tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/biodiversity-hotspot-24936/articlesBiodiversity hotspot – The Conversation2023-08-24T02:03:32Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2120142023-08-24T02:03:32Z2023-08-24T02:03:32ZLeakage or spillover? Conservation parks boost biodiversity outside them – but there’s a catch, new study shows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544193/original/file-20230823-23-fvjmxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=146%2C0%2C1514%2C1005&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Southern Red Muntjac deer peering at a camera trap.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s easy to assume protected areas such as national parks conserve wildlife – that seems obvious. But what is the proof? And how does park success vary across different ecosystems – in deserts versus tropical rainforests, or wetlands versus oceans? </p>
<p>While we can use satellite imagery to measure the effect of protected areas in reducing human impacts such as logging, you can’t see the animals from space. In particularly dense tropical rainforests, it was nearly impossible to accurately monitor wildlife, until remotely triggered camera traps became available in the past decade.</p>
<p>There is a longstanding conservation debate on the benefits that protected areas such as national parks have for biodiversity. </p>
<p>Some scientists have argued that conservation success inside park boundaries may come at the expense of neighbouring unprotected habitats. Essentially, they suggest parks displace impacts such as hunting and logging to other nearby areas. The technical term for this is <a href="https://rest.neptune-prod.its.unimelb.edu.au/server/api/core/bitstreams/018f26e0-7629-51b3-8bf4-5b3b4323c91d/content">leakage</a>. </p>
<p>On the other hand, marine parks have often reported higher biodiversity nearby. Fish reproduce successfully inside park boundaries and their offspring disperse, benefiting surrounding habitats in a “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1617138116300255">spillover</a>” effect. </p>
<p>We set out to see which of those effects actually prevails in protected land areas and their surrounds. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06410-z">new study</a>, published today in Nature, shows parks do enhance bird diversity inside their borders. Large parks also support higher diversity of both birds and mammals in nearby unprotected areas.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Rare rainforest species captured by camera traps used by the research team in protected areas across South-East Asia.</span></figcaption>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-major-players-in-conservation-ngos-thrive-while-national-parks-struggle-199880">The new major players in conservation? NGOs thrive while national parks struggle</a>
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<h2>What did the study look at?</h2>
<p>We recruited an international team of scientists to conduct a comprehensive analysis of bird and mammal diversity inside and outside parks across South-East Asia. We used more than 2,000 cameras and bird surveys across the region.</p>
<p>South-East Asia is one of the <a href="https://www.wildcru.org/news/south-east-asias-hotspots-of-biodiversity/">most biodiverse regions</a> on Earth, but <a href="https://rdcu.be/dkacH">hunting is a key concern</a>. It’s a prime suspect for why diversity has often been assumed to decline outside protected park areas. </p>
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<img alt="Three people attaching a camera trap to a tree" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544154/original/file-20230823-23-c916v8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544154/original/file-20230823-23-c916v8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544154/original/file-20230823-23-c916v8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544154/original/file-20230823-23-c916v8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544154/original/file-20230823-23-c916v8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544154/original/file-20230823-23-c916v8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544154/original/file-20230823-23-c916v8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Members of the research team set up a camera trap in Sumatra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
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<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544167/original/file-20230823-21-2hnt2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Pheasant in a rainforest clearing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544167/original/file-20230823-21-2hnt2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544167/original/file-20230823-21-2hnt2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544167/original/file-20230823-21-2hnt2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544167/original/file-20230823-21-2hnt2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544167/original/file-20230823-21-2hnt2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544167/original/file-20230823-21-2hnt2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544167/original/file-20230823-21-2hnt2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A Silver Pheasant eyes the camera.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
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<p>Hunters are mobile, so hunting bans within park boundaries may only displace these activities to nearby unprotected areas, undermining their net benefit. To be honest, we were surprised mammal diversity was higher outside large parks. It’s common to see hunters both inside and outside parks in many countries. </p>
<p>We expected hunters’ removal of game animals would reduce diversity outside parks. However, it appears large parks limit the impacts of hunting so it does not completely remove these animals. Specifically, when comparing unprotected areas near large reserves to unprotected areas that didn’t border large reserves, we found large reserves boosted mammal diversity in unprotected areas by up to 194%.</p>
<p>However, a sad note from our study was the finding that only larger parks significantly enhanced mammal diversity, casting doubt on the effectiveness of smaller parks for mammal conservation. Recent work in the region suggests many <a href="https://science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abq2307">large mammals persist in small parks</a>, but our study shows the presence of a few resilient animals in small parks doesn’t scale up to higher biodiversity overall.</p>
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<img alt="A wild cat in a rainforest clearing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544195/original/file-20230823-15-65e55z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544195/original/file-20230823-15-65e55z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544195/original/file-20230823-15-65e55z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544195/original/file-20230823-15-65e55z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544195/original/file-20230823-15-65e55z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544195/original/file-20230823-15-65e55z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544195/original/file-20230823-15-65e55z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A Marbled Cat looks back at the camera.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-protecting-land-for-wildlife-size-matters-heres-what-it-takes-to-conserve-very-large-areas-201848">In protecting land for wildlife, size matters – here's what it takes to conserve very large areas</a>
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<h2>Not all parks are equal</h2>
<p>These findings are especially timely for the United Nations, which recently announced more ambitious biodiversity targets, including significant expansions of global protected areas. The <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/kunming-montreal-global-biodiversity-framework">UN strategy</a> is to conserve 30% of Earth’s lands and waters by 2030 – the so-called “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/global-environment-summit-idAFL8N32R3GW">30 by 30 goal</a>”. Massive expansions of the global area of protected land will be difficult and expensive, but our results support this approach.</p>
<p>The work provides a clear case for park design to consider size. Larger parks routinely had higher bird diversity. Large mammals such as tigers and elephants travel huge distances and don’t see park boundaries drawn on maps. Larger parks support these wide-ranging animals that move across entire landscapes.</p>
<p>Considering the UN’s goal of increasing protected area to 30% of the world’s surface, our findings support the creation of fewer larger parks, rather than many smaller ones. </p>
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<img alt="Elephant's foot and trunk in a rainforest clearing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544161/original/file-20230823-23-kgl0vl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544161/original/file-20230823-23-kgl0vl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544161/original/file-20230823-23-kgl0vl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544161/original/file-20230823-23-kgl0vl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544161/original/file-20230823-23-kgl0vl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544161/original/file-20230823-23-kgl0vl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544161/original/file-20230823-23-kgl0vl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A Thai elephant captured by the camera trap moments before destroying it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/protecting-30-of-australias-land-and-sea-by-2030-sounds-great-but-its-not-what-it-seems-187435">Protecting 30% of Australia's land and sea by 2030 sounds great – but it's not what it seems</a>
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<h2>Next steps in South-East Asia and Australia</h2>
<p>Our findings also provide a much-needed conservation “win” for South-East Asia. Despite being a biodiversity hotspot, the region suffers from <a href="https://earth.org/deforestation-in-southeast-asia/">high rates of forest loss</a> and hunting, which pose threats to birds and mammals.</p>
<p>Our team built a collaborative network and massive database to conduct the analysis, and this can also be used to answer other questions. Our next project will quantify shifts in abundance – the numbers of animals rather than numbers of species – inside and outside parks. We suspect parks will support increased mammal and bird abundances, even more than increased in wildlife diversity.</p>
<p>Based on the success of the Asian collaborative network project, a related team is now building a domestic collaborative network and database to conduct similar analyses, called <a href="https://www.ecologicalcascades.com/wildobs">Wildlife Observatory of Australia</a>. Key questions will include the impact of fire and climate change on Australia’s wildlife diversity and abundance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212014/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research discussed in this article was supported by the United Nations Development Programme, NASA grants NNL15AA03C and 80NSSC21K0189, the National Geographic Society’s Committee for the Research and Exploration award #9384–13, the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award DECRA #DE210101440, the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, the Darwin Initiative, Liebniz-IZW, and the Universities of Aberdeen, British Columbia, Montana and Queensland. Mammal data collection in one study area (out of 65) was funded by Sarawak Energy Berhad; no personnel from that agency participated in the data collection or analysis or reviewed the manuscript before it was submitted.</span></em></p>The UN ‘30 by 30’ biodiversity strategy aims to set aside 30% of land as protected areas. New research shows these areas do support biodiversity, but big parks also increase it outside their borders.Matthew Scott Luskin, Researcher and Lecturer in Conservation Science, The University of QueenslandJedediah Brodie, Research Fellow, Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak; Associate Professor and John Craighead Endowed Chair of Conservation, University of MontanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2090382023-08-10T01:17:41Z2023-08-10T01:17:41ZMeet 5 marvellous mammals of the South Pacific you’ve probably never heard of<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541646/original/file-20230808-21-gvt2ao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C37%2C2741%2C2086&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/waigeo-spotted-cuscus-relaxing-on-branch-1722987340">Arie de Gier, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Islands are renowned for their weird and wonderful wildlife. These isolated ecosystems present unparalleled opportunities to study evolution, and the archipelagos of the southwest Pacific are no exception. </p>
