Considerable effort and money are spent to promulgate greener, more biodiverse cities with a fundamental push to increase the green connectivity between remnant urban bushlands and with their surrounding natural habitats (ecological reserves and National Parks). Yet, cities are recognised as major point of entry for biological invasions and provide abundant shelter and food resources to sustain established populations of invasive species. An increased connectivity of green spaces across the cities could therefore create new hazards for the health and safety of native species and the human residents. In Australia, most greening strategies designed for large urban centres only consider invasive species as a secondary nuisance that can be managed a posteriori. Established pest populations are very difficult and costly to control unless the effort is invested at the early stage of invasion and lethal control of wildlife is often controversial in urban landscapes. A novel approach that has yet to be further explored consists of manipulating the habitat within the urban green spaces and corridors so as to maintain their functionality for biodiversity and their benefits for human residents while slowing the spread of invasive species. The key to success involves cross-disciplinary research between urban design, conservation and biosecurity.
{"title":"Biodiverse cities or green light for biological invasions?","authors":"Sebastien Comte","doi":"10.7882/az.2024.022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7882/az.2024.022","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Considerable effort and money are spent to promulgate greener, more biodiverse cities with a fundamental push to increase the green connectivity between remnant urban bushlands and with their surrounding natural habitats (ecological reserves and National Parks).\u0000 Yet, cities are recognised as major point of entry for biological invasions and provide abundant shelter and food resources to sustain established populations of invasive species. An increased connectivity of green spaces across the cities could therefore create new hazards for the health and safety of native species and the human residents.\u0000 In Australia, most greening strategies designed for large urban centres only consider invasive species as a secondary nuisance that can be managed a posteriori. Established pest populations are very difficult and costly to control unless the effort is invested at the early stage of invasion and lethal control of wildlife is often controversial in urban landscapes. A novel approach that has yet to be further explored consists of manipulating the habitat within the urban green spaces and corridors so as to maintain their functionality for biodiversity and their benefits for human residents while slowing the spread of invasive species. The key to success involves cross-disciplinary research between urban design, conservation and biosecurity.","PeriodicalId":35849,"journal":{"name":"Australian Zoologist","volume":" 19","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141365181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study is the second in a series that examines the habitat requirements and response to logging of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) inhabiting tall eucalypt forests of north-east NSW. It presents the findings of koala population and habitat monitoring surveys in Pine Creek State Forest and Bongil Bongil National Park using a combination of call-counting and direct observation (spotlighting). The 6400 ha study area was mapped into 6 zones of increasing koala habitat quality by ground survey of forest structure and floristics on a 200 m grid. The accuracy of habitat definition and mapping was tested by stratified transect counts of koala calls and sightings over two consecutive years (1997–98). Average koala density increased steeply and significantly, from 0.02 – 0.20 koalas/hectare, with increasing mapped habitat quality based on increasing forest age, structural complexity, local food tree species diversity, history of prior koala occurrence and decreased past logging intensity. This relationship was driven primarily by breeding females, with the number of male koala calls weakly or uncorrelated with koala sightings and mapped habitat quality. Male koalas were more widely and uniformly distributed than females, including areas of low quality, plantation, and intensively logged forest. This finding explains the discrepancy between our results and those of other recent studies which concluded that koalas are tolerant of intensive logging based on modelling of calling male koalas and reliance on an untested assumption that male calling is indicative of female breeding success. Koala density in a subset of the highest quality habitat was relatively stable at 0.28 koalas/ha (3 hectares/koala) over the long term (1997–98 and 2012–2023). Key characteristics of the forest koala population, including low stable density, large home ranges, preference for high food tree diversity and locally unique food trees (including Allocasuarina torulosa and Syncarpia glomulifera), are not adequately explained by existing koala habitat models. We present a new paradigm to explain regional variation in koala distribution, habitat and foraging preferences based on variations in foliage chemistry (toxicity and nutritional value) determined by the duration and stability of local plant-koala interactions in response to past fire, hunting, predation and logging disturbance history. We hypothesize that koala density in stable forest populations is regulated at low levels by a combination of selected and induced increases in leaf toxicity and decreases in leaf nutrition that limit koala browsing to benign levels of about 1-2% of annual leaf production. Large home ranges, complex mature forest structure, high food tree diversity and a specialized or diverse gut microbiome may be essential to allow females to rotate and change food trees frequently to minimize induced toxicity and select individual leaves with sufficient nutrients to support breeding and lactation with mi
