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| | Welcome
It’s been over a year since the widespread and devastating 2019-2020 bushfires in eastern Victoria, and although there has been some recovery the impacts are still being felt, both in the environment and community. Following up a visit to Mallacoota last year, ARI recently accompanied East Gippsland CMA staff to the area to host another series of boat trips and forest walks with the community. This was an opportunity for long conversations about how the inlet and catchment are responding since the fires, and included sampling the water quality, which was in excellent condition. Discussions also covered plant and animal adaptations and responses to fire. ARI staff very much appreciated being able to connect with locals (seen at left during the forest walk) to hear about their observations and help explain how the environment is recovering.
Our projects featured in this issue include the results from an amalgamation of studies on how Black Box woodlands respond to environmental watering, and an update on answering a question crucial to effective invasive species control: how many carp are there? We hope you find these interesting.
Regards
Dr Kim W Lowe
Research Director
Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research
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| | How do Black Box woodlands respond to environmental water?
Several years of environmental watering has improved the reproductive output, seed fall and overall tree health of Black Box woodlands in northern Victorian floodplains. Black Box trees are an important ecological and cultural component of the Murray-Darling Basin, but woodlands that are not regularly flooded are often in poor condition.
Find more about this project on our website
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| | How many carp are in our rivers?
ARI has estimated that there are at least 199 million carp across Australia, with 96% of that biomass located in the eastern states. This five-state collaborative study with La Trobe University is contributing to prioritising national and local control strategies for this widespread invasive species.
Find more about this project on our website
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| | We welcome our new post-doctoral research fellow Maddi Miller
Maddi has joined ARI in a jointly funded position with the University of Melbourne. She will be exploring how we can effectively bring together multiple ways of knowing place. As an Archaeologist and Darug woman, Maddi has a deep understanding of the ways in which her ancestors lived and thrived on Country that sustained people for tens of thousands of years. Maddi reminds us that Aboriginal people and Aboriginal land cannot be separated, and that ecological sciences cannot be blind to the connection Aboriginal people have to Country, and their aspirations for it. Maddi previously worked with DELWP at Heritage Victoria and a recent secondment into the Environment and Climate Change group. She is a member of the steering committee and the co-chair of the Indigenous Advisory Group to the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub of the National Environmental Science Program. Among many other things Maddi has worked on Reconciliation Action Plans, was the inaugural Indigenous member of Australia’s delegation to the UNESCO World Heritage meeting and is a graduate of the Joan Kirner Womens Leadership program.
Welcome Maddi; we look forward to working with you on this important work.
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| | Recent videos (link to YouTube), fact sheets (link to PDF) and media releases
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| | Recent journal articles (link to abstract) and reports (link to PDF) include:
Amtstaetter, F., Yen, J.D.L., Hale, R., Koster, W., O’Connor, J., Stuart, I. and Tonkin, Z. (2021) Elevated river discharge enhances the immigration of juvenile catadromous diadromous fishes into temperate coastal rivers. Journal of Fish Biology (online early)
Burns, T.J., Scheele, B.C., Brannelly, L.A., Clemann, N., Gilbert, D. and Driscoll, D.A. (2020) Indirect terrestrial transmission of amphibian chytrid fungus from reservoir to susceptible host species leads to fatal chytridiomycosis. Animal Conservation (online early)
Muir, A., Heyes, S., Morgan, J., Hoebee, S., Enright, N., Whelan, R., Geschke, A., Bennett, A., Walsh, S., Weatherly, W. and Milne, R. (2021) Conservation challenges for Victorian Banksias: workshop May 2020. Ecological Management & Restoration (online early)
Ramsey, D.S.L., Watters, F., Forsyth, D.M., Wood, M., Todd, C.R., Molsher, R. and Cassey, P. (2021) Long-term fertility control reduces overabundant koala populations and mitigates their impacts on food trees. Biological Conservation 253: 108870
Ramsey, D.S.L. and Scroggie, M.P. (2020) Kangaroo harvest quotas for Victoria, 2021. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Technical Report Series No. 323. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg
Stuart, I., Fanson, B., Lyon, J., Stocks, J., Brooks, S., Norris, A., Thwaites, L., Beitzel, M., Hutchison, M., Ye, Q., Koehn, J. and Bennett, A. (2021) Continental threat: How many common carp (Cyprinus carpio) are there in Australia? Biological Conservation 254: 108942
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| | ARI Seminar Series (online)
Our online 2021 Seminar Series began with two of our new recruits Christina Renowden and Lily van Eeden, on the subject of people and nature. Our next seminar is on 22nd March with Lesley Head from the University of Melbourne speaking about mass fish kills. Tune in on the day or catch up later via YouTube, the link to which will be posted on our seminar website page.
To receive ARI seminar series email alerts, including webinar (live online viewing) details and follow-up summaries, use the ‘Subscribe’ button on our website, or email us at research.ari@delwp.vic.gov.au
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| | Sign up to our eNews
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| © The State of Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning 2021
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