The Western Australian landscape is ancient, heavily eroded and has not been subject to vulcanism or mountain building since the Mesozoic. This has resulted in a relatively stable biogeographic template on which biotic evolutionary processes have occurred, with a steady increase in lineage diversification and a tendency towards short-range endemism in many taxa. Like all environments, the living WA fauna is inferred to comprise lineages that are derived from in situ Pangean and Gondwanan ancestors, as well as more recently arrived Neogene immigrants. Many of these ancient denizens and recent immigrants have evolved in response to aridification processes and numerous climatic fluctuations since the Miocene. These different patterns – ancient and recent – in our modern fauna are illustrated using selected studies of ancient relicts such as velvet worms, most trapdoor spiders, harvestmen and salamanderfish to more recent arrivals such as Conothele trapdoor spiders. The spectacular radiations of subterranean fauna in the Pilbara and other substrates are derived from ancestors that lived in mesic forests, but permanently moved into underground cavities as the surface environment dried during the Neogene. Examples of these radiations are presented, including pseudoscorpions and schizomids, along with models on how the fauna may have evolved and diversified.

Many taxa are under stress from habitat loss and modification, as well as pests, inappropriate fire regimes, diseases and dryland salinity. Indeed, it is likely that invertebrate species have already become extinct prior to their discovery and formal description in the scientific literature. The rate of description of selected taxa demonstrates that we have a poor knowledge of the total fauna, and require urgent and sustained research into their taxonomy, habitat requirements and threats.

Assisted colonisation – the introduction of a species outside its indigenous range for conservation purposes – has been suggested for several decades as a pragmatic response to climate change. But, virtually no one has tried it. In this presentation I will describe a collaboration between researchers and managers where assisted colonisation is being trialled to reduce the threat of extinction for a Critically Endangered freshwater tortoise. The western swamp tortoise is a cryptic and long-lived reptile native to Perth and occupies seasonal wetlands on which it depends for food and reproduction. These wetlands have been drying since the 1970s due to groundwater decline and climate change. Beginning in 2016, juvenile tortoises bred in captivity at Perth Zoo were experimentally released into novel wetlands across a 350 km latitudinal gradient to study their growth and physiological performance in alternative habitats. I will illustrate how biophysical modelling contributed to selecting appropriate wetlands, and will evaluate the success of trials of assisted colonisation near the south coast of Western Australia. While we are some way from knowing how best to help species persist through climate change, trialling assisted colonisation more broadly is urgently needed to inform and develop best practice management and policy.

The Swan and Canning rivers, their tributaries and the many wetlands that cover the Swan Coastal Plain are a fundamental biophysical component of the Perth’s environment. Properly considering the cultural-ecological values associated to these waterways in land use planning can provide a holistic foundation to the fragmented way in which urban lands and waters are often planned and managed.

Noongar knowledge has been gathered over the decades, often in the scope of studies and surveys related with land development. However, this information is scattered across multiple organizations and not easily accessible, including to the Noongar community itself.

In this presentation, we share the journey of a collaborative, interdisciplinary project that has gathered archived information relating to the Noongar values of the wetlands and waterways of the urban Canning River catchment. The project then invited the Noongar community to participate in the interpretation and mapping of the information gathered, through a series of cultural mapping workshops, small group and one-to-one conversations. We share key reflections and learnings on the importance of considering Noongar heritage, knowledge of and connection to Country in conservation planning, biodiversity conservation and urban greening in Perth.

The monsoon vine thickets of the Dampier Peninsula are Western Australia’s most southerly rainforest ecosystem, consisting of a network of over 80 coastal patches that occupy less than 1% of the peninsula’s area yet contain 24% of the plant species. The vine thickets are culturally rich, providing important food, medicine, camping and cultural sites, with 98% of vine thicket tree species having a documented cultural use and language name. Unfortunately the vine thickets are threatened by weeds, land-clearing and wildfires, leading to a National Endangered listing in 2013. Since 2009, the Yawuru, Nyul Nyul and Bardi Jawi Rangers have been supported by Environs Kimberley through the Monsoon Vine Thicket Working Group to better document and protect the habitat and its associated culture. This project has developed and utilises right-way science principles which at its core aim to recognise and prioritise cultural knowledge, cultural practice and traditional owners as equal or above scientific knowledge and scientists. Due to this right-way approach, the project has deepened and grown over 12 years, outputting considerable conservation and cultural management effort to document and conserve the vine thickets, document and transfer cultural knowledge, and educate the wider community of their importance. We will discuss how this right-way science approach has led to significant conservation benefits, ecological outcomes, the current and forecast health of the ecosystem and the lessons learned along the way.

Hot season wildfires are one of the most significant threats to biodiversity in Australia’s spinifex-dominated deserts. In response to this threat, numerous land management organisations are implementing fire management programs across a range of desert systems. These programs aim to shift fire patterns away from being dominated by increasingly large, severe, hot season wildfires in the absence of management and towards to a pattern which more closely resembles the traditional fire regime, where fires burn less country overall, and individual fires are smaller, patchier and less severe. Over time this will lead to a finer patchwork of more diverse fire ages across the landscape. Previous research suggests that by shifting fire patterns in this direction fire-sensitive fauna and vegetation communities will be better protected and managed areas will be able to support a greater range of species overall. 

While the total desert area being managed for fire continues to grow, there remain few examples where desert fire management has been large-scale and sustained over the past decade. This research explores the extent to which the fire patterns at four different sites have shifted since management programs began and identifies some remaining challenges to ensuring that such programs deliver the intended environmental outcomes. 

The Karajarri Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) and the Warlu Jilajaa Jumu IPA (on the Ngurrara native title area) together cover over 4 million hectares of the Great Sandy Desert in north-west Australia. The Karajarri and Ngurrara rangers have been collaborating in a project that aims to support fire management, cultural knowledge and biodiversity over the desert of our country. We have established 24 permanent monitoring sites in three areas, at sites with different fire histories, and have monitored small mammals and reptiles for three years, amounting to more than 5000 trapnights. Our trapping results show that the number of mammal species, and their abundance, goes down after fire and takes several years to recover. Patterns in the reptiles are more complex: the overall number of species is steady as vegetation recovers after fire, but the types of species change depending on when the site was last burnt: some species are almost only found in recently burnt sites, and other reptiles species prefer long-unburnt spinifex. We found that recently burnt sites have more reptile species that are active at night, but sites with recovered spinifex have more reptile species that are active during the day. Our results tell us that fire management that keeps a variety of vegetation ages across our country will help to maintain a diverse reptile community, and that long unburnt vegetation is critical for looking after small mammals. We have also examined fire patterns from the 1940s using aerial photographs, when people were still living on desert country. These photos tell us that the fire frequency 80 years ago was much lower than it is today, and the fire patch sizes were much smaller. Our work is helping us set the objectives for our fire management, and helping us talk with our communities about the cultural management of fire. By collaborating and sharing data, we are able to tell a stronger story.

The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) occurred across much of arid Australia, however, since European colonisation, abundance has declined, and their distribution has contracted towards the northwest. Bilbies are now only found in 20% of their former range. The Kimberley Region in the northwest of Australia has been identified as an important stronghold for wild bilby populations. The Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions partnered with the National Environmental Science Program Northern Australia Environmental Resources Hub, the Nyikina Mangala, Gooniyandi, Kija, Ngurrara and Bunuba Rangers, the Kimberley Land Council and Environs Kimberley to survey the occupancy, abundance and habitat suitability for bilbies in this area focusing on the Fitzroy Catchment. Standardised 2 ha sign plots were surveyed multiple times and remote cameras were used to record the presence of bilbies and introduced fauna species. Abundance of key populations was surveyed using DNA extracted from bilby scats. Our survey confirmed the persistence of bilby populations in this area. Next steps are to identify management actions necessary to protect these important wild populations from further contractions due to ongoing threats.

