David Lindenmayer

Andrew Claridge

Donna Hazell

'Wildlife on Farms' outlines the key general features of animal habitats and describes some of the activities that can be undertaken to better conserve wildlife on a farm.

How to Conserve Native Animals

Wildlife on Farms

David Blair

Lachlan McBurney

Sam Banks

This book tells the story of ecological forest recovery in the wet forests of Victoria following major wildfires in February 2009. It also focuses on the science of ecological recovery – a major body of information that is not well known or understood by the vast majority of Australians and the vast majority of environmental policy makers. Forest Phoenix presents this important story via short engaging text and truly spectacular images, which are accompanied by highly informative captions. If you've ever wanted to better understand how forests and forest biodiversity recover after wildfire, then this book is a must-read. 2011 Whitley Award Commendation for Ecological Zoology.

How a Great Forest Recovers After Wildfire

Forest Phoenix

Christopher MacGregor

Esther Beaton

Nick Dexter

Martin Fortescue

Booderee National Park at Jervis Bay, 200km south of Sydney, attracts over 450 000 visitors each year. The park has many special features, including dramatic wave cut platforms and sea caves, some of the whitest beach sands in Australia, and very high densities of native predators such as the Powerful Owl and the Diamond Python. This book outlines the biology and ecology of Booderee National Park. Booderee packs an extraordinary level of biodiversity into a small area (roughly 6500 hectares), with more than 260 species of terrestrial vertebrates and over 625 species of plants. It is home to species of significant conservation concern, such as the globally endangered Eastern Bristlebird for which the park is one of its last and most important strongholds. The diversity of vegetation is also astounding: in some parts of the park, it is possible to walk from ankle-high sedgelands, through woodlands and forest and into subtropical rainforest in less than 150 metres. Chapters are arranged around key ecological processes – predators and predation, herbivores and herbivory, invasive plants and fire – emphasising the interactions between species, between vegetation and animals, and between disturbances and animal and plant responses. The book highlights how Booderee National Park is a functional natural ecosystem and, in turn, how management practices aim to improve environmental conditions and promote biodiversity conservation. Richly illustrated with colour images from award-winning photographer Esther Beaton, this book will delight visitors to Booderee National Park as well as anyone with an interest in natural history.

The Jewel of Jervis Bay

Booderee National Park

Richard J. Hobbs

Andrew F. Bennett

This book summarizes the main discoveries, management insights and policy initiatives in the science, management and policy arenas associated with temperate woodlands in Australia. More than 60 of Australia's leading researchers, policy makers and natural resource managers have contributed to the volume. It features new perspectives on the integration of woodland management and agricultural production, including the latest thinking about whole of paddock restoration and carbon farming, as well as financial and social incentive schemes to promote woodland conservation and management. Temperate Woodland Conservation and Management will be a key supporting aid for farmers, natural resource managers, policy makers, and people involved in NGO landscape restoration and management. KEY FEATURES * High quality chapters from the nation's leading researchers, managers and policy makers in temperate woodlands * New perspectives on the integration of woodland management and agricultural production * Easy to follow format that distills key new insights and lessons for future conservation and management initiatives

Temperate Woodland Conservation and Management

Michael McCarthy

Brendan Mackey

Malcolm Gill

Janette Lindesay

The conservation of Earth's forest ecosystems is one of the great environmental challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. All of Earth's ecosystems now face the spectre of the accelerated greenhouse effect and rates of change in climatic regimes that have hitherto been unknown. In addition, multiple use forestry – where forests are managed to provide for both a supply of wood and the conservation of biodiversity – can change the floristic composition and vegetation structure of forests with significant implications for wildlife habitat. Wildlife, fire and future climate: a forest ecosystem analysis explores these themes through a landscape-wide study of refugia and future climate in the tall, wet forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria. It represents a model case study for the kind of integrated investigation needed throughout the world in order to deal with the potential response of terrestrial ecological systems to global change. The analyses presented in this book represent one of the few ecosystem studies ever undertaken that has attempted such a complex synthesis of fire, wildlife, vegetation, and climate. Wildlife, fire and future climate: a forest ecosystem analysis is written by an experienced team of leading world experts in fire ecology, modelling, terrain and climate analysis, vegetation and wildlife habitat. Their collaboration on this book represents a unique and exemplary, multi-disciplinary venture.

A Forest Ecosystem Analysis

Wildlife, Fire and Future Climate

Mountain Ash draws together exciting new findings on the effects of fire and on post-fire ecological dynamics following the 2009 wildfires in the Mountain Ash forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria. The book integrates data on forests, carbon, fire dynamics and other factors, building on 6 years of high-quality, multi-faceted research coupled with 25 years of pre-fire insights. Topics include: the unexpected effects of fires of varying severity on populations of large old trees and their implications for the dynamics of forest ecosystems; relationships between forest structure, condition and age and their impacts on fire severity; relationships between logging and fire severity; the unexpectedly low level of carbon stock losses from burned forests, including those burned at very high severity; impacts of fire at the site and landscape levels on arboreal marsupials; persistence of small mammals and birds on burned sites, including areas subject to high-severity fire, and its implications for understanding how species in this group exhibit post-fire recovery patterns. With spectacular images of the post-fire environment, Mountain Ash will be an important reference for scientists and students with interests in biodiversity, forests and fire.

