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We are now over three months into the new financial year and our researchers are immersed in a range of new and exciting projects. Many are out in the field collecting data or collaborating with partners through workshops across the state. Several researchers have also shared their work at conferences and events around Australia, including:
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Dr Lindy Lumsden, Amanda Bush, Dr Emmi van Harten, Dr Pia Lentini and Dr Rachel Leihy at the Australian Mammal Society and Australasian Bat Society, Canberra ACT
- Dr Zeb Tonkin at the Flow-MER Annual Forum 2026, Bruce ACT
- Bryan Mole and Lauren Johnson at the Australian Stream Management, Victor Harbor SA
- Lauren Johnson at the Talking Trout Event, Ringwood VIC
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Justin Cally and Louise Durkin at the World Ecoacoustics Congress, Cairns QLD
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It is wonderful to see ARI’s science being shared with partners, community and fellow researchers across Australia.
Last month we also hosted the Seeds of Science Forum in celebration of Science Week. The forum offered a practical introduction to ARI’s partnership approach to science and was attended by more than 250 people. It was fantastic to see such a strong interest and to connect with our current and potential partners. We hope the connections and conversations from the forum will continue to grow and help apply science where it is needed most.
This eNews edition we showcase the range of tools and techniques we use to track wildlife and our research supporting threatened species conservation and population monitoring to inform management.
Best wishes
James Todd
Chief Biodiversity Officer and Director of the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research (DEECA)
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| Wildife tracking
Understanding how animals move through the landscape is critical for conservation and wildlife management. Over many decades, ARI has developed expertise on the variety of methods and technologies used to track animals in the landscape and answer questions about wildlife management.
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| Murray Spiny Crayfish
The Murray Spiny Crayfish is the second largest freshwater crayfish in the world, inhabiting the flowing waters of the Murray River and its tributaries. The population has been declining since the 1950s because of habitat degradation and loss, poor water quality, and overharvesting. Through our research partnerships with Traditional Owner groups, catchment management authorities, and local community groups, we have improved our understanding of the threats affecting the species and developed harvest strategies to better support its conservation and management.
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| Leadbeater's Possum
Leadbeater’s Possums are Victoria’s faunal emblem and are critically endangered. They depend on large old trees and dense forest habitat for shelter, nesting and foraging. Populations have declined due to habitat loss from timber harvesting and large-scale bushfires. We have been conducting extensive surveys to improve our understanding of the ecology and distribution of Leadbeater’s possums. This has helped inform habitat protection measures and forest management strategies to support their recovery.
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| Assessing Koala populations in Victoria
In collaboration with several university partners, we completed Victoria’s first statewide assessment of koala populations, examining their abundance, genetic diversity and health. The research estimated Victoria’s koala population at around 225,000 individuals. Victoria’s koalas have a lower genetic diversity than koala populations in the northern states, and were found to have higher-than-expected levels of chronic health issues, highlighting the need for further investigations into the health of Victoria’s koalas.
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| Quarterly research updates
Read our recent Quarterly updates here:
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Interested in receiving these directly? All are welcome to sign up!
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Recent Journal Articles (link to abstract) and reports (link to PDF) include: |
Howard, K., Durkin, L. & Ward, K. (2026). The Living Murray – Turtle and Frog Condition Monitoring in Barmah–Millewa Forest. Report for the 2025–26 season, ARI Technical Report Series No. 405
Menon, V., Southwell, D., Robley, A., Rees, M.W., Wilkinson, D.P., Giljohann, K., Pascoe, J., Wintle, B. & Hradsky. B.A. (2026). Spatially explicit power analysis reveals challenges for a long-term threatened species monitoring program in Australia, Ecological Applications
Nolasco, E., C., Amos, N., Hauser, C., Bruce, M., Britt, G., Huang, J. & MacHunter, J. (2026). Expert Opinion Curve (EO Curve), a tool to fill large data gaps by eliciting expert response curves, Pacific Conservation Biology
Raadik, T.A. & Nicol, M.D. (2026). Identifying translocation stream reaches for nationally threatened species of Galaxias in eastern Victoria, ARI Technical Report Series No. 408
Ross, T.A., Australasian Wader Studies Group, Victorian Wader Study Group, Queensland Wader Study Group, Global Flyway Network, Atkinson R., Christie, M., Rogers, D.I., Hassell, C., Jessop, R., Coleman, J.T., Piersma, T., Ryding, S., Spence, A. & Klaassen, M. (2026). Extreme site fidelity in long-distance migratory shorebirds in Australia and its potential implications for conservation. Conservation Biology
Sinclair, S., Liu, C., Batpurev, K., Bruce, M., Neil, J., Thomson, J., Hauser, C., Farmilo, B. & White, M. (2026). Predicting vegetation change for adaptive management, under complex disturbance regimes, using monitoring data and expert judgements, Ecological Informatics
Stuart, I. G., Thiem, J. D., & Fanson, B. G. (2026). Flow‐Regulated Migration Phenology of Potamodromous Fishes in a Large Regulated Australian River, Freshwater Biology
Thomas, J.L., Serena, M., Parrott, M.L., Bino, G., Hawke, T., Brunt, T., Hladyz, S., Connolly, J.H., Webb, B., Baring, R., Meagher, P.J.B., Ryan, M., Cordell, S., Musser, A., Olds, L., Bloink, C., Whinfield, J. & Williamson, R. (2026). Natural disasters and the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus): criteria and protocols to guide emergency response and interventions, Australian Mammalogy
Vivian, L. M., Jones, C. S., Mole, B., & Kitchingman, A. (2026). Drivers of occurrence, richness, and extent of instream plants in flow-regulated rivers of south-eastern Australia, Australian Journal of Botany
White, M., Griffioen, P., Francis, L. & Mazor, T. (2026). Extending the Victorian Land Cover Time Series (2021 2025). ARI Short Report for DEECA Land and Biodiversity Policy Division
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| ARI Seminar Series (online)
Don't miss our upcoming online seminar, ecological-giref and resilience, Monday 5th October. Regster via Microsoft Teams.
Catch up with our previous seminars:
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Outfoxing foxes, presented by Dr Ligia Pizzatto do Prado (La Trobe University) and Dr Anke Frank (Charles Sturt University)
- ARI’s Seeds of Science – hear from our researchers about our science and real-world impact for policy makers and resource managers
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| Sign up to our eNews
If you know someone who may like to receive the ARI eNews, forward this email on using the 'Share this' option at the bottom. If this has been forwarded on to you there is an option to sign-up below or use the ‘Sign up for ARI Updates’ form.
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Compiled by Raras Santosa
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We acknowledge Victorian Traditional Owners and their Elders past and present as the original custodians of Victoria’s land and waters and commit to genuinely partnering with them and Victoria’s Aboriginal community to progress their aspirations.
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Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research: 123 Brown Street | Heidelberg, 3084 AU
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