“White fella science and Martu science is the right way”
“Keep stories going for the young ones to learn”

Within the Wiluna Native Title Determination are the Tarlka Matuwa Piarku Martu people, the Traditional Owners and custodians of the Matuwa and Kurrara Kurrara Indigenous Protected Area (IPA). Martu vision for this area is to make sure it remains a place where Martu law and culture are practiced, and that Country is made healthier. An IPA Management Team oversees the direction of management and learning, including the sciences, for the IPA. It is the aspiration of the MKK IPA Management Team that the IPA becomes a hub for best-practice two-way science projects. The IPA Management Team have workshopped to develop a Ngaparrtji Ngaparrtji (two-way) Science Plan as a starting point for developing projects that will empower Martu and provide them with genuine opportunities to steward their culture to future generations. This plan first defines what Martu believe good (two-way) science looks like, and then outlines strategies to be implemented within the IPA. These strategies include: On-ground projects to look after rare species on Country (Bilby; Night Parrot; Golden Bandicoot); introduced predator control (feral cats, foxes); fire management; working with researchers; training opportunities; and partnering with the Wiluna School. Two-way science has some momentum to integrate Martu knowledge into remote community schools as a way of connecting children and teachers with Martu elders and ‘white fella’ researchers on Country. Two-way science at Wiluna is led by Martu elders who steward culture and Martu knowledge through an intergenerational knowledge exchange. This collaborative approach is appropriate when there is recognition of the value that each group (Martu, teachers, Western scientists) brings to a project for the benefit of people and Country, when all groups involved have a shared interest in the project outcomes, and whose learnings contribute to the health and wellbeing of future Martu generations. Three Ngaparrtji Ngaparrtji examples will be shared: Warrawulu week, searching for bilby, and ladies culture and heritage trips.

Despite considerable research in the last decade, much of the subterranean fauna of Australia remains poorly known. The subterranean fauna comprises ancient taxon groups (>40 million years), which are predominantly short-range endemics that are found in aquatic (stygofauna) or terrestrial (troglofauna) underground habitats. Because of their small size and cryptic appearance, detecting and distinguishing subterranean fauna by morphology alone is extremely difficult. Environmental DNA (eDNA)-based methods have real potential to dramatically improve on existing species detection approaches because they can be applied to detect subterranean fauna in a large range of habitats and at all life stages of species, without requiring specialized taxonomic expertise, providing a rigorous approach for assessment and monitoring of groundwater ecosystems. eDNA is genetic material that has been shed into the environment by organisms, which can be collected by extracting DNA from substrates such as water or soil. We are investigating factors that may influence eDNA detection of biodiversity including depth of sampling, sample type (water or sediment), and physicochemical properties of the water. Samples were collected from 17 groundwater wells on an island northwest of WA, and subterranean fauna were collected and identified in the field to provide a morphological comparison. Our results indicate greater subterranean fauna diversity could be detected from shallow water samples with higher dissolved oxygen content, compared to deeper samples or sediment. Additionally, the comparison between morphological and eDNA based assessment revealed greater diversity using DNA; however, assays were biased against certain taxa. Overall, eDNA methods can greatly improve survey of subterranean fauna, but further development of sampling protocols and eDNA assays is required.

The potential value of environmental DNA (eDNA) for environmental surveys is unparalleled. Detecting species in the environment, without physically sampling organisms has the potential to revolutionise how monitoring and baseline surveys are undertaken. However, examples of eDNA applications that translate to practical management decisions or environmental approvals are not widely available. We propose that a powerful application of eDNA is to complement secondary or “targeted” surveys for high-risk subterranean fauna. The rapid rollout of an eDNA sampling program could then confirm where species’ distributions extend beyond impacts, and potentially direct future sampling to ground truth eDNA results.

Here, we present a collaborative project between Biologic Environmental Survey, Genotyping Australia, and Rio Tinto Iron Ore, which provides framework for integrating eDNA sampling and analysis into targeted subterranean fauna surveys. An example of how this framework can be implemented is given for a targeted survey of two syncarids and two amphipods in the Greater Paraburdoo region of the Pilbara, Western Australia. We demonstrate the successful amplification of target eDNA from the groundwater using SYBR Green assays, confirmed with Sanger sequencing of amplicons. Challenges and future directions are discussed in the context of Environmental Impact Assessments.

Freshwater ecosystems are incredibly important hosts of biodiversity and offer a wide range of ecosystem services. However, these systems are increasingly altered through over-extraction, the addition of dams, presence of invasive species and pollution. Australian rivers are not exempt from these global trends, and many require sound management to preserve and enhance their unique biodiversity and the ecosystem services they provide. Sound management decisions for biodiversity require robust and efficient monitoring efforts to understand both the system and the management efforts required. Traditionally monitoring vertebrate biodiversity requires physically capturing and identifying fish. In the last decade environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring has emerged as an efficient complement to traditional methods. eDNA is conventionally captured through active filtration, pumping water through a membrane to concentrate DNA. However, a novel method of sampling for eDNA, passive sampling, has recently emerged as a potential means to monitor fish in a marine environment. Here, we investigate the potential of eDNA to monitor fish assemblages, on the highly modified Canning River in Perth, Western Australia by comparing fish assembly data from (1) traditional fyke netting, (2) active filtration eDNA capture, and (3) passive eDNA capture. Ten sites were chosen, spaced between dams and weirs, barriers to fish movement, to explore the sensitivity of eDNA and the role that barriers play in halting the invasion of the Pearl Cichlid (Geophagus brasiliensis). We expect that eDNA will detect the same range of fish species as detected by fyke netting efforts and have a greater sensitivity in detecting species in low densities, specifically the invasion front of G. brasiliensis. The implications of this research are the development of an eDNA monitoring protocol to complement traditional monitoring methods, leading to the potential for greater stewardship of the Canning River.

The Pilbara and Yilgarn regions are recognised as global biodiversity hot-spots for subterranean fauna, yet full comprehension of subterranean fauna habitats remains elusive. Western Australia’s multibillion-dollar mining industries rely on adequate habitat assessment to ensure that subterranean fauna biodiversity and ecological integrity are maintained during proposed developments. Nevertheless, current methods for characterising and assessing subterranean habitats are often uncertain, unstandardised, poorly quantified, difficult to visualise, and highly inferential. In collaboration with Rio Tinto, Biologic Environmental has produced a new framework for three-dimensional (3D) modelling of subterranean fauna habitats. The framework combines detailed subterranean fauna knowledge and sampling data with advanced geological modelling capabilities to produce a rigorous 3D representation of the potential subterranean habitat throughout the area of investigation. ‘Big data’ sourced from geological and hydrogeological investigations are leveraged to demonstrate the 3D spatial variability of subterranean fauna habitats, their suitability, extent, and connectivity throughout the landscape. Within the limits of available data, multiple sources are used to validate the modelling, and specialist expertise is employed to check models against broader geological and hydrogeological conceptualisations. 3D modelling complements and enhances traditional subterranean fauna habitat assessment, providing an improved basis for:
* investigating the links between habitat and species occurrence patterns;
* predictions of the potential wider occurrence of singleton species;
* assessment of ‘habitat surrogates’ as described in EPA guidelines; and
* quantitative impact assessment of multiple potential development scenarios, and predicted recovery.
This presentation describes the 3D modelling framework, its applications for impact assessment, and its peer review prior to regulatory submission.

There are over 13,000 vascular plant species in Western Australia, and more than 2300 of those are considered threatened or in urgent need of survey and conservation. One of the key steps in conserving these species is to understand how they are related to and distinguished from their close relatives. Knowing how to tell species apart in taxonomically challenging groups enables conservation managers to determine which species are in critical need of protection and which are less threatened. As part of the Genomics for Australian Plants (GAP) Conservation Genomics initiative, we undertook fieldwork to sample groups of closely-related species, including representatives of conservation concern and critically endangered, in four genera (Geleznowia, Isopogon, Synaphea, and Wurmbea) to resolve existing and suspected taxonomic issues hindering effective conservation management. Multiple populations were sampled in spring 2020 (4–6 samples/population), along with outgroups, totalling 188 samples per genus. DNA extractions from the field samples were sent to Bioplatforms Australia for ddRAD sequencing, a method for the generation of thousands of genomic markers appropriate for population genomic analyses. Sequencing has been ongoing, and the first data for Geleznowia and Wurmbea have recently been made available for preliminary analysis. We will present details of the study design and organisms, as well as initial results from exploratory analyses. The first genomic data are already showing potential for distinguishing new taxa and revealing unexpected genetic complexity in morphologically cohesive groups.

