An overview of the latham’s snipe population in sakhalin, Eastern Russia

Latham’s Snipe (Японский бекас) Gallinago hardwickii was historically considered to breed mostly in Japan with a small proportion of breeding records in Russia. Since the 1950s, the species has been expanding its range northward and the current distribution of snipe encompasses most of the island of Sakhalin. At the same time, the species has experienced a breeding range contraction in Japan. During May 2019, opportunistic snipe surveys were conducted during a nine-day field trip of Sakhalin. Snipe were recorded either as incidental observations or during a 10’ point count. The highest numbers of snipe were found on the south-west coast of Sakhalin in the Tomarinskiy and Korsakovsky regions. All records were made in mosaic meadow-forest and modified grassland habitats, and none were obtained from forest or intact woodland. Comparison of these snapshot data to breeding surveys conducted between 1993 and 2012 demonstrate the species to be relatively widespread across Sakhalin, and in most areas not dominated by continuous forest. However, the conditions under which snipe breed successfully are more restricted than would be expected based on these broad habitat associations and numbers of displaying males. Agricultural intensification, spring burning of meadowlands and illegal shooting of snipe all reduce breeding success. While a significant proportion of the Latham’s Snipe global population appears to occur on Sakhalin (potentially as high as 18%), when considered in the broader context of species decline documented in Japan, it is likely that the global trend for this species is generally downward. © 2020, Australasian Wader Studies Group. All rights reserved

Engaging communities for prioritising natural resource management and biodiversity conservation actions

Citizen science has a significant contribution to Natural Resource Management (NRM) through the acquisition and sharing of knowledge. Innovative online technology is playing an increasing role in the support and implementation of citizen science activities. Two projects being conducted in Victoria are using web-based spatial applications to facilitate and support the use of community sourced information for natural resource management and biodiversity conservation. The Natural Resource Management planning portal (NRMPP) is a regional catchment planning tool designed for Catchment Management Authorities and Landcare organisations to plan and prioritise natural resource management works. State-wide Flora and Fauna Teams (SWIFFT) is network of community groups, individuals and organisations that is underpinned by online technology to share knowledge and data on biodiversity issues throughout Victoria. Open source web-based spatial platforms are being used to deliver existing data from multiple sources, provide tools for the entry of spatial data and to provide information required for decision making. The focus of the two projects is to build knowledge management systems with tools that can be used by the community, land managers and other stakeholders to manage, control and share their own data in an online environment. Submission and sharing of community biodiversity and NRM data using online spatial platforms, and federating it with regional, state and national environmental data is facilitating community engagement and providing a process for identifying opportunities to collaborate on NRM activities and biodiversity conservation projects

Engaging communities for prioritising natural resource management and biodiversity conservation actions

Citizen science has a significant contribution to Natural Resource Management (NRM) through the acquisition and sharing of knowledge. Innovative online technology is playing an increasing role in the support and implementation of citizen science activities. Two projects being conducted in Victoria are using web-based spatial applications to facilitate and support the use of community sourced information for natural resource management and biodiversity conservation. The Natural Resource Management planning portal (NRMPP) is a regional catchment planning tool designed for Catchment Management Authorities and Landcare organisations to plan and prioritise natural resource management works. State-wide Flora and Fauna Teams (SWIFFT) is network of community groups, individuals and organisations that is underpinned by online technology to share knowledge and data on biodiversity issues throughout Victoria. Open source web-based spatial platforms are being used to deliver existing data from multiple sources, provide tools for the entry of spatial data and to provide information required for decision making. The focus of the two projects is to build knowledge management systems with tools that can be used by the community, land managers and other stakeholders to manage, control and share their own data in an online environment. Submission and sharing of community biodiversity and NRM data using online spatial platforms, and federating it with regional, state and national environmental data is facilitating community engagement and providing a process for identifying opportunities to collaborate on NRM activities and biodiversity conservation projects

Collect, connect, upscale : towards coordinated monitoring of migratory shorebirds in the asia-pacific