{"title":"Koala density, habitat, conservation, and response to logging in eucalyptus forest; a review and critical evaluation of call monitoring","authors":"Andrew P. Smith, John Pile","doi":"10.7882/az.2024.023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7882/az.2024.023","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This study is the second in a series that examines the habitat requirements and response to logging of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) inhabiting tall eucalypt forests of north-east NSW. It presents the findings of koala population and habitat monitoring surveys in Pine Creek State Forest and Bongil Bongil National Park using a combination of call-counting and direct observation (spotlighting). The 6400 ha study area was mapped into 6 zones of increasing koala habitat quality by ground survey of forest structure and floristics on a 200 m grid. The accuracy of habitat definition and mapping was tested by stratified transect counts of koala calls and sightings over two consecutive years (1997–98). Average koala density increased steeply and significantly, from 0.02 – 0.20 koalas/hectare, with increasing mapped habitat quality based on increasing forest age, structural complexity, local food tree species diversity, history of prior koala occurrence and decreased past logging intensity. This relationship was driven primarily by breeding females, with the number of male koala calls weakly or uncorrelated with koala sightings and mapped habitat quality. Male koalas were more widely and uniformly distributed than females, including areas of low quality, plantation, and intensively logged forest. This finding explains the discrepancy between our results and those of other recent studies which concluded that koalas are tolerant of intensive logging based on modelling of calling male koalas and reliance on an untested assumption that male calling is indicative of female breeding success. Koala density in a subset of the highest quality habitat was relatively stable at 0.28 koalas/ha (3 hectares/koala) over the long term (1997–98 and 2012–2023). Key characteristics of the forest koala population, including low stable density, large home ranges, preference for high food tree diversity and locally unique food trees (including Allocasuarina torulosa and Syncarpia glomulifera), are not adequately explained by existing koala habitat models.\u0000 We present a new paradigm to explain regional variation in koala distribution, habitat and foraging preferences based on variations in foliage chemistry (toxicity and nutritional value) determined by the duration and stability of local plant-koala interactions in response to past fire, hunting, predation and logging disturbance history. We hypothesize that koala density in stable forest populations is regulated at low levels by a combination of selected and induced increases in leaf toxicity and decreases in leaf nutrition that limit koala browsing to benign levels of about 1-2% of annual leaf production. Large home ranges, complex mature forest structure, high food tree diversity and a specialized or diverse gut microbiome may be essential to allow females to rotate and change food trees frequently to minimize induced toxicity and select individual leaves with sufficient nutrients to support breeding and lactation with mi","PeriodicalId":35849,"journal":{"name":"Australian Zoologist","volume":" 67","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141365601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. V. Van Dyke, Michael B. Thompson, Deborah S. Bower, Anthony Santoro, M. Connell, Donald T. McKnight, Sylvia Clarke, Geetha Ortac, Olly Cirocco, R. Spencer
Australian freshwater turtle populations have declined substantially, with consequent losses to aquatic ecosystem functions. A leading hypothesis is that turtles have declined through lost recruitment caused by high nest predation by invasive foxes. The ‘fox hypothesis’ is supported by experiments showing that nest predation rates exceed 95% in many regions. Furthermore, population surveys have repeatedly found absences of juvenile turtles, and headstarting experiments have successfully replaced those juveniles in some species. We are currently leading a nationwide citizen science program, ‘1 Million Turtles’ (1millionturtles.com), to engage local communities to protect turtles from threats like nest predation using a suite of novel approaches. Our key innovation is to leverage community passion and interest for turtles to create positive conservation impacts via a nationwide support network. We provide a data collection tool and framework (TurtleSAT) and self-guided training in conservation methods. We assist with guidance for gaining licencing and permission, and applying for grants. We are evaluating our approach through both the impacts on turtle populations as well as through surveys of our engaged citizen scientists. Ultimately, we aim to create a science-supported, national grassroots conservation model where community champions can lead their own evidence-based approaches to help wildlife.
