ABSTRACT Camera trapping has advanced significantly in Australia over the last two decades. These devices have become more versatile and the associated computer technology has also progressed dramatically since 2011. In the USA, the hunting industry drives most changes to camera traps; however the scientific fraternity has been instrumental in incorporating computational engineering, statistics and technology into camera trap use for wildlife research. New survey methods, analytical tools (including software for image processing and storage) and complex algorithms to analyse images have been developed. For example, pattern and texture analysis and species and individual facial recognition are now possible. In the next few decades, as technology evolves and ecological and computational sciences intertwine, new tools and devices will emerge into the market. Here we outline several projects that are underway to incorporate camera traps and associated technologies into existing and new tools for wildlife management. These also have significant implications for broader wildlife management and research.

With the advent of computer-based technology and the increasing need to focus on the biology of plant and animal species, it i s both necessary and timely to adopt strategies for reviewing available information concerning individual species. To be most useful, biological reviews should be able to cope with taxonomic uncertainty and change, should be comprehensive with regard to topics, sufficiently detailed, repeatable and easy to keep up-to-date, should include anecdotal observations, and should indicate the nature and extent of support for each statement concerning a species. I present here a computer-based strategy which I have adopted for carrying out such reviews and illustrate it with the example of the diet of the Green and Golden Bell Frog Litoria aurea

A revised computer-based wildlife inventory programme has been developed to aid the collation and mapping of fauna and flora information. Field data woks have been produced to facilitate the collection of significant records in a format that is easy to handle. Current maps for the records for the terrestrial vertebrate classes are presented.

A Population Viability Assessment (PVA) workshop was held in Melbourne in May, 1990, to demonstrate its potential to wildlife managers by applying PVA to six species of threatened wildlife in Victoria. The workshop ran for one week and involved 32 participants, who worked in teams. The computer program VORTEX was used to simulate population behaviour resulting from random demographic, genetic and environmental variation, and catastrophic events. VORTEX runs on an MS-DOS microcomputer, and Toshiba laptop microcomputers plus printers and plotters were used. Simulations were run and analysis of results completed in the week following the workshop. PVA results were used to set management goals and strategies for the species examined. PVA is a useful tool for the management of threatened species for which there are adequate population data, and regular application of the technique is likely in the future. The workshop proved a useful way to demonstrate and apply Population Viability Assessment in a relatively short period of time.

ABSTRACT Research communication has changed rapidly over the last decade creating new opportunities for researchers in all disciplines to communicate their research directly to an engaged audience. The communication of research now needs to be seen as a continuous process and an integral part of the research. It is now possible to set up a network of social media platforms that communicates research to a bespoke audience that may create real impact for that research. Here I look at opportunities for researchers to communicate their research to various audiences using social media.

ABSTRACT Citizen science has become popular for data collection in ecology and environmental management. However, most participants in citizen science projects are only involved for a short period of time. Understanding the reasons behind this dropout rate is important for improving long term participation. Here we investigated participation rates in TurtleSAT, an Australian turtle mapping app aimed at collecting data useful for conservation efforts. First, we looked at the TurtleSAT database to examine the number of participants and how many sightings each had uploaded. Then, we distributed an online questionnaire to all TurtleSAT participants and asked what inspired them to participate, if they found the app easy to use, and whether they were still active in the project. Out of 75 respondents, 21 said they were currently not active participants. Their reasons for not participating anymore included lack of time, technical issues, and a perception of high turtle abundance that indicated conservation efforts are unnecessary. The motives that originally inspired their participation were not significantly linked to them leaving the project. We propose possible solutions to some of the issues identified, such as offering online tutorials and a hotline to solve technical issues, a more direct link from the TurtleSAT app to news and academic articles regarding turtles, and establishing an online forum to maintain engagement.

