The impact of fire and dogs on Koalas at Port Stephens, New South Wales, using population viability analysis

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danial Lunney ◽  
Shaan Gresser ◽  
Lisa E. O'neill ◽  
Alison Matthews ◽  
Jonathan Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Local Population ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Population Viability Analysis ◽  
Population Viability ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Viability Analysis ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Port Stephens

The Port Stephens Koala Phascolarctos cinereus population has been regarded as one of the strongholds for Koalas in New South Wales. This study applied population viability analysis to investigate the impact of fire and predation by dogs on the viability of the local population. The rapid decline of the modelled Koala population under basic assumptions throws the assumed security of such large populations into question. In all the modelled management scenarios, reducing mortality had more influence than any other factor. Reducing the severity and frequency of large catastrophic fires improved the probability of survival for the population, though the modelled population size still declined sharply. Any management action to improve Koala survival must be accompanied by a reduction in mortality from dog attacks. Fires and dogs will have an ever greater impact on Koala populations as coastal forests become more fragmented and isolated by urban development, and their combined control will be needed to complement land-use planning measures to address habitat loss and fragmentation.

scholarly journals Modeling The Fate of Sumatran Elephants in Bukit Tigapuluh Indonesia: Research Needs & Implications for Population Management

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Markus Moßbrucker ◽  
Muhammad Ali Imron ◽  
Satyawan Pudyatmoko ◽  
Peter-Hinrich Pratje ◽  
Sumardi
Keyword(s):  
Inbreeding Depression ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Population Viability Analysis ◽  
Population Viability ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Parameter Uncertainties ◽  
Sensitivity Testing ◽  
Viability Analysis ◽  
Conservation Measures ◽  
The Impact

The critically endangered Sumatran elephant persists in mainly small and isolated populations that may require intensive management to be viable in the long term. Population Viability Analysis (PVA) provides the opportunity to evaluate conservation strategies and objectives prior to implementation, which can be very valuable for site managers by supporting their decision making process. This study applies PVA to a local population of Sumatran elephants roaming the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape, Sumatra, with the main goal to explore the impact of pre-selected conservation measures and population scenarios on both population growth rate and extinction probability. Sensitivity testing revealed considerable parameter uncertainties that should be addressed by targeted research projects in order to improve the predictive power of the baseline population model. Given that further habitat destruction can be prevented, containing illegal killings appears to be of highest priority among the tested conservation measures and represents a mandatory pre-condition for activities addressing inbreeding depression such as elephant translocation or the establishment of a conservation corridor.Keywords: Elephas maximus sumatranus; population viability analysis (PVA); Asian elephant; elephant conservation; Vortex AbstractGajah Sumatera yang berstatus kritis sebagian besar bertahan dalam populasi kecil dan terisolasi membutuhkan pengelolaan intensif agar dapat tetap lestari dalam jangka panjang. Analisis Viabilitas Populasi (Population Viability Analysis, PVA) berpeluang untuk digunakan sebagai sarana evaluasi atas tujuan dan strategi konservasi yang disusun sebelum implementasi, yang akan sangat bermanfaat bagi pengelola kawasan guna mendukung pengambilan keputusan. Studi ini menggunakan PVA pada populasi lokal gajah Sumatera yang menjelajahi lanskap Bukit Tigapuluh, Sumatera, dengan tujuan utama mengeksplorasi dampak atas skenario upaya konservasi dan populasi terpilih terhadap laju pertumbuhan populasi dan probabilitas kepunahan. Uji sensitivitas menunjukkan adanya ketidakpastian atas sejumlah parameter pokok yang seharusnya diteliti untuk meningkatkan kekuatan prediksi atas baseline model populasi. Mengingat kerusakan habitat yang lebih parah dapat dicegah, untuk itu upaya penangkalan pembunuhan ilegal merupakan prioritas tertinggi di antara upaya-upaya konservasi yang sudah diuji dan menjadi prasyarat wajib untuk menjawab masalah kemungkinan dampak perkawinan sedarah (inbreeding depression) seperti translokasi gajah atau membangun koridor konservasi. 