{"title":"1 Million Turtles: empowering communities to save Australian freshwater turtles","authors":"J. V. Van Dyke, Michael B. Thompson, Deborah S. Bower, Anthony Santoro, M. Connell, Donald T. McKnight, Sylvia Clarke, Geetha Ortac, Olly Cirocco, R. Spencer","doi":"10.7882/az.2024.015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7882/az.2024.015","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Australian freshwater turtle populations have declined substantially, with consequent losses to aquatic ecosystem functions. A leading hypothesis is that turtles have declined through lost recruitment caused by high nest predation by invasive foxes. The ‘fox hypothesis’ is supported by experiments showing that nest predation rates exceed 95% in many regions. Furthermore, population surveys have repeatedly found absences of juvenile turtles, and headstarting experiments have successfully replaced those juveniles in some species. We are currently leading a nationwide citizen science program, ‘1 Million Turtles’ (1millionturtles.com), to engage local communities to protect turtles from threats like nest predation using a suite of novel approaches. Our key innovation is to leverage community passion and interest for turtles to create positive conservation impacts via a nationwide support network. We provide a data collection tool and framework (TurtleSAT) and self-guided training in conservation methods. We assist with guidance for gaining licencing and permission, and applying for grants. We are evaluating our approach through both the impacts on turtle populations as well as through surveys of our engaged citizen scientists. Ultimately, we aim to create a science-supported, national grassroots conservation model where community champions can lead their own evidence-based approaches to help wildlife.","PeriodicalId":35849,"journal":{"name":"Australian Zoologist","volume":" 41","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140997937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Territoriality in birds has been studied for almost 100 years, but a quantitative, simple and common unit which describes the position of a home range or territory on a study site, is lacking. Consequently it is difficult to assess, or to compare, any data that include for example, the putative movement of home-ranges between breeding seasons. The aim of this study of 11 species (18 species breed regularly on the study site) was to determine, using home-range centroids as the position of the home-range (a) the distance between the home-ranges of the male and female of a breeding pair, (b) the scatter of the home-range positions of a repeat (in different seasons) breeding male, and (c) the distance between the nest of a pair and the home-range centroid of the male. Over eight breeding seasons, all nests were found, and sightings of multiple individuals from each species were recorded and used to determine the centroid of the home-range of each individual. Nest positions and homerange centroids were used to investigate the three aims stated above. There are no differences between species for any of the three measurements. The male and female of a pair occupy homeranges with similar positions. Repeat nesters return to similarly positioned home-ranges each season, and nests are not positioned in any particular relation to the centroid of a home-range. Other studies using centroids are rare, but we found some similarities between our data and those from one other study that used the centroid concept.