Plant-pollinator interactions are traditionally detected by observing flower visitations, or by microscopic identification of pollen carried by flower visitors. The latter integrates information from multiple flower visits by each visitor and thus can provide more information with less field time, but requires substantial laboratory time and expertise. DNA sequencing methods can allow for much higher throughput identification of pollen. In this talk I will present methods, developed with past colleagues at Emory University, USA, for identifying pollen in mixed-species samples through DNA metabarcoding (i.e. simultaneous sequencing of a DNA barcode from all species in a mixture), and whole genome shotgun (WGS) metagenomics (i.e. simultaneous sequencing of genome fragments from all species in a mixture). These methods were validated using mock communities of known pollen species composition, and both were found to provide accurate taxonomic identification. WGS sequencing was found to be more quantitative and have improved taxonomic resolution, but depends on availability of reference genome sequences and is more expensive, making it currently unfeasible in most study systems. With colleagues at CSIRO, I have used the previously-developed DNA metabarcoding methods to identify diet species for the little red flying fox (Pteropus scapulatus) and two other flying fox species in North Queensland, and I will present some of the data from this research. While metagenomics methods are currently not feasible for this particular study system, it is expected that in the near future these methods will be feasible for many if not most study systems. I will briefly discuss some of the trends that give rise to these expectations, and what this could mean for the future of DNA-based high-throughput detections of plant-pollinator interactions.

Quenda (Isoodon fusciventer) have undergone significant range reductions since European settlement, persisting in remnants of their former distributions. Having recently been classified as a distinct species, it is unclear what the current extent or home range size of this species is, or how quenda may be responding to urban pressures. Home range and habitat utilisation studies on bandicoots are limited, partly due to limitations with tracking methods and analysis techniques. Traditionally, home range analysis requires that data is collected over a long-time frame (e.g. 30 days) to account for statistical independence of data points. However, bandicoots are notoriously difficult to collar limiting long term tracking. Other methods such as live-trapping, spool and line tracking, and fluorescent powder are less accurate or cover too short a time period (less than a day). New technology and advances in statistical methods offer new opportunities to address this knowledge gap. We used high-resolution glue-on GPS loggers to track 45 quenda around Mandurah, Western Australia. Devices fell off after 0.5–7 days but provided sufficient data for 18 reliable home range estimates. Home range was analysed using continuous time movement models (ctmm) that account for the autocorrelated nature of high-resolution GPS data. Home range estimates ranged from 1–36 hectares, with n=10 females (3.19 ± 2.56 SD ha) having significantly smaller home ranges than n=12 males (25.4 ± 25.1 SD ha) (t-test assuming unequal variances, t11=-3.04, p=0.006). The implications for this study are important for rapid low-cost monitoring and improved management of urban quenda populations. The methods will also be relevant for other hard-to-track species.

The challenges of monitoring a rare and cryptic species like the western ground parrot (Pezoporus flaviventris) have been alleviated by advances in the development of acoustic monitoring equipment and techniques. Autonomous recording units (ARUs) have been used for the past 10 years to complement human observers in monitoring ground parrots. Since 2012, we have used ARUs extensively to monitor occupied habitat and trends in populations, survey historical habitat and follow up on reported sightings. In 2019 a landscape scale network of ARUs was established to collect data for modelling ground parrot occupancy and distribution. This network has provided an opportunity to track whole population trends over time, inform management strategies and decisions, and evaluate the response to management of introduced predators and fire.

Although providing a consistent and flexible approach to monitoring, manual analysis of large volumes of data collected by ARUs requires a significant time resource. Automated analysis of ARU data addresses this issue, but often results in numerous false positive and false negative identifications. Investigating optimal analytical approaches to improve accuracy in processing acoustic data has been the subject of a recent collaboration with UWA. Understanding the limitations of the software and developing tools to address challenges in data analysis and interpretation are essential to enable robust longer-term monitoring of population trends in ground parrots and other cryptic threatened birds.

Baselines of key indicator variables are essential for monitoring and evaluating the success of an intervention in an ecosystem. Such interventions may include the eradication of non-native fauna, as part of ecological restoration program.

The first stage of the Dirk Hartog Island National Park Ecological Restoration Project involved the eradications of sheep, goats and feral cats, commencing after the island became a National Park in 2009 and were completed in 2017/18. It was predicted that eradications of ungulates would lead to an increase in vegetation cover and populations of small vertebrates would also increase, as a result of improved habitat and the absence of predation by feral cats.

Satellite imagery of Dirk Hartog Island, captured since 1987, has been used to establish a baseline of the island’s vegetation and is now being used to monitor its recovery. These data have shown that since the commencement of the eradication, vegetation cover has significantly increased over 39% of the island.

A trapping program to monitor the small vertebrate populations on Dirk Hartog Island was undertaken annually between 2005 and 2009 and again since 2017. Results suggest that populations of small mammals and some reptiles are recovering well, but this may be only partly due to the eradications. Other taxa such as dragons appear to have declined since the eradications, the reasons for which are not well understood.

These studies highlight the value of baseline datasets and provide an insight into the impact interventions such as eradications can have on biodiversity.

Identifying and mitigating threats to the viability of animal populations is highly dependent on our understanding of the ecological requirements of individuals of a species. Large, mobile marine vertebrates provide unique challenges in this regard, as they are not easily observed, and subsequently basic ecological data is often lacking. Advances in sensor technology fuelled by the proliferation of personal technology are having an equally transformational impact on the study of marine megafauna as they have had on humanity. A plethora of sensors from animal-attached miniature video camera, motion-sensors provide rare opportunities to quantify the activities and behaviours of marine megafauna when out of sight. When coupled to modern machine learning techniques, these can provide unparalleled insight into the underwater world of the most intractable species. Here, I will illustrate the application of these emerging “bio-logging” tags in the study of marine megafauna, while highlighting how these tags will continue to provide both fundamental insight into the biology of poorly understood species, but also how these data can provide insight into the impacts of human activities.

Australia is a megadiverse continent, containing an array of plants and animals found nowhere else. The DNA Zoo Australia is dedicated to generating and sharing knowledge about these remarkable species, unpacking and documenting in extraordinary detail at their DNA level. These efforts provide further evidence to describe the richness of the natural world, and to understand the next steps in documenting the complex legacy of millions of years of evolution.

Southwest Australia, also known as the Kwongan, is one of 25 original global hotspots for wildlife and plants, and the first one identified in Australia. We have exceptional concentrations of endemic species 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 globally, which comprise only 1.4% of Earth’s land surface. WA has more than its fair share of unusual native plant and animal species.

During the last two decades, classical strategies of evaluating genetic variability, such as morphology and physiology, have been greatly complemented by phylogenetic, taxonomic, genetic diversity and breeding research molecular studies. At present, initiatives are taking place around the world to generate DNA barcode reference libraries to better understand, conserve and utilize biodiversity.

The high-quality reference genomic resources provide a rich resource of already preserved and identified material, and these as well as freshly collected samples from the wild can be used for creating a reference DNA library starting with the global hotspots. We highlight studies emphasizing various species reference genomes across tree of life undertaken with DNA Zoo consortium with special emphasis on the role of DNA barcoding as a powerful tool for biodiversity analysis, along with the crucial role of this in conserving and managing WA’s Biodiverse Hotspot in an Evolving World.

The edaphic characteristics of post-mining landforms often represent the most significant limitations to plant establishment and development in post-mining landscapes, and can be a major barrier to mining companies pursuing and achieving rehabilitation closure criteria. Tailings represent particularly challenging landforms to work with, particularly in Western Australia’s Midwest where the Banded Ironstone (BIF) reference systems harbour a biodiverse suite of well-adapted native flora. Topographic and edaphic complexity of BIF in an otherwise relatively homogenous landscape has likely facilitated species accumulation over long time periods, and BIF represent musea of regional floristic biodiversity where only species that cannot establish or are inferior competitors in heavily weathered, acidic and nutrient-impoverished soils are not represented. The physiochemical, hydrological, and microbiological conditions presented by rehabilitation substrates like tailings often differ markedly from pre-disturbance soils, and the physiological implications of these alterations to plant growth are frequently cryptic or completely unknown – tailings are geochemically completely dissimilar from any material native plants have ever been naturally exposed to. Plant strategies represent a major filter in establishing biodiverse, representative vegetation on tailings, and in geologically-ancient regions like the Midwest up to three-quarters of native biodiversity may not be easily returned to rehabilitation areas. If we are to exploit our mineral resources more sustainably, we must develop solutions to accelerate the speed at which rehabilitation can be successfully achieved; presented here are data and outcomes from seven years of multidisciplinary research unpacking and identifying some of the key mechanisms constraining plant and microbial establishment on mine tailings, and examining amelioration and soil engineering solutions aimed at improving the speed, efficacy and economic viability of post-mining rehabilitation and restoration.

