Sooty owl ecology and recent small mammal decline

This thesis investigated the ecology of the threatened sooty owl, which was used to improve understanding of recent small mammal declines and how a top-order predator adapted to changes in ecosystem condition following European settlement. This knowledge will help improve biodiversity conservation and management of forested ecosystems in south-eastern Australia.

An overview of the ecology, management and conservation of Australia's temperate woodlands

Australia’s temperate woodlands are environments of cultural and ecological importance and significant repositories of Australia’s biodiversity. Despite this, they have been heavily cleared, much remaining vegetation is in poor condition and many species of plants and animals are threatened. Here, we provide a brief overview of key issues relating to the ecology, management and policy directions for temperate woodlands, by identifying and discussing ten themes. When addressing issues relating to the conservation and management of temperate woodlands, spatial scale is very important, as are the needs for a temporal perspective and a complementary understanding of pattern and process. The extent of landscape change in many woodland environments means that woodland patches, linear networks and paddock trees are critical elements, and that there can be pervasive effects from ‘problem’ native species such as the Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala). These consequences of landscape change highlight the challenge to undertake active management and restoration as well as effective monitoring and long-term data collection. In developing approaches for conservation and management of temperate woodlands, it is essential to move our thinking beyond reserves to woodland conservation and management on private land, and recognise the criticality of cross-disciplinary linkages. We conclude by identifying some emerging issues in woodland conservation and management. These include the need to further develop non-traditional approaches to conservation particularly off-reserve management; the value of documenting approaches and programmes that demonstrably lead to effective change; new lessons that can be learned from intact examples of temperate woodlands; and the need to recognise how climate change and human population growth will interact with conservation and management of temperate woodlands in future decades

Explanations for variation in cognitive ability : behavioural ecology meets comparative cognition

Sara Shettleworth has played a defining role in the development of animal cognition and its integration into other parts of biology, especially behavioural ecology. Here we chart some of that progress in understanding the causes and importance of variation in cognitive ability and highlight how Tinbergen's levels of explanation provide a useful framework for this field. We also review how experimental design is crucial in investigating cognition and stress the need for naturalistic experiments and field studies. We focus particularly on the example of the relationship among food hoarding, spatial cognition and hippocampal structure, and review the conflicting evidence for sex differences in spatial cognition. We finish with speculation that a combination of Tinbergen and Shettleworth-style approaches would be the way to grapple with the as-yet unanswered questions of why birds mimic heterospecifics.

Distribution, ecology and conservation of small mammals in fire-prone landscapes

Management of fire for biodiversity conservation is a global issue. This research provides new insights into the distribution of mammals in fire-prone eco-systems. A key outcome of this thesis is that understanding the role of fire over broad spatial scales and long time periods will benefit ecological and conservation management.

Permanent genetic resources added to molecular ecology resources database 1 August 2010 – 30 September 2010

This article documents the addition of 229 microsatellite marker loci to the Molecular Ecology Resources Database. Loci were developed for the following species: Acacia auriculiformis · Acacia mangium hybrid, Alabama argillacea, Anoplopoma fimbria, Aplochiton zebra, Brevicoryne brassicae, Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Bucorvus leadbeateri, Delphacodes detecta, Tumidagena minuta, Dictyostelium giganteum, Echinogammarus berilloni, Epimedium sagittatum, Fraxinus excelsior, Labeo chrysophekadion, Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi, Paratrechina longicornis, Phaeocystis antarctica, Pinus roxburghii and Potamilus capax. These loci were cross-tested on the following species: Acacia peregrinalis, Acacia crassicarpa, Bruguiera cylindrica, Delphacodes detecta, Tumidagena minuta, Dictyostelium macrocephalum, Dictyostelium discoideum, Dictyostelium purpureum, Dictyostelium mucoroides, Dictyostelium rosarium, Polysphondylium pallidum, Epimedium brevicornum, Epimedium koreanum, Epimedium pubescens, Epimedium wushanese and Fraxinus angustifolia.

Fire, energy, and the ecology of reptiles in semi-arid Australia

‬Fire dependent ecosystems cover over half of the world's land surface. Understanding the factors that determine the distribution of fauna in these systems is essential to biodiversity conservation. This thesis explores the ecology of reptiles in a fire-prone region.

A further development in social marketing application of the MOA framework and behavioral implications

This social marketing study discusses the application of Rothschild’s MOA framework (Motivation, Opportunity, and Ability) in a land-use management context. The authors hypothesize that landholders with higher levels of MOA are positively associated with behavior that would result in the effective control of a vertebrate pest (the European rabbit). A random sample of 566 land managers in southeastern Australia was obtained. The development of scales associated with this study were the result of intensive qualitative research, including focus groups, in-depth interviews, and a thorough review of secondary resources. The scales were developed through a factor analytic process and were piloted and pre-tested before being used.

From the study it is ascertained that about one-third of land managers fall into the highest level of effective behavior, and for the remainder, social marketing interventions, using marketing, education, and the law, could be applied to changebehavior. The study provides evidence that Rothschild’s theoretical MOA framework can be applied to a social market and thus provides guidance on the types of interventions that may be effective in altering behavior. The MOA framework also provides a mechanism for segmentation that can be used to describe various markets and gives direction to the interventions that may be effective in altering behavior.