The influence of time since fire and distance from fire boundary on the distribution and abundance of arboreal marsupials in Eucalyptus regnans-dominated forest in the Central Highlands of Victoria

The impact of time since fire after two consecutive wildfires 44 years apart (1939 and 1983) within the same area, and the distance from the fire boundary «100 m or 500-2000 m), were investigated in relation to the distribution and abundance of arboreal marsupials in 1994. Arboreal marsupials were censused by stagwatching and spotlighting in two relatively young age classes of mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) dominated forest in the Central Highlands of Victoria. Five species of arboreal marsupial were detected, but only three were detected in sufficient numbers to determine habitat preferences. Petauroides volans (greater glider) was statistically more abundant in 1939 regrowth forests, while Trichosurus caninus (mountain brushtail possum) showed no significant preference for either age class of forest. All but one record of Gymnobelideus leadbeateri (Leadbeater's possum) came from young forest, though the effect of age-class was not statistically significant. Distance from fire boundary explained little or no variation in mammal distribution or abundance. While the actual number of hollow-bearing trees was similar in both age classes of forest, the long-term lifespan of hollow-bearing trees in more recently burnt forest is predicted to be lower than in unburnt or not recently burnt forest. Post-fire salvage logging following the 1983 wildfires appears to have reduced the number of hollow-bearing trees at sites burnt in 1983.

Nematode assemblages from Avicennia marina leaf litter in a temperate mangrove forest in south-eastern Australia

Meiofauna from Avicennia marina leaf litter in a temperate mangrove forest was enumerated, and the nematode assemblages compared on the bases of leaf colour (used as a guide to leaf age) and shore horizon where samples were collected. Twenty-one putative nematode species were collected from 48 leaf litter samples. Univariate analyses indicated that neither the colour of the leaf nor the shore horizon significantly affected abundance of nematodes. However, of the four (222) treatment groups, rarefaction curves revealed highest diversity on brown leaves from under the shade of the tree canopy (H'=0.751-0.126 SE, n=17). Species diversity of leaf litter nematodes was lower in this temperate mangrove system than reported from tropical mangrove studies. ANOSIM tests confirmed a significant effect of shore horizon on nematode assemblages. The dominant feeding group among nematodes was non-selective deposit feeders (7/21 species, but 77% of all nematodes). Epigrowth grazers were represented by 8/21 species of nematodes, but only 19% of the total number. Excised leaves became skeletonised by about 15 weeks. Shorter temporal scales of life cycles of nematodes compared with leaf degradation, and the dynamic nature of epibiontic assemblages, probably explain the similar assemblage structure on yellow and brown leaves.

Beach-foraging behaviour of Forest Ravens Corvus tasmanicus and an Australian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen at Wilsons Promontory, Victoria

Observations are presented of Forest Ravens Corvus tasmanicus, and an Australian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen, foraging by gleaning the sand on a beach.

Distribution of logs in a dry sclerophyll forest, Brisbane Ranges, Victoria

Fallen timber is an important habitat resource for small vertebrate and invertebrate animals in forests. This exploratory study investigated the pattern of distribution of fallen timber (here termed 'logs') in a dry sclerophyll forest in the Brisbane Ranges, Victoria, by sampling transects located in
gully, mid-slope and ridge positions, at each of 10 sites. Gullies supported a significantly higher density and volume of logs than ridges. The lowest abundance of logs was on ridges. The mean volume of logs was 98.6 m3/ha for gullies, 38.5 m3/ha at mid-slope positions and 13.1 m3/ha for ridges. The
volume of logs at transects was significantly positively correlated with the density of larger trees (diameter >40 em). A number of animal species in the Brisbane Ranges potentially use logs as a resource for shelter, foraging or perching, and hence the retention ofwoody debris will aid in habitat
management. The uneven distribution of logs in relation to forest topography and the size strueture of trees suggests that gullies, and forest stands with many large trees, are likely to be important habitats for species that use fallen timber. (The Victorian Naturalist 120 (2), 2003, 55-60)

Meiofaunal recruitment to mimic pneumatophores in a cool-temperate mangrove forest: spatial context and biofilm effects

A field experiment was devised to test whether meiofauna that colonised mimic pneumatophores (artificial substrates) resembled the assemblage on adjacent live pneumatophores in three randomly chosen intertidal, estuarine sites. The experiment showed that the close proximity of particular biota on living pneumatophores did not reliably influence subsequent development of assemblages upon mimic pneumatophores within a scale of 10 m during a colonisation period of less than 20 weeks. There was some convergence of the composition of the colonising assemblage of meiofauna on mimic pneumatophores with the local assemblages in sites dominated by barnacles, or where the natural pneumatophores were free from macroscopic epibionts. However, tychopelagic meiofauna from algal epiphytes did not significantly colonise mimic pneumatophores during the 20-week trial, probably due a lack of growing algae. During the conditioning phase suspended in water at a marine site 20 km from the mangroves, mimic pneumatophores acquired an assemblage of meiofauna different from the estuarine assemblage that colonised mimics following implantation in the estuarine mudflat. Enhanced colonisation rates of mimics in suspended bags at the conditioning site may be explained by the absence of benthic macroinvertebrates, and the lack of intertidal exposure. Biofilms aged 2, 7, and 11 weeks had no consistent, different effect on the subsequent colonisation of meiofauna. We conclude that divergence of phytal-based assemblages of meiofauna depends upon the amount of coverage, as well as the type, of fouling macro-epibionts on the pneumatophores. Meiofaunal assemblages on artificial substrates after 20 weeks colonisation displayed less intrinsic patchiness than mature phytal assemblages on natural pneumatophores, and so present a potentially useful way of improving the power of biomonitoring applications using meiofauna.

