Once the warmth of Spring hits eastern Australia, our research team races out to survey our long term monitoring sites for birds and reptiles. Spring is one of the best times to detect many species as they respond to warmer weather conditions. This September included surveys of the Murray Study sites as far west as Moulamein in New South Wales, sites in the heart of the South West Slopes in NSW, and sites as far north as Texas in Queensland for the Stewardship Study.
Read MoreCrops and cows, rocks and logs – what habitat do reptiles need in the farming landscape?
It might seem common knowledge on where to find reptiles but ecological research is just catching up in defining the habitat requirements for many species. Our team recently classified the niche requirements for nearly forty species of reptiles in the temperate Box Gum Grassy Woodlands of south eastern Australia.
Read MoreWeighing in on woodland management: What scale is important for conserving reptiles on farms?
Increasing native vegetation cover in the landscape and improving the condition of small fragments of native vegetation are two strategies often used to improve wildlife on farms. For less mobile species, such as small lizards and snakes, we don’t yet have a clear understanding of how effective these two strategies are for improving their numbers. We decided to address this knowledge gap by studying reptiles over a 12 year period across a range of modified environments.
Read MoreThe search for the Brush-tailed Phascogale
Can you find a species which hasn’t been locally seen for over a hundred years? Five years, thousands of nestbox checks and many camera trap nights later, the hunt for a Brush-tail Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) in the South West Slopes of NSW continues!
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