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Ancient Wisdom, Modern Prosperity: Harnessing Traditional Ecological Knowledge To Revitalize Australia's Economy, Environment, And Human Wellbeing, Annabelle L. Baulch

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper explores the traditional knowledge of Australia’s Indigenous people and how it can improve Australia's environment, health, and economic prosperity to shape a more sustainable future. Indigenous Australians managed the land for thousands of years; however, being forced off the land following European colonization resulted in terrible cultural, social, and environmental disruption for Aboriginal Australians and made conservation efforts difficult. Wildfires, imported species, mining, and agriculture is steadily destroying the Australian ecosystem, contributing to climate change, species extinction, and gaps in our cultural and ancestral knowledge. Chapter One overviews Australia's environmental issues; it uses quantitative data to explore the …

A Foundational Population Genetics Investigation Of The Sexual Systems Of Solanum (Solanaceae) In The Australian Monsoon Tropics Suggests Dioecious Taxa May Benefit From Increased Genetic Admixture Via Obligate Outcrossing, Jason T. Cantley, Ingrid E. Jordon-Thaden, Morgan Roche, Daniel S. Hayes, Stephamie Kate, Christopher T. Martine

Faculty Journal Articles

Solanum section Leptostemonum is an ideal lineage to test the theoretical framework regarding proposed evolutionary benefits of outcrossing sexual systems in comparison to cosexuality. Theoretically, non-cosexual taxa should support more genetic diversity within populations, experience less inbreeding, and have less genetic structure due to a restricted ability to self-fertilize. However, many confounding factors present challenges for a confident inference that inherent differences in sexual systems influence observed genetic patterns among populations. This study provides a foundational baseline of the population genetics of several species of different sexual systems with the aim of generating hypotheses of any factor—including sexual system—that influences …

Evaluation Of Oral Baits And Distribution Methods For Tasmanian Devils (Sarcophilus Harrisii), Sean Dempsey, Ruth J. Pyer, Amy Gilbert, Nicholas M. Fountain-Jones, Jennifer M. Moffat, Sarah Benson-Amram, Timothy J. Smyser, Andrew S. Flies

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Context

Diseases are increasingly contributing to wildlife population declines. Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) populations have locally declined by 82%, largely owing to the morbidity and mortality associated with two independent transmissible devil facial tumours (DFT1 and DFT2). Toxic baits are often used as a management tool for controlling vertebrate pest populations in Australia, but in other areas of the world, oral baits are also used to deliver vaccines or pharmaceuticals to wildlife.

Aim

Our goal was to evaluate the potential use of edible baits as vehicles for vaccine delivery to Tasmanian devils.

Method

We first tested bait palatability with …

Thirty Critical Research Needs For Managing An Ecologically And Culturally Unique Remote Marine Environment: The Kimberley Region Of Western Australia, C. Cvitanovic, M. Mackay, R. Kelly, S. K. Wilson, K. Waples, K. L. Nash, E. I. Van Putten, S. Field, T. Botterill-James, B. J. Austin, L. E. Beckley, F. Boschetti, M. Depczynski, R. J. Dobbs, R. D. Evans, M. Feng, R. K. Goater, A. R. Halford, A. Kendrick, G. A. Kendrick, G. D. B. Lincoln, L. J. Ludgerus, R. J. Lowe, Kathryn Mcmahon, J. K. Munro, S. J. Newman, C. Nutt, L. Pearson, M. J. O'Leary, Z. T. Richards, W. D. Robbins, D. I. Rogers, Chandra P. Salgado Kent, V. Schoepf, M. J. Travers, M. Thums, A. D. Tucker, J. N. Underwood, S. Whiting, D. Matthews, Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The Kimberley marine environment in Western Australia is widely recognised for its outstanding natural features, vast and remote sea and landscapes, and Indigenous cultural significance. To ensure that adequate baseline information is available to understand, monitor and manage this remote and relatively understudied region, scientific exploration was undertaken between 2012 and 2018 as part of the Kimberley Marine Research Program (KMRP). Whilst this program generated significant amounts of new knowledge about the region, important research gaps remain, that if answered, should improve the capacity of managers to conserve the region's values more effectively. Here, we apply established participatory horizon scanning …

Habitat Selection By Vulnerable Golden Bandicoots In The Arid Zone, Cheryl A. Lohr, Kristen Nilsson, Colleen Sims, Judy Dunlop, Michael T. Lohr

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In 2010, vulnerable golden bandicoots (Isoodon auratus) were translocated from Barrow Island, Western Australia, to a mainland predator-free enclosure on the Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area. Golden bandicoots were once widespread throughout a variety of arid and semiarid habitats of central and northern Australia. Like many small-to-medium-sized marsupials, the species has severely declined since colonization and has been reduced to only four remnant natural populations. Between 2010 and 2020, the reintroduced population of golden bandicoots on Matuwa was monitored via capture–mark–recapture data collection, which was used in spatially explicit capture–recapture analysis to monitor their abundance over time. In 2014, we used …

What Lies Beneath: Predicting Seagrass Below-Ground Biomass From Above-Ground Biomass, Environmental Conditions And Seagrass Community Composition, C. J. Collier, L. M. Langlois, Kathryn M. Mcmahon, J. Udy, M. Rasheed, E. Lawrence, A. B. Carter, M. W. Fraser, L. J. Mckenzie