Fire, Logging and the Future of Victoria's Giant Forests

Mountain Ash

Andrew Lowe

Emma Burns

Nicole Thurgate

This data-rich book demonstrates the value of existing national long-term ecological research in Australia for monitoring environmental change and biodiversity. Long-term ecological data are critical for informing trends in biodiversity and environmental change. The Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) is a major initiative of the Australian Government and one of its key areas of investment is to provide funding for a network of long-term ecological research plots around Australia (LTERN). LTERN researchers and other authors in this book have maintained monitoring sites, often for one or more decades, in an array of different ecosystems across the Australian continent – ranging from tropical rainforests, wet eucalypt forests and alpine regions through to rangelands and deserts. This book highlights some of the temporal changes in the environment that have occurred in the various systems in which dedicated field-based ecologists have worked. Many important trends and changes are documented and they often provide new insights that were previously poorly understood or unknown. These data are precisely the kinds of data so desperately needed to better quantify the temporal trajectories in the environment in Australia. By presenting trend patterns (and often also the associated data) the authors aim to catalyse governments and other organisations to better recognise the importance of long-term data collection and monitoring as a fundamental part of ecologically-effective and cost-effective management of the environment and biodiversity.

Monitoring, Challenges and Direction

Biodiversity and Environmental Change

Jerry Franklin

Towards Forest Sustainability is a collection of practical essays by some of the world’s leading forest ecologists and managers from the United States of America, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand. The authors describe the changes that have taken place in forest management – highlighting what worked, what didn’t, and the lessons that have been learned. This unique set of essays documents the drivers of the change in the logging industry and the resulting outcomes. It provides real-world insights from an international perspective into government policy, industry concerns, and conservation and biodiversity issues.

Towards Forest Sustainability

Mason Crane

Damian Michael

Australia's little known woodlands once covered huge areas of the eastern side of our continent. Woodlands are distinguished from forests by the fact that their canopies do not touch, tree heights are usually lower and they usually have a grassy understorey. They support a fascinating and diverse array of birds, mammals, reptiles, frogs, invertebrates and plants, and have been under massive pressure from grazing and agriculture over the past 200 years. In many cases only small remnant patches of some types of woodland survive. Understanding and appreciating woodlands is an important way forward for promoting their sustainable management and conservation. Woodlands: A Disappearing Landscape explains with lucid text and spectacular photographs the role that woodlands play in supporting a range of native plants and animals that has existed there for millions of years. The book is set out as a series of logically linked chapters working from the woodland canopy (the tree crowns), through the understorey, the ground layers, and to the lowest lying parts of landscape – wetlands, creeks and dams. Each chapter illustrates many key topics in woodland biology with text and images, explaining important aspects of woodland ecology as well as woodland management and conservation.

A Disappearing Landscape

Woodlands

This book deals with all six species of Australian gliders, which range in size from the tiny 12 gram Feathertail Glider to the 1.3 kg Greater Glider. It relates the story of this extraordinary group of animals, which possess a fascinating array of adaptations to their nocturnal and gliding existence.

A Natural History

Gliders of Australia

Natasha Robinson

Sarah Legge

Benjamin Scheele

Darren Southwell

Brendan Wintle

Monitoring is integral to all aspects of policy and management for threatened biodiversity. It is fundamental to assessing the conservation status and trends of listed species and ecological communities. Monitoring data can be used to diagnose the causes of decline, to measure management effectiveness and to report on investment. It is also a valuable public engagement tool. Yet in Australia, monitoring threatened biodiversity is not always optimally managed. Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities aims to improve the standard of monitoring for Australia's threatened biodiversity. It gathers insights from some of the most experienced managers and scientists involved with monitoring programs for threatened species and ecological communities in Australia, and evaluates current monitoring programs, establishing a baseline against which the quality of future monitoring activity can be managed. Case studies provide examples of practical pathways to improve the quality of biodiversity monitoring, and guidelines to improve future programs are proposed. This book will benefit scientists, conservation managers, policy makers and those with an interest in threatened species monitoring and management.

Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities

David Lindenmayer, David Blair, Lachlan McBurney and Sam Banks.

Forest Pattern and Ecological Process is a major synthesis of 25 years of intensive research about the montane ash forests of Victoria, which support the world's tallest flowering plants and several of Australia's most high profile threatened and/or endangered species. It draws together major insights based on over 170 published scientific papers and books, offering a previously unrecognised set of perspectives of how forests function. The book combines key strands of research on wildfires, biodiversity conservation, logging, conservation management, climate change and basic forest ecology and management. It is divided into seven sections: introduction and background; forest cover and the composition of the forest; the structure of the forest; animal occurrence; disturbance regimes; forest management; and overview and future directions. Illustrated with more than 200 photographs and line drawings, Forest Pattern and Ecological Process is an essential reference for forest researchers, resource managers, conservation and wildlife biologists, ornithologists and mammalogists, policy makers, as well as general readers with interests in wildlife and forests. 2010 Whitley Certificate of Commendation for Zoological Text.

