Despite 200 years of European settlement, the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment sustains a rich and diverse fauna. This is a consequence of extensive sandstone environments largely unsuited for development that escaped the extensive habitat modifications affecting the fauna of the grassy woodlands on the Cumberland Plain and Southern Tablelands. The most significant impacts followed the clearing and fragmentation of the vegetation for agriculture. Changed fire regimes, the naturalization of exotic plants and animals, and disease were also factors in the decline of native birds and mammals. Data on frogs and reptiles are limited, but some reptiles have declined in abundance in association with the loss of habitats. Not all native species have been adversely affected by European settlement and a number of birds have increased in abundance and extended their range within the catchment. Agricultural clearing and urban development have also affected aquatic ecosystems. The pre-European environment was apparently characterized by creek and river systems subjected to periodic floods, but with clear water, low nutrient levels, and clean sandly or rocky substrates. Increased nutrient levels, turbidity and siltation associated with urban and rural effluents, land clearing, foreshore erosion and river bed mining has reduced the extent of seagrass communities in the lower Hawkesbury and changed the substrate of rivers and the estuary. Mangrove communities have expanded. Other impacts on aquatic environments include the removal of riparian vegetation and the draining of wetlands, changes of flow regimes, dredging of channels, pollution of water from domestic, industrial and agricultural sources, changes in salinity, eutrophication of wetlands and the over-exploitation of the aquatic fauna. In freshwater creeks and rivers the native fauna has declined in abundance, while introduced species have spread throughout the catchment. In estuarine and marine environments, the fauna associated with clear water, low siltation rates, and seagrass beds has declined and species that were formerly abundant are now scarce. The native terrestrial and aquatic fauna in the catchment will continue to decline with urban expansion and better management of human activities within the catchment is urgently required. Further clearing within the catchment is unwise and existing vegetation remnants (including freshwater wetlands) should be protected from development. This is particularly important on the Cumberland Plain and Southern Tablelands where as distinctive fauna is associated with vegetation remnants and the reserve system is inadequate. Similarly provision needs to be made for minimum freshwater flows into the Hawkesbury-Nepean estuary. Nutrient removal from sewage, control of stormwater runoff, and better management of agricultural chemicals, fertilizers and mining within the catchment is necessary to restore water quality. Foreshoes should be revegetated. Most importantly, urban expansion and population growth within the catchment should be restricted.

ABSTRACT The invasive Red-eared Slider Trachemys scripta elegans has spread extensively, forming naturalised populations on all continents except Antarctica. Ranked among the 100 worst invasive species, there are biosecurity concerns that native turtles become outcompeted and displaced, as well as other speculative impacts. The actual ecological impacts in Australia have not been properly studied, however impacts shown in other countries are concerning. Incursions have presented in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. A number of sightings have been reported from southern Sydney, including six sites where more than one slider has persisted. The incursions at Yeramba Lagoon in the Georges River National Park and the Centennial Parklands have been the most documented, whereas incursions in the Lime Kiln Bay Wetland, Rockdale Wetlands Corridor and Audley in the Royal National Park appear to have occurred recently. To date, breeding in southern Sydney has only been confirmed at Yeramba Lagoon. A range of removal techniques have been successfully applied to eradicate isolated incursions in Brisbane and Melbourne. However, these options are difficult to implement in southern Sydney sites where incursions occur in high visitation public lands.