Monitoring migratory species can be extremely challenging. For example, millions of migratory shorebirds migrate from breeding grounds in northern China, Mongolia and Russia to East Asia and Australasia each year, traversing more than 20 countries while on migration. Studies within individual nations have identified rapid declines in many species, yet progress toward a fully unified scheme for continuous tracking of population change at the scale of the entire East Asian-Australasian Flyway has been slow. To reflect on lessons learned and consider how further progress might be made, we review some of the factors that have limited the full emergence of shorebird monitoring in the East Asian- Australasian Flyway, including fragmentation among multiple databases, low data readiness, inadequate metadata and gaps in survey coverage. We conclude that while technical solutions for many of these issues do exist, the biggest challenge is to navigate the significant organisational, socio-cultural and resourcing contexts of those people doing the monitoring. Technical solutions alone will not create a cohesive network of people whose local efforts are pooled to create robust flyway-scale monitoring. © 2021 Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales. All rights reserved. *Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Birgita Hansen” is provided in this record*

Accounting for cryptic population substructure enhances detection of inbreeding depression with genomic inbreeding coefficients: an example from a critically endangered marsupial

Characterizing inbreeding depression in wildlife populations can be critical to their conservation. Coefficients of individual inbreeding can be estimated from genome-wide marker data. The degree to which sensitivity of inbreeding coefficients to population genetic substructure alters estimates of inbreeding depression in wild populations is not well understood. Using generalized linear models, we tested the power of two frequently used inbreeding coefficients that are calculated from genome-wide SNP markers, FH and F^III, to predict four fitness traits estimated over two decades in an isolated population of the critically endangered Leadbeater's possum. FH estimates inbreeding as excess observed homozygotes relative to equilibrium expectations, whereas F^III quantifies allelic similarity between the gametes that formed an individual, and upweights rare homozygotes. We estimated FH and F^III from 1,575 genome-wide SNP loci in individuals with fitness trait data (N = 179–237 per trait), and computed revised coefficients, FHby group and F^IIIby group, adjusted for population genetic substructure by calculating them separately within two different genetic groups of individuals identified in the population. Using FH or F^III in the models, inbreeding depression was detected for survival to sexual maturity, longevity and whether individuals bred during their lifetime. F^IIIby group (but not FHby group) additionally revealed significant inbreeding depression for lifetime reproductive output (total offspring assigned to each individual). Estimates of numbers of lethal equivalents indicated substantial inbreeding load, but differing between inbreeding estimators. Inbreeding depression, declining population size, and low and declining genetic diversity suggest that genetic rescue may assist in preventing extinction of this unique Leadbeater's possum population. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Lt

The Natural Resource Management Planning Portal : Perspectives for NRM planning and reporting

Natural Resource Management (NRM) is often conducted as a partnership between government and citizens. In Australia, government agencies formulate policy and fund implementation that may be delivered on-ground by community groups (such as Landcare). Since the late 1980s, over AUS$8b of Commonwealth investment has been made in NRM. However, quantitative evidence of environmental improvements is lacking. The NRM Planning Portal has been developed to (1) provide an online spatial information system for sharing Landcare and agency data; and (2) to facilitate NRM priority setting at local and regional planning scales. While the project successfully federates Landcare NRM activity data, challenges included (1) unstructured, non-standardized data, meaning that quantitative reporting against strategic objectives is not currently possible, and (2) a lack of common understanding about the value proposition for adopting the portal approach. Demonstrating the benefit of technology adoption is a key lesson for digital NRM planning

Livestock grazing effects on riparian bird breeding behaviour in agricultural landscapes

