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Logan Albert Conservation Association

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24.01.2022 How will global warming affect egg-laying and live-bearing species? We asked one of the most extraordinary lizards in the world Environmental temperature determines many important aspects of an animal’s life. In ectotherms, commonly known as ‘cold-blooded’ animals, the temperature experienced during embryonic development significantly impacts a hatchling’s physiology and behaviour. For instance, nest temperatures determine offspring sex in turtles and crocodilians and affect ...body size in squamates, a group comprised of lizards and snakes. Although most squamates are egg-layers (oviparity), live-bearing (viviparity) has evolved independently many times within this group. In viviparous species, the temperatures experienced by the embryo depend on female thermoregulation and not on her choice for the location and depth of the nest as occurs in oviparous species. Hence, the repeated convergent evolution of viviparity is considered to be the result of a response from females to protect the embryos from cold/unsuitable temperatures. Rising environmental temperatures due to global warming have already caused changes in geographic distribution and local extinctions in many squamate populations around the world. However, we still have a poor understanding of whether global warming will affect viviparous and oviparous species differently. In a couple of studies published recently, we examined the effect of current and predicted end-of-century developmental temperatures on the phenotype of the Australian lizard Saiphos equalis. This lizard is one of only three reptile species known to exhibit geographic variation in reproductive mode, representing a unique opportunity to study the interaction between global warming and reproductive mode while controlling for relatedness. BY WHITING, ON OCTOBER 28TH, 2020 By Iván Beltrán http://whitinglab.com/how-will-global-warming-affect-egg-l/?

23.01.2022 Widjabul Wia-bal traditional custodians are deeply concerned about a rescission motion proposed for Rous County Council’s next meeting on Wednesday 17 February. This motion would overturn the recent decision to cease all work on the Dunoon Dam, rezone the land and begin the disposal of Rocky Creek properties. ‘In December we welcomed the decision to stop the dam which has caused us anxiety for years,’ said spokesperson Cindy Roberts. ....‘For thousands of generations we have ...lived on this land and protected it while it protected and fed us. To destroy this land is to destroy the environment which sustains us. ‘The proposed dam would destroy the learning grounds for future generations. ‘The suggestion to drown our sites to protect them (as stated in the 2013 Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment) is deeply offensive to us. https://www.echo.net.au//could-new-dam-become-another-rio/ See more

21.01.2022 'I'm a koala matchmaker': Inside unique Queensland profession Courier Mail [$] Sarah Eccleston, zookeeper, koala specialist and author at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary ... Koala specialist Sarah Eccleston spends her day hugging koalas and describes her job as the ‘best in the world’. Now she wants to use her role to teach kids to care about koalas.

21.01.2022 Local government spent $595 million on household waste collection, treatment, and disposal services in 2018-19, new statistics show. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Waste Account https://www.abs.gov.au//waste-account-aus/2018-19published last week showed households generated 12.4 million tonnes of waste in 2018-19. This was 16 percent of all waste generated in Australia, and up five percent since 2016-17. Households generated over half the country’s organic waste, 55 p...ercent of all food organics, 47 percent of all plastics, 72 percent of all glass and nearly 90 percent of all textiles. Australia generated 75.8 million tonnes of solid waste in 2018-19, which was a 10 percent increase over the past two years (since 2016-17). The two higher waste-generating sectors were manufacturing and construction, with 12.8 million tonnes and 12.7 million tonnes respectively. Over half of all waste was sent for recycling (38.5 million tonnes), while 27 percent was sent to landfill for disposal (20.5 million tonnes). Waste exports totalled 4.4 million tonnes, with 2.5 million tonnes was imported. The Waste Account has been developed by the ABS in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) to help inform Australia’s National Waste Policy. In related news, the West Australian government has announced a new strategy to reduce single-use plastics. The Plan for Plastics (PfP) will be rolled out in two main stages, with regulations being developed and implemented by 2023 for the state-wide phase-out of plastic plates, cutlery, stirrers, straws, thick plastic bags, polystyrene food containers and helium balloon releases. This will be followed by the phase-out of plastic barrier/produce bags, cotton buds with plastic shafts, polystyrene packaging, microbeads, and oxo-degradable plastics. Separate to the PfP, the government is consulting on an amendment to the Environmental Protection (Plastic Bags) Regulations 2018 to prohibit the use of plastic election bunting signage at polling places. More information about the Plan for Plastics. https://www.wa.gov.au//bu/western-australias-plan-plastics See more