Kangaroos (Macropus spp.) are one of the most abundant native macrofauna on Australian floodplains with a positive relationship between their density and the deposition of faecal pellets that contain nutrients and carbon.We tested whether kangaroo faecal pellets are a source of nutrients and carbon during flooding in the Macquarie Marshes, an inland floodplain wetland, in south-eastern Australia. The faecal pellets of kangaroos, most likely of Red Kangaroo (M. rufus) , were found on the dry floodplain adjacent to Bora Channel (~30.6433°S/~ 147.5351 °E) at a density of 142±54 m -2 (mean±SE, n=3). Following artificial inundation, we monitored the release of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) five times over a six-day period from mesocosms deployed in situ .Three mesocosms contained faecal pellets and three mesocosms contained marsh floodplain sediments (top 5 cm of sediment consisting of soils and plant material) with faecal pellets removed. The concentrations (mean±SE, n =3) of TN, TP and DOC in the mesocosms containing the pellets were 0.037±0.0I7, 0.22±0.060 and 0.69±0.I4 g m -2 at day 6, while the mesocosms containing only the marsh floodplain sediments were I.03±0.23, 0.49±0.083 and 7.27± 1.02 g m -2 . On average, the kangaroo faecal pellets contributed ~6% of TN, ~3I% of TP and ~ 8% of DOC of the total amounts respectively released from the inundated floodplain over the six-day experiment. Nutrient and carbon depositions to floodplains in the form of faecal pellets from large terrestrial animals such as kangaroos are an important process of cycling these elements in inland floodplain wetlands, especially where large populations of these animals occur.

ABSTRACT We used two survey methods - citizen science for private land and cameras for protected areas - to map the distribution of dingoes/wild dogs and foxes in NSW. Dingo/wild dog records were mostly confined to the east coast and ranges, with scattered locations in western NSW. This contrasts to the distribution of foxes, in which occupancy was high across most of the state. Data from 200 WildCount camera sites within protected areas also showed marked differences in the distribution of the two canid species. At the scale of the state, dingoes/wild dogs are uncommon, with the greatest concentration being in the north-east of the state, as well as a marked presence in the south-east. Foxes are common and widespread within protected areas, but less common in the north-east of the state. The camera data also indicated that feral cats are widespread within protected areas. The second aim of our study was to examine the WildCount data for behavioural patterns of the canid species. Foxes and dingoes/wild dogs significantly separated within two sub-formations of dry sclerophyll forest based on the Keith (2004) classification of NSW vegetation. From species pairwise interactions at sites, we found only limited evidence for significant interactions, and then only for the co-occurrence of fox-rabbit and fox-swamp wallaby, but no avoidance for any of the predators with each other. Camera records of the time of day of being active showed little effect of the presence of dingoes/wild dogs on the times of activity of foxes, but foxes curtailed the activity times of dingoes/wild dogs. From the analysis of inter-animal times at sites where both canids were recorded, there was little difference between the time since the other species was present. Thus, there was no evidence that dingoes/wild dogs or foxes inhibit the other from being at a site. We concluded that at the landscape level, both vegetation type and land tenure play a role in the interactions between dingoes/wild dogs and foxes. We also concluded that citizen science and cameras are complementary, not alternative techniques, especially as they sample different land tenures, and that cameras in protected areas and occupancy from citizen science have produced higher resolution maps and behaviour patterns than have been previously available. We can confirm that foxes are a ubiquitous threat throughout NSW, whereas dingoes/wild dogs are concentrated into a much smaller area of eastern, particularly north-eastern, NSW.

While presence/absence of endocrine disruption has been widely observed within polluted wetlands, relatively few data have addressed population level changes for any species. This paper investigated the effects of endocrine disruption on the phenotypic sex ratio, size structure, biomass, and density of Gambusia holbrooki populations in wetlands used for storage of 1) tertiary treated sewage effluent; 2) urban stormwater runoff; and 3) wetlands without effluent supplementation (control wetlands). Those wetlands that had previously been determined to have endocrine disruption effects on G. holbrooki had lower density and biomass of fish than other wetlands. In contrast, the pattern of variation in the average length and phenotypic sex ratio of fish was not consistent with the effects of endocrine disruption.

