodland birds in the Mt Lofty Ranges. Despite the fundamental role of scientific monitoring in nature conservation, its research importance and potential is widely neglected. There is an urgent need to improve quantitative rigour, particularly to ensure adequate statistical power is achieved when monitoring at a landscape scale. We will apply new analytical tools to the problem of devising a powerful and flexible monitoring regime for a highly threatened woodland bird community in South Australia. Monitoring will be embedded within a decision-making framework with explicit links to local management agencies. Results will be broadly applicable across agricultural areas of Australia, where bird assemblages are in general decline.Read moreRead less
Sustainable Farms: Tree Regeneration and the Future of Farmland Biodiversity. While many government and community initiatives aim to enhance the sustainability of Australian farming systems, none specifically target the important regional-scale threatening process of tree recruitment failure. Unless this problem is addressed urgently, many farming landscapes may be virtually treeless in the future, with severe negative ramifications for both biodiversity and agricultural productivity. 'Sustainab ....Sustainable Farms: Tree Regeneration and the Future of Farmland Biodiversity. While many government and community initiatives aim to enhance the sustainability of Australian farming systems, none specifically target the important regional-scale threatening process of tree recruitment failure. Unless this problem is addressed urgently, many farming landscapes may be virtually treeless in the future, with severe negative ramifications for both biodiversity and agricultural productivity. 'Sustainable Farms' will have major national and community benefits because it will: (1) identify more sustainable farming practices that are conducive to successful tree recruitment in the future, and (2) raise awareness about a much neglected threat to the sustainability of Australian farming landscapes.Read moreRead less
Conservation planning in a dynamic and uncertain world. Nature conservation planning is an emerging discipline at the interface of biological and mathematical sciences focused on designing conservation areas. We will improve existing tools for conservation planning, which almost always assume a static world, by developing theories and procedures for undertaking conservation planning in a dynamic and uncertain world. A risk assessment and decision-making framework will be developed so that a vari ....Conservation planning in a dynamic and uncertain world. Nature conservation planning is an emerging discipline at the interface of biological and mathematical sciences focused on designing conservation areas. We will improve existing tools for conservation planning, which almost always assume a static world, by developing theories and procedures for undertaking conservation planning in a dynamic and uncertain world. A risk assessment and decision-making framework will be developed so that a variety of landscape dynamics can be taken into account when planning reserves. This research will help to ensure that reserve networks designed in the future achieve their ultimate goal of the long-term persistence of biodiversity.Read moreRead less
The conservation of widely distributed species: implications of differences between western and eastern koala populations. Koalas are an iconic species in Australia, generating $2.5 billion in tourist income alone. This project will be a first to test cross-regional variations in koala-habitat relationships, with implications for conservation of other species occupying broad geographical ranges. It will also predict the effect of future climate change on western koala populations living at the ....The conservation of widely distributed species: implications of differences between western and eastern koala populations. Koalas are an iconic species in Australia, generating $2.5 billion in tourist income alone. This project will be a first to test cross-regional variations in koala-habitat relationships, with implications for conservation of other species occupying broad geographical ranges. It will also predict the effect of future climate change on western koala populations living at the margin of their ecological tolerances. It will provide regional natural resource management bodies and state conservation agencies with a sound ecological framework to conserve western koalas in the long term. Regional communities will benefit from involvement by incorporating new conservation knowledge into sub-catchment and property management planning.Read moreRead less
Refining Restoration Ecology: Is Range of Historical Variability an appropriate concept to guide ecosystem management and restoration? Ecosystem restoration is an urgent task in many Australian landscapes. Range of Historical Variability (RHV) theory provides an influential but largely untested framework to guide restoration activities. We will test the RHV proposition that biodiversity conservation is enhanced if the structure of altered ecosystems is restored within the pre-settlement range. P ....Refining Restoration Ecology: Is Range of Historical Variability an appropriate concept to guide ecosystem management and restoration? Ecosystem restoration is an urgent task in many Australian landscapes. Range of Historical Variability (RHV) theory provides an influential but largely untested framework to guide restoration activities. We will test the RHV proposition that biodiversity conservation is enhanced if the structure of altered ecosystems is restored within the pre-settlement range. Plants, vertebrates and invertebrates will be compared between ?unrestored? Callitris woodlands dominated by post-settlement regrowth, and ?restored? stands where regrowth has been reduced within the RHV. This will be the first test of RHV theory to encompass a range of taxonomic and functional groups at both local and landscape scales.Read moreRead less
