Species on the move conference
Tue, 29 Mar 2016Threatened Species Recovery Hub researchers presented at the recent Species on the Move International Conference in Hobart, including Hub Director Hugh Possingham.
Professor Possingham presented on the role of decision science in moving species outside their normal range in response to climate, and other, change.
“There are a whole lot of reasons why we might want to relocate an animal to somewhere it's never been, and it presents a lot of challenges.”
“Decisions about moving species are hard, but if we avoid that decision, and do nothing, extinctions will occur. Even if we lack full information
we can make good decisions about moving species outside their original range in the name of conservation.”
“The species on the move conference brought together managers, researchers and policy makers from across Australasia to tackle contentious issues
in conservation science and management in a rapidly changing world. There is nothing like face-to-face talks, panels and discussions to hammer out
solutions to difficult problems,” said Professor Possingham.
Other TSR Hub presenters included:
- Dr Nicola Mitchell (UWA) - ‘Optimising assisted colonisation of a
critically endangered turtle using mechanistic models’
- Dr Heini Kujala (UoM) - ‘Feeling the heat: Boreal breeding birds follow modelled range changes under warming climate’
- Dr Michael Kearney (UoM) - ‘NicheMapR – a general system for mechanistic niche modelling’.
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‘Tis the season...Understanding how threatened plants respond to different fires
Wed, 27 Nov 2019Many landscapes in Australia are fire-prone, and increasingly so. Altered fire regimes can have a serious negative impact on threatened plant species and ecological communities. A Threatened Species Recovery Hub project is working to better understand the effects of different fire regimes on threatened flora in order to improve fire management strategies and conservation outcomes.
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Backyard scientists helping possums and gliders
Wed, 27 Nov 2019Almost a quarter of Australia’s possums and gliders are listed as threatened under Australian environmental law, and many more are showing signs of decline. Dr Rochelle Steven from The University of Queensland believes people in the community can do a lot to support conservation, especially in urban areas.
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Better detection and monitoring vital for better conservation outcomes
Wed, 27 Nov 2019The detection and monitoring of threatened species have been a strong area of research in the National Environmental Science Program and also the two national environmental research programs which preceded it. Hub Director Professor Brendan Wintle takes a look at what we’ve been achieving and why it is so important to the conservation of Australia’s threatened species.
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Beyond captivity for Christmas Island reptiles
Wed, 27 Nov 2019In 2009, the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink and Lister’s gecko were headed for imminent extinction. Parks Australia acted quickly to collect remaining wild individuals in order to establish captive breeding programs on Christmas Island and at Taronga Zoo, Sydney, which have been highly successful. A Threatened Species Recovery Hub project team is working closely with Parks Australia to help secure a future for the two lizards beyond captivity.
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Detection dogs rapidly filling the gaps for rare antechinus species
Wed, 27 Nov 2019The silver-headed antechinus and black-tailed dusky antechinus are carnivorous marsupials found in high-elevation forests in parts of central-eastern and south-eastern Queensland. They were only described in the past six years, but they are already listed as Endangered. Knowing where they occur is essential for effective conservation, but current distribution knowledge is patchy. To address this, PhD candidate Stephane Batista in partnership with the Queensland Herbarium and Queensland Department of Environment and Science is modelling the habitat where these threatened species are likely to occur, and is using detection dogs to rapidly survey these sites.
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