This study investigated relationships between durations of inundation in River Red Gum wetlands and waterbird breeding, in particular the durations of flooding under nest trees that waterbirds need to breed successfully; and developed guidelines for managing water regimes in River Red Gum wetlands for waterbird breeding. The main study area was the middle section of the Murrumbidgee River in New South Wales. Average lag times between flooding under nest trees and first nests of Darter, cormorants, herons, egrets, Australian White Ibis and spoonbills ranged from two to four months following spring floods, and from four to seven months following autumn floods. The average lag times from flooding under the nest trees to first broods of ducks were one to two months, regardless of season of flooding. Average lag times to peak breeding of Darter, cormorants, herons, egrets, Australian White Ibis and spoonbills were three to five months following a winter/spring flood and six to nine months following an autumn flood. The equivalent figures for ducks were four months following a winter1 spring flood and five months following an autumn flood. Taking egg laying, incubation of eggs and fledging of young into account, waterbirds need 5 to 10 months inundation under nest trees to complete breeding. Most Darters, cormorants, herons, egrets, Australian White Ibis and spoonbills nested at wetlands which retained water permanently in their deeper, open areas. In contrast, most ducks bred at wetlands which dried out fully between floods. Water levels in River Red Gum wetlands should be managed to provide breeding habitat for waterbirds by allowing the ground under the nest trees to flood for at least 5 to 10 months, and then dry back before the next flood. River Red Gums should not be flooded for longer than 18 months, but water can be retained permanently in deeper, open areas of wetlands.

ABSTRACT The management of the Kareela flying-fox camp in southern Sydney, New South Wales, is a case study of the challenges faced by local councils trying to mitigate negative impacts from flying-foxes on their communities. When flying-foxes were discovered roosting in Kareela in February 2008, local residents and schools complained to the public land manager, Sutherland Shire Council. Concerns were mainly about the impacts of flying-fox faeces, noise and odour, and fear of disease. Initially, branches overhanging affected properties were removed to mitigate the issue. Ongoing impacts prompted council to clear vegetation from the fringes of the camp, creating a buffer area. These buffers provided physical separation but reportedly caused noise impacts to intensify during peak influxes of flying-foxes when animals appeared to be unsettled from being concentrated into a smaller area of roosting habitat. Camp dispersal was advocated by some stakeholders seeking swift resolution. Others rejected the idea, considering the high cost and poor success rate of camp dispersal attempts elsewhere. Subsequently, several key stakeholders including direct neighbours of the camp renounced their support for camp dispersal. Council proceeded with camp dispersal, which only achieved a temporary absence of flying-foxes from Kareela. During this time, a new flying-fox camp formed 3.5 km away. Flying-foxes subsequently returned to the Kareela camp 15 months after the initial dispersal. This case study demonstrates the many interacting factors involved in managing flying-fox camps that have impacts on human settlements. Moreover, the Kareela case study adds to the list of flying-fox dispersal attempts in eastern Australia that have been ineffective in permanently removing flying-foxes from a camp. The case study also highlights the importance of understanding the social and political context of flying-fox camp management, in addition to flying-fox ecology.

At the time of European settlement, the wetlands of the Clarence River floodplain sustained considerably higher numbers of waterbirds than at present. These wetlands were valuable natural resources for the local Aboriginal people with ducks, geese and swans easily hunted using traditional methods. European settlers displaced the local Aboriginal people from the floodplain in the 1800s, although through to the 1960s waterbirds were common food items for local residents with hunting being a popular sporting pursuit. European settlement dramatically altered waterbird habitat through the clearing of native vegetation, the introduction of farming and grazing, and hydrological alteration. The hydrology of the floodplain wetlands was altered initially by manually-constructed shallow drains but later, and more drastically, by a flood mitigation scheme that involved the construction of deep drains and channels affecting not only surface, but also sub-surface, hydrology. The subsequent ecological impacts included a dramatic decline in waterbird numbers and depletion of functional habitat. Only very recently have there been methodical efforts to restore locally important habitat, albeit incidentally to other restoration goals. On-going restoration efforts have focussed on modifying hydrological regimes on agricultural land for the control of acid sulphate discharge and creation of fish passage, although most recently a wetland area was purchased by government for nature conservation purposes.

ABSTRACT People's attitudes towards the conservation of Australian wildlife is of particular importance as the types of attitudes people hold can have a significant impact on conservation solutions. We investigated attitudes held towards Australian wildlife and conservation solutions. A sample of 312 residents participated in an online questionnaire. An ‘ecoscientistic’ attitude was the most commonly held attitude, highlighting that wildlife are appreciated for the role they play within our ecosystem. There was a significant association between age and attitude towards Koala Phascolarctos cinereus and Crownof-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci conservation and a significant association between socio-economic status and attitude towards Brush-turkey Alectura lathami conservation. Most participants agreed that action should be taken towards wildlife conservation in the future. Conservation managers and other key stakeholders need to capitalise on this information to increase public support for Australian wildlife, and encourage conservation action. Significant associations between attitude and some sociodemographic characteristics were observed, however more research between attitude and sociodemographic associations is recommended, including in other regions of Australia and internationally.