{"title":"Home-range positions in a bird community from south-eastern Australia - questions and answers","authors":"M. Guppy, S. Guppy, R. Marchant","doi":"10.7882/az.2024.021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7882/az.2024.021","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Territoriality in birds has been studied for almost 100 years, but a quantitative, simple and common unit which describes the position of a home range or territory on a study site, is lacking. Consequently it is difficult to assess, or to compare, any data that include for example, the putative movement of home-ranges between breeding seasons. The aim of this study of 11 species (18 species breed regularly on the study site) was to determine, using home-range centroids as the position of the home-range (a) the distance between the home-ranges of the male and female of a breeding pair, (b) the scatter of the home-range positions of a repeat (in different seasons) breeding male, and (c) the distance between the nest of a pair and the home-range centroid of the male. Over eight breeding seasons, all nests were found, and sightings of multiple individuals from each species were recorded and used to determine the centroid of the home-range of each individual. Nest positions and homerange centroids were used to investigate the three aims stated above. There are no differences between species for any of the three measurements. The male and female of a pair occupy homeranges with similar positions. Repeat nesters return to similarly positioned home-ranges each season, and nests are not positioned in any particular relation to the centroid of a home-range. Other studies using centroids are rare, but we found some similarities between our data and those from one other study that used the centroid concept.","PeriodicalId":35849,"journal":{"name":"Australian Zoologist","volume":" 40","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140995951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Callum Simpson, Alexander Gofton, Casey L. Taylor, Jenna P. Bytheway, Laura S. Grant, D. Hochuli, Peter B. Banks
Urbanisation is disrupting natural habitats and potentially causing spillover of zoonotic diseases from animals common in highly populated areas to natural environments and native wildlife. The black rat (Rattus rattus) is a common commensal species abundant in urban areas and nearby bushland in Australia and globally. It can be a major reservoir of pathogens and vectors for diseases that affect humans, pets, and wildlife. We examined pathogen prevalence in black rats and native wildlife in peri-urban northern Sydney. We trapped rats and native wildlife at eight 1-ha bushland sites and sampled for a range of internal pathogens from necropsied individuals (n=85 rats) and animal/trap swabs (n=54 native individuals). We detected a high prevalence of rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus spp.) in black rats (67%) as well as native wildlife including long-nosed bandicoots (Perameles nasuta; 43%; previously undetected) and bush rats (R. fuscipes; 33%). Incidence of detection tended to be more frequent where rat activity was greatest. Non-zoonotic Cryptosporidium spp. was also recorded in 17% of black rats and Salmonella spp. in 21% of bandicoots. Our findings suggest black rats may be facilitating spill-over of disease into native wildlife. The detected prevalence of Angiostrongylus spp. suggests an increasing occurrence in this natural system. These data provide valuable insight for disease management highlighting important reservoirs of disease which could be targeted to reduce disease burden in humans, pets, and wildlife.
{"title":"Rat lungworm, Cryptosporidium and other zoonotic pathogens of Rattus rattus and native wildlife on Sydney's Northern beaches","authors":"Callum Simpson, Alexander Gofton, Casey L. Taylor, Jenna P. Bytheway, Laura S. Grant, D. Hochuli, Peter B. Banks","doi":"10.7882/az.2024.020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7882/az.2024.020","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Urbanisation is disrupting natural habitats and potentially causing spillover of zoonotic diseases from animals common in highly populated areas to natural environments and native wildlife. The black rat (Rattus rattus) is a common commensal species abundant in urban areas and nearby bushland in Australia and globally. It can be a major reservoir of pathogens and vectors for diseases that affect humans, pets, and wildlife. We examined pathogen prevalence in black rats and native wildlife in peri-urban northern Sydney. We trapped rats and native wildlife at eight 1-ha bushland sites and sampled for a range of internal pathogens from necropsied individuals (n=85 rats) and animal/trap swabs (n=54 native individuals). We detected a high prevalence of rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus spp.) in black rats (67%) as well as native wildlife including long-nosed bandicoots (Perameles nasuta; 43%; previously undetected) and bush rats (R. fuscipes; 33%). Incidence of detection tended to be more frequent where rat activity was greatest. Non-zoonotic Cryptosporidium spp. was also recorded in 17% of black rats and Salmonella spp. in 21% of bandicoots. Our findings suggest black rats may be facilitating spill-over of disease into native wildlife. The detected prevalence of Angiostrongylus spp. suggests an increasing occurrence in this natural system. These data provide valuable insight for disease management highlighting important reservoirs of disease which could be targeted to reduce disease burden in humans, pets, and wildlife.","PeriodicalId":35849,"journal":{"name":"Australian Zoologist","volume":" 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140996022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Threlfall, Claire Farrell, M. E. L. Támara, Dieter F. Hochuli
Urbanisation is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, imposing the most rapid and ecologically damaging impacts of any human driven land-use change. Despite the trend of biodiversity decline, urban nature provides many health, wellbeing and workplace productivity benefits to city dwellers. Hence, there is an urgent need to return nature to cities not only to conserve biodiversity, but also to maintain human experiences of nature. To meet this challenge, there are currently significant global attempts to re-green cities to improve environmental condition, including restoring habitat for biodiversity. However, many barriers to widespread implementation still exist, including competition for limited space, a lack of technical capacity, and a disengaged community. New approaches to urban restoration are urgently needed that suit the small fragments of space available, and that can deliver multiple benefits not only to conserve urban biodiversity but also to reconnect people with nature. To overcome these challenges, an ‘ecology with cities’ perspective, combining horticultural, ecological and social approaches to urban habitat management and restoration, is needed. Significant opportunities exist for urban ecologists and zoologists to engage with practitioners and the community to co-develop and implement approaches to successfully achieve the aim of creating biodiverse urban environments.
