| | Welcome
As 2017 comes to a close and we reflect on our achievements, we have already worked on almost 200 projects this year. In addition to improving biodiversity outcomes via our research, we have increased the sustainability of our building in Heidelberg. The photo at left shows a series of solar panels that will help meet our power needs. This image was taken using the ARI drone, which has proved to be a very useful field tool: e.g. for accurate mapping of instream habitat in estuaries and wetlands. Some of our hard work has been formally recognised with the ‘Coastal Fish Habitat Hotspots’ project receiving the Outstanding Waterway Management Project Award from the River Basin Management Society. Renae Ayres led this substantial collaboration, working with angling groups and CMAs to build partnerships around restoration of estuaries. Congratulations to Renae and the team, a great achievement!
Our feature projects in this issue of ARI eNews describe the development and application of maps that predict habitat suitability, how ARI will provide new information for the Australian Government’s National Carp Control Plan, and collaborative statewide research into grazing impacts on wetlands. We also launch a new ARI brochure on the role of citizen science in our work, the many benefits to all involved, and ways effective projects can be developed.
Regards
Dr Kim Lowe
Research Director
Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research
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| | Habitat distribution models - development and use
HDMs are ‘maps’ that predict habitat suitability for Victoria’s flora and fauna species. ARI’s HDMs are used by DELWP for many purposes including conservation planning, regulating permitted clearing of native vegetation and assessing the value of landscapes at various spatial scales.
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| | Preparing for the carp herpesvirus
ARI is contributing to research for the National Carp Control Plan by estimating carp abundance, distribution and biomass in eastern Australia. This five-state collaborative project will also help develop carp virus release strategies, and predict where there may be high carp mortalities, to plan for potential impacts on water quality.
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| | Wetland Intervention Monitoring Program (WIMP)
This state-wide, long-term program is assessing the effectiveness of management activities applied in wetlands. Fencing to control livestock access is one of the most common of these. ARI is working with CMAs, landholders and scientists to examine the impact of restricting and excluding grazing on wetland health.
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| | PhD Research - Alex Maisey (La Trobe University) ARI / La Trobe supervisor: Prof Andrew Bennett
Predicting the role of the Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) as an ecosystem engineer in Australia's south-eastern forests.
Animals act as ecosystem engineers when they regulate the resources available to other species via the physical changes they make to habitats. The Superb Lyrebird has been described as such due to the large volume of soil it displaces when foraging on the forest floor. This results in changes to soil and litter structure, which potentially affect macro-invertebrates, plant communities and the soil microbial community. The flow-on effects are likely to alter fundamental processes such as nutrient cycling and resource availability for other organisms, ultimately shaping the communities present in forests occupied by lyrebirds. Alex (seen here about to release a banded nestling) is carrying out a field-based study using experimental exclusion plots to examine the engineering role that lyrebirds play in wet forests in the southern fall of Victoria’s central highlands. The outcomes of the research will have implications for management of forest ecosystems, particularly in the context of biodiversity conservation and vegetation management. Alex’s research is being supervised by Andrew Bennett and Steve Leonard (La Trobe Uni), and builds on his previous studies of Superb Lyrebirds, including on aspects of their nests:
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| | ARI Brochure - Citizen Science
Citizen science involves volunteers, in partnership with scientists, participating in scientific projects. It is a powerful way for people to connect with nature, help protect nature, learn new things, improve diverse skills, and meet like-minded people. Citizen science is growing rapidly around the world, including in Australia and Victoria, and many projects are helping us learn more about biodiversity and how we can better protect nature. The recent launch of Victoria’s 20-year Biodiversity Plan: ‘Protecting Victoria’s Environment – Biodiversity 2037’, coupled with the escalation of smart technologies, provides a timely context for DELWP to explore and embrace citizen science; for citizens and for biodiversity. ARI has been involved in citizen science for many years. We are now keen to expand our citizen science program, research citizen science itself, and learn how to get more people involved. We’ve just released a Citizen Science brochure which outlines its benefits (to both participants and scientists), how an effective citizen science program can be created, as well as useful approaches to creating individual projects.