20.01.2022 Come and join the Post-fire Koala Surveys and help us learn where koalas have survived the fires in the Blue Mountains region. The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area is 1 million hectares in size, and 80% of it was impacted by fire. Within this region we had identified 5 koala study sites where koalas were known to occur: we are heartbroken that four of those sites have had 75% or more of koala habitats impacted by fire. That's why we need your help. Mapping where koa...las are occurring across the mountains after the fires is a critical first step in helping us to understand how the fire impacted their populations. Koalas can use anything from 5ha to 300ha of land each year, and they also use trees that are over 45m tall in some areas so they can be extremely hard to see. That's where scat surveys come in. ...We can’t promise that you’ll see a koala, but you'll be making a big contribution as the scat surveys will help us to map where koalas have survived after the fires. The impact of the fires on this beautiful area can be difficult to see, especially in the badly burnt areas, so please consider this when choosing to volunteer. See more

20.01.2022 FARM LAND or housing - can we retain productive land from hectares of roof tops and roads? Queensland farmland at Sunnybank and Rochdale was lost for housing decades ago. What are we planning for? The sign is a graphic portrayal of a real problem our community has not made inroads into for generations. Governments, their departments, planners, councils and even the courts are wrestling with this idea of keeping farm land intact.... If we don't? Who is going to feed and clothe us? But if we do? Where are people going to live? The Victorian Government has been wrestling with this problem since the 1960s when a 50km planning zone around the city was first introduced to protect "green wedges" and stop productive farm land being chopped up. Now that zone has failed, the government wants to extend it out to a 100km ring. The stated intention of this new planning push is to "strengthen planning for Melbourne's green wedges and agricultural land to ensure these areas are protected and supported for future generations". ...A developer bought the 83ha farm, and some other surrounding blocks, to create yet another suburb containing a thousand or more homes. A big pay day for the farm family, but more farm land lost, land that is not supposed to be lost. The New South Wales Government is struggling with the same issue. See more

19.01.2022 Can We Plant Enough Trees? Reforestation can buy us some time as we decarbonize, ecologist says. But it’s no replacement for ditching fossil fuels ...A recent study that Crowther co-authored in Science https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6448/76 points to nearly a billion hectares of non-urban, nonagricultural land on Earth that could be reforested ultimately capturing as much as 200 gigatons of atmospheric carbon. To date, human industrial activity has added 300 g...igatons of excess carbon to the atmosphere. Crowther says we have long known about the role of forests as carbon sinks. But this helps to understand the scale of what is possible. (Basic Earth science refresher: Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turn it into wood. This trapped carbon is stored not only in the living trees, but also, over time, in the soils of the forest floor. See more

18.01.2022 In spring and summer every year, stories about hordes of spiders and flesh-eating venom fill tabloids and social media. This rhetoric greatly exaggerates the relative risk of Australian spiders, leading to excessive pesticide use and unnecessary phobias. There are more than 49,000 species of spiders in the world and around 4,000 of these live in Australia, http://www.arachne.org.au/ many with astounding behaviours, beautiful colours and natural, biological pest control po...tential. We should be celebrating the diversity of our spiders in Australia and what better time than right now? ....Don’t fear these common household spiders Some spiders like to live in houses. It’s cool, dry and there are hundreds of tasty insects to eat that you may not have even noticed, such as silverfish, book lice and springtails. One of the most common spiders people find at home across Australia is, true to its name, the black house spider. These spiders build messy webs on fences and in the corners of windows. ...Even larger are huntsman spiders (from the Sparassidae family). While they’re famously fast moving, their bites are rare and, at worst, cause mild to moderate pain. The good news is the vast majority of Australian spiders are harmless. In fact, a global study found less than 0.5% of spiders are dangerous to humans. However, Australia is home to a number of medically significant spiders whose bites can be severe. ...Redbacks have a painful bite and symptoms can persist for several days. Fortunately for both redbacks and funnel-webs, effective antivenom treatments are available. If bitten, it’s always best to seek medical attention. It’s worth noting no one has died directly from a spider bite in Australia in more than 40 years since the introduction of antivenom. So while Australian spiders may have a fearsome reputation, it’s somewhat overblown. - Lizzy Lowe Postdoctoral researcher, Macquarie University - Samantha Nixon PhD, The University of Queensland See more