A Synthesis of 25 Years of Research

Forest Pattern and Ecological Process

Philip Gibbons

More than 300 species of Australian native animals — mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians — use tree hollows, but there has never been a complete inventory of them. Many of these species are threatened, or are in decline, because of land-use practices such as grazing, timber production and firewood collection. All forest management agencies in Australia attempt to reduce the impact of logging on hollow-dependent fauna, but the nature of our eucalypt forests presents a considerable challenge. In some cases, tree hollows suitable for vertebrate fauna may take up to 250 years to develop, which makes recruiting and perpetuating this resource very difficult within the typical cycle of human-induced disturbance regimes. Tree Hollows and Wildlife Conservation in Australia is the first comprehensive account of the hollow-dependent fauna of Australia and introduces a considerable amount of new data on this subject. It not only presents a review and analysis of the literature, but also provides practical approaches for land management.

Tree Hollows and Wildlife Conservation in Australia

Chris Taylor

Sarah Rees

Steve Kuiter

A tribute to an extraordinary landscape now under severe threat. The exquisite photographs reveal the mountain ash forests of central Victoria to be one of Australia's great natural treasures. The city of Melbourne lies on the edge of a vast plain surrounded by a green and blue mountainous rim, whose hills and peaks are home to the magnificent Mountain Ash, the tallest flowering plant on the planet. The Mountain Ash forests were 20 million years in the making, and deep within the valleys are even more ancient, Gondwanic rainforests. The Great Forest showcases these forests as well as the world's tallest moss, breathtaking snow gum plateaus and the remnants of massive extinct volcanoes. The Great Forest is a tribute to extraordinary landscapes now under severe threat from logging and wildfires, such as the catastrophic fire that struck on Black Saturday in 2009. It uncovers the intricate webs of life that make Mountain Ash forests so much more than their towering trees. It explores the unique forests that have sustained the Gunaikurnai, Taungurung and Wurundjeri peoples for tens of thousands of years, and that provide a home for creatures found almost nowhere else. The exquisite photographs reveal the Central Highlands of Victoria to be one of Australia's largely undiscovered natural treasures. 'With its glorious photographs, The Great Forest shows why these forests must be preserved for future generations.' - Tim Flannery 'The Great Forest shows the incredible beauty, wonder and value of this amazing part of Victoria.' - David Pocock 'It's rare to read a book that fills your heart with joy and your eyes with tears, all at the same time. The Great Forest does just this.' - Sophie Cunningham 'This wonderful new book highlights the magnificent wet forests of Victoria, and why it is so critical to protect them for their biodiversity, their beauty, and for all of humanity.' - Dame Jane Goodall

The rare beauty of the Victorian Central Highlands

The Great Forest

Andrew Young

Saul Cunningham

There can be little doubt that there are truly colossal challenges associated with providing food, fibre and energy for an expanding world population without further accelerating already rapid rates of biodiversity loss and undermining the ecosystem processes on which we all depend. These challenges are further complicated by rapid changes in climate and its additional direct impacts on agriculture, biodiversity and ecological processes. There are many different viewpoints about the best way to deal with the myriad issues associated with land use intensification and this book canvasses a number of these from different parts of the tropical and temperate world. Chapters focus on whether science can suggest new and improved approaches to reducing the conflict between productive land use and biodiversity conservation. Who should read this book? Policy makers in regional, state and federal governments, as well as scientists and the interested lay public.

Effects on Agriculture, Biodiversity and Ecological Processes

Land Use Intensification

Demonstrates the value and integration of existing national long-term ecological research in Australia for monitoring environmental change and biodiversity.

Can science suggest new and improved approaches to reducing the conflict between productive land use and biodiversity conservation? There are many different viewpoints about the best way to deal with the myriad issues associated with land use intensification and this book canvasses a number of these from different parts of the tropical and temperate world. Chapters focus on whether science can suggest new and improved approaches to reducing the conflict between productive land use and biodiversity conservation.

John Woinarski

Stephen Garnett

Peter Latch

Australia’s nature is exceptional, wonderful and important. But much has been lost, and the ongoing existence of many species now hangs by a thread. Against a relentless tide of threats to our biodiversity, many Australians, and government and non-government agencies, have devoted themselves to the challenge of conserving and recovering plant and animal species that now need our help to survive. This dedication has been rewarded with some outstanding and inspiring successes: of extinctions averted, of populations increasing, of communities actively involved in recovery efforts. Recovering Australian Threatened Species showcases successful conservation stories and identifies approaches and implementation methods that have been most effective in recovering threatened species. These diverse accounts – dealing with threatened plants, invertebrates, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals – show that the conservation of threatened species is achievable: that it can be done and should be done. They collectively serve to inform, guide and inspire other conservation efforts. This is a book of hope and inspiration. It shows that with dedication, knowledge and support, we can retain and restore our marvellous natural heritage, and gift to our descendants a world that is as diverse, healthy and beautiful as that which we have inherited.

David Lindenmayer

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