Biodiversity conservation, vegetation restoration and landscape design. There has been considerable recent activity through major Government-funded programs to restore native vegetation. Despite extensive expenditure, the biodiversity conservation values of restoration remain very poorly known. This innovative project will address this major knowledge gap. It will generate quality data and new principles to guide restoration that maximizes biodiversity conservation. The principal aim is to estim ....Biodiversity conservation, vegetation restoration and landscape design. There has been considerable recent activity through major Government-funded programs to restore native vegetation. Despite extensive expenditure, the biodiversity conservation values of restoration remain very poorly known. This innovative project will address this major knowledge gap. It will generate quality data and new principles to guide restoration that maximizes biodiversity conservation. The principal aim is to estimate tree planting effects on vertebrates and assess whether the effects are consistent across different landscapes, farm units and regions. New insights from the project will aid the design of cost-effective and ecologically-effective restoration programs for future landscapes in rural Australian production environments.Read moreRead less
Towards sustainable floodplain communities: Assessing River Red Gum health. Floodplain vegetation in Australia has suffered severe degradation from river regulation but there is limited understanding of the functioning, responses and requirements of the ecosystem's most critical species, the River Red Gum. We will address three knowledge gaps needed for effective management of floodplain river red gums by assessing current and past health, determining stressors affecting health and by building ....Towards sustainable floodplain communities: Assessing River Red Gum health. Floodplain vegetation in Australia has suffered severe degradation from river regulation but there is limited understanding of the functioning, responses and requirements of the ecosystem's most critical species, the River Red Gum. We will address three knowledge gaps needed for effective management of floodplain river red gums by assessing current and past health, determining stressors affecting health and by building a model for predicting future health based on projected trends. Outcomes from this study will help land managers to prioritise environmental flow allocations based on the requirements for sustaining future river red gum populations.Read moreRead less
Fire severity, habitat heterogeneity and life histories. Resolving the persistence ability of plants in frequently fired landscapes. The wise management of Australia's biodiversity has major economic and social benefits for the nation through the provision of ecosystem services, bio-products and tourism. Fire is a pivotal environmental factor that will continue to influence plant biodiversity in fire-prone ecosystems. Inappropriate fire regimes, however, threaten biodiversity through disruption ....Fire severity, habitat heterogeneity and life histories. Resolving the persistence ability of plants in frequently fired landscapes. The wise management of Australia's biodiversity has major economic and social benefits for the nation through the provision of ecosystem services, bio-products and tourism. Fire is a pivotal environmental factor that will continue to influence plant biodiversity in fire-prone ecosystems. Inappropriate fire regimes, however, threaten biodiversity through disruption of life cycles. If too many or too few fires occur in an area this can lead to decline and extinction of plant and animal species. This research will provide a risk-assessment tool for the management of biodiversity to reverse population declines and prevent extinctions.
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Restoration of Fragmented Brigalow Landscapes for Conservation: Evaluating Alternative Futures in a Changing Climate. Appropriate management and restoration of Australia's endangered brigalow communities will prove critical for the conservation of the nation's biodiversity assets. The Brigalow Belt South supports disproportionately high numbers of threatened fauna species. This research will provide regional, state and national natural resource management organisations with the ability to conser ....Restoration of Fragmented Brigalow Landscapes for Conservation: Evaluating Alternative Futures in a Changing Climate. Appropriate management and restoration of Australia's endangered brigalow communities will prove critical for the conservation of the nation's biodiversity assets. The Brigalow Belt South supports disproportionately high numbers of threatened fauna species. This research will provide regional, state and national natural resource management organisations with the ability to conserve threatened and unique brigalow fauna in the long-term. Regional communities will benefit as the tool will be used for multiple uses ranging from advising regional landholders on optimal management of native vegetation on their properties to maximising the value of regional landscape restoration projects.Read moreRead less
Towards a Landscape Conservation Culture - broadening the spatio-temporal scope of ecological studies to anticipate change in Australian forested ecosystems. This project in south-western Australia develops an integrated framework to interpret knowledge about landscape processes and future trajectories of species and assemblages at different spatio-temporal scales. A synthesis of data obtained through repeated biological surveys and remote sensing, with spatial data handled through GIS is used i ....Towards a Landscape Conservation Culture - broadening the spatio-temporal scope of ecological studies to anticipate change in Australian forested ecosystems. This project in south-western Australia develops an integrated framework to interpret knowledge about landscape processes and future trajectories of species and assemblages at different spatio-temporal scales. A synthesis of data obtained through repeated biological surveys and remote sensing, with spatial data handled through GIS is used in an explanatory modeling approach to make predictions under different disturbance regimes. Models built from combined spatial layers exhibiting continuous variation in environmental variables will provide area-class maps at different scales, allowing the portrayal of uncertainty associated with vegetation units - a considerable innovation over maps depicting homogenous discrete zones.Read moreRead less