<p>This vast and diverse region encompasses 24 nations and territories. It also includes four “<a href="https://www.cepf.net/our-work/biodiversity-hotspots">biodiversity hotspots</a>”: the East Melanesian Islands, Polynesia-Micronesia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. Each contains at least 1,500 plant species found nowhere else on Earth. So their total land area may be small, but south-west Pacific islands punch well above their weight in terms of their contributions to global biodiversity.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7928/">latest book</a> provides glimpses of more than 180 native mammals of the southwest Pacific, on islands that fall under the banners of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia (but excluding the island of New Guinea). Indigenous species of marsupials, bats, rodents and a monotreme are among the animals found here. Not surprisingly, half of these are endemic. Many are found only on a single island or small group of islands.</p>
<p>Let’s meet five charismatic species you’ve probably never have heard of, but simply must get to know.</p>
<h2>1. Black dorcopsis or black forest wallaby (<em>Dorcopsis atrata</em>)</h2>
<p><strong>Conservation status: critically endangered</strong></p>
<p><strong>Distribution: Goodenough Island (Papua New Guinea)</strong></p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A drawing of the black dorcopsis or black forest wallaby, side view." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The black dorcopsis (<em>Dorcopsis atrata</em>) is an enigmatic wallaby from forests on the mountains of Papua New Guinea’s Goodenough Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madison Erin Mayfield</span></span>
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<p>At the southeastern tip of Papua New Guinea is the gravity-defying Goodenough Island. It looms more than 2,500 metres above sea level, but it’s only about 3,900 metres wide – at the widest point. </p>
<p>Goodenough’s higher peaks are covered in rare forests. Here among the clouds is the only place you’ll find black dorcopsis.</p>
<p>Black dorcopsis often have very worn claws, suggesting they spend a great deal of time <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1754504811000195">digging for truffles</a> in the rocky soil. This probably plays an important role in dispersing fungi throughout their habitat. </p>
<p>Curiously, some appear to be wearing white gloves, on one or both front paws. Others do not. No one knows why. </p>
<h2>2. Waigeo cuscus (<em>Spilocuscus papuensis</em>)</h2>
<p><strong>Conservation status: vulnerable</strong></p>
<p><strong>Distribution: Waigeo (Indonesia)</strong></p>
<p>Waigeo cuscus have a remarkable coat. Irregular black splotches stand out against a background of almost pure white. In young animals these contrasting colours are subdued by the presence of blackish-grey tips to the hairs. </p>
<p>The cuscus have been photographed in the branches of fruiting fig (<em>Ficus</em> spp.) and breadfruit (<em>Artocarpus altilis</em>) trees, so they have a taste for fruit.</p>
<h2>3. Bougainville melomys (<em>Melomys bougainville</em>)</h2>
<p><strong>Conservation status: data deficient</strong></p>
<p><strong>Distribution: Bougainville (Papua New Guinea), Choiseul and Mono (Solomon Islands)</strong></p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of the native rodent Bougainville melomys standing on brown leaf litter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Bougainville melomys (<em>Melomys bougainville</em>) occurs in a wide variety of habitat on the islands of Bougainville, Choiseul and Mono.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Richards</span></span>
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<p>Pacific Island native rodents have proven vulnerable to disturbance, but thankfully Bougainville melomys seems to remain relatively common. </p>
<p>The contrast between orange fur on the head and back, and crisp white fur on the belly is rather attractive. </p>
<p>An active climber, Bougainville melomys can be found tiptoeing along thin woody vines (lianas), in fruiting trees among Bismarck common cuscuses (<em>Phalanger breviceps</em>), or scaling the trunks of wild betel nut palms (<em>Areca</em> spp.). They’ll tolerate disturbance and have been known to visit village edges to nibble on cultivated bananas.</p>
<h2>4. Lesser sheath-tailed bat (<em>Mosia nigrescens</em>)</h2>
<p><strong>Conservation status: least concern</strong></p>
<p><strong>Distribution: Widespread throughout Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of three lesser sheath-tail bats huddled under a palm tree leaf" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lesser sheath-tail bats (<em>Mosia nigrescens</em>) are endearing little animals that roost in ‘tents’ under palm tree leaves across parts of Melanesia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Richards</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you’re quiet and patient while walking through the palm-filled lowland forests of Melanesia, you might be lucky enough to spot one of the region’s smallest and most common echo locating bats. </p>
<p>Lesser sheath-tailed bats are alert little creatures with good eyesight. They rest in small groups huddled together under the cover of a palm leaf where they’re sheltered from the rain. Although watchful, they’ll stay in place if approached with caution, allowing time to view how neatly stacked they are. </p>
<p>Lesser sheath-tailed bats are among the first to emerge of an evening, leaving their palm tree tents while there is still plenty of twilight. They fly in sharp circles in the open spaces above forests and villages. Then as darkness falls, they move away to focus on other areas. </p>
<p>Later in the evening you can find them back in the same roosts, again lined up front to back, taking a breather from their busy schedule of hunting for insects on the wing.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-island-bats-are-utterly-fascinating-yet-under-threat-and-overlooked-meet-4-species-165765">Pacific Island bats are utterly fascinating, yet under threat and overlooked. Meet 4 species</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. Palau flying-fox (<em>Pteropus pelewensis</em>)</h2>
<p><strong>Conservation status: vulnerable</strong></p>
<p><strong>Distribution: Ulithi, Yap (Federated States of Micronesia), Palau</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of a Palau flying-fox with outstretched wings, flying over a green landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Palau flying-fox (<em>Pteropus pelewensis</em>) has suffered from hunting and international trade.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thibaud Aronson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The south-west Pacific supports an incredible diversity of endemic <em>Pteropus</em> flying-foxes. Over-harvesting and international trade for human consumption pushed most of Micronesia’s flying-foxes to the brink of extinction (and in fact did send two species extinct). </p>
<p>Thankfully the introduction of restrictions under the <a href="https://cites.org/eng">Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species</a> stabilised populations of the Palau fying-fox. However, it remains <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/118093652/206768055">vulnerable</a> and threatened by habitat loss and climate change.</p>
<h2>So much to learn</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustrated book cover for Mammals of the South-West Pacific" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1087&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1087&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1087&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The species showcased here represent just a small fraction of the diversity of south-west Pacific mammals. </p>
<p>So many unique species evolved here, on discrete areas of land separated by ocean. </p>
<p>Unfortunately islands are also vulnerable to human disturbance and extinctions have <a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-island-bats-are-utterly-fascinating-yet-under-threat-and-overlooked-meet-4-species-165765">already occurred</a> here. </p>
<p>There is still much to learn about many of these mammals. We hope <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7928/">this book</a> will inspire more research, including how we can keep these fascinating island inhabitants thriving in a time of such great environmental change. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/humans-werent-to-blame-for-the-extinction-of-prehistoric-island-dwelling-animals-160092">Humans weren't to blame for the extinction of prehistoric island-dwelling animals</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209038/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tyrone Lavery has received funding from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, The Australian Museum, The Field Museum of Natural History, Fondation Segre, The Australia Pacific Science Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>From the cuscus with the fancy coat, to the wallaby often sporting a single white glove, a wide variety of life evolved on island homes in the south-west Pacific.Tyrone Lavery, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2055682023-05-26T04:51:18Z2023-05-26T04:51:18Z‘WA’s Christmas tree’: what mungee, the world’s largest mistletoe, can teach us about treading lightly<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528208/original/file-20230525-17-cs9gs8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C21%2C2017%2C1511&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alison Lullfitz</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Noongar Country of southwestern Australia is home to the world’s largest parasitic plant, a mighty mistletoe that blooms every December. That’s why it’s commonly known as WA’s <a href="https://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/about-us/information/our-plants/plants-in-focus/1015">Christmas Tree</a>. But it also goes by other names, mungee and moodjar. And it holds great significance for <a href="https://www.noongarculture.org.au/">Noongar people</a> including the Merningar people of the south coast.</p>
<p>While the unique biology and charisma of the species (<em>Nuytsia floribunda</em>) has been recognised by Traditional Owners for millennia, such rich Indigenous knowledge is barely known to Western science. Our research team includes three generations of Merningar alongside non-Indigenous scientists. In our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11104-023-06057-9">new research</a>, we set out to explore mungee’s physiology, ecology and evolution from both Indigenous and Western science perspectives. </p>
<p>The plant’s ability to access a wide array of resources is remarkable, enabling it to prosper in the hostile, infertile, but biologically rich landscapes of southwestern Australia. This is also the case for Noongar people, whose traditional diet reflects the biological richness of their Country. </p>
<p>Mungee is a revered teacher to Noongar people, with lessons for us all about living sustainably and in harmony with one another. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A family photograph showing (left to right) Harrison Rodd-Knapp, Jessikah Woods, Lynette Knapp and Shandell Cummings, with flowering mungee near Waychinicup, on Merningar Country" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526991/original/file-20230518-24-fxx3bs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526991/original/file-20230518-24-fxx3bs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526991/original/file-20230518-24-fxx3bs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526991/original/file-20230518-24-fxx3bs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526991/original/file-20230518-24-fxx3bs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526991/original/file-20230518-24-fxx3bs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526991/original/file-20230518-24-fxx3bs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Three generations of the Merningar Knapp family have contributed to this research: (left to right) Harrison Rodd-Knapp, Jessikah Woods, her grandmother Lynette Knapp and mother Shandell Cummings, with flowering mungee near Waychinicup, on Merningar Country.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alison Lullfitz</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-knowledge-is-lost-when-a-species-disappears-its-time-to-let-indigenous-people-care-for-their-country-their-way-172760">Ancient knowledge is lost when a species disappears. It's time to let Indigenous people care for their country, their way</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A sand-loving parasite</h2>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-8748.2009.01671.x"><em>Nuytsia floribunda</em></a> is widespread across Noongar Country (Boodja) and known to most Noongar as moodjar. But it’s also called mungee by Merningar and other southern Noongar groups. Being mostly Merningar, we call it mungee and use that term here. </p>
<p>Mungee is a mistletoe tree that grows up to 10m tall in sandy soils. It’s endemic to southwestern Australia, but widespread throughout. The parasitic capability of the plant comes from highly modified, ring-shaped roots (<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01280315">haustoria</a>) that act like secateurs to mine other plants for water and nutrients.</p>
<p>We used “two way science” (<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/emr.12539">cross-cultural ecology</a>) methods – including a literature review, shared recording of visits on Country, and an author workshop – to investigate mungee more thoroughly than would be possible through Western science alone. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-address-the-ecological-crisis-aboriginal-peoples-must-be-restored-as-custodians-of-country-108594">To address the ecological crisis, Aboriginal peoples must be restored as custodians of Country</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A revered teacher offering divine guidance</h2>