The Pilbara region of Western Australia is a biodiversity hotspot, renowned for its high levels of species endemism. This region also has rich mineral reserves and agricultural value, meaning that there are conflicting priorities in the management of this vast landscape. The Pilbara also represents a stronghold for many threatened species that were once widespread across northern Australia. Australia’s mammals are declining at an alarming rate, particularly those in the “Critical Weight Range”, due to compounding threats including feral predators, introduced herbivores, land use change and changing fire regimes. For this reason, there is urgent need to develop conservation management strategies that integrate landscape-scale approaches to threat management, habitat protection and meta-population health across multiple species. In particular, there is a need for decision-making tools that support best practice conservation strategies for building resilient mammal communities in this unique, multi-use landscape.

Our study combines species occurrence records, high resolution genomic data, and spatial environmental data to understand how species utilise and move through the landscape. We focus on 11 small to medium sized mammals (rodents and marsupials), with the goal of identifying key habitat, dispersal corridors, areas that are genetically unique and areas with high/low levels of genetic diversity. Using species distribution modelling, and cutting edge landscape and population genomic approaches, we have created a suite of decision-making tools in the form of multi-species connectivity and habitat maps. Through synthesising multi-species genomic, survey and spatial data, and working with partners spanning government, industry and academia, this project provides a framework for a more holistic approach to conservation that can be applied to management in multi-use landscapes globally.

The bat fauna of Australia comprises some 25 % of all terrestrial species, yet we know very little of the demography, dispersal, and movement dynamics of most bat species. The Pilbara leaf-nosed bat (Rhinonicteris aurantia Pilbara form) is a threatened microbat that roosts exclusively in caves that occur in mineral rich deposits in the Pilbara region. Due to their specific roost microclimate requirements bats cannot survive for long without a suitable roost, and are sensitive to roost disturbance. Understanding the connectivity of roosts throughout the Pilbara is crucial for informed decisions to mitigate potential impacts to persistence of this species in areas under development. Along with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers, we used powerful, reduced representation genomic sequencing of over 150 individuals from 8 roost sites throughout the Pilbara and tested for population differentiation associated with the two major subregions – the Hamersley and Chichester. We found evidence of high rates of dispersal and low population structure within the Pilbara, suggesting one panmictic population, with mtDNA results suggesting evidence of female philopatry. Our results corroborate the current understanding of threatened Pilbara leaf-nosed bat biology, that long-distance dispersal events which possibly occur after maturation lead to high rates of gene flow, and that a continuous cave system of suitable roosts is crucial to maintain connectivity and dispersal corridors for a species vulnerable to desiccation.

Few people realise that there are quokkas (Setonix brachyurus) persisting on the mainland across south-west Western Australia. The small, scattered populations in the northern jarrah forest face many threats, including reduced favoured riparian habitat attributed to decreasing rainfall and stream flow, predation by and competition with introduced species, and wildfire. Wildfire is known to devastate quokka populations, and therefore prescribed burning is an important tool to manage habitat and minimise the potential impact of wildfire. However, the considerations around prescribed burning in and around quokka habitats is becoming more complex with a drying climate, the vulnerability of fragmented populations, and the uncertainties around quokka movements when fire is present.

To better understand quokkas’ use of habitat in relation to fire, we tracked the movement patterns of twenty male quokkas before and after prescribed burns in 2018- 2020 at five sites in the northern jarrah forest. The mean 95% Kernel Density Estimate (KDE) home range size for quokkas was 75.2?± 59.8 SD ha.

Segmentation analysis was carried out to identify changes in habitat use over time. Following the prescribed burns, quokkas inhabiting the unburned fire exclusion areas maintained their range. By contrast, quokkas that had previously resided or visited burned areas shifted away and moved to the exclusion areas, avoiding the burnt areas for average 105 ± 65 days.

This study revealed that quokkas use planned exclusion areas during prescribed burns. This highlights the importance of appropriately sized fire exclusion areas to ensure each population will be effectively preserved. In addition, each fragmented quokka population must be monitored before and after burns to inform exclusion and landscape planning processes to conserve the species.

The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis), is an ecosystem engineer, as they modify the physical environment and create habitat for other species. Their burrows provide shelter and hunting opportunities for a variety of species including birds, reptiles, mammals, and invertebrates. As ecosystem engineers, they contribute to soil processes that are important in shaping the ecology of Australian ecosystems. Bilbies have experienced severe decline in abundance and distribution (once widespread across 70% of Australia’s mainland, but are now restricted to 20% of their former distribution) and are now listed as Vulnerable. This decline has been driven, in some part, by predation pressure from introduced predators, such as feral cats. Predators not only directly impact prey species by killing and consuming them, but also change the behaviour of prey species, as they respond to the risk of predation. This behavioural shift may affect the fitness of prey species. As such, we investigated the vigilance behaviour of bilbies as they maintain their burrows. We used data from camera traps deployed at 200 burrows, at sites in the West Kimberley, Pilbara, Barna Mia Native Animal Sanctuary, Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary, and Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre to score the investment of bilbies in burrow maintenance, vigilance, and avoidance of predators. The outcomes of this research will increase our understanding of the impacts of feral cats on the behaviour of bilbies as they perform burrow maintenance and will likely inform conservation efforts of the greater bilby.

Boodies, once widespread across the Australian continent were last observed on the mainland in the 1960s, having succumbed to the pressures of feral foxes, cats, habitat disturbance and changes in fire regimes. Following extinction on the mainland, the species persisted on just three Western Australian offshore islands. Since 1992, boodies from these islands have been transported to various mainland havens – fenced areas subject to predator control – and to several nearby predator-free islands to boost population size and provide insurance against future population loss. There are now seven translocated populations, that together support over 16 000 boodies. In this project, we used reduced representation sequence data (ddRADseq) to provide species-wide genomic data on the current state of boodie populations. In particular, we focussed on the impact that founder source has on patterns of genomic diversity when establishing translocated populations. The results highlight the importance of mixing different island sources as part of the translocation process, with mixed source populations consistently exhibiting higher levels of genetic diversity. We discuss our findings in the broader context of long-term conservation management of boodie populations.

In 2010, vulnerable golden bandicoots (Isoodon auratus) were translocated from Barrow Island, Western Australia, to a predator-free enclosure on the Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area. Golden bandicoots were once widespread throughout a variety of arid and semi-arid habitats of central and northern Australia. Like many small to medium-sized marsupials, the species has severely declined since colonisation and has been reduced to only four remnant natural populations. Between 2010 and 2020 the reintroduced population of golden bandicoots on Matuwa was monitored via capture-mark-recapture data collection which was used in spatially explicit capture-recapture analysis to monitor their abundance over time. In 2014, we used VHF transmitters to examine the home range and habitat selection of 20 golden bandicoots in the enclosure over a six-week period. We used compositional analysis to compare the use of four habitat types. Golden bandicoot abundance in the enclosure slowly increased between 2010 and 2014 and has since plateaued at approximately one quarter of the density observed in the founding population on Barrow Island. The population may have plateaued because some bandicoots escape through the fence. Golden bandicoots used habitats dominated by scattered shrubland over spinifex grass more than expected given the habitat’s availability. Nocturnal foraging range was influenced by sex and trapping location, whereas diurnal refuge habitat was consistent across sex and trapping location. Our work suggests that diurnal refuge habitat may be an important factor for the success of proposed translocations of golden bandicoots.

Non-invasive or minimally invasive monitoring methods enable studies of species that are elusive, difficult to trap or otherwise negatively impacted by human disturbance. Previous monitoring programs for the Vulnerable Macroderma gigas (Ghost bat) have included visual counts, passive acoustics, and live capture. Whilst visual and acoustic methods are non-invasive, these methods provide limited individual-level information to obtain estimates of key biological parameters such as survivorship or dispersal. Conversely, while live capture can provide individual information, species detection may be hampered by individual behaviours such as trap avoidance, leading to biased data collection. To improve the monitoring of ghost bats, we have developed a novel ‘molecular tagging’ method for individual identification from faecal samples using custom-designed Single Nucleotide Polymorphism arrays (119 SNPs) on the MassArray system, custom-made mitochondrial DNA marker, and three custom-made sexing markers. Combined with previous data generated from 11 microsatellite markers and mitochondrial DNA, we detected 584 bats from over 3700 faecal samples collected from over 120 caves across the Pilbara region between 2015-2020. Individual genetic patterns demonstrated the spatial and temporal movement patterns of ghost bats amongst roost sites at local- and landscape-scale in the Pilbara. We detected most movements occur among caves within the same area, though a few long-distance flights were observed between caves 25-130 km apart. Bats showed positive genetic relatedness up to ~10 km that declined with geographic distance and both sexes showed similar patterns. At the landscape-level, the genetic data revealed weak genetic structuring of East and West Hamersley from the Chichester sub-region but with similar genetic diversity across regions. Molecular tagging from faecal samples has proven to be a valuable tool in monitoring ghost bats and provided insights into species’ biology.