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 Seagrass condition, resilience and ecosystem services are affected by the below-ground tissues (BGr) but these are rarely monitored. In this study we compiled historical data across northern Australia to investigate biomass allocation strategies in 13 tropical seagrass species. There was sufficient data to undertake statistical analysis for five species: Cymodocea serrulata, Halophila ovalis, Halodule uninervis, Thalassia hemprichii, and Zostera muelleri. The response of below-ground biomass (BGr) to above-ground biomass (AGr) and other environmental and seagrass community composition predictor variables were assessed using Generalized Linear Models. Environmental data included: region, season, sediment type, water depth, proximity to land-based sources …

Assessment Of Genetic Diversity In Largetooth Sawfish, Pristis Pristis, Populations Over The 20th Century, Ann Fearing

Master's Theses

The Critically Endangered Largetooth Sawfish, Pristis pristis, experienced global declines in range and abundance over the past century and Australia is now their last stronghold. This research aimed to understand whether these declines have been accompanied by a reduction in levels of genetic diversity. Using P. pristis tissue samples sourced from natural history specimens, three fragments (616-bp, 386-bp, 141-bp) in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region were PCR-amplified. At each fragment, significant genetic structure was found in P. pristis overall (Φ_ST=0.946, N=9; 0.813, N=54; 0.771, N=99). The Indo-West Pacific and Atlantic/Eastern Pacific each harbor genetically distinct lineages of …

Using Environmental Dna To Detect Estuarine Crocodiles, A Cryptic-Ambush Predator Of Humans, Alea Rose, Yusuke Fukuda, Hamish A. Campbell

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Negative human–wildlife interactions can be better managed by early detection of the wildlife species involved. However, many animals that pose a threat to humans are highly cryptic, and detecting their presence before the interaction occurs can be challenging. We describe a method whereby the presence of the estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), a cryptic and potentially dangerous predator of humans, was detected using traces of DNA shed into the water, known as environmental DNA (eDNA). The estuarine crocodile is present in waterways throughout southeast Asia and Oceania and has been responsible for >1,000 attacks upon humans in the past …

Conospermum Undulatum: Insights Into Population Genetics And Pollination Ecology Of A Threatened Species, Nicola Delnevo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Fragmentation of natural vegetation is currently one of the largest threats to biodiversity. Within the southwest Australia global biodiversity hotspot, the Swan Coastal Plain was historically cleared for agriculture and forestry and is now experiencing extensive land clearing for urbanisation. The wavy-leaved smokebush Conospermum undulatum is a rare species endemic to the Swan Coastal Plain, and its future persistence is threatened by urban expansion.

Throughout this research, I investigated the pollination ecology of this species and found a specific association between C. undulatum and native bees for pollination. I also demonstrated that C. undulatum has evolved pollen with resistance to …

Effects Of Catastrophic Seagrass Loss And Predation Risk On The Ecological Structure And Resilience Of A Model Seagrass Ecosystem, Robert J. Nowicki

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As climate change continues, climactic extremes are predicted to become more frequent and intense, in some cases resulting in dramatic changes to ecosystems. The effects of climate change on ecosystems will be mediated, in part, by biotic interactions in those ecosystems. However, there is still considerable uncertainty about where and how such biotic interactions will be important in the context of ecosystem disturbance and climactic extremes.

Here, I review the role of consumers in seagrass ecosystems and investigate the ecological impacts of an extreme climactic event (marine heat wave) and subsequent widespread seagrass die-off in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Specifically, …

Devil In A Hula Skirt: Comparative Conservation Efforts Between The United States And Australia Using Two Endemic Species As Case Studies, Sarah Catherine Kuchinsky

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

There is a biodiversity crisis in our midst. An abundance of technology and innovation in the last 200 years has revamped our world but at the cost of pushing many species to extinction. Since the passing of the Endangered Species Act by Congress in 1973, more than 100 species in the United States have disappeared (Wilson 2006). The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stats that "19,265 species out of the 59,507 so far assessed as threatened with extinction," (IUCN 2011). Extinction is the result of a combination of factors caused by human environmental disturbance. Disturbances in the …

Seeing Through Others' Eyes : Towards A Hybrid Ecology Of Marine Turtle And Dugong In Australia, Zoe Car

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis explores the conflict between conservationists and Indigenous communities over the hunting of marine turtles and dugong in Australia, with a view to finding a way to overcome the barriers that prevent the resolution of this issue. I approached this exploration as an ecologist, using the framework of Berkes (2004) who proposed three shifts for the field of ecology. This meant taking a systems approach and investigating the intertwining threads of the issue as possible, with a specific focus on integrating the human aspects of the problem in a participatory manner. By doing so my work entered into a …

An Exploration Of Relationships Between Environmental Change And Place Identity: An Analysis Of Personal Stories From The South Coast Of Western Australia, Ruth E. Rogan

Theses : Honours

The complex relationships between people and places have been investigated by philosophic and scientific writers of the 19th and 20th centuries and more recently by researchers within the discipline of environmental psychology. A plethora of concepts have been developed to describe the relationship between people and their environments, including place identity and place attachment. Complex relationships exist between place identity, place attachment and the physical environment. Despite this, research situated within the discipline of environmental management, which addresses changes within the biophysical environment, rarely considers the psychological impacts of such change on individuals interacting within those environments. This study investigates …

Australian Genetic Resources Of Trifolium And Ornithopus Species, Richard Snowball, Kevin Foster, Bill Collins

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The introduction of improved pasture legumes into the cereal growing areas of southern Australia changed the face of our agricultural systems.

Subterranean clover was the first pasture legume to have a major impact, and the first varieties were available commercially in the 1930s. Since then, many varieties have been released, leading to the most recent release of Denmark, Gou/bum and Leura in 1992.

The development of burr, barrel and murex medics also had an impact on the pasture production of less acid heavy soils. Yellow serradella is still being developed for the more acid sandy soils.

This development of improved …