ABSTRACT Urbanisation is altering local flora and fauna, but urban greenspaces can provide refugia for a variety of taxa. However, we often lack basic biodiversity information (e.g., species richness) for these urban greenspaces. Citizen science projects are continuously improving our understanding of ecology at broad temporal and spatial scales. But, many conservation-relevant decisions are idiosyncratic and made at small management scales (e.g., local government). Given a general bias of citizen science data towards areas with large human populations, citizen scientists are best placed to contribute to improving our understanding of the biodiversity within cities and urban greenspaces. We introduce the Greenspace Bird Calculator: a web-app aimed at enhancing our collective knowledge of bird diversity in urban greenspaces. Users of the web-app could be land managers seeking to understand the bird diversity in the greenspaces they manage. It is built in a reproducible workflow, allowing anyone to delineate a greenspace and submit it to the web-app administrator, receiving an output comprising the greenspace’s total bird diversity. The Greenspace Bird Calculator web-app provides an automated tool to utilise existing eBird citizen science data to calculate species richness for urban greenspaces globally. Critically, the GBC web-app statistically assesses available data that otherwise would be unlikely to be considered by decision-makers. This web-app is an example of the evolution of citizen science, whereby the data collected has been analysed to allow accessible interpretation and inclusion into urban greenspace management and planning.

ABSTRACT Of the 59 woodland bird species investigated in this study, 20 were found to have declined over the last six decades while another 12 species were found to have increased over the same time period. Fifteen species are listed as threatened under the New South Wales Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and this study identified those same 15 species as being uncommon to rare on the Cumberland Plain. In addition, many other Cumberland Plain woodland bird species are uncommon and are also in decline. Apart from the threatened species it is likely that 12 other species may also be lost from the Cumberland Plain. If the current trends continue, it is likely that we will lose nearly half of the 59 species over the next few decades unless efforts are made to protect and enhance woodland habitat of the Cumberland Plain.

ABSTRACT Nomadic birds move around the landscape in complex, irregular patterns, making it difficult for conservation managers and planners to decide where and how to act to mitigate threatening processes. Because of this uncertainty, nomadic species are poorly represented in protected areas in Australia. We outline approaches to discover nomadic species distributions, their dynamics and their consequent vulnerability to extinction. Using citizen science initiatives like eBird Australia and the BirdLife Australia Atlas, combined with new ways of applying species distribution modelling that take into account temporal patterns of movement driven by weather and productivity, we demonstrate how to map and predict the key sites for conservation action for nomadic species. We explore recent advancements in decision–support tools to incorporate species movements into systematic conservation planning, and highlight challenges in traditional approaches for protected area designation for conserving nomads. Due to the spatio–temporal dynamism of nomadic species distributions, the projected costs of managing nomads across Australia using traditional, static, protected areas are prohibitive. Landholders, including graziers and indigenous landholders, will play a key role in safeguarding these species on pastoral lands into the future, and future conservation efforts should be focussed on these stakeholders, through a combination of community engagement, market–based incentives (such as biodiversity farming or payments for artificial water source and ephemeral wetland management), cross–boundary and cross– agency collaboration policies, and new legislative instruments. Accounting for the movements of nomadic species and incorporating new approaches to integrated land management will help design conservation solutions that are effective, cost–efficient, and robust to uncertainty in this rapidly changing world.