18.01.2022 GENETICS to help protect koalas A team of University of Sydney scientists is taking the fight to protect koalas to a new level with a world first ‘genetic sequencing’ program that could protect the species from disease and other threats. Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) with joey Backed by more than $1 million of Commonwealth and NSW government combined funding, the research team will build a first of its kind genome sequencing program - unique to threatened species management ...Continue reading

12.01.2022 Although we’ve known about the issue of climate for decades we’ve done little to fix it, Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe told a packed house of guests at Noosa Parks Association Friday Forum this month. Dr Lowe describes the current situation as a climate crisis that needs urgent action. ...A CSIRO climate report released last week showed a record number of days when the mean temperature had increased 1degree with the trend increasing. It also showed the number of declared dang...Continue reading

11.01.2022 Australia’s most adorable rodent, they wrote on their official Facebook page. And the photos are, in fact, seriously cute. Rakalis, otherwise known as water rats, are Australia’s otter-equivalent. They can be seen diving in and out of lakes and rivers in search of fish or just casually picking fights with platypuses. But they’re not just cute and, at times, vicious. They’re also incredibly smart. Scientists recently found that rakalis are the only Australian animal that can safely eat toxic cane toads. Basically, the rakalis had learnt to surgically remove the hearts and livers of the toads, avoiding all the poisonous bits. This little girl has quite the life ahead of her.

11.01.2022 Fungi can pull phosphorus out of the soil bank and communicate it direct to plants. They are an important part in recycling plant material. David Marsh is one of the new pioneer farmers who are ecologically aware and whose methods are seeing the return of native grasses and more biodiversity. This clip is a sneak peek of our Walk the Talk October 2014 with David Marsh ‘Walk the Talk’ filming is one of the benefits of becoming a Farming Secrets member see more benefits here: http://circle.farmingsecrets.com/member-registration/

08.01.2022 If just two per cent of the Ocean were to be sustainably farmed, the world could easily be fed, according to experts. In the first story of a two-part series looking at the opportunities and challenges facing Ocean farming, we take a look at the huge potential role of seaweed in mitigating climate change, cutting marine pollution, and achieving the UN goal of Zero Hunger.https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/ ‘We are still hunter-gatherers’ When it comes to the oc...ean, we are still hunter-gatherers, says Vincent Doumeizel, a senior advisor on ocean-based solutions at the UN Global Compact, and an evangelist for seaweed. By farming just two per cent of the ocean, we could provide enough protein to feed a world population of 12 billion people. Seaweed is extremely protein rich, low in fat, low in carbohydrates, and rich in vitamins, zinc and iron. As any fan of sushi will already know, certain forms of seaweed are edible for human consumption. Whilst seaweed has been popular in Asia, particularly Japan, for many years, it is slowly becoming better known throughout the rest of the world, and Mr. Doumeizel is confident that it has the potential to become a mainstream food. Most Japanese people eat seaweed three times a day, it is used in many dishes in Korea, and is eaten by many people in China. This may be a major factor in cutting the levels of non-communicable diseases in these countries. See more