<p>Like other <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/emr.12534">Indigenous Australian knowledge systems</a>, Merningar lore is place-based. It inextricably links people, specific places, other organisms and non-living entities of Country. Mungee tells specific stories through where it lives, the plants it lives with, and when it flowers. </p>
<p>The species is widely held as sacred among Noongar peoples. For Merningar, it has the highest status of all plants. Mungee holds important lore about how we as humans relate to each other and with the world around us, similar to a cornerstone religious text such as the Christian Bible. </p>
<p>For Merningar, mungee is a powerful medium that helps restless spirits move on to the afterlife, known to us as Kuuranup. This enables those of us still living to be untroubled by their presence.</p>
<p>Senior elder Lynette describes mungee as her teacher, providing guidance on how to exist in Merningar Boodja. The annual summer flowers represent her ancestors returning to their Country, reminding her to cherish and respect both her old people and her Boodja. </p>
<p>Lynette calls the ring-shaped haustoria of mungee her “bush lolly”. Under Merningar lore, digging for these sweet treats is not allowed when mungee is flowering. This is when bush lollies are scarce, so the rule is about living within seasonal constraints.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A closeup photograph showing the specialised ring-shaped root of the mungee tree, tapping into the resources of other plants." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527682/original/file-20230523-19-upa5ii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527682/original/file-20230523-19-upa5ii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527682/original/file-20230523-19-upa5ii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527682/original/file-20230523-19-upa5ii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527682/original/file-20230523-19-upa5ii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527682/original/file-20230523-19-upa5ii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527682/original/file-20230523-19-upa5ii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The specialised ring-shaped haustorium of the mungee tree Nuytsia floribundataps into the resources of other plants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike Shayne</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An example of living sustainably</h2>
<p>Mungee primarily reproduces by cloning, sending out suckers up to 100m from the parent plant to produce identical copies. This results in patches of mungee clones gathered together in tight-knit populations. </p>
<p>We saw parallels between patches of mungee and the communal kinship structures of Noongar society, where family is more important than individuals. </p>
<p>Before European settlement, extended Noongar families lived in largely separate groups, interconnected with other family groups as part of a <a href="https://www.conservationandsociety.org.in/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2017;volume=15;issue=2;spage=201;epage=216;aulast=Lullfitz">wider geopolitical system</a>. We see mungee as a botanical exemplar of putting community before individuals, for the greater good. </p>
<p>Mungee accesses water and nutrients by tapping into a wide range of host plants. This diversity of hosts enables mungee to live in many different landscapes. This parallels with the sophisticated, but often place-specific knowledge of Noongar peoples across their botanically rich Boodja, which has enabled use of a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11104-022-05524-z">wide range of traditional plants</a>. </p>
<p>Living a prosperous life within environmental boundaries is achieved by conservatively drawing upon a wide range of resources. It provides a lesson for all who live in dry and infertile regions such as southwestern Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A landscape photo showing the mungee tree in full flower" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526994/original/file-20230518-23-khkzbz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526994/original/file-20230518-23-khkzbz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526994/original/file-20230518-23-khkzbz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526994/original/file-20230518-23-khkzbz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526994/original/file-20230518-23-khkzbz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526994/original/file-20230518-23-khkzbz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526994/original/file-20230518-23-khkzbz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mungee in full flower at Stirling Range National Park, about 300km south-east of Perth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Hopper</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A tree to be celebrated</h2>
<p>Mungee’s bright orange flowers bring joy to all who witness their display during the celebratory summer months in southwestern Australia. The plant’s unique biology, ingenuity and charisma has long been recognised by Noongar peoples and their lore. </p>
<p>Prolific annual flowers are a memorial to the many old people who have cared for their Boodja through millennia. They also remind us to protect the old peoples’ legacy. </p>
<p>To Merningar, mungee is a valuable teacher and exemplar of prosperous biological (including human) existence in the southwest Australian global biodiversity hotspot. It has much to teach the rest of us, too. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A close-up photo of a thynnid wasp on a mungee flower" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526992/original/file-20230518-29-u0ux87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526992/original/file-20230518-29-u0ux87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526992/original/file-20230518-29-u0ux87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526992/original/file-20230518-29-u0ux87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526992/original/file-20230518-29-u0ux87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526992/original/file-20230518-29-u0ux87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526992/original/file-20230518-29-u0ux87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thynnid wasps (flower wasps) on a mungee flower at Torndirrup National Park, 10km south of Albany in WA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Hopper</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/connecting-to-culture-heres-what-happened-when-elders-gifted-totemic-species-to-school-kids-202386">Connecting to culture: here's what happened when elders gifted totemic species to school kids</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205568/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>All authors work on the Walking Together project, which is delivered by UWA in partnership with South Coast NRM and supported financially by Lotterywest. A second project worked on by Alison Lullfitz and Steve Hopper is funded by an ARC Discovery Indigenous grant.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Please see statement under Alison Lullfitz</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Please see statement under Alison Lullfitz.</span></em></p>Mungee is a revered teacher to Noongar people with lessons for us all. This mighty mistletoe knows how to prosper in the hostile, infertile, but biologically rich landscapes of southwestern Australia.Alison Lullfitz, Research Associate, The University of Western AustraliaJessikah Woods, Emerging artist, Indigenous KnowledgeLynette Knapp, The University of Western AustraliaShandell Cummings, Artist, art administrator and educator, Indigenous KnowledgeStephen D. Hopper AC, Professor of Biodiversity, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2009902023-03-21T19:12:10Z2023-03-21T19:12:10ZSpecies don’t live in isolation: what changing threats to 4 marsupials tell us about the future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516556/original/file-20230321-18-mt36ac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C42%2C1785%2C905&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Once abundant, woylies – or brush-tailed bettongs – are now critically endangered. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/9398418767/in/photolist-fjvmsT-Eifg4a-FPsoMq">John Gould</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Conserving native wildlife is a challenging task and Australia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/gut-wrenching-and-infuriating-why-australia-is-the-world-leader-in-mammal-extinctions-and-what-to-do-about-it-192173">unenviable extinction record</a> shows us we urgently need more sophisticated and effective approaches. </p>
<p>Too often we focus on saving individual threatened species. But in the wild, species do not live neatly in isolation. They are part of rich ecosystems, relying on many other species to survive. To save species often means saving this web of life. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.16661">new research</a> models what’s likely to happen to four well-known Western Australian marsupials in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-south-west-a-hotspot-for-wildlife-and-plants-that-deserves-world-heritage-status-54885">biodiversity hotspot</a> of south-western Australia, by identifying key drivers of their populations over time. </p>
<p>In the past, these species were most at risk from habitat loss. But when we ran our models forwards, we found all four species would be at more risk from climate change, which is bringing heightened fire risk and a drying trend to the region. Even better control of foxes – a major predator – did not offset the trend fully.</p>
<p>Our work adds further weight to efforts to protect ecosystems in all their complexity. The way species – including feral predators – interact takes place against a changing climate, fire regimes, and <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.13427">human-made change</a>, like logging and grazing. </p>
<p>To give native species their best chance of survival, we have to embrace ecosystem-based conservation, rather than focusing on rescuing individual species. </p>
<h2>What did we find?</h2>
<p>We looked at long-term monitoring data to find out what was having the most impact on the woylie (brush-tailed bettong), chuditch (western quoll), koomal (western brushtail possum) and the quenda (southern brown bandicoot), four animals living in <a href="https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/about-us/science-and-research/animal-conservation-research/535-upper-warren-home-of-threatened-fauna">Upper Warren</a> jarrah forests.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516337/original/file-20230320-24-sbmzh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516337/original/file-20230320-24-sbmzh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516337/original/file-20230320-24-sbmzh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516337/original/file-20230320-24-sbmzh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516337/original/file-20230320-24-sbmzh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516337/original/file-20230320-24-sbmzh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516337/original/file-20230320-24-sbmzh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516337/original/file-20230320-24-sbmzh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Our study species, left to right and clockwise: the koomal (western brushtail possum), chuditch (western quoll), quenda (southern brown bandicoot) and the woylie (brush-tailed bettong).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All four have undergone considerable <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/98/2/489/3064949">population change</a> over the last few decades and some are <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=fauna">now threatened</a> due to predation by foxes and feral cats, habitat loss and increased frequency of droughts and bushfires. To add to that, controlled burns, lethal fox control and timber harvesting have all taken place in our study region within this time. What we didn’t know was how these threats and conservation efforts interact. </p>
<p>To find out, we built a complex statistical model of the ecosystem to pinpoint what was driving population change geographically and over time. </p>
<p>We found the abundance of these species were affected most by the historical impact of habitat loss, as well as less food in the form of vegetation or prey due to the area’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/drying-land-and-heating-seas-why-nature-in-australias-southwest-is-on-the-climate-frontline-170377">ongoing decline</a> in rainfall. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-south-west-a-hotspot-for-wildlife-and-plants-that-deserves-world-heritage-status-54885">Australia's south west: a hotspot for wildlife and plants that deserves World Heritage status</a>
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<p>Of the habitat lost here, most was cleared during the 19th and early 20th centuries. But now it has more or less stopped, the legacies of this change continue through the effects of habitat fragmentation and increased incursion by introduced species. That means the main falls in abundance took place decades ago. </p>