Seed production and seedling emergence of Giant Parramatta grass on the north coast of New South Wales

1996 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
TS Andrews ◽  
RDB Whalley ◽  
CE Jones
Keyword(s):  
Seed Production ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
North Coast ◽  
The North ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Seed Fall ◽  
The Impact

Inputs and losses from Giant Parramatta grass [GPG, Sporobolus indicus (L.) R. Br. var. major (Buse) Baaijens] soil seed banks were quantified on the North Coast of New South Wales. Monthly potential seed production and actual seed fall was estimated at Valla during 1991-92. Total potential production was >668 000 seeds/m2 for the season, while seed fall was >146000 seeds/m2. Seed fall >10000 seeds/m2.month was recorded from January until May, with further seed falls recorded in June and July. The impact of seed production on seed banks was assessed by estimating seed banks in the seed production quadrats before and after seed fall. Seed banks in 4 of the 6 sites decreased in year 2, although seed numbers at 1 damp site increased markedly. Defoliation from mid-December until February, April or June prevented seed production, reducing seed banks by 34% over 7 months. Seed banks in undefoliated plots increased by 3300 seeds/m2, although seed fall was estimated at >114 000 seeds/m2. Emergence of GPG seedlings from artificially established and naturally occurring, persistent seed banks was recorded for 3 years from bare and vegetated treatment plots. Sown seeds showed high levels of innate dormancy and only 4% of seeds emerged when sown immediately after collection. Longer storage of seeds after collection resulted in more seedlings emerging. Estimates of persistent seed banks ranged from 1650 to about 21260 seeds/m2. Most seedlings emerged in spring or autumn and this was correlated with rainfall but not with ambient temperatures. Rates of seed bank decline in both bare and vegetated treatment plots was estimated by fitting exponential decay curves to seed bank estimates. Assuming no further seed inputs, it was estimated that it would take about 3 and 5 years, respectively, for seed banks to decline to 150 seeds/m2 in bare and vegetated treatments.

Up the Garden Path? Enterprise Bargaining and Decentralization in the NSW Public Sector

1995 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael O'Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
New South ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Green Paper ◽  
Garden Path ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Impact

Decentralizing industrial relations within New South Wales is a central recom mendation of the Niland Green Paper (1989). Decentralism also represents the cornerstone of the New South Wales government's industrial relations reform agenda enshrined in the New South Wales Industrial Relations Act 1991. To date there has been little analysis of the impact o f this legislative change on industrial relations in the New South Wales public sector. This paper provides a case study that examines the degree to which responsibility for bargaining has been devolved within the Parks and Gardens of the New South Wales Ministry for the Environ ment. It argues that, in contrast to the rhetoric of the New South Wales Act, the central agency presiding over the introduction of enterprise bargaining in the public sector, the Public Employment and Industrial Relations Authority; has been reluctant to delegate responsibility to parties in the workplace.

scholarly journals Municipal Responses to COVID-19: the case of library closures in New South Wales local government

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-94
Author(s):  
Andrea Wallace ◽  
Brian Dollery
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Community Wellbeing ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Library Use ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New South Wales (NSW) government ordered the closure of all municipal libraries in order to limit the impact of the contagion. As a result, 372 public libraries in NSW ceased operation on the 23rd March 2020. While the closure of public libraries will undoubtedly contribute to restricting the spread of the coronavirus, given the pivotal role played by municipal libraries in local communities, as well as the special characteristics of library patrons, it will have other negative consequences. In this paper we consider the impact of the closure of municipal libraries in NSW from two perspectives: (a) its effect on the fiscal circumstances of local authorities and (b) its impact on the spread of the corona contagion as well as its broader effects on local community wellbeing. We conclude that rather than complete closure, partial constraints on library use should have been considered.