ABSTRACT Water-level fluctuations can have significant effects on lake biological communities. Thirlmere Lakes are a group of five interconnected lakes located near Sydney. Water levels in Thirlmere Lakes have fluctuated over time, but there has been a recent decline that is of significant concern. In this study, we examined over one year the species composition and richness of zooplankton (Rotifera, Cladocera and Copepoda) and abiotic conditions in Lakes Nerrigorang and Werri Berri, two of the five Thirlmere lakes, with reference to lake water level. We recorded a total of 66 taxa of zooplankton, with the first report of the rotifer Notommata saccigera from Australia, and the first report of the rotifers Keratella javana, Lecane rhytida and Rousseletia corniculata from New South Wales. There was a marked difference in abiotic conditions between the two lakes, with more variable conditions in Lake Nerrigorang. There was a significant positive correlation between zooplankton species richness and lake water level but only for Lake Nerrigorang. Although the two lakes are closely situated and thought to be potentially connected at high water levels, they show distinct ecological characters and the effect of water-level fluctuations on zooplankton species richness seems to differ between the lakes.

ABSTRACT Citizen science is growing rapidly in Australia and globally, and presents valuable opportunities to engage with the community and amplify scientific research. The recent growth in citizen science is largely attributed to technology and has resulted in citizen science now recognised as having the potential to augment and enhance traditional scientific research and monitoring. Citizen science can deliver a level of spatial granularity often not possible with conventional research. This, coupled with its potential to engage the public meaningfully in science, uniquely positions citizen science to monitor and thereby effect genuine scientific outcomes. However, the rapid growth in citizen science has also resulted in some data and information challenges that need to be overcome. Here we present a general overview of citizen science and some of the opportunities and challenges associated with its rapid growth, with a focus on Australia. We use case studies of successful citizen science projects in New South Wales to demonstrate its potential across areas such as cost efficiency and scalability. Overall, these examples show how citizen science has the potential to provide a monumental shift in our ability to monitor the environment while simultaneously increasing understanding and trust in science within the broader community.

ABSTRACT The peer-reviewed Australian Zoologist , first published in 1914, is Australia’s longest-lived zoological journal. Its publication history shows changes in the zoological topics covered over the last 100 years, including the animals studied, characteristics of the authors and readership, and the influence of the databases used to study the journal on information retrieval. Searches in different databases retrieved different numbers of papers; Scopus (including secondary documents not in the database but cited by documents that are in the database) was the most comprehensive. Although authors from 22 countries contributed papers over the history of the Australian Zoologist , over 90% of authors were Australian. Most international authors came from the USA, the UK, Canada and New Zealand. Approximately two-thirds of authors citing Australian Zoologist were Australian-based, but there were still 10 or more authors from each of thirty-four other countries citing Australian Zoologist : while regional, the journal has an international profile. Highly cited papers in Australian Zoologist had high mean Scopus percentile ranks (20 th century 83.9, 21 st century 73.7), indicating that in comparison to their fields globally, these papers are used well above average. Considering all papers published in Australian Zoologist , over time the proportion of papers in the categories ‘Biodiversity & Conservation’ and ‘Environmental Sciences & Ecology’ rose significantly, reflecting the increased research in these areas. Between 2013 and 2019, when relevant metrics are available in Scopus, Australian Zoologist declined in no metric measured while improving significantly in CiteScore, Highest Percentile, and % Cited, indicating increasing references to Australian Zoologist papers by other peer-reviewed publications. Between 2010 and 2019, 2.1% of Australian Zoologist papers were ranked within the top 10% in their fields globally, based on citation impact. Authors considering publishing in Australian Zoologist should note that longer papers are acceptable, colour imagery (including photographs) is encouraged, the journal is visible in major databases, it is cited internationally and there are no page charges.

ABSTRACT Cost-effective surveys of low density koala populations are challenging, but technological developments in the acoustics field offer great potential for landscape-scale surveys and monitoring. We assessed passive acoustic recording coupled with automated call identification as a survey method for koalas Phascolarctos cinereus . Surveys targeted areas of previously known koala activity based on scat surveys in southern forests of New South Wales where a low density of koalas is suspected. We set 24 Song Meters to record at night over a two week period (~3,696 hours) in the koala breeding season (October/November) in Murrah Flora Reserve. Recordings were scanned by a koala call recogniser and “matches” were manually verified. Across the 24 sites, 522 validated koala bellows were recorded at 21 sites (87.5 % detection rate). Three environmental variables had most influence on detection probability of koalas, including nightly rainfall (-ve), nightly temperature (-ve) and topographic position (lower on ridges). Calling activity peaked at midnight. Sustained site occupancy, at least in the short-term, was apparent as under optimal conditions (no rain) koalas were recorded, on average, for > 50 % of survey nights rather than for just a few nights. We suggest that only a modest survey effort (4–5 nights) in the breeding season, on nights with < 3 mm of rain, is required to achieve 90–95 % probability of koala call detection in an area of low koala density. Comparison with scat surveys at the same sites revealed that detection rates were more than three times greater with acoustic surveys. Technological advances will continue to provide improvements for wildlife survey, and perhaps most importantly, for collecting much needed long-term data to assess trends in occupancy or other population attributes over time.