<p>What about fire and foxes? These threats had less effect than habitat loss and rainfall declines, which we attribute to the broad management of both of these in the region. It was also difficult to quantify the effects of fox control because of the lack of control areas – essentially, comparable areas without poison baits in the region. </p>
<p>Our work shows there’s not one simple answer for managing this ecosystem. Everything is connected. We need to embrace this complexity so that we can better pinpoint where our actions can make a difference.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514601/original/file-20230310-17-bilmsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514601/original/file-20230310-17-bilmsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514601/original/file-20230310-17-bilmsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514601/original/file-20230310-17-bilmsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514601/original/file-20230310-17-bilmsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514601/original/file-20230310-17-bilmsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514601/original/file-20230310-17-bilmsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This jarrah forest is typical of our study region.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>What’s likely to happen?</h2>
<p>While habitat loss was the major historical threat, the future looks to be different. Severe fire is set to increase and rainfall reduce <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-28/why-south-west-wa-is-drying-out/100625142">due to</a> climate change. This indicates all four species will see falling populations. </p>
<p>Annual rainfall in south-western Australia has already fallen at least 20% below the historical average and further declines are expected. If severe fires arrive more often – and overlap with reduced rainfall – we could see even greater population loss. </p>
<p>These threats mean local conservation managers will be less able to help. Controlling fox numbers may help at present, but in a drier, fierier future, things will get harder. </p>
<p>Our modelling suggests that for woylie and koomal, lethal fox control could boost their resilience to severe fire and reduced rainfall, but not completely offset the expected losses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514549/original/file-20230309-305-6d80ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514549/original/file-20230309-305-6d80ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514549/original/file-20230309-305-6d80ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514549/original/file-20230309-305-6d80ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514549/original/file-20230309-305-6d80ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514549/original/file-20230309-305-6d80ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514549/original/file-20230309-305-6d80ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514549/original/file-20230309-305-6d80ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Jarrah forests are now experiencing more bushfires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>What does this mean for ecosystem management?</h2>
<p>It’s long been a goal for conservationists to manage ecosystems as a whole. In reality, this is often incredibly difficult, as we need to consider multiple threats (such as fire and invasive species) and conflicting requirements of different species, in the face of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-01298-8">uncertainty</a> about how some ecosystems work, as well as <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/conl.12682">limited budgets</a>. </p>
<p>Ecosystems are complex webs of interacting species, processes and human influences. If we ignore this complexity, we can miss conservation opportunities, or see our actions have less effect than we expected. </p>
<p>Sometimes, well-intended actions can actually produce worse outcomes for some species, such as fox control leading to a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0069087">boom in wallabies</a> who strip the forest of everything edible. </p>
<p>Studies like ours wouldn’t be possible without the careful collection and synthesis of data over decades. As global climate change <a href="https://theconversation.com/state-of-the-climate-what-australians-need-to-know-about-major-new-report-195136">accelerates</a> and the effects on <a href="https://theconversation.com/existential-threat-to-our-survival-see-the-19-australian-ecosystems-already-collapsing-154077">ecosystems</a> become increasingly unpredictable, conservation managers are flying blind if they do not have <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7720/">long-term monitoring</a> to inform decisions on where and when to act. </p>
<p>So what can our conservation managers do? They can help ecosystems survive by doing two things. First, keep managing the threats within our control – such as invasive predators and ongoing habitat loss – to help reduce damage from other threats. Second, model and anticipate the effects of future change, and use that knowledge to be as prepared as we can. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/drying-land-and-heating-seas-why-nature-in-australias-southwest-is-on-the-climate-frontline-170377">Drying land and heating seas: why nature in Australia's southwest is on the climate frontline</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200990/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Geary is a PhD student at Deakin University, and affiliated with the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, and a member of the Ecological Society of Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Wayne receives funding from the Federal Government (National Landcare Program). He is a Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia and an employee of the WA Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. He is a member of the Ecological Society of Australia and the Australian Mammal Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Euan G. Ritchie is a Councillor within the Biodiversity Council, and a member of the Ecological Society of Australia and the Australian Mammal Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Doherty receives funding from the Australian Research Council, NSW Environmental Trust and WWF Australia. He is a member of the Society for Conservation Biology and Ecological Society of Australia.</span></em></p>To give native species their best chance of survival, we have to embrace ecosystem-based conservation – rather than trying to rescue individual species in isolation.William Geary, PhD Student, Deakin UniversityAdrian Wayne, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, The University of Western AustraliaEuan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin UniversityTim Doherty, ARC DECRA Fellow, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/955132018-04-26T20:16:17Z2018-04-26T20:16:17ZIt’s funny to name species after celebrities, but there’s a serious side too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216446/original/file-20180426-175041-8uwtff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">_Attenborougharion rubicundus_ is one of more than a dozen species named after the legendary naturalist Sir David Attenborough.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Simon Grove/Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><a href="http://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2016/1490-new-marsupial-lion">Microleo attenboroughi</a></em>. <em><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1440-6055.2011.00809.x">Scaptia beyonceae</a></em>. <em><a href="http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/z02206p068f.pdf">Crikey steveirwini</a></em>. These are the scientific names of just a few of the nearly 25,000 species of plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms discovered and named in Australia in the past decade.</p>
<p>In each case, the honoured celebrity’s name is Latinised and added to the name of an existing or new genus – a set of closely related species that share common characteristics. In the above examples, <em>Microleo</em> (meaning “tiny lion”) is a genus of extinct carnivorous possums, while <em>Scaptia</em> is a genus of colourful horseflies. And in the case of <em>Crikey steveirwini</em>, a rare snail from northern Queensland, even the genus name honours Irwin, in the form of his favoured colloquialism.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-the-science-of-tax-and-five-other-things-you-should-know-about-taxonomy-78926">It's not the science of tax, and five other things you should know about taxonomy</a>
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<p>Scientists have been <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organisms_named_after_famous_people">naming species in honour of celebrities</a> since the 18th century. The father of taxonomy, <a href="https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/linnaeus.html">Carl Linnaeus</a>, coined names to curry the favour (and open the purses) of rich patrons.</p>
<p>These days, we usually do it to curry short-lived attention from the public by injecting a degree of attention-grabbing frivolity. <em>Scaptia beyonceae</em> is one example – so named because the fly in question has a shiny, golden bum. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216424/original/file-20180426-175044-1ps4wqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216424/original/file-20180426-175044-1ps4wqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216424/original/file-20180426-175044-1ps4wqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216424/original/file-20180426-175044-1ps4wqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216424/original/file-20180426-175044-1ps4wqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216424/original/file-20180426-175044-1ps4wqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216424/original/file-20180426-175044-1ps4wqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216424/original/file-20180426-175044-1ps4wqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">I don’t think you’re ready for this genus: Scaptia beyonceae.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scaptia_Beyonceae.jpg">Erick/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>But to taxonomists and biosystematists – the scientists who discover, name, classify and document the world’s living and fossil species – the naming of organisms is a serious business.</p>
<h2>Not just celeb jokes</h2>
<p>Consider this. The <a href="https://www.science.org.au/support/analysis/decadal-plans-science/discovering-biodiversity-decadal-plan-taxonomy">current best estimate</a> is that Australia, including its shores and surrounding oceans, is home to more than 600,000 species of plants, animals, fungi, microbes and other organisms.</p>
<p>This tally ranks Australia as one of the most biologically rich and diverse nations on Earth. We are “megadiverse” – one of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megadiverse_countries">select handful of nations</a> that together comprise less than 10% of Earth’s surface but are home to more than 70% of its living species.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216428/original/file-20180426-175050-tpkbzp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216428/original/file-20180426-175050-tpkbzp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216428/original/file-20180426-175050-tpkbzp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216428/original/file-20180426-175050-tpkbzp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216428/original/file-20180426-175050-tpkbzp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216428/original/file-20180426-175050-tpkbzp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216428/original/file-20180426-175050-tpkbzp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216428/original/file-20180426-175050-tpkbzp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The world’s biodiversity hotspots.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAS/Royal Society Te Apārangi</span></span>
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<p>Now consider this: only 30% of Australia’s living species have been discovered, named and documented so far. That leaves <a href="https://www.science.org.au/support/analysis/decadal-plans-science/discovering-biodiversity-decadal-plan-taxonomy">more than 400,000 Australian species</a> that we know absolutely nothing about.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216431/original/file-20180426-175061-1su6cdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216431/original/file-20180426-175061-1su6cdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216431/original/file-20180426-175061-1su6cdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216431/original/file-20180426-175061-1su6cdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216431/original/file-20180426-175061-1su6cdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216431/original/file-20180426-175061-1su6cdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216431/original/file-20180426-175061-1su6cdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216431/original/file-20180426-175061-1su6cdl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Estimated number of described (centre shaded areas) and undescribed (outer unshaded areas) species in Australia and New Zealand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAS/Royal Society Te Apārangi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Does this matter? Do organisms need names? The answer is yes, if we want to conserve our biodiversity, keep our native species, agriculture and aquaculture safe from invasive pests and diseases, discover new life-saving drugs, answer some of the greatest scientific questions ever asked, or make full use of the opportunities that nature provides to improve our health, agriculture, industries and economy.</p>