07.01.2022 National distribution of koalas is vast, https://www.environment.gov.au/scie//databases-maps/snesso the funding equates to about A$1.40 to survey a square kilometre. That means the way koalas are counted in the audit must be carefully considered. Koalas are notoriously difficult to detect, and counts so far have been fairly unreliable. That can make it hard to get an accurate picture of how koalas are faring, and to know where intensive conservation effort is needed espe...cially after devastating events such as last summer’s bushfires. Methods for counting koalas range from the traditional people at ground level looking up into the trees to the high-tech, such as heat-seeking drones. So let’s look at each method, and how we can best get a handle on Australia’s koala numbers. ...So far, population estimates for koalas at the state and national level are rare and highly uncertain. For example, the last national koala count in 2012 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ddi.12400 estimated 33,000-153,000 in Queensland, 14,00073,000 in NSW and 96,000-378,000 in the southern states. ...Citizen scientists can also collect important data about koalas. Smartphone apps https://www.inaturalist.org/ allow the community to report sightings around Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au//urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.t helping to build a picture of where koalas have been seen. However, these sightings are often limited to areas commonly traversed by people, such as in suburbia, near walking tracks and on private property. ...Saving an iconic species Last summer’s bushfires highlighted how koalas, https://theconversation.com/scientists-find-burnt-starving- and other native species, are vulnerable to climate change. And the clearing of koala habitat continues,https://theconversation.com/queensland-land-clearing-is-und at times illegally. Government inquiries and reviews have shown state and federal environment laws are not preventing the decline of koalas and other wildlife. The federal laws are still under review. However, the new funding underpins an important step - accurate mapping of koalas and their habitat for protection and restoration. This is a crucial task in protecting the future of this iconic Australian species. - Romane H. Cristescu Posdoc in Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast - Celine Frere Senior lecturer, University of the Sunshine Coast - Desley Whisson Senior Lecturer in Wildlife and Conservation Biology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University See more

06.01.2022 Health groups have banded together to send an open letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling for urgent action on climate change. ...Climate and Health Alliance executive director Fiona Armstrong said there can be no recovery with gas, the government's preferred measure to tackle emissions. "The latest evidence suggests gas is just as emissions-intensive as coal," she said in a statement. "Backing gas and fossil fuels will only accelerate the climate health emergency, f...urther putting at risk the health of all Australians." ...Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Terry Slevin said the impacts of COVID-19 had been severe and wide-reaching. "Yet climate change is something which poses just as significant, if not a greater, challenge in terms of the impacts on human health, societies and economies," Mr Slevin said. "We are already witnessing the public health impacts of climate change - through bushfires and smoke, through heatwaves, through communities devastated by drought." Tackling climate change came back to the fore in the past week after US President-elect Joe Biden committed to returning his country to the Paris Agreement. See more

06.01.2022 Tinonee Public School student Tessa Rourke was chosen to represent the Myall Lakes electorate to take part in NSW Children's Parliament 2020. Normally 93 students, one from each electorate in NSW, would converge on Parliament House in Sydney on one day in October. It's a packed day, in which they learn about parliamentary and legislative processes, have lessons in advocacy and speech writing, and finally give a one minute speech, that they have prepared themselves, in the Leg...Continue reading

06.01.2022 AS humans are increasingly encroaching on wildlife habitats, there are more opportunities for animal-to-human virus transmission. Frozen bat tissues and bat droppings could hold the answer to stopping the next coronavirus pandemic. ...During the past 20 years, there have been three coronavirus epidemics in humans: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012 and now SARS-CoV-2, the cause of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Ryan Troyer, PhD, virologist at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, says all of these viruses appear to be related to viruses found in bats, and that as humans are increasingly encroaching on wildlife habitats, there are more opportunities for animal-to-human virus transmission.

06.01.2022 UNSW researchers have received more than $500,000 from the NSW Environmental Trust to reintroduce native species in Sturt National Park in the state’s far north-west. The Beyond Fencing project aims to reintroduce four locally extinct species the greater bilby, burrowing bettong, western quoll and crest-tailed mulgara in a 100 square kilometre fenced area with low levels of predators. The project builds on earlier work by UNSW academics and complements the nearby project ...Wild Deserts, also in Sturt National Park. Wild Deserts will reintroduce the four threatened species into two 20 square kilometre ‘exclosures’ without any foxes or cats. Once breeding populations are established, some mammals will be moved to the adjacent Wild Training Zone for the Beyond Fencing project. UNSW’s Beyond Fencing project is led by Professor Richard Kingsford, Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science UNSW and Dr Reece Pedler, Coordinator of the Wild Deserts Project UNSW. Prof. Kingsford said that both projects are important in restoring the local ecosystem. Beyond Fencing will re-establish locally extinct threatened species and provide insights into how they persist alongside low level of cats and foxes. It will give us vital data on which methods are most successful in reducing feral cat and fox numbers and sustaining lower densities over long periods, Prof. Kingsford said. Dr Pedler said that Beyond Fencing will take a two-pronged approach to improving the plight of threatened small mammals. We aim to reduce the impact of feral predators using innovative predator control techniques, as well as improving the anti-predator responses of locally extinct mammals to feral cats and foxes. This work is at the cutting edge and is a step along the road to one day re-establish locally extinct mammals outside of fenced reserves on mainland Australia, Dr Pedler said. To do this we need to breed smarter bilbies ones that know what a feral cat is and how to escape from them. The Wild Deserts project is part of Reintroducing locally extinct mammals, a collaborative effort between UNSW, Ecological Horizons and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service that uses feral predator fencing to safely reintroduce threatened species in arid New South Wales. https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au//saving-our-species-201 See more