Translocations to closed systems such as fenced reserves can provide significant conservation benefits to threatened fauna species, however they can also bring forth potential threats. Resources are limited in fenced reserves and natural processes that regulate populations, such as dispersal and predation, are unable to occur. Consequently, there is increased potential for interspecific competition because there are less resources available for partitioning and overpopulation is possible. Interspecific competition may lead to the decline or exclusion of the more sensitive species. We investigated the potential for competition between two native marsupials, boodies (Bettongia lesueur) and mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus), that co-exist in a 1100 ha predator-free fenced reserve located in the arid rangelands of central Western Australia. Resource overlap between coexisting populations of these two species has not been studied previously, but the literature suggests the potential for considerable dietary overlap with possible suppression of the more sensitive mala. We investigated the degree of dietary overlap using scat DNA from non-invasively collected scats, as well as the degree of spatial overlap using scat counts and temporal overlap using camera traps. Results suggest limited potential for significant exploitative competition, with both species displaying different foraging preferences and consuming most primary food items in differing volumes. The species displayed no sign of spatial or temporal avoidance, most likely because dietary partitioning exists so there is limited risk from using the same habitats and having similar activity rhythms. This study will contribute to the successful conservation of boodies and mala and will contribute to gaining a better understanding of how translocation success may be affected by the presence of competition, particularly within a closed environment where resources are limited.

Translocations have been used as an effective tool to combat the loss of biodiversity by reintroducing locally extinct species and thus aiding in ecosystem restoration. To ensure resilient reintroduced populations, genetic diversity can be maximised by releasing individuals from multiple genetically diverged sources. However, admixing is rarely utilized due to the risks of genetic incompatibility which can result in reduced fitness of hybrid offspring (outbreeding depression). Using reduced representation sequencing (ddRAD-seq) and life history data collected over nine years of monitoring, we investigated the genetic and fitness consequences of admixing two subspecies of Bettongia lesueur in a conservation translocation: ‘Operation Rangeland Restoration’. Using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified from 215 individuals over nine generations, we found an almost 2-fold increase in genetic diversity in the admixed translocated population compared to the source populations. This increase was maintained over time. Despite a similar founder proportion (Barrow Island N = 67, Dryandra N = 87) introduced to the translocated population, Bayesian clustering analysis suggested the translocated population became more genetically similar to the Barrow Island ancestry over time. Survivorship estimates from mark-recapture data were comparable between offspring classes (average 95%, range 92-98%), but the hybrid class had a slightly higher estimate than others (98%, P < 0.01). The recruitment rate varied between classes (average 13%, range 0-20%) with Dryandra founders and Dryandra backcross having the lowest rates, which may have contributed to the translocated population being more genetically similar to the Barrow Island ancestry over time. This study demonstrates that mixing multiple source populations in the reintroduction of threatened species enhances adaptive potential by increasing genetic diversity with no evidence of outbreeding depression.

Minimally invasive wildlife monitoring techniques have increased in popularity as researchers seek to reduce their impact on animal welfare and improve monitoring efficacy in large landscapes. Such techniques can also be valuable for monitoring scarce or ‘trap-shy’ species. Banded (Lagostrophus fasciatus) and rufous hare-wallabies (Lagorchestes hirsutus) do not readily enter live-capture traps and are difficult to observe on camera traps. These species do not have individually unique markings, making the identification of individual animals difficult. Faecal DNA monitoring may represent a promising alternative monitoring method for hare-wallabies.

We developed an array of genetic markers (microsatellites) for both species and ran trials to assess rates of DNA degradation in ambient conditions. Results of these trials were used to design a scat monitoring protocol which was tested on Dirk Hartog Island in November 2019, where both hare-wallaby species have been translocated, followed by a full-scale survey in November 2020. The molecular genetics techniques are currently being augmented to include markers with greater discriminatory power (SNPs).

Results indicated that a) hare-wallaby identities can be discriminated using genetic techniques to species and individual levels and b) banded and rufous hare-wallabies segregate in the landscape according to habitat. It is planned that faecal DNA monitoring will be the main method of assessing the ongoing success of these translocations. This technique is also being developed for other translocated species on Dirk Hartog Island, such as Shark Bay bandicoots (Perameles bougainville).

Coral reefs are declining rapidly due to rising ocean temperatures, acidification, and local human impacts. The degradative effects of climate change on the coral reef ecosystems of tropical Australia are of major concern not only to scientists and government management agencies, but also Traditional Owners. To help slow the degradation, effective management requires understanding the ecological and evolutionary influences on coral reef health. For example, it is fundamental to understand how the distribution of available genetic diversity (DNA variants) will constrain or enable adaptation in reef-building corals for the effective design of networks of Marine Protected Areas. However, Indigenous custodianship knowledge is also key to understanding the long-term changes in coral reef health. Furthermore, Indigenous Rangers are critical to our ability to monitor these changes through time in remote regions of northern Australia. This talk will discuss how decades of research in the northwest has utilised population genetic studies alongside coral reef monitoring to develop coral reef conservation strategies. These studies demonstrate that the physical isolation of the offshore (Scott Reef, Rowley Shoals and Ashmore Reef) and inshore Kimberley reefs means their short-term recovery following disturbances and their longer-term capacity to adapt will be driven from local sources. However, we have also found that the genetic variation underpinning adaptation varies dramatically at local scales, and depends on the configuration of coral ancestry, oceanographic conditions, and disturbance history. This means the health of coral populations of northwest Australia will likely have different trajectories. The implications of this research in context of the co-design of Marine Protected Areas with Traditional Owners will be discussed in specific relation to the recent draft plan of the Buccaneer Marine Park.

Drier and hotter conditions caused by climate change threaten species that exist close to their physiological limits, as well as those with limited ability to move. The critically endangered white-bellied frog, Geocrinia alba, is restricted to a few square kilometres of habitat in south-west Western Australia. Over half of the known G. alba populations have become extinct in recent decades, surviving populations continue to decline, and past translocation efforts have had mixed success. Here we assess whether thermal and hydric constraints can explain G. alba’s highly restricted and declining distribution. We also evaluate the species’ vulnerability to climate change based on the similarity of current microclimatic conditions to their physiological limits. We found G. alba had low thresholds of thermal and desiccation tolerance relative to other anuran species. Comparing environmental conditions and water loss in the field using agar models showed that riparian habitats where frogs occur provide a unique microclimate in the landscape, offering significantly lower desiccation risk during extreme summer conditions compared to immediately adjacent habitats. Monitoring of microclimate conditions within occupied frog habitats showed that in extreme dry and hot years six of eight sites recorded soil moisture levels that were drier than the frog’s absorption threshold (the soil water potential that allows them to gain water), and half of the sites experienced temperatures that exceeded G. alba’s thermal optimum. Given their specific physiological limits, the apparent rarity of suitable microclimates and a regional drying–warming trend, we suggest that G. alba occupies a potentially disappearing niche and may be indicative of other habitat specialists that rely on ephemeral drainages. These insights will allow us to identify potentially unsuitable translocation sites, and to prioritise sites most likely to support viable populations in a drying climate.

Mining is one of the world’s largest contributors to the global economy at $1.37 trillion USD per annum. The International Standards for Mine Site Restoration (the Mining Standards) currently in final draft, aims to provide a unifying set of principles and standards for all mine site restoration projects across the globe with alignment to the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Increasing pressure on companies to maintain their social license to operate has meant that globally the mining industry is lifting their environmental performance. The Mining Standards present a robust framework for delivering high-quality ecological restoration of mine sites. Such a framework enables acceptable and enduring environmental, social, and economic legacies for future generations consistent with many international goals and conventions. This increased awareness and actions to improve performance by the mining industry is, however, by no means universal. The process of change within a mining company to progress towards a culture of environmental best practice can often be a long process requiring ‘company champions’ to work diligently and continuously with management. The International Standards for Mine Site Restoration (the Mining Standards) provides a framework to help companies on that journey, specifically when the post mining land use is ecological restoration. The best outcomes are achieved when trust is established between government (regulators), industry, community and science and leveraging this to go beyond best practice (Fig. 1). It can be difficult to attain and is something that is being grappled with globally, but when it is established, the best net environmental and social benefits can be realized.