{"title":"Reimagining urban habitats to benefit people and nature","authors":"C. Threlfall, Claire Farrell, M. E. L. Támara, Dieter F. Hochuli","doi":"10.7882/az.2024.014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7882/az.2024.014","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Urbanisation is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, imposing the most rapid and ecologically damaging impacts of any human driven land-use change. Despite the trend of biodiversity decline, urban nature provides many health, wellbeing and workplace productivity benefits to city dwellers. Hence, there is an urgent need to return nature to cities not only to conserve biodiversity, but also to maintain human experiences of nature. To meet this challenge, there are currently significant global attempts to re-green cities to improve environmental condition, including restoring habitat for biodiversity. However, many barriers to widespread implementation still exist, including competition for limited space, a lack of technical capacity, and a disengaged community. New approaches to urban restoration are urgently needed that suit the small fragments of space available, and that can deliver multiple benefits not only to conserve urban biodiversity but also to reconnect people with nature. To overcome these challenges, an ‘ecology with cities’ perspective, combining horticultural, ecological and social approaches to urban habitat management and restoration, is needed. Significant opportunities exist for urban ecologists and zoologists to engage with practitioners and the community to co-develop and implement approaches to successfully achieve the aim of creating biodiverse urban environments.","PeriodicalId":35849,"journal":{"name":"Australian Zoologist","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140675767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The last known captive thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) died in Hobart's Beaumaris Zoo in 1936 and the species has since become an icon of extinction. In the 21st century, there is considerable interest in documenting, analysing, and rediscovering thylacine specimens in museum collections. Due to their age, location, and collecting practices, the teaching collections of Australia's oldest universities are a potential source of undocumented thylacine specimens. Within three departmental museum collections, the University of Melbourne holds five thylacine skulls. The skulls were visually inspected, measured, sexed, and described in detail for the first time. Archival research was undertaken to determine provenance and historical details. The five skulls were added to the University's collections between 1893 and 1932. They are derived from four adult males and one adult female. Specific locality data are available for three skulls, collected at Lake Saint Clair, south of Cressy, and Woolnorth. Holding five skulls, University of Melbourne's collection constitutes one of the top ten largest thylacine assemblages in Australasia, and the second largest held by an Australasian university.