Globally, many bird species that rely on native woodland or forest environments are declining due to vegetation clearing for livestock pastures and cereal cropping. In many landscapes, woodland remnants are restricted to waterways and roadsides in narrow, sometimes degraded patches, and not all patches can necessarily provide the resources required to support bird populations. This study investigated the influence of livestock grazing and vegetation characteristics on bird breeding activity in riparian zones in northern Victoria, Australia, where much of the landscape is used for production and has experienced significant loss of woodland. Birds were broadly categorised as ‘woodland’ or ‘non-woodland’ species, based on dependency on woodlands for breeding. The majority of woodland species detected were relatively common, and where riparian zones were heavily grazed, there was significantly lower woodland bird breeding activity compared to non-woodland bird breeding activity (the latter increasing with grazing intensity). Woodland and non-woodland birds had consistently opposite responses to grazing intensity, vegetation and landscape characteristics, suggesting that the factors influencing breeding differ markedly between these two groups. Thus, where riparian zones are intensively grazed, the bird community shifts from predominantly woodland to largely non-woodland species. This has implications for the conservation of both rare and common woodland bird species in southern Australia. Simple changes in land management, for example, livestock exclusion from important breeding habitat, may confer large gains for population persistence of woodland bird species

Demographic trends and reproductive patterns in the northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) at Epping Forest National Park (Scientific), central Queensland

The critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) currently exists at only two locations in Queensland. Management, research and monitoring of the species at the main Epping Forest National Park (Scientific) population has occurred over the last four decades using a variety of tools, with the most complete dataset being provided by burrow activity monitoring over that period. Following a series of trap-based surveys in the 1980s and 1990s, wombat monitoring has employed DNA profiling of hairs collected remotely on sticky tape set at burrow entrances (since 2000), and passive infrared (PIR) cameras (since 2011). These techniques have produced a wealth of new information on the species. Using this new information, we aim to: (1) summarise the available demographic data and present new estimates using novel techniques for L. krefftii at Epping Forest NP; and (2) characterise reproductive patterns and their relationship with environmental factors for L. krefftii at Epping Forest NP. We find an ongoing increase in the population size at Epping Forest National Park, supported by healthy levels of reproduction despite periods of poor environmental conditions, notwithstanding the finding that cumulative monthly rainfall six months prior to sampling influenced birth rates. This trend suggests that the population will likely reach carrying capacity in the near future. It is timely to harvest the population to provide founders to a new site to establish an additional population, which will also reduce the risk of extinction and help secure the future of the species. © 2021 Australian Mammal Society

Current status of and future opportunities for digital agriculture in Australia

In Australia, digital agriculture is considered immature and its adoption ad hoc, despite a relatively advanced technology innovation sector. In this review, we focus on the technical, governance and social factors of digital adoption that have created a disconnect between technology development and the end user community (farmers and their advisors). Using examples that reflect both successes and barriers in Australian agriculture, we first explore the current enabling technologies and processes, and then we highlight some of the key socio-technical factors that explain why digital agriculture is immature and ad hoc. Pronounced issues include fragmentation of the innovation system (and digital tools), and a lack of enabling legislation and policy to support technology deployment. To overcome such issues and increase adoption, clear value propositions for change are necessary. These value propositions are influenced by the perceptions and aspirations of individuals, the delivery of digitally-enabled processes and the supporting legislative, policy and educational structures, better use/conversion of data generated through technology applications to knowledge for supporting decision making, and the suitability of the technology. Agronomists and early adopter farmers will play a significant role in closing the technology-end user gap, and will need support and training from technology service providers, government bodies and peer-networks. Ultimately, practice change will only be achieved through mutual understanding, ownership and trust. This will occur when farmers and their advisors are an integral part of the entire digital innovation system

Inquiry into the Victorian Auditor-General’s report no.202: Meeting obligations to protect Ramsar Wetlands, tabled on 14 September 2016.

In this submission, we have confined our recommendations to those we consider most relevant and helpful to the Committee. Essentially, there are three main points we wish to raise:1. Streamline complex law and governance arrangements for managing threats to wetlands, for example, by aligning the resources required for monitoring, evaluating and reporting on ecological character change with the institutional bodies responsible for (and most capable of) performing those tasks;2. Introduce new policy and/or law reform measures necessary to ensure restoration of wetlands is made faster and easier on both public and private land (for example, through specialised permits or statutory exemptions for carrying out wetland restoration so that it is not categorised as ‘development’).3. Improve investment and resourcing in understanding the key threats and changes to ecological character and improve accountability of where and how the resources are spent on wetlands across the state