<p>Taxonomists construct the framework that allows us to understand and document species and manage our knowledge of them. Such a framework is essential if we are to sustainably manage life on Earth. At a time when Earth is facing an <a href="https://theconversation.com/radical-overhaul-needed-to-halt-earths-sixth-great-extinction-event-68221">extinction crisis</a>, brought about by <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/land-clearing-7412">land clearing</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/pollution-306">pollution</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/global-warming-2768">global warming</a>, it is more vital than ever.</p>
<p>Without the understanding provided by taxonomists, we’re like the largest, most complex global corporation imaginable, trying to do business with no stock inventory and no real idea of what most of its products look like or do.</p>
<h2>Time for an overhaul</h2>
<p>The magnitude of the task seems daunting. At our current rate of progress, it will take more than 400 years even to approach a complete biodiversity inventory of Australia. </p>
<p>Fortunately, we don’t have to continue at our current rate. Taxonomy is in the midst of a technological and scientific revolution. </p>
<p>New methods allow us to cheaply sequence the entire DNA code of any organism. We can extract and identify the minute DNA fragments left in a river when a fish swims past. We are globally connected like never before. And we have supercomputers and smart algorithms that can catalogue and make sense of all the world’s species.</p>
<p>In this context, the release today by the Australian Academy of Science and New Zealand’s Royal Society Te Apārangi of a <a href="https://www.science.org.au/support/analysis/decadal-plans-science/discovering-biodiversity-decadal-plan-taxonomy">strategic plan</a> to guide Australian and New Zealand taxonomy and biosystematics for the next decade is a significant step. The new plan outlines how we will rise to the grand challenge of documenting, understanding and conserving all of Australia’s biodiversity.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_L_oh6yKvTo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Sir David Attenborough endorses the new taxonomy plan.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Grand challenge</h2>
<p>The plan lays out a blueprint for the strategic investments needed to meet this grand challenge. It envisages a decade of reinvestment, leading to a program of “hyper-taxonomy” – the discovery within a generation of all of Australia’s remaining undiscovered species.</p>
<p>It sets out the ways in which we can use our knowledge of species to benefit society and protect nature, and also the risks involved if we don’t. A small example: there are an estimated 200 unnamed and largely unknown species of native Australian mosquitoes. Mosquitoes cause <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Most-Lethal-Animal-Mosquito-Week">more human deaths than any other animal on Earth</a>. New mosquito-borne viruses and other parasites are being discovered all the time. It doesn’t take much to put these facts together to see the risks.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-can-name-all-of-earths-species-but-we-may-have-to-hurry-11815">We can name all of Earth's species, but we may have to hurry</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>With such a weighty challenge and such important goals, it’s hardly surprising that taxonomists sometimes indulge in a little quirky name-calling. Names like <em><a href="http://museum.wa.gov.au/research/records-supplements/records/notes-on-genus-draculoides-harvey-schizomida-hubbardiidae-descr">Draculoides bramstokeri</a></em>, a cave-dwelling relative of spiders; or the tiny, harmless <a href="http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/catalogues/pseudoscorpions">pseudo-scorpion</a> <em>Tyrannochthonius rex</em>; or <em><a href="http://www.transatlanticplantsman.com/transatlantic_plantsman/2009/12/fun-with-plant-names.html">Hebejeebie</a></em>, the name that botanists simply couldn’t resist when a new genus was separated from <em>Hebe</em>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216442/original/file-20180426-175050-1lymp6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216442/original/file-20180426-175050-1lymp6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216442/original/file-20180426-175050-1lymp6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216442/original/file-20180426-175050-1lymp6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216442/original/file-20180426-175050-1lymp6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216442/original/file-20180426-175050-1lymp6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216442/original/file-20180426-175050-1lymp6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216442/original/file-20180426-175050-1lymp6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Materpiscis attenboroughi lived hundreds of millions of years before its celebrity namesake.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MagentaGreen/Sularko/Museum Victoria/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the greatest celebrities of all, the naturalist Sir David Attenborough, has more than a dozen species named in his honour. No fewer than five of them are Australian. These include the brightly coloured slug-snail <em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FssBml8rLmI">Attenborougharion rubicundus</a></em>, and the fossil of the first known organism to give birth to live young, <em><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/05/29/2257284.htm">Materpiscis attenboroughi</a></em>.</p>
<p>As Sir David <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L_oh6yKvTo">puts the case in endorsing the plan</a>, discovering and naming species is vitally important, not only for the future of taxonomy and biosystematics, but for the future of our living planet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95513/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Thiele receives funding from the Ian Potter Foundation</span></em></p>Scientists have been naming species after well-known people since the 18th century, often in a bid for publicity. But the issue deserves attention – 400,000 Australian species are yet to be described.Kevin Thiele, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/841692017-09-24T10:27:13Z2017-09-24T10:27:13ZWhat whales and dolphins can tell us about the health of our oceans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186986/original/file-20170921-8179-260m8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dolphins contribute important knowledge about ocean health.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From the poles to the equator, marine mammals such as seals, dolphins and whales, play an important role in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms10516">global ecosystems</a> as apex predators, ecosystem engineers and even organic ocean fertilisers. The ocean off the coast of South Africa is home to a high diversity of these mammals and is recognised as a global marine <a href="https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/reports/environmentoutlook_chapter9.pdf">biodiversity hotspot</a>. </p>
<p>Marine mammals are often referred to as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21160025">“sentinels”</a> of ocean health. Numerous studies have explored the effects of both noise and chemical pollution, habitat degradation, changes in climate and food webs on these marine apex predators. Yet the interplay of these factors isn’t well understood. </p>
<p>Our <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0107038">research</a> on the unfortunate dolphins incidentally caught in shark nets off South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal coast has helped fill in some of the gaps. By assessing the health of these dolphins we have provided valuable baseline information on conditions affecting coastal dolphin populations in South Africa. This is the first systematic health assessment in incidentally caught dolphins in the Southern Hemisphere.</p>
<p>But to gain a fuller picture of the health of marine mammals in these waters I <a href="http://aeon.org.za/staff/">am now combining</a> this contemporary field research with historical data, like the collection at the Port Elizabeth Museum <a href="https://www.bayworld.co.za/marinemammalbiology">Bayworld</a>. </p>
<p>The combination of data on diet, reproduction, population structure and health helps us gain a better understanding of the pressures and changes these apex predator populations face. And it helps us understand it in relation to global change, including both climate change and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212041614000710">pressures brought about by human behaviour</a>. </p>
<p>My research sheds light on multiple factors: pollutant levels, parasites, and availability of prey, all have an impact on individuals as well as populations.</p>
<p>Understanding the health of these animals also gives us insight into the state of the world’s oceans. This is relevant because oceans affect the entire ecosystem including food security, climate and people’s health. This degree of connectedness is highlighted by recent discoveries about how whales act as <a href="https://theconversation.com/bottoms-up-how-whale-poop-helps-feed-the-ocean-27913/">ecosystem engineers</a>.</p>
<p>The accumulation of this knowledge is important because the planet’s oceans aren’t being protected. Recent popular documentaries such as <a href="http://www.sonicsea.org/film">“Sonic Sea”</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zrn4-FfbXw">“Plastic Ocean”</a> have highlighted their exploitation and pollution. </p>
<h2>What’s missing</h2>
<p>Without baseline knowledge it’s challenging to establish the potential effects that new anthropogenic developments (those caused by human behaviour) have on local whale and dolphin populations. </p>
<p>For example, we know that whales are sensitive to shipping noise, so what potential impact could a new deep water port have on mothers and their calves? Could it drive them away from these nursery areas, or could it lead to an increased risk of whales and ships colliding? To answer this and monitor the change that a new port brings with it, we are <a href="http://asa.scitation.org/doi/pdf/10.1121/2.000030">investigating</a> the soundscape of two bays in the Eastern Cape (one with a new port, one without) in parallel with <a href="https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/nmml/education/cetaceans/baleen1.php">baleen whale</a> mother-calf behaviour.</p>
<p>Another example is understanding how changes in the Sardine run over the past 15 years have affected the diets of these mammals. The Sardine run is an annual phenomenon when large shoals of Sardine migrate northwards along the coast into KwaZulu-Natal waters to spawn. Using long-term data and samples from the Port Elizabeth Museum research collection, we have been able to establish that over the the past 20 or so years the main predator in the Sardine run – the long-beaked common dolphin – has <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00227-013-2208-6">shifted</a> its diet to mackerel. Although such changes in diet can have potential impacts on the health of the dolphins, parallel investigations on the trophic level these animals feed at (using isotope data from teeth) and the body condition of the dolphins (using long-term data on blubber thickness), indicated no adverse effects to the dolphins. </p>
<p>Our analysis highlights how marine mammals may be used as indicators of environmental change and why research is important. </p>
<p>Finding answers to intricate questions on environmental change is not always easy. But a better understanding and knowledge of the environment these animals live in has to be incorporated into studies contributing to their <a href="http://asa.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1121/2.0000303">conservation and management</a>. Such studies are becoming increasingly relevant as they highlight the fast <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/20/fish-are-dying-but-human-life-is-threatened-too">degradation of the marine environment</a>. </p>
<p>For example, a recent study identified antibiotic resistant bacteria in both sea water samples and exhaled breath samples from killer whales. This suggests that the <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-00457-5">marine environment</a> has been contaminated with human waste which in turn has significant medical implications for humans.</p>
<p>Gaining such information is particularly important given the rapid changes taking place in the oceans, such as those on South Africa’s southern and eastern coastline. This includes increasing coastal development, new deep water ports being built or expanded, and parts of the deep sea being explored for oil and gas. </p>
