Biodiversity

One of the key drivers of fire behaviour that Professor Lindenmayer seems to pay little attention to is the ground fine fuel load across the forest landscape. The key driver of fire intensity, with a given fuel moisture content, wind speed, air temperature and relative humidity, on the day, is fine fuels.

A beloved Australian bird best known for its stunning tail and powers of mimicry may have a cunning hidden talent. New research has revealed the superb lyrebird to be a resourceful farmer, creating micro-habitats to host and fatten its prey before returning later to feast. 

The Albanese Labor Government has ... released the first set of National Ecosystem Accounts which will help Australians better understand the value of nature to our economy and our wellbeing. The accounts will inform the Government’s policies and decision-making processes to better measure the impacts of our actions to the environment.

Madison Eastmond ... being carried out in the Hills and Fleurieu, Limestone Coast and Northern, and Yorke as a multi-region intuitive, the TURTLE Project is a collaborative effort of landscape boards, First Nations, citizen scientists, NGOs, councils and landholders to gather information to guide the protection of freshwater turtles across South Australia.

The final art installations for the Men’s Sheds Biodiversity Trail have now been installed in Nandaly, Watchem, and Nullawil, completing this unique community-led project in ten towns across Buloke Shire. Featuring handcrafted avian and insect homes, the trail has been a collaborative effort between the Men’s Sheds in Birchip, Charlton, Donald, Wycheproof and Sea Lake, local artists and community members, Landcare and Buloke Shire Council.

In response to the South East Timber Association’s (SETA) critique, I want to clarify the scientific evidence and address the inaccuracies in their claims. SETA disputes the well-documented link between logging and increased fire severity, but the scientific consensus is clear: logging fundamentally alters forests in ways that make them more flammable.

Conservation group Denmark Nannas for Native Forests found a bleak aftermath of a 1123ha prescribed burn in November of Sheepwash North in Mt Lindesay National Park. They were shocked to see big areas of tree canopy defoliated and most of the remaining canopy scorched.

The Betts/Barbour/Hume family’s 157-year-old agricultural and biodiversity conservation property is at a critical point. It may not survive this latest challenge to its viability. If it fails, it will take with it decades of labour and investment expended on protecting an extremely environmentally, historically, agriculturally and culturally important area.

Peter Rutherford. On the 24 November 1939, the Coffs Harbour Advocate reported, among other things, that “now there are only 200 known koalas in the whole of New South Wales, including those in captivity.” NSW Environment Minister Sharpe’s media release of 3 December 2024 stated, “that our grandchildren will never get the chance to see koalas in the wild”. I thought she may have been a little behind in reading her ministerial briefings. But then the penny dropped!

Yola Cox. Nestled in the picturesque Tooma Valley, the Mannus Creek and its surrounding environment have long been a lifeline for the region’s farms, families and wildlife. However, a series of catastrophic decisions spanning decades have turned this once-thriving ecosystem into a disaster zone. The Mannus Dam was licensed in the 1980s to Ellis Williams. While the licence suggested the dam would support pisciculture, this promise was never realised.

One hundred and fifteen sites within the Bellingen-Coffs Harbour LGAs were surveyed by the Canines for Wildlife detection dog team for koala scats between June 2020 and January 2024. Over 700 koala scat locations were recorded, and 155 samples were collected. The samples were processed to have the DNA extracted from koala epithelial cells attached to the external surface of the scat.

Churchill Fellow Dean Gilligan discusses with ARR.News the conservation of Edgbaston Springs in the Great Artesian Basin, key threats to springs ecosystems, such as invasive pest fish, and how he hopes his research in Ash Meadows in the USA and Cuarto Cienegas in Mexico will inform the management of Australia's endangered springs ecosystems.

The last workshop in Murrumbidgee Landcare’s Western Riverina Seed Workshop Series ... brought together a group of dedicated landholders, conservationists, and seed enthusiasts to deepen their knowledge of native species seed ...

Hugh Schuitemaker. The State Government says the Riverland’s wildlife and plant species are seeing benefits of increased environmental water, however, senior local politicians have described the announcement as "misleading" ... Chaffey MP Tim Whetstone said the increased environmental flows were due to high storage volumes and the 2022-23 flood event.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) has today released Australia’s State of the Forests Report: Synthesis 2023. ABARES Executive Director, Dr Jared Greenville, said the five-yearly report covered all areas of Australia’s forests—public and private forests, forests managed for production and forests managed for conservation…

Matthew Harrison, uTas. A webinar was held  relating to how planting trees on farm impacts on biodiversity and natural capital. A range of models were used to examine spatially-explicit carbon sequestration and changes in biodiversity over time.

Researchers at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, are leading the five-year ‘Landscapes’ program, looking at the health and function of Australia’s natural and managed ecosystems.  Administered through the innovative TERN project (Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network), the team will deliver important soil and landscape environmental data to support sustainable ecosystem management.  

How does planting native tree species impact on farm-level biodiversity? With funding from MLA, AWI and several other partners, the "Sustainable Pathways to CN30" project team are examining this question via co-development of farm systems interventions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while improving productivity, profitability and biodiversity.

In view of the Australian Koala Foundation's march in Canberra planned for 1 September 2024, and its advocacy for a federal "Koala Protection Act", Australian Rural & Regional News felt it timely to ask some questions on koala matters and maybe even start up a useful, and very probably robust discussion ... ARR.News approached Dr Brad Law, Vic Jurskis and then Deborah Tabart OAM and the AKF for their response to questions ...

The secret is now out! And the residents have started to move into their high-rise apartments. Some time ago, a "Buloke Times" photographer spotted an impressive array of colourful birdhouses at the Donald Buloke Shire Council office, each getting a fresh coat of weather protection. The photographer was politely asked to keep a lid on the scoop, as further consultation with land management stakeholders was under way.

The project will support the 64,000 hectare  expansion of the Crystalvale Nature Refuge, about 15km south-west of Coen, and  establish the new 244,000 hectare Abingdon Downs North Nature Refuge, about 85km north-west of Georgetown ... Abingdon Downs North and Crystalvale make up the largest dedication of private protected area in the past six years.

Buffel grass has been declared a weed and a management plan will now be formalised towards reducing its impact in Central Australia, according to Environment Minister Kate Worden ... The Arid Lands Environment Centre says it welcomes "this historic decision" following "a decades long struggle to confront one of the greatest threats to the arid and semiarid lands."