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| | Recent fact sheets (link to PDF) and media releases
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Recent journal articles (link to abstract) and reports (link to PDF) include:
Austin, C.M., Tan, M.H., Harrisson, K.A., Lee, Y.P., Croft, L.J., Sunnucks, P., Pavlova, A. and Gan, H.M (2017) De novo genome assembly and annotation of Australia’s largest freshwater fish, the Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii), from Illumina and Nanopore sequencing read. GigaScience 6(8): 1-6 Bennett, L.T., Bruce, M.J., MacHunter, J., Kohout, M., Krishnaraj, S.J. and Aponte, C., (2017) Assessing fire impacts on the carbon stability of fire-tolerant forests. Ecological Applications 27: 2497-2513 Bland, L., Regan, T.J., Dinh, M.N., Ferrari, R., Keith, D.A., Lester, R., Mouillot, D., Murray, N.J., Nguyen, H.A., and Nicholson, E. (2017) Using multiple lines of evidence to assess the risk of ecosystem collapse. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 284(1863) Brannelly, L.A., Webb, R.J., Hunter, D.A., Clemann, N., Howard, K., Skerratt, L.F., Berger, L. and Scheele, B.C. (2017) Non-declining amphibians can be important reservoir hosts for amphibian chytrid fungus. Animal Conservation (online early) Fleishman, E., Yen, J.D.L., Thomson, J.R., Mac Nally, R., Dobkin, D.S. and Leu, M. (2018) Identifying spatially and temporally transferrable surrogate measures of species richness. Ecological Indicators 84: 470-478 Harrisson, K.A., Amish, S.J., Pavlova, A., Narum, S., Telonis-Scott, M., Rourke, M.L., Lyon, J., Tonkin, Z., Gilligan, D.M., Ingram, B.A., Lintermans, M., Gan, H.M., Austin, C.M., Luikart, G. and Sunnucks, P. (2017) Signatures of polygenic adaptation associated with climate across the range of a threatened fish species with high genetic connectivity. Molecular Ecology (online early) Hradsky, B.A., Robley, A., Alexander, R., Ritchie, E.G., York, A. and Di Stefano, J. (2017) Human-modified habitats facilitate forest-dwelling populations of an invasive predator, Vulpes vulpes. Scientific Reports 7, Article Number: 12291 Roberts, J., Casanova, M.T., Morris, K. and Papas, P. (2017) The feasibility of wetland recovery: decision support tool, version 1.0. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Technical Report Series No. 283. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria Robley, A., Ramsey, D., Woodford, L., Taglierini, A., Walker, J., Sloane, P. and Luitjes, M. (2017) Towards a feral Cat management strategy for Hattah – Kulkyne National Park: estimation of feral Cat density and bait uptake rates, and comparison of management strategies. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Technical Report Series No. 281. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria Todd, C.R., Koehn, J.D., Pearce, L., Dodd, L., Humphries, P. and Morrongiello, J.R. (2017) Forgotten fishes: what is the future for small threatened freshwater fish? Population risk assessment for southern pygmy perch, Nannoperca australis. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (online early) Tonkin, Z., Stuart, I., Kitchingman, A., Jones, M., Thiem, J., Zampatti, B., Hackett, G., Koster, W. and Koehn, J. (2017) The effects of flow on silver perch population dynamics in the Murray River. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research. Technical Report Series No. 282. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria
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ARI Seminar Series
For the last seminar in our 2017 Seminar Series we have Sabra Comet from Portland State University discussing engaging Native American tribes in marine reserves management (11th December). If you can’t make it to Heidelberg, register for the webinar to watch online. We are currently developing our 2018 seminar program, which will resume from early in the year.
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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