ABSTRACT This short essay comes from a presentation at the “Killing for Conservation” symposium organised by RZSNSW late in 2017. It uses the conceit of a literary killing and its fall-out to examine broader issues around the topic of killing for conservation, and conservation more generally. The essay takes its title from an Australian children's classic, The Magic Pudding . Although less fashionable in twenty-first century Australia, and while there can be many arguments about the author's intent in writing the story, and the views he promotes through it (Eipper 1999), it is essentially about the phenomenology of the central actor, Albert, the magic pudding. A brief precis of the story (Lindsay 1918) is as follows: The story is of Bunyip Bluegum the koala, pushed out of home and deciding to see the world, taking only a walking stick. Quite soon he gets hungry and by happenstance meets Bill Barnacle the sailor and Sam Sawnoff the penguin who are eating a pudding – Albert. Albert was a bad-tempered, ill-mannered pudding: but however much you ate, Albert the pudding regenerated at once. By rotating Albert, you could also change flavour, from steak-and-kidney to apple-pie. Since Albert's only pleasure is being eaten, he insists that Bill and Sam invite Bunyip to join them. Glossing over details, Bill explains to Bunyip how he and Sam were once shipwrecked with a ship's cook on an iceberg where the cook created the pudding which they now own. In fact, as Bill and Sam starved on the iceberg, the chef became fatter each day, and one night they discovered the cook eating Albert. Although “shrouded in mystery” they were so enraged they rushed at the corpulent cook, who being round, and the ice slippery, rolled off the iceberg and was killed in the freezing waters – hence the title of this paper. Eventually Bill, Sam and Albert returned to Australia, where they had to constantly defend Albert from being stolen by a range of different pudding thieves. Several (temporarily successful) occurrences of pudding thievery occur, the last unsuccessful once finishing in an affray, leading to the Albert being charged with disorderly conduct and taken to court. In court, the judge and the usher are distracted (playing cards), while trying to adjudicate on this matter. They are also eating the defendant, lubricated by generous swigs of port, and, unsurprisingly, cannot come to any decisions. Further chaos ensues until the pudding owners grab Albert from the dock and make a getaway safely to a quiet place. There they settle down for the rest of their lives, keeping the Pudding carefully fenced in to avoid being thieved or escaping.

ABSTRACT Freshwater turtle populations are globally threatened by many factors. Complicating matters, their longevity requires long-term monitoring on the scale of decades to assess changes in population size, yet few long-term studies exist. Documenting population estimates and trends is essential for identifying and conserving imperilled populations, however, the impacts of many current threats may render populations endangered well before declines become apparent. By that stage, population recovery may not be possible, thus assessing population level impacts of potential threats may provide a direct measure of risks of population extinction. Australian turtles face major threats of mortality from invasive species, vehicles, disease and declining water quality. Even Australia's most abundant and widespread species has declined by up to 91% in some populations. Here I use population models to assess the impacts of threats to multiple life history stages of an Australia turtle. This study clearly demonstrates that Chelodina longicollis , Australia's most widespread turtle (1) is resilient to high levels of nest predation for sustained periods, (2) requires only periodic levels of reduced nest predation and pulse recruitment to maintain population viability and (3) low levels of adult mortality can drive populations to extinction. Turtle populations require pulse recruitment (i.e. nest predation rates declining to <35% every ten years) and monitoring of nest predation rates for 5–6 years to determine whether nest predation level profiles are extreme. However, if terrestrial mortality of adult turtles occurs, then the risk of extinction is high regardless of nest predation levels. Monitoring protocols to assess nest predation and adult mortality rates are not widely developed for freshwater turtles and here I develop a management plan that employs Citizen Science and standardised on-ground protocols to assess levels of threats at the population level. Standardised protocols and involvement of the public and community groups creates a network for broad-scale assessment and management of a species. Although threats can be identified and easily quantified and long-term data has demonstrated the extent of the decline of freshwater turtle populations in southern Australia, solutions to minimise risks of extinction need to be developed and fast-tracked before turtles throughout Australia become critically endangered.

