Black-flanked rock-wallaby: Potential for dietary competition with sympatric western grey kangaroo

Overabundant western grey kangaroo Macropus fuliginosus are known to impact agriculture, but how are they impacting threatened fauna sharing their habitat? In Paruna Wildlife Sanctuary, southwest Western Australia, kangaroos are suspected of competing with the sympatric and endangered black-flanked rock-wallaby Petrogale lateralis lateralis, however there is no research to support this. If kangaroos are negatively impacting rock-wallabies, kangaroo densities may need to be managed to ameliorate competitive pressures on rock-wallabies. We investigated the potential for dietary competition between M. fuliginosus and P. l. lateralis by measuring the overlap in their diets and foraging patches, as well as food resource availability. A combination of scat analysis, motion sensor camera trapping and vegetation surveys were employed. Petrogale lateralis lateralis diets were dominated by forbs and overlapped with those of M. fuliginosus which featured mostly browse and forbs (Schoener index: 0.56). Some of their shared preferred food resources were spatially and/or temporally limited. Their foraging patches also overlapped (33.9%), however these macropod species predominantly used different areas of the outcrop. Evidence over the duration of the study indicates potential for low levels of dietary competition, however the availability of shared food resources and resource partitioning suggest that P. l. lateralis were not being adversely impacted. In terms of the threatening processes limiting P. l. lateralis recovery, predation has been ranked higher than competition, a finding that is likely supported by the present study. This will likely remain true even if M. fuliginosus densities increase in the future. Conservation actions should therefore continue to prioritise the mitigation of predation threats to P. l. lateralis populations

The Financial and Environmental Returns in Green Banking

With dire climate circumstances looming, simply recycling aluminum cans and driving EV cars is not enough to offset the past consequences our planet has withstood. Large initiatives have to be set in motion to combat and ward off future problems, which takes the amount of money that is afforded by dedicated investments. Private and public sectors are putting their money into green banking, which is proving to provide impressive returns. This paper examines the progress that has been made due to green investments and how the planet can be the recipient of groundbreaking and impactful initiatives. I will focus mostly on the United States but will briefly examine what other countries are doing to help with this worldwide issue. Without changes and progress, climate change can have devastating effects, which are currently being noted. I also mention what will happen if green banks do not have funding or are not funneling money to the proper areas of research, funding, and loans

Developing teachers as leaders of science in primary schools

Julia Mackintosh, Elizabeth White, and Josephine Dickerson, 'Developing teachers as leaders of science in primary schools', Paper presented at the Enquiry+ Conference 'Teacher, Action, Research in Primary School Settings', University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK, 12 July 2016.Non peer reviewedDownloa