{"title":"Five previously undescribed thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) specimens held in the museums of the University of Melbourne","authors":"Rohan Long","doi":"10.7882/az.2024.013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7882/az.2024.013","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The last known captive thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) died in Hobart's Beaumaris Zoo in 1936 and the species has since become an icon of extinction. In the 21st century, there is considerable interest in documenting, analysing, and rediscovering thylacine specimens in museum collections. Due to their age, location, and collecting practices, the teaching collections of Australia's oldest universities are a potential source of undocumented thylacine specimens. Within three departmental museum collections, the University of Melbourne holds five thylacine skulls. The skulls were visually inspected, measured, sexed, and described in detail for the first time. Archival research was undertaken to determine provenance and historical details. The five skulls were added to the University's collections between 1893 and 1932. They are derived from four adult males and one adult female. Specific locality data are available for three skulls, collected at Lake Saint Clair, south of Cressy, and Woolnorth. Holding five skulls, University of Melbourne's collection constitutes one of the top ten largest thylacine assemblages in Australasia, and the second largest held by an Australasian university.","PeriodicalId":35849,"journal":{"name":"Australian Zoologist","volume":"10 15","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140710684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Climate change is the primary threat to coral reefs, causing catastrophic coral mortality on a global scale. Stressors such as ocean acidification limit calcium carbonate availability needed to build skeletons. A wealth of research has shown that climate stressors impair the ability of coral to produce and maintain their skeletons, thereby disrupting functions critical to maintaining coral health as well as threatening the ecologically significant framework for reef building. There are natural marginal and extreme environments however, where coral reefs thrive despite unfavourable conditions. These habitats provide a natural long-term setting to examine the impact of multiple interacting climate change factors on corals and understand the adaptations required by corals to inhabit these conditions. We review studies of coral skeletogenesis in extreme and marginal environments, with a particular focus on mangrove habitats due to their natural fluctuations in temperature, pH and oxygen, analogous to those projected under climate change models. The changes in coral skeletal morphology under stress are described as are the techniques used to visualise these changes. In marginal and extreme environments, corals experience lower calcification rates and produce more porous, less robust skeletons whilst maintaining normal rates of linear extension, suggesting the integrity of coral skeletons are likely to be threatened under future ocean conditions. The biomineralisation processes of corals inhabiting extreme and marginal environments remains an underexplored area of research and has the potential to yield valuable insights into how corals might adapt to climate change and the mechanisms that underlie their resilience to global environmental change.
{"title":"Biomineralisation of corals inhabiting extreme and marginal environments","authors":"Dayana Chadda-Harmer, Maria Byrne, S. Foo","doi":"10.7882/az.2024.011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7882/az.2024.011","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Climate change is the primary threat to coral reefs, causing catastrophic coral mortality on a global scale. Stressors such as ocean acidification limit calcium carbonate availability needed to build skeletons. A wealth of research has shown that climate stressors impair the ability of coral to produce and maintain their skeletons, thereby disrupting functions critical to maintaining coral health as well as threatening the ecologically significant framework for reef building. There are natural marginal and extreme environments however, where coral reefs thrive despite unfavourable conditions. These habitats provide a natural long-term setting to examine the impact of multiple interacting climate change factors on corals and understand the adaptations required by corals to inhabit these conditions. We review studies of coral skeletogenesis in extreme and marginal environments, with a particular focus on mangrove habitats due to their natural fluctuations in temperature, pH and oxygen, analogous to those projected under climate change models. The changes in coral skeletal morphology under stress are described as are the techniques used to visualise these changes. In marginal and extreme environments, corals experience lower calcification rates and produce more porous, less robust skeletons whilst maintaining normal rates of linear extension, suggesting the integrity of coral skeletons are likely to be threatened under future ocean conditions. The biomineralisation processes of corals inhabiting extreme and marginal environments remains an underexplored area of research and has the potential to yield valuable insights into how corals might adapt to climate change and the mechanisms that underlie their resilience to global environmental change.","PeriodicalId":35849,"journal":{"name":"Australian Zoologist","volume":"122 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140251545","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Price, Jenna P. Bytheway, Patrick B. Finnerty, Laura S. Grant, Shani Masani, Cristian Gabriel Orlando, Finn C. G. Parker, Malcolm Possell, Clare McArthur, Peter B. Banks
Animals interact with their worlds using sensory information (sounds, smells, sights) that is perceived differently by each species. This sensory information and how it is interpreted underpins most behaviours, but especially foraging decisions. Creating sensory misinformation, that is uninformative or unrewarding cues, is a new approach with applications for managing wildlife and conserving threatened species across a range of global contexts. Here we discuss recent research that demonstrates the power of strategically deploying olfactory misinformation to reduce predation on birds by predators, consumption of vulnerable seedlings by herbivores, and seeds by rodents as well as how multimodal misinformation may work. Single and multimodal sensory tactics can alter foraging decisions by both herbivores and predators, with profound consequences for the survival of prey and plants. There remains much to understand regarding sensory perception and learning but results to date suggest there are enormous opportunities to harness innovative sensory tactics in the future to improve many conservation and wildlife management scenarios.