ABSTRACT Australia's system of conservation reserves is inadequate to conserve continental biodiversity. Reserves are small, isolated, and unrepresentative of continental ecosystems to the extent that entire groups of organisms, such as nomadic and migratory birds, are poorly conserved. The reasons for the inadequacy of the reserve system are historical and embedded in politics, emotion, and ideology. To illustrate these ideas, I describe my experiences in dealing with the politics, emotion, and ideology of reserve selection and management from the late 1960's to the early 1990's in New South Wales first as a member of the Scientific Committee advising the Minister of Lands and then as a member of the New South Wales National Parks Advisory Council. An emphasis on pristine landscapes and wildness compromised recommendations for the development of the New South Wales' reserve system. My account of events as I experienced them may be of interest to persons tracing the history of reserve selection in Australia and of value to those seeking a better system of reserves for the conservation of Australia's biota. Not everyone will agree with my views, but creating a reserve system capable of conserving Australia's biodiversity requires a new vision for conservation. There is evidence that this is happening, with increased scientific involvement in reserve selection, design, and management, but politics, emotion, and ideology continue to dominate Australian conservation efforts.

ABSTRACT Impacts on the forested bioregions of south–western Australia have, since first European settlement in 1826, been extensive and dramatic. Large–scale land clearing removed over two–thirds of the vegetation for agriculture and urbanisation. Other significant threats to the biota include: changed fire regimes; exotic predators, diseases and herbivores; and drought and climate change. Conservation reserves in the region were originally chosen on aesthetic appeal, often aligning poorly to modern CAR (comprehensive, adequate and representative) criteria aspiring to conservation of at least 10% of each bioregion. The entire period of European occupation of the region has been characterised by the need to balance different land uses within a changing political context, broadening in recent years to incorporate indigenous culture and heritage. Thus much may be gained by a historical perspective grounding contemporary policy in an understanding of the successes and failures of the past. Here, we consider the historical development of the unique perspectives from forestry, agriculture and conservation through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before assessing their interplay with newer concerns. This experience illustrates that society can design management systems to conserve biodiversity and ensure long–term sustainable use of renewable resources, but that the political will is often lacking.

ABSTRACT There are 5.2 million hectares of public native forest within the coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (IFOA) regions in New South Wales on and east of the Great Dividing Range. 4.3 million hectares or 83% of these forests are set aside in formal or informal conservation reserves. State Forests which comprise 1.55 million hectares or 30% of the public estate within the coastal IFOA regions in New South Wales are managed for a variety of reasons including timber production, recreation, and conservation. While commonly associated with timber harvesting, 43% (675,717 hectares) of the native State forest estate is set aside for conservation in informal reserves. State forest conservation areas include formal Flora Reserves, and a suite of informal reserves including riparian protections, ridge and headwater connection, old growth patches, rare and non– commercial forest types, rainforest, heath, rock outcrops, steep slopes, wildlife corridors, large forest owl protection areas and species specific exclusion zones. These informal reserves receive legal protection via the State Forest Management Zones (FMZ) across the landscape. These informal reserves facilitate the movement of forest fauna and provide important habitat for a unique subset of species. When harvesting occurs in adjoining forest land the reserved areas provide refugia and opportunities from which re–colonisation can occur. Additionally and importantly, the juxtaposition of the undisturbed forest in informal reserves and open areas created by harvest operations creates an ecotone and a variety of successional forest habitats. In addition to describing the current extent of these areas in State Forests in eastern NSW, we reviewed research that assessed their effectiveness as a complementary conservation measure to formal Reserves. Our review indicates that there is a considerable body of knowledge supporting their effectiveness at the local level. To date, however, there has been limited investment in extending and testing these findings more broadly across the landscape. The current forestry regulatory framework is a mix of broad landscape exclusions, general protective conditions implemented routinely regardless of the result of biodiversity surveys and also the option of implementing a condition in lieu of survey, but relies heavily on localised pre– harvesting surveys of threatened species. The costly nature of these surveys and the requirement for these surveys to comply with licence conditions, however, limits the ability to undertake post– harvest surveys or monitoring on a broader scale with available resources. A new model is currently being developed whereby minimum standards are set for informal reserves across the landscape, in conjunction with local scale protection of key habitat features. The new direction has arisen from recognition that effective biodiversity conservation demands a holistic approach. However, the effectiveness of this approach and proposed retention thresholds needs to be rigorously monitored. This would require transferring effort from pre–harvest surveys towards monitoring occupancy trends and status of biodiversity over time.