Cultural orienteering: a map for Anthony Browne`s into the forest

Bullen and Parsons identify Anthony Browne's picture book Into the Forest as a re-gendered retelling of 'Little Red Riding Hood' that expresses recent assumptions about childhood, risk and the resources children need to survive in today's world. In Browne's version, the forest is the terrain in which a young male protagonist imaginatively explores his anxiety about his father's unexplained absence.

Feel blue? Touch green! Participation in forest/woodland management as a treatment for depression

Recent research by a team from Deakin University explored the health and wellbeing benefits of civic environmentalism – voluntary communal actions undertaken to promote ecosystem sustainability, typified by membership of a ‘friends of parks’ group. The research confirmed what was known intuitively: that belonging to such a group and undertaking the activities associated with such a group exposes people not only to the benefits of the natural environment, but also to other people and to opportunities to make a contribution which is socially valued.

On the basis of those findings, a pilot project involving intentional engagement of people suffering depression and related disorders in supported nature-based activities in a woodland environment is being implemented and evaluated. This article reports on that project and discusses the implications of its findings to date, and the findings of the three earlier projects, both for urban woodland/forest managers and for the health sector.

As this contribution indicates, there appears to be potential for the use of civic environmentalism to promote health, wellbeing and social connectedness for individuals and the wider population, as well as for groups with identified health vulnerabilities. However, the realization of the benefits of such an approach will be dependent on co-operation between the environment and health sectors to create and promote opportunities for increased civic environmentalism, and to identify and address the barriers to their effective use.

The diet of powerful owls (Ninox strenua) and prey availability in a continuum of habitats from disturbed urban fringe to protected forest environments in south-eastern Australia

This study investigates the diet of six breeding pairs of powerful owls in the Yarra Valley Corridor in Victoria, Australia, and compares prey consumption with prey availability. The six sites represent a continuum of habitats, ranging from urban Melbourne, through the urban fringe interface to a more forested landscape. We found that powerful owls in the Yarra Valley Corridor are reliant almost exclusively on arboreal marsupial prey as their preferred diet, with 99% of their overall diet comprising four arboreal marsupial species. These four species (the common ringtail possum, common brushtail possum, sugar glider and greater glider) were also the most abundant species observed while spotlighting; however, their abundance varied along the continuum. There was a strong positive relationship with the presence of these species in the diet and their site-specific availability, indicating that the powerful owl is a generalist hunter, preying on the most available prey at a given site and in a given season. This study suggests that food resources are high in these disturbed urban fringe sites and it is unlikely that food availability in urban environments will limit the potential survival of urban powerful owls.

Incorporating stakeholder values into regional forest planning : a value function approach

Forest management involves multiple objectives, multiple stakeholders, complex socio-ecological and political interactions. Public involvement in forest decision making is a challenging task that involves controversies. Various participatory tools such as public consultation forums, public comment processes, opinion polls are used to consult and to obtain inputs from communities. All these methods can provide useful information but they fail to quantify the trade-offs systematically and offer little help in minimizing conflicts. The Australian Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) program was implemented in response to the decades of conflicts and debate between various stakeholder groups and government over the use and management of forest resources. So far, it has not been able to minimize conflicts in the forestry sector, partly due to its poor incorporation and integration of stakeholder values. This paper uses the value functions approach in modelling stakeholder values in regional forest planning. The results of the study indicate that this method can help to incorporate value preferences effectively into the decision making process. It can also increase the transparency and credibility of the forest planning exercises such as RFA process.

Evaluating public risk preferences in forest land-use choices using multi-attribute utility theory

Forest policy decisions inherently involve multiple attributes and risk and uncertainty as they largely deal with complex biological, ecological, and socio-political systems. Identifying risk preferences and quantifying their inter-relationships and tradeoffs are useful in formulating better forest policy. Often, technocrats and experts deal with risky decisions, but ideally, stakeholder risk characteristics should be explicitly considered in making policy decisions. This paper analysed societal risk preferences on public forest land-use attributes using multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT). The results indicate significant risk-averse behaviour towards old-growth forest conservation and forest-based recreation but less risk-averse behaviour towards native timber extraction. Overall, the respondents preferred a more conservative forest land-use option, which is consistent with their risk attitudes. The method provides insights into risk preferences of forest stakeholders, which could lead to better understanding of forest management conflicts. Moreover, the method explicitly distinguishes the technical and value components of the decision and is useful in unravelling public risk preferences in multiple-use forest planning situations.

Chaos theory and assessment of forest stakeholder attitudes towards Australian forest policy

The Regional Forest Agreement process has dominated Australian forest policy for the past decade. The RFA process set in place a mechanism by which benchmark conservation values were established for forest  ecosystems, whilst addressing the needs of the timber industry. The outcomes of a number of RFA's have been fraught with controversy. Key stakeholder groups have shown disagreement with processes and  outcomes of methods employed by government both in establishing conservation reserves and areas allocated to timber harvesting. This research uses non-linear techniques to examine the dynamical behavior in stakeholder responses and to identify patterns of behavior that may lead to prediction of stakeholder responses. The method developed in this research provides a bridge between social sciences and Chaos theory.¹

Face classification by a random forest

This paper presents a random forest-based face image classification method. The random forest is an ensemble learning method that grows many classification trees. Each tree gives a classification. The forest selects the classification that has the most votes. Three experiments are performed. The random forest-based method together with several existing approaches are trained and evaluated. The experimental results are presented and discussed.