<p>To assess these changes and what they mean for the environment, baseline studies need to be carried out so that potential effects can be assessed. <a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/exploring-our-oceans/6/steps/214745">Whales and dolphins</a> are increasingly being recognised as indicators of ocean health in this endeavour.</p>
<p>And a continuation of the research we did on dolphins caught in nets will help document the cyclic changes that can be seen as normal variation in a population. This could prove important for assessing future catastrophic events, such as the <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0126538">Deep Horizon oil spill</a>. </p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>The oceans absorb <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=U7u5X-t10X0C&pg=PT1118&lpg=PT1118&dq=oceans+absorb+25%25-30%25+of+the+worlds+carbon+pollution&source=bl&ots=zQ260bacr5&sig=EHKvXwqtQu1BoTDbYOAmAfqpLWE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMrLnV6LXWAhVCxRQKHXVaD4IQ6AEIPjAE#v=onepage&q=oceans%20absorb%2025%25-30%25%20of%20the%20worlds%20carbon%20pollution&f=false">over 25%</a> of the world’s carbon pollution as well as heat generated by global warming. They also produce at least 50% of the planet’s oxygen, and are home to 80% of all life on earth. Yet only 5% of this vital component of our planet has been explored. </p>
<p>Research on whales and dolphins contributes important knowledge about ocean health. Historical data increasingly provides a guideline to teasing out natural variations in populations and assessing the contribution that multiple factors have on these animals. In time, this will ensure that policy makers are being given sound scientific information. It will also provide us with a good barometer of the overall health of our oceans.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Plön receives funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF), local and international non-governmental and conservation organizations, as well as industry partners.</span></em></p>Marine mammals are often referred to as sentinels of the ocean and research on whales and dolphins in particular contributes important knowledge about the health of our seas.Stephanie Plön, Researcher, Earth Stewardship Science Research Institute, Nelson Mandela UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/639332016-09-14T20:15:23Z2016-09-14T20:15:23ZSquandering riches: can Perth realise the value of its biodiversity?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135460/original/image-20160825-6609-14ygful.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Suburban expansion on Perth’s fringe pushes into the SouthWest Ecoregion.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Weller/Donna Broun</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Perth is not known as a model for suburbia and its suburban condition is similar to that of developed cities the world over. However, it does stand out in one respect: it sits in an exceptionally biodiverse natural setting. A strong, informed vision for this setting’s relationship with the city could help Perth become an exemplar for similarly positioned metropolises everywhere.</p>
<p>The greater Perth region has been designated the Southwest Australia Ecoregion (SWAE). This is one of only 35 “<a href="http://www.conservation.org/How/Pages/Hotspots.aspx">biodiversity hotspots</a>” in the world. </p>
<p>Reconciling future growth with biodiversity is a key issue for urban design and planning this century. Indeed, if current trends continue, <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/40/16083">global urban land cover will increase by 1.2 million square kilometres</a> (equivalent to half the area of Western Australia) by 2030. Much of this will happen in biodiversity hotspots.</p>
<p>This is important because it is estimated we will <a href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj8tOe3kebOAhXBHJQKHcpsAbAQFggiMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.springer.com%2Fcda%2Fcontent%2Fdocument%2Fcda_downloaddocument%2F9783642209918-c1.pdf%3FSGWID%3D0-0-45-1194137-p174121660&usg=AFQjCNEHg_OEZKk_9S6WpDp3Rx3lfW5F7w&sig2=fRFvkIwmzsjpt7VOgXoC1A">lose nearly half of all terrestrial species</a> if we fail to protect the hotspots. We will also lose the <a href="https://theconversation.com/without-action-asia-pacific-ecosystems-could-lose-a-third-of-their-value-by-2050-63452">ecosystem services</a> upon which human populations ultimately depend. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If we fail to protect the world’s 35 biodiversity hotspots we risk losing nearly half of all terrestrial species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Conservation International</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“Ecosystem services” may sound like abstract jargon, but it’s actually a term used to describe the services nature provides – such as clean air, water and food, and heatwave and flood mitigation. Without these, human life would be extremely unpleasant, if not unviable. </p>
<p>Perth has a reputedly strong planning system and is comparatively wealthy. If it can’t control its city form to protect biodiversity – compact cities generally being recognised as the best model for protecting land for conservation – then city administrators elsewhere, particularly in the developing world, are likely to struggle.</p>
<h2>Misreading the land</h2>
<p>The current treatment of the Australian environment has its roots in the European annexation of Australia, which has been characterised by catastrophic misreadings of the land. Governor James Stirling, who was singularly responsible for the European annexation of Perth, was the kind of man who saw what he wanted to see rather than what was there. In <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=AeYnAl3l92cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Origins+of+Australia%27s+Capital+Cities&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi03JS63dvOAhXErJQKHRfbBcYQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Origins%20of%20Australia's%20Capital%20Cities&f=false">The Origins of Australia’s Capital Cities</a>, Geoffrey Bolton <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=AeYnAl3l92cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Origins+of+Australia%27s+Capital+Cities&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi03JS63dvOAhXErJQKHRfbBcYQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=were%20misled%20by%20the%20tallness&f=false">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…arriving at the end of … an uncommonly cool, moist summer, [Stirling was] misled by the tallness of the northern jarrah forest and the quality of the alluvial soils close to the river into believing that the coastal plain would offer fertile farming and grazing. It was, Stirling wrote, equal to the plains of Lombardy; and he persuaded himself that the cool easterly land breeze of these early autumn nights must originate from a range of snowy mountains.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vegetation of Southwest Australia Ecoregion near current-day Perth at the time of European settlement. Based on statewide mapping by John Beard between 1964 and 1981.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DPAW</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Remnant vegetation of SWAE near Perth in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DPAW/WALGA, courtesy of AUDRC</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The results of such misinterpretations of the land were generally less poetic. Stirling sited the settlement of Perth on a narrow, constrained strip of land between swamps to the north and marshy river edges to the south. These low-lying areas fuelled plagues of mosquitos and, once polluted, deadly typhoid outbreaks.</p>
<p>In time, due to a lingering discomfort with Perth’s “unsanitary” wetlands, more than 200,000 hectares – an area equivalent to 500 <a href="http://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/kings-park">Kings Parks</a> – were drained on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Coastal_Plain">Swan Coastal Plain</a>. These biologically productive areas directly or indirectly support most of the coastal plain’s wildlife, so the effects on biodiversity have been catastrophic. </p>
<p>Furthermore, a perception of the Banksia woodland and coastal heath on Perth’s fringes as unattractive and useless has seen <a href="https://theconversation.com/ecocheck-perths-banksia-woodlands-are-in-the-path-of-the-sprawling-city-59911">much of it cleared</a> for the expansion of the city. Between 2001 and 2009, suburban growth consumed an annual average of 851ha of highly biodiverse land on the urban fringe.</p>
<p>The lesson from this experience is that any future growth in a biodiversity hotspot, or indeed elsewhere, has to be founded on the understanding that we cannot continue to bend nature to our will. We must learn how to work with it. </p>
<p>Within this humbling process, we need to recognise that working with the land is not an entirely pure or noble act; rather, it is imperative for humanity’s survival. As species and ecosystems become threatened and vanish, so too do the ecosystem services that support human wellbeing.</p>
<h2>Perth’s Green Growth Plan</h2>
<p>The release of the state government’s long-anticipated <a href="http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/8220.asp">Perth and Peel Green Growth Plan for 3.5 million</a> may herald a <a href="https://theconversation.com/perth-green-growth-plan-puts-strategic-environmental-assessments-to-the-city-test-59167">shift in the relationship</a> between the city and the biodiversity hotspot. The plan encapsulates two broad goals:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>to protect fringe bushland, rivers, wetlands and wildlife in an impressive 170,000 hectares of new and expanded reserves on Perth’s fringe</p></li>
<li><p>to cut red tape by securing upfront Commonwealth environmental approvals for outer suburban development.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Proposed new and existing reserves – light and dark green respectively – on Perth’s fringe (indicative only).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DOP, courtesy of AUDRDC</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While ostensibly positive achievements, a question remains as to the implications of clearing a further <a href="http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/8220.asp">9,700ha* (3% of the Swan Coastal Plain in the Perth and Peel region)</a> of remnant bushland which is not protected by the conservation reserves. </p>
<p>At the same time as the Green Growth Plan’s reserves to the north of the city create a largely legible and connected edge to the city, in the south the reserves are isolated and disconnected due to the extent of historic clearing. This potentially stymies the public’s ability to conceptualise the city’s edge, which leads them to care about it (like <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2015-02-01/hundreds-of-protestors-march-in-protest-at-building-plans-for-green-belt-land/">London’s greenbelt</a>, for instance). </p>
<p>Finally, a question remains about how a plan that places restrictions on outer suburban development will accommodate the powerful local land development industry over time. This is a concern given the frequent “<a href="http://apo.org.au/resource/taming-urban-frontier-urban-expansion-metropolitan-spatial-plans-perth-1970-2005">urban break-outs</a>” – where urban development occurs outside nominated growth areas – between 1970 and 2005.</p>
<p>In 2003, the ABC asked revered Western Australian landscape architect Marion Blackwell, “Are we at home now in the land we live in?” She replied, “No, we’re not. We don’t know enough about it, and not enough people know anything about it.” </p>
<p>We still have work to do on our engagement with biodiversity in Western Australia, and Perth specifically, before we can become a model for future cities.</p>
<p><em>*This article was corrected on October 26 2016. The original article wrongly cited 45,000ha of remnant bushland, and has been corrected to 9,700ha. Secondly, the characterisation of the Green Growth Plan in the following paragraph has been clarified.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63933/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Australian Urban Design Research Centre, which employs Julian Bolleter, receives funding from the Western Australian Planning Commission for undertaking specific research projects. However, these projects are not directly related to the content of this article.</span></em></p>If Perth can preserve the rich biodiversity of its setting, it will become a model for sustainable city development that fully connects with the value of natural ecosystem services.Julian Bolleter, Research Fellow, Australian Urban Design Research Centre, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/591672016-05-11T23:33:21Z2016-05-11T23:33:21ZPerth Green Growth Plan puts strategic environmental assessments to the city test<p>City planning has many approaches that have been used to enable better economic, social and environmental outcomes. The planning profession has been doing strategic assessments of urban land development opportunities and constraints for over a hundred years but has only recently adopted the techniques of strategic environmental assessment (SEA), a tool developed by the environmental assessment profession. </p>