Regional descriptions of patterns of vegetation recovery after restoration for are limited and yet, are necessary to assess progress, evaluate management practices, and understand underlying ecological processes. Structural- and species-based measures are traditionally used to assess restoration recovery. However, functional trait-based measures provide deeper insight.

We compare the functional vegetation recovery of 4 mine sites in southwest Western Australia: the Iluka mineral sand mine at Eneabba, the Tronox mineral sand mine at Cooljarloo, and the Hanson sand quarries at Gingin and Ellenbrook. These sites span 250km north to south, from kwongan heath at Eneabba to Banksia woodland in Perth. All companies made available data on long-term vegetation recovery from restoration monitoring plots as well as data from reference vegetation.

Trait-based composition for restored plots at all sites becomes more similar to reference vegetation with age. Notably, the pattern of recovery is similar across all sites. Restored areas appear to move through comparable successional phases, irrespective of differences in patterns of other measures of recovery, such as species richness. Restoration practices and environmental variables account for considerable proportions of variance of functional traits collectively but little individually. Functional aspects of vegetation recovery could better inform restoration assessment.

Much of the remarkable plant species diversity of the South West Australian Floristic Region can be attributed to high diversity of understorey species in its forests and woodlands, including 400-600 understorey species per km2 in the Northern Jarrah Forest alone. Consequently, the return of species diversity is a key component and challenge for ecological restoration in the region. Each year, Alcoa of Australia undertakes restoration of mined areas within the Northern Jarrah Forest with a goal of returning a self-sustaining jarrah forest ecosystem. To meet this goal, it is important to understand the long-term (>20 year) trajectories of developing vegetation and the restoration practices that direct species diversity outcomes. Here, we show a strong legacy effect on understory diversity of using fresh topsoil, compared with stockpiled topsoil, 45-years after salvaged topsoil application. In addition, for this inherently nutrient-deficient environment, we demonstrate that minimising fertiliser inputs maximises plant species diversity, while having no negative impacts on tree growth rates after 20 years. Finally, we demonstrate (1) that species richness in restored sites increases over time, indicating ongoing species colonisation after initial restoration efforts, (2) that species richness is unaffected by the reintroduction of fire to restored sites, and (3) that after 25 years, species richness in restored sites is similar to that in unmined reference sites. Taken together, our research highlights the value of long-term data in improving jarrah forest restoration outcomes. The results may also prove useful in efforts to restore understorey diversity to woodlands and forests elsewhere in the region.

The cracking clay ecosystems of the Pilbara covers 3.7% of the bioregion and the most extensive areas of cracking clay ecosystems occur on pastoral leases, except for those in Millstream Chichester National Park.

The soils of this ecosystem consist of two distinct horizons: red vertosol, predominantly clay with occasional clay loam, and red Kandosol, which is structureless clay. The cracking clay soils are also known as ‘gilgai,’ ‘crabhole,’ or ‘melon hole’ soils. The unique characteristic feature of this ecosystem is that it is self mulching due to seasonal swelling and shrinkage (Moore 2004).  Most perennial deep-rooted species struggle to persist in this ecosystem because of the heavy texture and self mulching nature of the cracking clays (Fensham 2003).  As a result, perennial grasses (e.g., Astrebla spp., Chrysopogon fallax, Themeda sp. Hamersley Station) ephemerals herbs (e.g., Dolichocarpa sp. Hamersley Station, Streptoglossa sp. Cracking clays) and cryptophytic (perennating bud lies below the ground) species (e.g., Swainsona thompsoniana,  Pimelea holroydii) are the main functional species types on the cracking clays. Therefore, plants growing in cracking clays are often specialists restricted to this habitat. Further, the cracking clay ecosystem shows strong floristic dynamics throughout the year. For example, after summer rain the cracking clays are dominated by herbaceous species, and after winter rain, grass species dominate. For example, Dichanthium prefers winter rain, and in many instances, it is only a small component of the system after summer rains. Even though cracking clay systems are found in most parts of the Pilbara, it is impossible to compare these areas because vegetation assemblage and species richness are different. For example, across 26 sites – in the Hamersley’s subregion average species richness was= 46.38 ± 12.75, ranging from a minimum of 26, to a maximum of 72 (Rio Tinto, unpublished data). 

The uniqueness of this ecosystem and its floristic richness and diversity has resulted in the identification and listing of five Priority Ecological Communities (PEC) and one Threatened Ecological Community under the requirements of the WA Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Unfortunately, our knowledge of the cracking clay ecosystems of the Pilbara is not sufficient to clearly understand and delimit the floristic communities that exist on cracking clays and how to differentiate them reliably. This situation exists because: • not many survey work is being undertaken on cracking clays; – of 8,050 botanical survey sites surveyed in the Pilbara by 2019 only 5.8% were on cracking clays (ME Trudgen pers. comm.). Most of the surveys were carried out in project areas or along infrastructure; corridors with the exception being the Pilbara Rangelands Survey.
• most surveys represent a single sampling session and are thus not adequate to capture the temporal and spatial dynamics of the species composition of the cracking clays; and
• sampling method is questionable.

Cracking clay ecosystems in the Pilbara in particular those dominated with tussock grass (e.g., Astrebla spp.) communities are highly preferred pasture for cattle, and feral herbivores like donkeys, horses and camels. As a result, some areas of cracking clay ecosystems areas subjected to soil erosion with the subsequent altered hydrological regime no longer support perennial tussock grasses. Areas subject to erosion are also susceptible to invasive weed encroachment.

The management and conservation of cracking clay ecosystems in the Pilbara requires a detailed long-term investigation to the better understand species richness, diversity and the dynamic nature of these floristic hotspots. Without such a study this ecosystem will continue to decline, new species and communities will become threatened and the uniqueness of the Pilbara as a nationally listed as a biodiversity will be diminished.

While riparian ecosystems in Northern Australia have received significant study; tools to assess their significance are generally absent. This constrains the ability of industry & regulators to assess the significance of riparian ecosystems and the consequence of impacting them.

This is particularly relevant for increasingly mesic habitats and GDE’s where increasing moisture availability supports increased diversity of fauna, mesophytic taxa and complex vegetation structure. Moreover; within arid water limited regions such as the Pilbara; specific eco-physical settings which support long term stability in moisture availability & groundwater presence are highly restricted and important as refuges & repositories for relictual taxa & genetic diversity.

Distribution observations of riparian plants with increasing habitat specificity to mesophytic/hydrophytic habitats identified a spectrum of species associated with specific regimes within an increasingly wet hydrological gradient. These observations demonstrated that increasingly stable moisture conditions in riparian settings supported increasingly unique vegetation structures and a greater the diversity of mesophytic, hydrophytic, refugial & relictual taxa; in turn representing increasingly rare/restricted ecosystems of increasing conservation significance.

Leveraging distribution observations from riparian surveys, a series of groups of increasingly relevant mesic indicator species were developed for externally draining riparian settings. These species groups were then used to develop a draft biodiversity based riparian & GDE assessment framework for the Pilbara.

A regional remote sensing dataset for the Pilbara has now been used to provide preliminary validation of the relevance of these species to these increasingly restricted and important habitats, in turn providing justification for the relevance of the developed assessment framework for understanding the significance of Pilbara riparian ecosystems.

Western Australia’s climate is changing with the Southwest Australian Floristic Region (SWAFR) becoming warmer and drier. Drought impacts are often highly visible at the site level but poorly understood at the landscape level, limiting our understanding of landscape resilience and impacts on biodiversity and how we respond. Scaling from plot-based field measurements and remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) imagery to satellite imagery provides a pathway for increasing our understanding of how the health of vegetation responds to increased aridity. The Fitzgerald River National Park (FRNP) is among the most important landscapes for conservation in the globally significant SWAFR, supporting a remarkably species-rich and endemic flora. Recent observations within FRNP indicate apparently widespread decline in vegetation health, particularly among iconic and keystone Banksia species. We sampled vegetation health in plots distributed along gradients of geology, soil depth, distance from the coast and elevation to quantify the extent of Banksia mortality and identify correlates of health. Widespread mortality of Banksia within FRNP was recorded, affecting a variety of species, growth forms and mechanisms of persistence through fires. However, the proportion of point intercepts with Banksia species that intersected dead individuals varied across the landscape and ranged from ~5% on subcoastal deep gravelly soils to ~50% on coastal quartzite outcrops. Using measures of vegetation cover derived from RPAS-based photogrammetry, we calibrate satellite imagery to extend measurements of vegetation decline from plot to landscapes scales and track temporal changes putatively associated with extreme dry periods and interactions with canker pathogens. We discuss how our method could be developed to monitor vegetation health more widely.

