| | Welcome
It is National Science Week and we are enjoying the focus on celebrating science, as indeed we do in many ways through our everyday work. The aims of this annual event include to ‘encourage an interest in science pursuits among the general public, and to encourage younger people to be fascinated by the world we live in’. Citizen science is something ARI has supported via many projects, and it is being further developed with students from Monash University’s Global Challenges Honours course. Cassie Nolan and Charlie Medic (pictured left, presenting at ARI) are exploring the use of technology and corporate involvement to engage the public with wildlife monitoring, in particular Rainbow Lorikeets. See our Recent Research below for more information on this project. In addition to the citizen science Rainbow Lorikeet project, this issue of ARI eNews features how the response of Banksias to fire is being used to manage applied burning, and ARI’s role in using a method to assess estuaries statewide. We also provide links to the new ARI brochures (Science that matters! and About us) now available on our website.
Regards
Dr Kim Lowe
Research Director
Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research
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| | Citizen science: looking for Rainbow Lorikeets
ARI is co-supervising two Monash University students who are exploring the use of smart technology and business partnerships to connect people with nature. An online tool to monitor Rainbow Lorikeets across Victoria will help look at why this species has increased, given an assumed limitation of hollows.
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| | Fire responses of Banksias help manage applied burning
Fire managers are using ARI research on the life-cycle of Banksia spinulosa as a case study of how to maintain plant diversity in forests when applying fuel reduction burns. Measurements of seed production and numbers of seedlings for various fire histories were used to help determine minimum burn intervals to prevent population decline.
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| | Index of Estuary Condition
DELWP's condition assessment method for estuaries is being applied throughout Victoria. ARI has commenced three years of fieldwork to assess key components of the index: fauna, as represented by fish; flora, including submerged and fringing vegetation; and water quality. This will assist in identifying management priorities.
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| | PhD Research - Megan McNellie (Australian National University) ARI supervisor: Graeme Newell Predicting spatial patterns in vegetation across landscapes: from structure and composition to condition and change
Megan McNellie (pictured left) is studying part-time at Australian National University (ANU), while also working as a biodiversity modeller at the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH). Megan is being supervised in her PhD study by ARI’s Graeme Newell, along with Philip Gibbons (ANU), Simon Ferrier (CSIRO) and Ian Oliver (OEH). Both her research and work involve constructing spatial models of landscape condition over broad scales. These models are often represented as maps displaying various aspects of condition that can be compared over time. Megan is specifically interested in predicting spatial patterns in structure and composition of vegetation to assess vegetation condition and change in condition. The application of this research includes providing more precise information that will help inform decisions about native vegetation management programs. Megan has published several aspects of her PhD research including the paper below which addresses some of the inconsistencies in on-ground vegetation plot data that may form the basis of models:
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| | ARI brochures and recent fact sheets (link to PDF)
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Recent journal articles (link to abstract) and reports (link to PDF) include:
Anderson, D.P., Gormley, A.M., Ramsey, D.S.L., Nugent, G., Martin, P.A.J., Bosson, M., Livingstone, P. and Byrom, A.E. (2017) Bio-economic optimisation of surveillance to confirm broadscale eradications of invasive pests and diseases. Biological Invasions (online early) Kenny, S.A., Moxham, C., and Sutter, G. (2017) The response of rare floodplain plants to an environmental watering event at Hattah Lakes. Victorian Naturalist 134(1): 19-27 Koehn, J.D., Todd, C.R., Zampatti, B.P., Stuart, I.G., Conallin, A., Thwaites, L. and Ye, Q. (2017) Using a population model to inform the management of flows and invasive Carp (Cyprinus carpio). Environmental Management (online early) Papas, P., White, M., Griffioen, P., Cant, B., Crowther, D. and Cook, D. (2016) Predicting the occurrence of seasonal herbaceous wetlands in south-east Australia. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Technical Report Series Number 271. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria. Pepper, D.A, Lada, H., Thomson, J.R., Bakar, K.S., Lake, P.S. and Mac Nally, R. (2017) Potential future scenarios for Australia's native biodiversity given on-going increases in human population. Science of the Total Environment 576: 381-390 Pepper, D.A, Lada, H., Thomson, J.R., Bakar, K.S., Lake, P.S. and Mac Nally, R. (2017) A method to identify drivers of societal change likely to affect natural assets in the future, illustrated with Australia’s biodiversity, Science of the Total Environment 581-582: 80-86
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ARI Seminar Series
Seminars coming up in our 2017 Seminar Series include John Morgan from La Trobe University discussing the alpine region and possible shrinking (28th August), and Rob Hale from the University of Melbourne talking about urban artificial wetlands (4th September). If you can’t make it to Heidelberg, register for the webinar to watch online. To receive ARI seminar series email alerts, including webinar (live online viewing) details and follow-up summaries, email us at research.ari@delwp.vic.gov.au
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| © The State of Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning 2017
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