<p>The draft <a href="http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/8220.asp">Green Growth Plan for Perth</a> is a federal and state government initiative to trial whether SEA can be integrated into the planning of an Australian city. It is a process in parallel with the traditional strategic plan, which in Perth is the draft <a href="http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/3.5million.asp">Perth and Peel @ 3.5 Million Plan</a>.</p>
<p>Town planning and environmental assessment have largely been competing for the past 30 years to show who knows best about managing urban land. Planning has mostly been setting broad strategic directions based on infrastructure and land zoning, with day-to-day statutory planning devolved to local governments on what should be approved or modified. Environmental protection authorities (EPAs) have set major strategic directions about protection of biodiversity, water and other resources like basic raw materials, as well as making day-to-day decisions on major projects. </p>
<p>Often the division of labour has been to have planning in control of cities and EPAs doing most of the work in regions. This is especially the case in a state like Western Australia where most major projects are in the regions. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122067/original/image-20160511-18152-gam1xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122067/original/image-20160511-18152-gam1xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122067/original/image-20160511-18152-gam1xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122067/original/image-20160511-18152-gam1xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122067/original/image-20160511-18152-gam1xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122067/original/image-20160511-18152-gam1xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122067/original/image-20160511-18152-gam1xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122067/original/image-20160511-18152-gam1xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The urban development of Perth has sprawled over a very large area in recent decades.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2211181">Landsat 7/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>EPAs get to provide an opinion on urban land releases or urban regeneration projects, but mostly town planning has the final say in cities. However, there has been a sense that the cumulative effects of lots of small incremental planning decisions, especially urban sprawl, could be having serious impacts on biodiversity, water and the availability of resources like basic raw materials. Growing disquiet about town planning’s ability to manage the environmental side of cities has led to the development of strategic environmental assessment.</p>
<p>SEA takes a broad approach to a large land area and assesses the cumulative impacts over a planning horizon of 50 years or more. The techniques when applied to cities have been based on a combination of old tools, like the <a href="http://www.ou.edu/class/webstudy/fehler/E3/go/introduction.html">McHarg overlays</a> of all the different landscape features from the 1960s, as well as 21st-century tools of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-planners-new-best-friend-we-can-now-track-land-use-changes-on-a-scale-of-centimetres-53493">digital visualisation</a> and modelling.</p>
<p>SEAs have been sold as helping to reduce the time and cost of environmental and planning approvals. With a strategic plan adopted, it not only shows where development should be avoided but clears the way for development in other areas (see <a href="https://espatial.planning.wa.gov.au/mapviewer/Index.html?viewer=greengrowthplan">here</a> for the detailed draft map). So it promises better environmental outcomes and faster processes. </p>
<h2>Perth pioneers whole-city SEA</h2>
<p>The SEA process is legislated under the federal <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/about">Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act</a> while town planning is a state responsibility. The SEA promises much and has been helpful in a number of regional assessments across Australia, including two fringe areas of Melbourne and Sydney. Applying this process to whole cities is a different matter, so many people have been closely watching the first SEA of a city in Australia – the Green Growth Plan for Perth. </p>
<p>The draft report was guided by a partnership between the federal environment department and 20 state government agencies represented on the state steering committee. The report has much detail on “matters of national environmental significance” (MNES). In other SEAs there have been impacts on seven to nine MNES; the Perth Green Growth Plan has impacts on 92 MNES. This is partly due to the complexities of a large city SEA, but mostly it is due to Perth being in the heart of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-south-west-a-hotspot-for-wildlife-and-plants-that-deserves-world-heritage-status-54885">major global biodiversity hotspot</a>. </p>
<p>There is a recommendation to set aside for protection a further 170,000 hectares of natural areas. Most of this is in government ownership but 20,000 ha needs to be purchased. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122091/original/image-20160511-18128-1ku65q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122091/original/image-20160511-18128-1ku65q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122091/original/image-20160511-18128-1ku65q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122091/original/image-20160511-18128-1ku65q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122091/original/image-20160511-18128-1ku65q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122091/original/image-20160511-18128-1ku65q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122091/original/image-20160511-18128-1ku65q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122091/original/image-20160511-18128-1ku65q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Existing and proposed conservation reserves in the area covered by the strategic assessment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.dpc.wa.gov.au/Consultation/StrategicAssessment/Documents/10-02-Conservation-Reserves-Map.pdf">WA Department of Premier and Cabinet</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In terms of contiguous green belts that can enable <a href="https://theconversation.com/cocky-count-how-perths-green-growth-plan-could-wipe-out-was-best-loved-bird-56442">biodiversity to be managed</a>, the majority of the natural space to be set aside is in the northern corridor. In reality this corridor is already close to 100 kilometres long and the cessation of development here will only be mourned by a few developers. Most of the damage has been done. </p>
<p>The southern corridor has much fewer constraints on development. The area is mostly poor agricultural land, so the Green Growth Plan suggests a few small areas for protection. It also proposes some significant new measures to avert decline in the Peel Harvey estuary, notably regulation to improve farm fertiliser management. </p>
<p>Thus, if the SEA is to enable faster development, it will be in the southern corridor along the Kwinana Freeway heading beyond Mandurah towards Bunbury. </p>
<h2>Filling in the grey areas</h2>
<p>Should this plan be adopted as the basis of Perth’s long-term future? In terms of environmental protection, especially biodiversity, it is a strong statement. It is a literal line in the sand, especially to the north where Perth has sprawled for the past 40 years. </p>
<p>But it is not the whole story. The federal government’s new <a href="https://cities.dpmc.gov.au/smart-cities-plan">Smart Cities Plan</a> is designed to help cities do more innovative planning. In particular, it is trying to enable <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-30-minute-city-how-do-we-put-the-political-rhetoric-into-practice-56136">30-minute cities</a>. </p>
<p>This has been highlighted in much planning discourse as the basis of a more sustainable, liveable and productive city as the travel time budget is being exceeded in all our big cities. As shown below, Sydney has been over 30 minutes for a long time. Perth moved rapidly into this league in its recent boom. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122086/original/image-20160511-18140-155tbxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122086/original/image-20160511-18140-155tbxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122086/original/image-20160511-18140-155tbxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122086/original/image-20160511-18140-155tbxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122086/original/image-20160511-18140-155tbxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122086/original/image-20160511-18140-155tbxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122086/original/image-20160511-18140-155tbxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122086/original/image-20160511-18140-155tbxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Average commuting times in the four biggest Australian cities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Quite simply this means we need more urban regeneration and less urban sprawl. How do we do this? </p>
<p>Greenfield development is easy because developers can roll out large precincts for development. Brownfield development on old industrial sites in the inner-city areas (like <a href="http://www.places.vic.gov.au/precincts-and-development/docklands">Docklands</a> in Melbourne and <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/barangaroo">Barangaroo</a> in Sydney) are also relatively easy as they are big sites. </p>
<p>But in between we have millions of individual lots, all owned privately. Here, the only option for developers is to do low-quality infill in backyards. This is not working. </p>
<p>To <a href="http://www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine/21/371/greening-the-greyfields/">redevelop in these greyfields</a> requires creative, clever <a href="http://www.lanecove.nsw.gov.au/CouncilConsultations/Pages/StLeonardsSouthDraftMasterPlan.aspx">planning that finds large sites for regeneration</a> and brings all the owners together, as occurred recently in <a href="http://www.domain.com.au/news/neighbours-selling-entire-blocks-in-castle-hill-to-developers-20150723-giisln/">Castle Hill</a>, <a href="http://www.domain.com.au/news/selling-entire-blocks-of-houses-to-developers-is-the-way-of-the-future-agents-20150814-giynqh/">St Leonards and Baulkham Hills</a> in Sydney. Unlocking the area for regeneration, using significant innovations in buildings, energy, water, waste, walkability, jobs, services and biodiversity, requires the creation of significant amenity. </p>
<p>This is the basis of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-build-better-cities-get-the-private-sector-involved-in-rail-projects-52204">entrepreneur rail model</a> that is meant to provide a rail link to enable such urban activity. The Smart Cities Plan wants cities to prepare <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-budget-2016-deliver-a-new-deal-for-australian-cities-58581">City Deals</a> that set out how they can do such things. </p>
<p>The Green Growth Plan is a good base to work from, but it cannot be all that is needed for a future town plan. The draft Perth and Peel @ 3.5 Million Plan suggests ways to consolidate 47% of the next period of urban growth. It suggests that 100% consolidation would be too difficult. </p>
<p>The redevelopment agenda could do with a makeover in Perth to further complement the Green Growth Plan. More Smart City ideas are needed or else the never-ending sprawl of our cities will continue its unsustainable and unproductive march. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Public comment on the Perth Green Growth Plan is being accepted until 5pm on Friday, May 13, 2016.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59167/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Newman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With a strategic plan adopted, it not only shows where development should be avoided but clears the way for development in other areas. So Perth needs to get it right.Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/548852016-02-18T03:45:39Z2016-02-18T03:45:39ZAustralia’s south west: a hotspot for wildlife and plants that deserves World Heritage status<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111733/original/image-20160217-19239-a5j1b3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The numbat, Australia's equivalent of a meerkat, is one of the unique mammal species confined to the south west. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sean Van Alphen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Southwest Australia is one of 25 original <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v403/n6772/full/403853a0.html">global hotspots for wildlife and plants</a>, and the first one identified in Australia. </p>
<p>Since the first analysis identifying biodiversity hotspots in 2000, the list has expanded, and now 35 hotspots are recognised, two in Australia: the Southwest and the <a href="http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-20992-5_16">forests of east Australia</a>. </p>
<p>Biodiversity hotspots are defined as regions “where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat”. As many as 44% of all species of native plants and 35% of all species in four animal groups are confined to the original 25 hotspots, which comprise only 1.4% of Earth’s land surface. </p>