Urban expansion is a risk to biodiversity at a global scale, with cities all over the world facing challenges of balancing urban growth and conservation. The expansion of the Perth metropolitan area in Western Australia and the conservation of Banksia woodlands that Perth is expanding in is a prime example of this challenge.

In 1989, the Royal Society of Western Australia published a review of the state of knowledge of Banksia woodland ecology and conservation in response to urban expansion that was rapidly depleting and degrading Banksia woodlands.

It took over 25 years (2016) for Banksia woodlands to be listed as a Threatened Ecological Community under Australia’s National environmental law, the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, by which time up to 72% of the ecosystem had been lost in the Metropolitan region. Thirty years ago, when the population of Perth was approximately 0.9 million, Banksia woodlands were considered common in the metropolitan area and Swan Coastal Plain. However, by 2018, the population of Perth grew 130% (to > 2 million people).

Andrew Burbidge said in 1989“If Banksia woodlands are to be used for the long term benefit of the people of Western Australia it is clear that strategies will have to be developed and applied to prevent their total destruction or near destruction plus degradation of the remnants”.

Our recent review utilized the framework from the 1989 review and presents scientific advances that have been made over the last thirty years on our understanding of the composition, processes and functions of Banksia woodlands. In this presentation, we identify threats the ecosystem faces at present and into the future, outline what knowledge gaps exist, and identify the key research priorities that remain.

The banksia woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain of Western Australia are a threatened ecological community comprised of fire-adapted proteaceous vegetation. Previous research has shown a deficit of long unburnt vegetation and a surplus of vegetation with a fire interval of 1-7 years. In order to inform fire management practices in Banksia woodlands, it is important to understand the responses of a range of taxa to fire intervals. We investigated bird responses to fire intervals ranging from 1-26 years since last fire, in a continuous Banksia woodland north of Perth. We found that the bird fauna was resilient to recent past fire regimes with no significant responses by feeding guilds and only two individual species. These two species, Yellow-rumped Thornbills and Scarlet Robins, showed a preference for the open habitats of recently burnt and long unburnt sites but there was no strong preference for long unburnt habitats by any species. The fire regime imposed under current practices is unlikely to have any negative consequences for the birds of Banksia woodlands.

Background and Aims. Plant mating is profoundly impacted by pollinator morphology and behaviour. Pollinators are predicted to minimise energetic costs during foraging by visiting nearby flowers. However, compared to other pollinators (insects, non-flying mammals), nectarivorous sunbirds and honeyeaters display limited grooming, inter- and intraspecies aggression and high mobility. This suggests that plants pollinated by these birds will display higher levels of paternal diversity and outcrossing than those pollinated by insects and non-flying mammals.

Methods. To test these predictions, a pollinator access experiment was conducted on Banksia menziesii, a dominant canopy tree of Banksia Woodland on the Swan Coastal Plain that is known to be pollinated by birds, mammals and insects. Treatments were applied as follows; 1. plants open to all pollinators, 2. invertebrate access, exclusion of vertebrates, 3. honey possum access, excluding invertebrates and birds, and, 4. complete pollinator exclusion. The consequences of treatments were compared for the reproductive output of maternal plants, including fruit and seed production, seed and seedling vigour. The genetic consequences for offspring were assessed by genetic diversity and rates of outcrossing using microsatellite markers to genotype individuals.

Key Results. Treatments excluding birds resulted in reduced measures of fruit per cone by 80%, percent of viable seed per cone by 62%, seed per fruit by 59% and seed mass by 25%. Estimates of outcrossing were similarly reduced when birds were excluded by 30-40% and observed heterozygosity by 22%. Consequently, self-compatibility was observed for the first time for B. menziesii, as it was previously considered self-incompatible. Findings suggest birds play critical role in pollination of B. menziesii, excluding them reduces fitness and thus important to its conservation.

In Criminology Routine activity theory is an aspect of crime opportunity theory that analyses contributory and disparate factors as to why crime occurs. The role of opportunity as well as the role of those persons who manage or are guardians of targets of crime is a particular focus. The theory was developed by Marcus Felson and Lawrence E. Cohen initially to explain crime rate changes in the United States. The Routine activity theory is often explained in conjunction with a problem analysis triangle that explores what factors are necessary for a crime to occur. The Routine activity theory approach is useful for addressing a broad array of criminal justice problems including threats to bio-diversity and environmental crime. This paper proposes the introduction of solutions drawing on the routine activity approach to more effectively conserve and manage WA’s biodiversity hotspots and the environment more generally from crime and harm. By drawing on the theory and use of the problem analysis triangle the paper suggests novel approaches towards the stewardship of the environment as well as addressing issues as diverse as overfishing, marine pollution, water theft and protection of native flora and fauna. A number of examples of the Routine Activity approach to managing WA biodiversity hotspots are provided.

Perth lies within a global biodiversity hotspot, harbouring over 2,000 species of native plants and around 200 species of native bees. Growing numbers of local residents are installing native gardens on the street verge (public land) adjacent to their home. This form of ‘civic greening’ is now largely permitted by Perth metropolitan local councils, marking a significant shift in social norms. There is little information available on the potential social and ecological benefits and challenges associated with this practice. Understanding what shapes the plant diversity and potential faunal habitat value of the street verge is crucial to help ensure that as verge gardening expands, the best policies are in place for promoting biodiversity. We interviewed verge gardeners from 22 households to understand their motivations and sources of inspiration. Concurrently, we conducted plant surveys, and observations of pollinating insects. We identified 265 unique plant species, of which 41% were native to the Swan Coastal Plain, and a further 28% had a geographic distribution from elsewhere in Western Australia. Most verge gardeners were motivated to reduce resource use, or improve the visual appeal of the verge. Gardeners’ plant selection was partly influenced by a desire to attract wildlife, although few had extensive knowledge of native plants and local ecology. Observations of flowering plants between October 2019 and March 2020 showed that at least eight species of native bees were visiting verge gardens, including gardens that had been planted within the previous 12 months. We developed a multi-criteria analysis for scoring the potential for verges to support native bees, based on plant species and abundance, tree species and maturity, ground cover type and other variables. This scoring system could be used to help local residents increase the habitat potential of their verge gardens for insect pollinators, as well as promote the use of locally endemic plant species.

As a greater proportion of the world’s population become residents of cities, more attention is being given to the impacts of urbanisation on natural areas. Perth is a unique capital city, situated in an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot, and a lot of land identified for new housing is still covered with original vegetation. To better understand how the city is evolving, it is important that we examine the history of planning and policy in response to biodiversity conservation. Opportunities are identified to improve conservation outcomes in urban areas, with specific examples provided from the WA Local Government Association’s biodiversity program.

Globally, biodiversity is increasingly under threat, with action required at the national level to mitigate the crisis. However, at the local level, citizens often feel powerless to act. This is where planting of Miyawaki forests has become an increasingly popular choice for non-government organisations, community groups and local councils. The Miyawaki methodology is attractive because these forests are perceived to be small scale projects that can be carried out by citizen scientists, and have considerable environmental benefits. This rationale stems from reports of Miyawaki forests exhibiting high growth rates and biodiversity: forests have been reported to grow up to ten times faster and contain up to 100 times the biodiversity of forests planted using traditional reforesting techniques. As such, these tiny forests punch above their tiny size in terms of their ability to become the hero for engaging the community in environmental action, as well as creation of biodiversity hotspots and more liveable urban environments. To test how well these forests can be planted and monitored by citizen scientists, a Miyawaki forest has been planted by children at a local Perth primary school under the guidance of a researcher. Children will monitor the forest as citizen scientists over the next ten years, gathering data on plant growth, animal and plant biodiversity and forest temperature regimes. The researcher will investigate soil biodiversity using eDNA, microbial activity and soil nutrients. There is a paucity of data available on the biological performance of Miyawaki forests. As such, the project will provide valuable information to decision makers, enabling more informed decisions on whether the more prescriptive Miyawaki method is the most suitable use of resources relative to environmental outcomes for urban revegetation programmes, and help us determine if these tiny forests really can be a big hero for community led environmental action.

