ABSTRACT The provision of wildlife rescue and rehabilitation services in New South Wales (NSW) relies heavily on the volunteer sector. The NSW Government regulates the sector and is responsible for identifying measures for its support and delivery of services. To inform this process, we undertook an extensive review of the sector. We report here on the results from our survey of NSW volunteer wildlife rehabilitators, who have collectively reported over 1,000,000 rescues of sick and injured free-living wildlife over the past 16 years. The survey provided a unique insight into the demographics of the sector, the challenges faced, and the value of their contribution to wildlife rehabilitation. Volunteers’ views on the operation of wildlife rehabilitation providers cover five key areas: governance, training, standards of care, service capacity and reporting, as well as the support received from other stakeholders, NSW Wildlife Council (the peak body for the sector), veterinary professionals and government. We found that the volunteer wildlife rehabilitation sector in NSW provides a significant public good that is of high value to the environment, community and government. We make recommendations for investment and strategic improvements to the capacity of the sector to continue to deliver services including transitioning wildlife rehabilitation providers towards a system of accreditation in the future.

ABSTRACT In Australia, the common carp ( Cyprinus carpio ) is a significant pest species because it dominates fish communities in numerous catchment areas. In 2016, Australia launched a national control plan based on the use of Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV3) to reduce carp densities. CyHV3 is exotic to Australia and is listed as by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) due to its substantial impact on global aquaculture production. Infection with CyHV3 causes koi herpesvirus disease (KHVD), a high mortality disease in common carp affecting all age classes of both wild and farmed fish. The objective of this review was to consider the current knowledge of CyHV3 transmission factors and discuss the potential for recurring epidemic-level mortality events in carp found in Australia. Case studies were presented comparing KHVD outbreaks in wild carp in Japan and Epizootic haematopoietic necrosis virus (EHNV) outbreaks in pest redfin perch ( Perca fluviatilis L.) in Australia. The release of CyHV3 in thermally-favourable waterways in Australia would undoubtedly cause one high mortality KHVD epidemic. However, there is little evidence to suggest that repeated CyHV3 outbreaks would recur at a magnitude to counter the reproductive potential of the surviving carp.

Information relating to the early decline of native mammal species in the western third of Australia, before the establishment of rabbits and foxes, was sought from recollections of oldtimers, archival records, historical documents, and searches of museum collections. Based on the information discovered, the hypothesis is advanced that the early decline was caused by an exotic disease. The evidence available is suggestive of a first wave of mammal declines and extinctions in Western Australia (WA) commencing about 1875. From this single, contingent historical event, it is postulated that 33 species (about one third of the non-volant mammal fauna of WA) changed significantly in distribution and abundance. The pattern of the decline both geographically and over time is consistent with epizootic disease as the primary factor, but probably interacting with drought and predation by feral cats as secondary factors. Much of the decline occurred before food shortages or habitat destruction caused by sheep grazing, habitat destruction caused by wheat farming, and changes in Aboriginal fire regimes. Dated and localised records of disease affecting conspicuous (often pest) species, when integrated with other records of early declines, are suggestive of the epizootic spreading rapidly from the Shark Bay district in the 1880s. The lower south-west area was affected last, before 1920. Descriptions of clinical signs are imprecise but do refer to numerous dead or dying animals, mange, alopecia, eye disease, withered ears, and scabs on the nose. Plausible explanations of the source of the disease (south-east Asia), its transmission (mosquitoes), and the pattern and scale of its spread (exceptionally wet summers) are proposed. Other possible vectors are discussed but do not adequately explain the pattern and scale of the spread. Many other early declines of mammal species in WA that are difficult to explain convincingly may have been influenced by this epizootic. Disease as a primary factor is considered to provide a more satisfactory explanation of early declines in WA than predation by feral cats. Impacts of these declines on ecosystem processes were likely to have been profound. The applicability of the conceptual model developed is discussed in relation to the early decline of some mammal species in eastern Australia, The need for ongoing, vigilant quarantine to minimise the risk of animal diseases being introduced is emphasised.

ABSTRACT Many invasive species have had negative effects on the Australian environment, including the introduced Sambar Deer (Rusa unicolor) . However, there is a paucity of information on the factors influencing the fine scale distribution and abundance patterns of Sambar Deer in south-eastern Australia. We present the results of a field survey of Sambar Deer in the Critically Endangered Mountain Ash ( Eucalyptus regnans ) forests of the Central Highlands, Victoria. Our key question was: What factors influence detections of Sambar deer (based on scat counts) within the Mountain Ash forests of the Victorian Central Highlands? We surveyed 86 long-term field sites and detected a total of 245 groups of Sambar Deer pellets on 42% of these sites. Negative binomial regression modelling identified three factors associated with the occurrence of deer pellets. We recorded more pellets: (1) in 30 and 80 year old forest that remained unburned in fires that occurred in 2009, (2) on sites within closed National Parks relative to sites in State Forest, and (3) close to streams.

The koala Phascolarctos cinereus is the only member of the once diverse marsupial family Phascolarctidae to have survived the Last Glacial Maximum. A climate envelope model for P. cinereus was developed to predict the range for this species at present and at the Last Glacial Maximum. The model was compared to the contemporary koala records and the known fossil records of P. cinereus during the Quaternary. The predicted current core range for koalas was concentrated in southeast Queensland,eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria. At the Last Glacial Maximum their predicted core range contracted significantly to southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales. Our findings concord with other studies that find species experienced range contractions during glacial maxima. In the context of the future conservation planning for koalas in the wild, our historical perspective demonstrates the past adaptations of koalas to changes in climate and their probable range contraction to climatic refugia. The future survival of wide-ranging specialist species, such as the koala, may depend on identifying and protecting, future climatic refugia.