Following the fourth session of the forum, we held a question and answer session facilitated by Paul Willis. The presentations covered by this plenary session were: John Hadley (Western Sydney University) - Does a painless death harm an invertebrate? Trudy Sharp (Department of Primary Industries) - Killing pest animals: are all methods equal? Susan Rhind (University of Wollongong) and Murray Ellis (Office of Environment and Heritage NSW) - Euthanasia in the field. A compact and cheap system for field euthanasia of small mammals; the need, design and trial. Rosie Cooney (University of New South Wales) - The role of the IUCN in sustainable use of wildlife for conservation and livelihoods. Stephanie Hing (RSPCA), Jordan O. Hampton, and Troy. J. Gibson - Animal welfare and the killing of wildlife by captive bolt in Australia. (Paper included post forum.) Denis A Saunders (CSIRO) and Alison Doley - Culling farm wildlife for conservation and production on “Koobabbie”, a cereal and sheep growing property, in the northern wheatbelt of Western Australia. (Paper included post forum.)

ABSTRACT Conservation detection dogs have been widely used for finding scats, retreat sites and specific plant and animal species for a variety of purposes, including monitoring, management, biosecurity and eradication programs. Their cost-effectiveness appears well established in finding cryptic and rare animals, yet they are not included in the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions’ published search protocol for bilbies. In this study a human searcher located six of 90 scats (6.7%) compared to the conservation detection dog that located 89 of 90 bilby scats (98.9%). The dog’s time to locate the first scat in a 25m × 25m site with a ground cover of leaves, sticks and grasses was 72.8 sec (± se 8.10, n = 60) and, when a second scat was present, the mean time to locate the second scat was 186.5 sec (± se 186.517, n = 29). We strongly recommend that conservation detection dogs are incorporated into the State government’s search protocol for bilbies, as they are more accurate and faster than human searchers, and provide development proponents with greater confidence in searches undertaken as part of an environmental impact assessment.

Wildlife harvesting has a long history in Australia, including obvious examples of overexploitation. Not surprisingly, there is scepticism that commercial harvesting can be undertaken sustainably. Kangaroo harvesting has been challenged regularly at Administrative Appeals Tribunals and elsewhere over the past three decades. Initially, the concern from conservation groups was sustainability of the harvest. This has been addressed through regular, direct monitoring that now spans > 30 years and a conservative harvest regime with a low risk of overharvest in the face of uncertainty. Opposition to the harvest now continues from animal rights groups whose concerns have shifted from overall harvest sustainability to side effects such as animal welfare, and changes to community structure, genetic composition and population age structure. Many of these concerns are speculative and difficult to address, requiring expensive data. One concern is that older females are the more successful breeders and teach their daughters optimal habitat and diet selection. The lack of older animals in a harvested population may reduce the fitness of the remaining individuals; implying population viability would also be compromised. This argument can be countered by the persistence of populations under harvesting without any obvious impairment to reproduction. Nevertheless, an interesting question is how age influences reproductive output. In this study, data collected from a number of red kangaroo populations across eastern Australia indicate that the breeding success of older females is up to 7-20% higher than that of younger females. This effect is smaller than that of body condition and the environment, which can increase breeding success by up to 30% and 60% respectively. Average age of mature females in a population may be reduced from 9 to 6 years old, resulting in a potential reduction in breeding success of 3-4%. This appears to be offset in harvested populations by improved condition of females from a reduction in kangaroo density. There is an important recommendation for management. The best insurance policy against overharvest and unwanted side effects is not research, which could be never-ending. Rather, it is a harvest strategy that includes safeguards against uncertainty such as harvest reserves, conservative quotas and regular monitoring. Research is still important in fine tuning that strategy and is most usefully incorporated as adaptive management where it can address the key questions on how populations respond to harvesting.