<p>This opens the way for a <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v403/n6772/full/403853a0.html">conservation strategy</a>, focusing on these hotspots in proportion to their share of the world’s species at risk.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111737/original/image-20160217-19241-1ijm2fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111737/original/image-20160217-19241-1ijm2fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111737/original/image-20160217-19241-1ijm2fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111737/original/image-20160217-19241-1ijm2fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111737/original/image-20160217-19241-1ijm2fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111737/original/image-20160217-19241-1ijm2fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111737/original/image-20160217-19241-1ijm2fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111737/original/image-20160217-19241-1ijm2fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Kwongan with national parks, reserves and other conservation aras marked in blue.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Introducing the south west</h2>
<p>Australia was once part of the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02546.x/abstract">ancient continent Gondwana</a>, which began to break up more than 154 million years ago. The region that supports the Southwest’s unique wildlife formed when India broke away from the supercontinent around 120 million years ago. While there are some young sand dunes, much of the southwest has been geologically undisturbed for tens of millions of years. </p>
<p>Southwest Australia, also known as the Kwongan, is therefore an <a href="http://www.web.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/612161/Hopper_2009_OCBIL_theory.pdf">old landscape with a stable climate</a>. It has not seen glaciers or ice for more than 200 million years. This has allowed species to evolve without the major extinctions seen elsewhere in the world. </p>
<p>The region is about the size of England. England has about 1,500 species of vascular plants (all plants except ferns and mosses), 47 of them found nowhere else.</p>
<p>Contrast that with Southwest Australia, which harbours an astonishing <a href="http://uwap.uwa.edu.au/products/plant-life-on-the-sandplains-in-southwest-australia-a-global-biodiversity-hotspot">7,239 vascular plant species</a>, almost 80% of which are found nowhere else in the world. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111736/original/image-20160217-19269-1ue3lld.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111736/original/image-20160217-19269-1ue3lld.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111736/original/image-20160217-19269-1ue3lld.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111736/original/image-20160217-19269-1ue3lld.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111736/original/image-20160217-19269-1ue3lld.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111736/original/image-20160217-19269-1ue3lld.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111736/original/image-20160217-19269-1ue3lld.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111736/original/image-20160217-19269-1ue3lld.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Kingia australis</em> is completely unique to the south west.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Graham Zemunik</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among these unique species is <em>Cephalotus follicularis</em>, the Albany pitcher plant, a carnivorous species that belongs to its own family and is not at all related to other carnivorous pitchers. </p>
<p>Another iconic endemic is <em>Kingia australis</em>, a single species in an Order found nowhere else (to put this in context, an Order is the same same level of classification as all butterflies and moths). </p>
<p>There are fewer animals in the south west than plants, but the Kwongan is home to some of Australia’s most iconic species, such as the tiny nectar and pollen-feeding Honey possum (<em>Tarsipes rostratus</em>). The Honey possum is only distantly-related to other Australian marsupials and is the only member of its Family. Some DNA studies also place it close to a small South American marsupial, the Monito del Monte (<em>Dromiciops gliroides</em>), suggesting a link between its ancestor and the time when South America was joined to Gondwana. </p>
<p>Another amazing marsupial found exclusively in the Kwongan is the termite-eating numbat (<em>Myrmecobius fasciatus</em>), the only truly diurnal marsupial with sentinel behaviour similar to that of the African meerkat. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-endangered-species-woylie-19448">Brush-tailed bettong or Woylie</a> (<em>Bettongia penicillata</em>) was until recently very abundant in the south west but, starting in 2006, it has suffered a <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9482446&fileId=S0030605313000677">dramatic decline</a> and is now currently listed as Critically Endangered. Nobody knows why. This underlines the critical need for protection of these unique species and their habitat in a biodiversity hotspot under increasing pressure from urbanisation.</p>
<p>Due to its ancient geology, the soils in the region are almost all <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/345/6204/1602">poor in nutrients</a>, but this is likely the secret to the south west’s astonishing diversity. Like most of Australia, the region has been inhabited by humans for well over 40,000 years, so that a rich cultural heritage adds to the biological and geological value of the region.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111741/original/image-20160217-19256-1882cm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111741/original/image-20160217-19256-1882cm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111741/original/image-20160217-19256-1882cm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111741/original/image-20160217-19256-1882cm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111741/original/image-20160217-19256-1882cm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111741/original/image-20160217-19256-1882cm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111741/original/image-20160217-19256-1882cm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111741/original/image-20160217-19256-1882cm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The honey possum’s closest relative may be in South America, indicating ancient connections.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Of poison and plants</h2>
<p>What are the threats for the Southwest Australian hotspot?</p>
<p>For small animals, these threats are predominantly feral cats, foxes and other introduced mammals. The main method to control these is by using sodium fluoroacetate, commonly known as 1080. </p>
<p>Introduced animals are highly-sensitive to this poison, which blocks their metabolism. Native animals in south-western Australia have co-evolved with Gastrolobium (a type of pea flower) species, which produce and contain fluoroacetate. The native wildlife is therefore relatively <a href="http://uwap.uwa.edu.au/products/plant-life-on-the-sandplains-in-southwest-australia-a-global-biodiversity-hotspot">immune to 1080</a>. </p>
<p>Plants known to produce fluoroacetate are rare. Outside the genus <em>Gastrolobium</em>, the trait is known for one Acacia species in Australia, a single genus in Africa and three genera in Brazil. </p>
<p>Baiting with 1080 is expensive and some animal rights supporters object to it on the grounds that it is not humane. Fencing is an excellent alternative, and used by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. It is expensive in the short term, but may actually be a better option in the long run.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111740/original/image-20160217-19232-p1epz0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111740/original/image-20160217-19232-p1epz0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111740/original/image-20160217-19232-p1epz0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111740/original/image-20160217-19232-p1epz0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111740/original/image-20160217-19232-p1epz0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111740/original/image-20160217-19232-p1epz0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111740/original/image-20160217-19232-p1epz0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111740/original/image-20160217-19232-p1epz0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It looks like a pitcher plant, but <em>Cephalotus follicularis</em> isn’t closely related at all.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hans Lambers</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260312133_Conservation_of_the_kwongan_flora_threats_and_challenges">Threats to plants</a> have historically been land clearing for agriculture. Not only did this remove the original vegetation, including endemic species, but it also gave rise to dryland salinity, as a result of a rising saline water table.</p>
<p>Salt that arrived from the ocean with the rain has accumulated in the landscape, but low in the soil profile. When perennial vegetation was replaced by annual crops that use far less water on an annual basis, the saline water table rose. This gave rise to expanding salt lakes, which are a natural element in south-western Australia, as well as new salt lakes and salt scars in the landscape.</p>
<p>A more recent threat to the biodiversity hotspot is the massive development for housing and recreation that has grown in the southwest region of Western Australia. This brings with it weed invasions, higher incidence of animal road deaths due to cars and trucks, and habitat destruction due to more frequent bushfires. </p>
<p>A 2011 bushfire caused by a prescribed burn in the Margaret River region resulted in the death of large numbers of now endangered Western ringtail possums and the destruction of many houses. </p>
<p>Australian vegetation has a long history of exposure to and resilience in the face of fire, but an <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21095155">increase in fires due to climate change</a> may overwhelm native wildlife and plants. </p>
<h2>Protecting the Southwest, forever</h2>
<p>Lack of knowledge among the local community of the amazing diversity of the southwest is one of the reasons it is not cared for as well as it should be. So we founded the <a href="http://www.plants.uwa.edu.au/alumni/kwongan">Kwongan Foundation</a> in 2006 with a view to conserving the south west and promoting research. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111739/original/image-20160217-19260-hdj3fl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111739/original/image-20160217-19260-hdj3fl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111739/original/image-20160217-19260-hdj3fl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111739/original/image-20160217-19260-hdj3fl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111739/original/image-20160217-19260-hdj3fl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111739/original/image-20160217-19260-hdj3fl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111739/original/image-20160217-19260-hdj3fl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111739/original/image-20160217-19260-hdj3fl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Woylie have inexplicably declined since 2006.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Bundock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our main aim is to secure UNESCO World Heritage Listing for the entire Southwest Australian Biodiversity Hotspot, focusing on national parks and existing reserves, without impinging on farming, forestry and mining activities. </p>
<p>UNESCO inscription would raise local awareness, offer better protection, and boost the tourism industry, which is worth billions to the state, with the “nature experience” one of the top drawcards for foreign visitors. </p>
<p>Tourism is not far behind the mining industry as an income-generating economic activity. Ecology and economy can therefore go hand in hand, leading to diversification of the Western Australian economy. </p>
<p>We’re hoping any WA minister for the environment or tourism will embrace the plan and wish to own it, as well as scientists. One thing is certain, without action soon, Australia’s most important biodiversity hotspot will be gone forever.</p>
<p><em>To find out more about the South West’s unique biodiversity see the <a href="http://uwap.uwa.edu.au/products/plant-life-on-the-sandplains-in-southwest-australia-a-global-biodiversity-hotspot">Plant Life on the Sandplains in Southwest Australia</a> and the Kwongan Foundation on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kwonganfoundation/">Facebook</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54885/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hans Lambers is the founder and patron of the Kwongan Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Don Bradshaw does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South west Australia is home to an astonishing number of plants and some of the country’s weirdest wildlife. Now we need to protect it.Hans Lambers, Professor and Head of School, The University of Western AustraliaDon Bradshaw, Emeritus professor, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.