{"title":"Altering reality – sensory tactics to manage wildlife and conserve threatened species","authors":"C. Price, Jenna P. Bytheway, Patrick B. Finnerty, Laura S. Grant, Shani Masani, Cristian Gabriel Orlando, Finn C. G. Parker, Malcolm Possell, Clare McArthur, Peter B. Banks","doi":"10.7882/az.2024.010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7882/az.2024.010","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Animals interact with their worlds using sensory information (sounds, smells, sights) that is perceived differently by each species. This sensory information and how it is interpreted underpins most behaviours, but especially foraging decisions. Creating sensory misinformation, that is uninformative or unrewarding cues, is a new approach with applications for managing wildlife and conserving threatened species across a range of global contexts. Here we discuss recent research that demonstrates the power of strategically deploying olfactory misinformation to reduce predation on birds by predators, consumption of vulnerable seedlings by herbivores, and seeds by rodents as well as how multimodal misinformation may work. Single and multimodal sensory tactics can alter foraging decisions by both herbivores and predators, with profound consequences for the survival of prey and plants. There remains much to understand regarding sensory perception and learning but results to date suggest there are enormous opportunities to harness innovative sensory tactics in the future to improve many conservation and wildlife management scenarios.","PeriodicalId":35849,"journal":{"name":"Australian Zoologist","volume":"32 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140257753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study has investigated the status of tree-hollow-forming termites in eucalypt forest in the Upper Blue Mountains, New South Wales, following seven years of extreme weather and mega-fires. Tree hollows are a critical denning and breeding resource for many fauna species. The general abundance of termites in this cool temperate area was low, with at least 65% of large eucalypts having no internal hollows and thus never having supported termites. There was evidence of a recent decline of at least 55% in the number of trees being actively worked by termites, based on the number of trees with no termites present but evidence of termite activity within the last five years. Despite this decline, hollow-forming termites were still present in at least 61% of the survey sites. Recovery could be expected to occur given adequate time and stable conditions. However, the increasing pace of climate change may not allow it. In this paper, we draw attention to the importance of hollow-forming termites and the existential threat that they face under on-going climate change. We hope that it will prompt more interest and research of this issue.
{"title":"Abundance of termites important in tree-hollow formation in eucalypt forest in the Upper Blue Mountains, New South Wales, following seven years of extreme weather and mega-fires","authors":"Michael Graham, Peter Smith, Judy Smith","doi":"10.7882/az.2024.008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7882/az.2024.008","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This study has investigated the status of tree-hollow-forming termites in eucalypt forest in the Upper Blue Mountains, New South Wales, following seven years of extreme weather and mega-fires. Tree hollows are a critical denning and breeding resource for many fauna species. The general abundance of termites in this cool temperate area was low, with at least 65% of large eucalypts having no internal hollows and thus never having supported termites. There was evidence of a recent decline of at least 55% in the number of trees being actively worked by termites, based on the number of trees with no termites present but evidence of termite activity within the last five years. Despite this decline, hollow-forming termites were still present in at least 61% of the survey sites. Recovery could be expected to occur given adequate time and stable conditions. However, the increasing pace of climate change may not allow it. In this paper, we draw attention to the importance of hollow-forming termites and the existential threat that they face under on-going climate change. We hope that it will prompt more interest and research of this issue.","PeriodicalId":35849,"journal":{"name":"Australian Zoologist","volume":" 15","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140091641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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