03.01.2022 Last months Great Southern Bioblitz was a great success! Redlands participated - but not Logan - or Scenic Rim Now check out the stats @ https://greatsouthernbiobl.wixsite.com/.../copy-of-2021... INaturalist Botswana African Guide Academy... Redland City QLD Inaturalist Bioblitzers Nature Play QLD African Conservation Foundation African Wildlife Foundation INaturalist - southern Africa Threatened Species Commissioner Wild Orchid Watch Adelaide University Sciences Association - AUScA Australian Plants Society SA Amateur Entomology Australia Threatened Species Recovery Hub See more

03.01.2022 Last month, Elsa Pataky and husband Chris Hemsworth 'made history' by releasing the first Tasmanian devils on mainland Australia in 3,000 years. And it seems the Hollywood power couple are keen to pass on their passion for nature and wildlife to their children. On Friday, the Spanish actress, 44, took their kids to a wildlife sanctuary in Tomalla, near Port Macquarie, for a little visit. ....Aussie Ark President Tim Faulkner said in a statement: 'In 100 years, we are going ...to be looking back at this day as the day that set in motion the ecological restoration of an entire country.' 'Not only is this the reintroduction of one of Australia’s beloved animals, but of an animal that will engineer the entire environment around it, restoring and rebalancing our forest ecology after centuries of devastation from introduced foxes and cats and other invasive predators.' See more

03.01.2022 In the words of Everald Compton the ‘Father of Inland Rail’ I have never in all those 65 years seen a more incompetently managed and wasteful project than this one. It is a disgrace. I wrote a short oped on the many issues raised about inland rail between the QLD/NSW border and Acacia Ridge. Labor wants this project to succeed but the LNP needs to fix their bungling and mismanagement or will be held accountable for it.

01.01.2022 WHERE are our Logan echidna? Australians should know when they encounter an echidna they are seeing something very, very special, she adds. They have been around for so long, but are disappearing, and my biggest concern is that there isn’t enough information about echidnas on the mainland. They’re not considered threatened there, but there are places where they’ve gone extinct They’re Australia’s most ubiquitous mammal, yet we have really ignored them. TAHLIA PERRY show...s me an extraordinary photograph of an echidna, which is testament to the remarkable resilience of these animals in the face of bushfires. The picture, submitted to her citizen science project EchidnaCSI, shows an animal with its spines severed halfway along their length, giving it the appearance of having been trimmed into a flat-top hairstyle. The echidna had this weird thing, where it looked like its spines had been cut, but actually it had been caught in a controlled burn, explains Tahlia, who is based at the University of Adelaide. It was a striking imageand our social media went pretty wild. Often, rather than attempt to outrun a fire, echidnas simply burrow into the ground, or conceal themselves inside fallen logs. One of their many unique talents is that they can dig straight down on the spot, disappearing into the dirt in as little as a minute. They then enter a temporary hibernation-like state to conserve energy, and wait for the danger to pass. This echidna, photographed halfway through last year by citizen scientist Georgina Swan and uploaded to the EchidnaCSI app, didn’t dig down far enough during a hazard reduction burn in northern Sydney and had its spines melted off. (Image credit: EchidnaCSI) This ‘torpor’, which is also employed by echidnas in some cooler regions, sees them slow their heart rate, metabolism and temperature breathing in and out as few as three times a minute. On rare occasions they may stay like this for weeks following a fire, only emerging once their insect prey has returned to the environment. ...Monotremes are the longest surviving lineage of mammals, she says. They were around with the dinosaurs and survived through greenhouse effects and ice ages, and if you’ve been around that long you know what you are doing. See more