Burrowing crayfish are notoriously difficult to sample owing to their cryptic nature and subterranean habitat. The most commonly employed sampling method is burrow excavation but it is labour-intensive, destroys the burrow and hence is not repeatable. Consequently, non-destructive sampling methods are more desirable, especially for species of conservation significance, but such methods remain poorly investigated. Capture effectiveness of the original Norrocky Trap (Norrocky 1984) and a design modified specifically to target crayfish of the genus Engaeus Erichson (Decapoda: Parastacidae) were assessed. The modified design had a smaller diameter, used different materials and housed a variation on the trapdoor design found in the Norrocky Trap. Traps were trialled in the Bunyip State Park and the Gippsland region of Victoria, south-eastern Australia where burrowing crayfish of the genus Engaeus are known to occur. Significantly higher capture rates resulted from the modified trap design, with several Engaeus species captured. Further refinements of this or similar trap designs have the potential to improve capture rate. This work demonstrates that the modified Norrocky Trap is an effective method for Engaeus capture. We envisage the trap design will promote a broader use of non-destructive sampling methods for Engaeus and potentially other burrowing crayfish genera.

We examined nocturnal microhabitat preferences of the endangered Growling Grass Frog Litoria raniformis in lotic and lentic environments in southern Victoria, Australia. Data were obtained during surveys of six wetland sites during the summer of 2003. At all sites the observed distribution of frogs amongst microhabitat categories differed from their availability, as assessed by sampling of random points. Frogs were located most often on bare soil, bare rock or leaf litter when on land, and on floating, submergent and emergent vegetation in aquatic situations. Non-metric multidimensional scaling and analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) were used to compare the structural attributes of microhabitats used by L. raniformis to those of random points. In both the riparian and aquatic zones of the study sites, microhabitats used by these frogs differed from random points in their degree of vertical structural complexity. Whilst our data may be biased by the observability of frogs in different microhabitats, this study suggests that structurally open microhabitats are an important component of the habitat of L. raniformis . The ecological basis for this result is discussed, as are implications for our understanding of the species' habitat requirements.

ABSTRACT Virtual wildlife fencing presents as a cost-effective measure for roadkill mitigation, which aids in reducing fragmentation of wildlife populations by facilitating safer movement of wildlife across the landscape. In this study, we conducted an audit of a virtual fence installation in south-east Queensland, Australia. We assessed its reliability in flows of traffic and the effect that installation parameters and site conditions had on its effective operation in an urban setting. We made observations on the behavioural response of Eastern Grey Kangaroos Macropus giganteus to the acoustic signals produced by the fence. We found that the fencing activated consistently in response to headlights at dusk and dawn, and when traffic flows were dense, despite considerable variations in the range of installation parameters. However, we identified that the response of the virtual fence to headlights was affected by road curvature and we identified inconsistencies in the timing and pattern of activation in response to traffic. Behavioural observations showed a significant increase in kangaroo vigilance in response to the acoustic signal of the fence when resting or grazing, and kangaroos detected the acoustic signal up to 50 m away. While virtual fencing operates effectively and is a low-cost roadkill mitigation option that can be applied to the urban environment, more research is needed to better understand the effect of its acoustic and visual signals on wildlife behaviour and efficacy in busy urban environments.

A pilot study, using remotely deployed ultrasonic bat detectors, was undertaken in the Conondale Ranges as part of a research programme to assess the impacts of wet sclerophyll logging on native wildlife. The remote system was of the voice activated type and tested because of its costs relative to other systems. The remote detection technique was inefficient as a means for identifying ail potential species that occur in the area, because of slow response by the equipment to switch on in response to bat calls, problems with high noise to signal ratio and the behaviour of some species relative to the remote equipment. Only eight species were recorded out of a potential eighteen species that occur in the Conondale Ranges. The highest diversity and activity measures were recorded in the intermediate site, last logged in 1961, and the lowest in the regrowth site. These preliminary results are not conclusive because of small sample size and difficulties with the methodology.