Loss and fragmentation of the native vegetation of the Central Western Plains of New South Wales was followed by declines of woodland-dependent species. Drought is likely to have further suppressed many animal populations. Here we report on changes in woodland bird reporting rates between surveys in 2005-2009 (drought declared period) and surveys in 2010-2013 following the drought-breaking rains of 2010. By 2013 the number of species detected per survey had just recovered to the level of surveys in 2005/6. The 2013 species composition of the region was similar to that recorded in the 2005-2009 drought surveys, with half of the small insectivorous and nectarivorous woodland birds remaining rare and restricted. Woodland remnants in the landscape continued to be dominated by the same, usually large, species of birds, but reporting rates of 13 of the 15 most common species declined. Conversely, several smaller, foliage gleaning passerines had higher reporting rates post-drought, with Striated Pardalote and Western Gerygone becoming two of the most frequently recorded species. Taxonomic and life history attributes usually did not predict population changes for species post-drought, with the only feeding guild showing a consistent trend being the mistletoe specialists, with only two species. Even after the drought-breaking rains of 2010, there appears to be a reduced vigour in these woodland landscapes.

Ellis et al . (2007) classified the fauna of south western New South Wales into a management related structure of specialised and generalist species assemblages. The broad description of this system was presented in the paper but the detailed assignment of species to the various groups and the relationships between the groups was not published when supplementary material was not produced with the book. To prevent the loss of this information, which is important for applying the results of this study to other situations, the assignment of species to broad management groups and assemblages is now published as Table 1 (below). The relationship between specialist assemblages, which would be actively conserved through appropriate vegetation and/or water management, and their relation to vegetation types was presented in the original publication. The relationship between vegetation types and generalist assemblages, which would accrue benefits from actions for specialist assemblages in the same vegetation type, is given in Table 2 (below). Habitat mapping through broad vegetation types was thought not to adequately reflect the requirements of shorebirds and no analysis of their distribution was attempted.

ABSTRACT Long-term field-based monitoring is essential to develop a deep understanding of how ecosystems function and to identify species at risk of decline. However, conducting long-term field-based research poses some unique challenges due to the harsh environmental conditions or extreme weather events that may be encountered. Such conditions are especially likely to occur in arid environments. Fieldwork issues can arise from vehicle breakdowns, wildfires and heavy rainfall events, all of which can delay or even cancel data collection. In addition, long-term monitoring typically requires multiple observers, which may add observation bias to estimates of measured parameters. Thus there is an increasing need to develop new statistical techniques that take advantage of the power of long time-series datasets that also are incomplete. Here we discuss multivariate autoregressive state-space (MARSS) modelling; a relatively new statistical technique for modelling long-term time-series data. MARSS models allow users to investigate incomplete datasets caused by missing values. In contrast to traditional modelling techniques, such as generalised linear models that only estimate error from environmental stochasticity (process error), MARSS models estimate both process and observation errors. By estimating observation errors, researchers can incorporate bias from different observers and methods into population or other parameter estimates. To illustrate the MARSS technique we interrogate long-term animal and plant datasets from arid central Australia that contain missing values and were collected by multiple observers. We then discuss the findings from the MARSS models and their implications for management. Lastly, we suggest future applications that this technique could be used for, such as studies of animal movements and food webs.

ABSTRACT Long-term ecological research and monitoring is a critical activity that has multiple important values for research, policy and management. Yet long-term studies are not particularly common. A range of factors contributes to this relative rarity and make it hard to establish (and then even harder to maintain) long-term ecological research and monitoring. These factors include: (1) a focus on novelty in science publication and awarding of grants that disadvantages long-term studies, (2) a paucity of long-term funding, (3) a bias against the publication of place-based research in favour of short-term “newsy” articles, global syntheses and meta-analyses, (4) a loss of people with natural history skills but a concurrent increase in modellers, (5) a trend away from evidence-based management acting as a disincentive to undertake long-term research, and (6) a focus on funding equipment rather than people (who are actually the critical “infrastructure” for maintaining on-the-ground research). Those with interests in maintaining long-term research must work hard to push back against these and other problems. In particular, it will be important to more clearly and forcefully demonstrate the many values of long-term research and monitoring by highlighting both its management-relevance and policy-relevance, and ensuring that long-term data are fundamental planks in initiatives like State of Environment reporting. More effort also will be needed to overturn some of the current flaws in science culture that hinder long-term ecological research and monitoring and, at the same time, develop and then strongly advocate for innovative funding models to ensure the maintenance of existing programs and the establishment of new long-term studies.

The bush stone-curlew Burhinus grallarius is listed as ‘Near threatened’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In NSW, bush stone-curlews are listed as ‘Endangered’ under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 . The present study focused on bush stone-curlew populations throughout the central coast of NSW and the aim of this study was to develop an inductive spatial model in Geographical Information System (GIS) of suitable bush stone-curlew habitat based on historical sightings and empirical data. To develop the models, micro-habitat data from 30 sites where bush stone-curlews have been recorded were combined with broad historical habitat maps between Gosford and Port Stephens. The habitat data and developed spatial models indicated that bush stonecurlew sightings are associated with trees dominated by Casuarina glauca and Syncarpia glomulifera . In terms of broad habitat classifications, bush stone-curlews are more likely to be sighted in wet sclerophyll forests (towards Gosford) and dry sclerophyll forests and saline wetlands (Port Stephens). The spatial model developed for this endangered bird will help direct conservation efforts to maintain and promote habitat in areas where urban development is rapidly increasing.