Cities with nature are better for people, and supporting cities with nature helps to conserve biodiversity. Governments have limited funds for biodiversity action in cities, therefore we need to prioritise areas where our actions will have the biggest impact. One way to do this is to focus attention on places that have the greatest potential to improve ecological connectivity for urban wildlife. All animals need to move around the landscape, but cities are a complex matrix of habitat, non-habitat and barriers to movement. Ecological connectivity theory can help to prioritise where new resources should be placed, and existing habitat protected to facilitate movement between patches.

We used ecological connectivity modelling to compare the potential biodiversity benefits of different planning scenarios at a large urban redevelopment in central Melbourne, Victoria. These findings were translated into a set of Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design (BSUD) recommendations designed to maximise onsite outcomes for a range of native species, including restoring wetland ecosystems.

There has been a global recognition of the social and biodiversity value of green spaces in urban settings. In particular, green spaces that contain higher amounts of remnant vegetation have been shown to support a greater diversity of plants and animals than was once appreciated. As these remnants are under threat by development or disturbance at all times, it is contingent on the local government to protect remnant vegetation to the best of their ability. Here, we provide an example of how a local government, through the help of the local “Friends of” group, has put effort into quantifying the biodiversity of their local remnant. We show that both vertebrate and invertebrate diversity can be easily quantified through regular field survey and citizen participation. This in turn can lead to better long-term management and early intervention in the case of changes to the environment.

The 9 ha Banksia / Jarrah bushland remnant that is known as Kensington or Jirdarup Bushland in the Town of Victoria Park is a Bush Forever site. In the last few years, reptile and bird species have been identified and monitored using a variety of methods. More recently, invertebrate surveys have also been conducted in the bushland to identify pollinator insects and short-range endemic (SRE) invertebrates. We present the results of the pollinator survey and demonstrate how even small bushland remnants can provide an island or a lake of biodiversity for surrounding urban landuse.

Climatic changes through the Cenozoic (<66 million years) have had a profound influence over the composition and structure of terrestrial ecosystems. Overlaying this are more recent changes to the environment through the movement and resource use by humans over the last 60 thousand years. Interpretations of biodiversity of historical environments relies on a complex interplay between the disciplines of geology, chemistry, zoology and botany. As a zoologist, I am interested in ecomorphology – the relationship between animal’s morphology (structure) and how this relates to its behaviour within its environment. Fossils of extinct megafauna from the Nullarbor Caves, including a diverse assemblage of kangaroos and wallabies, has led to intriguing and unexpected clues about the past environment from this area. Most notably, at least three new species of extinct tree-climbing kangaroo forms. Given the relatively tree-less habitat of the Nullarbor in the current time, these relatively recent fossils, perhaps as young as 45 thousand years old, give us important information about the past diversity of animals and the complex nature of changes in environment that influence biodiversity through time and space. In this presentation I will describe some of the exciting extinct kangaroo fossils we have identified from the Thylacoleo fossil caves on the western Nullarbor and their implications for making inferences about past environments and biodiversity.

The landscapes of Western Australia comprise complex and dynamic social-ecological systems. In this context, conservation science, policy and management cannot consistently guarantee successful conservation initiatives. Learning from successes and failures is therefore essential for ensuring effective, cost-efficient and equitable strategies to secure resilient landscapes that benefit people and biodiversity. We present a synthesis of our recent research into conservation and other sectors, examining how to learn from failure and success. A rich and extensive body of research from the business, healthcare and commercial and military aviation sectors has focused on developing, testing, reporting and learning from the failure of human activities. Despite this, the understanding and adoption of mindsets and mechanisms for identifying, analysing and learning from failure in conservation is rare. We present an assessment of the causes and extent of failure in the conservation sector, demonstrating that failure is under-reported, and hence forfeits the readily accessible opportunities for learning to improve our activities. We offer an operational model comprising a suite of pragmatic mindsets and mechanisms synthesised from these other sectors that can be systematically trialled and refined by conservation practitioners, donors, policy-makers, researchers and the teams they work in. This systematic process capacitates people and organisations to grapple with the fear of failure, realise the full value of their failure experiences, and to guide team learning on how to identify, analyse and correct and institutionalise the lessons these failure experiences provide.

Virtually unknown less than 25 years ago, sampling of groundwater across Western Australia in the last two decades has revealed a huge diversity of aquatic invertebrates belonging to various crustacean groups (amphipods, isopods, bathynellaceans, copepods, ostracods, remipedes), coleopterans (water beetles) and a number of minor groups. This fauna has been recovered primarily from aquifers in the Yilgarn and Pilbara regions, and largely associated with environmental monitoring and assessment procedures associated with resource developments. Significantly, over the last 20 years every species collected from these aquifers has been described as new. The immense diversity of animals in these regions has resulted in them being referred to as global hotspots, with only approximated 10% of an estimated 2,500 species so far being formally named. Like the terrestrial invertebrate fauna, the stygofauna comprises ancient Pangean and Gondwanan lineages, as well as a groups that have evolved in response to post-Miocene aridification. The reasons for these subterranean species’ explosions are complex, but a key factor is the separation of groundwater habitats which has resulted in isolated aquifers having a unique suite of species, often representing ultra-short-range endemic taxa. Here we present an overview of what is known about the diversity of Western Australian stygofauna, the gaps in current knowledge, how it is being used as a natural laboratory to test biogeographical and evolutionary hypotheses, and how new technologies can help in accelerating information on this unique fauna.

In Australia, particularly in the arid zones of Western Australia, a rich hypogean assemblage has been discovered in the past few decades, largely due to surveys required as part of environmental impact assessments for, and imposed conditions on, mining operations. The abundance of material routinely collected by different companies has revealed a huge biodiversity that must be explored using an integrative approach. The crustacean families, Bathynellidae and Parabathynellidae (Bathynellacea) are an integral component of the stygofaunal (subterranean organisms living in groundwater) community, but to-date they are poorly understood due to their conservative morphology and small size which makes their dissection, observation and study extremely difficult. Parabathynellidae are better known in Australia with 50 species described, while Bathynellidae are more neglected with only five species named. Preliminary molecular phylogenies of the Bathynellacea, that include part of the data generated from previous researchers and consultants, show over 90 undescribed putative taxa. All species described and discovered so far appear restricted to single aquifer systems and catchments. Further, there appear to be differences between the hyporheic/phreatic and the deeper aquifer bathynellacean fauna.

Here we present the diversity and patterns of distribution of Bathynellacea in Australia, focusing on the arid zones of Western Australia. Combining taxonomic, molecular, hydrogeological information, will permit a better understanding of the biodiversity and distribution of this taxon group. Such knowledge will help to predict the potential diversity in unstudied areas, and enable improved advice to government regulators where protection of subterranean environments and their aquifers is a priority.

The Biodiversity Information Office (BIO) has been established as a custodian and manager of biodiversity data collected and used by the Western Australian community. BIO will mobilise biodiversity data from all environment-related sectors, including government, industry, and community organisations, promoting a culture of collaboration and data sharing across government, industry, research and the community.

BIO is developing a Biodiversity Data Repository (BDR-WA) for data submission, curation, and delivery of biodiversity data. Initial data capture will focus on the Index of Biodiversity Surveys for Assessments and expand to capture to capture data from a range of sources held by government and the community. BDR-WA will provide ongoing access to biodiversity data to support evidence-based policy, supporting public confidence in government decision-making.

The BDR-WA will capture data through web portals and data services. Quality control will be undertaken against published data standards, in addition to spatial validation, verification of scientific identifications and names, and reviews of data completeness. Scientific names and references will be maintained as they change over time. Users may access the data via a web portal or data services to meet their visualisation and analytical requirements. Sensitive data will be protected where required, including threatened species data and Indigenous cultural data.

The BDR-WA is being co-designed to integrate with the Commonwealth Biodiversity Data Repository and is a core part of the State’s digital transformation initiative, delivering data for digital transformation of the environmental assessment and approvals system (Environment Online). These initiatives will deliver environmental outcomes by increasing transparency and understanding of biodiversity data. They will also deliver outcomes to industry through red tape reduction, streamlined approvals and access to public biodiversity datasets.