The decline and likely loss of a population of the Northern Long-nosed Potoroo Potorous tridactylus tridactylus in Tyagarah Nature Reserve on the New South Wales Far North Coast

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Milledge ◽  
Norman Graham ◽  
Jill Smith
Keyword(s):  
Nature Reserve ◽  
New South ◽  
Local Population ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Camera Trapping ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Far North ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Alectura Lathami ◽  
Potorous Tridactylus

ABSTRACT A population of the Northern Long-nosed Potoroo Potorous tridactylus tridactylus in Tyagarah Nature Reserve on the far north coast of New South Wales was first recorded in 1985. In 1992, a cage-trapping study captured 15 individuals in the central section of the reserve and the population was estimated at 80–90 individuals at that time. A subsequent cage-trapping study in 2004 captured four individuals in the southern section of the reserve, but further cage- and camera-trapping surveys in 2009 and 2012 failed to detect any individuals. Additional camera-trapping surveys between 2012 and 2015 and more intensive surveys between 2015 and 2016 also failed to detect any individuals. The lack of detections from targeted surveys over seven years between 2009 and 2016 suggests that the Tyagarah population of the subspecies has been lost. Reasons for this loss are unclear but may be due to a combination of factors including isolation of the reserve by urban development and highway upgrades, a lack of fire for 40 years, competition for food with the local population of the Australian Brush-turkey Alectura lathami, prolonged drought and possibly, predation by the Red Fox Vulpes vulpes and non-target effects of predator control programs.

Impacts of wildfires on the 2020 floods in southeast Australia: A vegetation data-assimilation case study  using the NASA coupled LIS/WRF-Hydro system

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Lahmers ◽  
Sujay Kumar ◽  
Aubrey Dugger ◽  
David Gochis ◽  
Joseph Santanello
Keyword(s):  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Hydrological Modeling ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Surface Energy Budget ◽  
Area Index ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Land Information System ◽  
The Impact

<div> <p>In late 2019 widespread wildfires impacted much of the New South Wales province in south east Australia, and this loss of vegetation contributed to increased surface runoff and consequently major flooding caused by extreme rainfall by early 2020. The recently developed NASA LIS/WRF-Hydro system enables the data assimilation (DA) capabilities of the NASA Land Information System (LIS) and the surface hydrological modeling capabilities of the WRF-Hydro model to be combined in a single model architecture. Combining the DA capabilities of the LIS system with WRF-Hydro, which has been used for both research and operational hydrologic simulations, we investigate the impacts of vegetation DA on the simulated floods in several basins across New South Wales, with varying degrees of burn severity from the 2019 fires. We also consider the impacts of the wildfires, as realized through vegetation DA on water partitioning and the surface energy budget, which both have implications for L-A interactions. For DA, we utilize the leaf area index retrievals from MODIS and vegetation optical depth from SMAP. For the present study, we will quantify the impact of the changes to the landscape brought about by the wildfires on hydrologic response, including flood severity, which would not be possible without the DA capabilities of the LIS/WRF-Hydro system.</p> </div>

The protocols for koala research using radio-collars: a review based on its application in a tall coastal forest in New South Wales and the implications for future research.

2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 187 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Radford ◽  
J. McKee ◽  
R. L. Goldingay ◽  
R. P. Kavanagh
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Radio Tracking ◽  
Research Committee ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Current Form ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Pine Creek

In 1996, guidelines were produced for capture and radio-tracking protocols for koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) research within New South Wales (NSW). An integrated project commenced in 1998 to examine P. cinereus ecology and health status in Pine Creek State Forest. This project utilised intensive clinical and pathological assessment protocols on captured P. cinereus in combination with radio-tracking and ecological investigations. The methods used in this project were referred to the NSW Koala Research Committee (KRC) for review in mid 1999 due to the political profile of the study area. The KRC assessed the project protocols and reviewed the original guidelines incorporating some of the protocols used in the Pine Creek project. The outcome is a new set of protocols for P. cinereus research within NSW which are more explicit and restrictive than those applied to P. cinereus research elsewhere or to research on other species. In their current form the new guidelines require a substantial investment in time, equipment, personnel and finance; factors that may deter or restrict future, comprehensive ecological research on P. cinereus populations. They inadequately provide for some practices we believe important in minimising the invasiveness of P. cinereus capture. We propose amendments to the guidelines in the areas of personnel required, behavioural assessment, capture methods, processing safety and tracking frequency. We suggest that these amendments will render the guidelines more accessible to a broader range of projects, and easier to apply under field conditions while preserving the intent to maintain P. cinereus welfare and research best practice.

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