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Ecological theory often fails applied ecologists in three ways: (1) theory has little predictive value but is nevertheless applied in conservation with a risk of perverse outcomes; (2) individual theories have limited heuristic value for... more
Ecological theory often fails applied ecologists in three ways: (1) theory has little predictive value but is nevertheless applied in conservation with a risk of perverse outcomes; (2) individual theories have limited heuristic value for planning and framing research because they are narrowly focused and; (3) theory can lead to poor communication among scientists and hinder scientific progress through inconsistent use of terms and widespread redundancy. New approaches are therefore needed that improve the distillation, communication and application of ecological theory. We advocate three approaches to resolve these problems: (1) improve prediction by reviewing theory across case-studies to develop contingent theory where possible; (2) plan new research using a checklist of phenomena to avoid the narrow heuristic value of individual theories; (3) improve communication among scientists by rationalizing theory associated with particular phenomena to purge redundancy and by developing definitions for key terms. We explore the extent to which these problems and solutions have featured in two case studies of long-term ecological research programs in forests and plantations of south eastern Australia. We find that our main contentions are supported regarding the prediction, planning and communication limitations of ecological theory. We illustrate how inappropriate application of theory can be overcome or avoided by investment in boundary-spanning actions. The case studies also demonstrate how some of our proposed solutions could work, particularly the use of theory in secondary case studies after developing primary case studies without theory. When properly coordinated and implemented through a widely agreed upon and broadly respected international collaboration, the framework that we present will help to speed the progress of ecological research and lead to better conservation decisions.
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Altered fire regimes are a driver of biodiversity decline. To plan effective management, we need to know how species are influenced by fire and to develop theory describing fire responses. Animal responses to fire are usually measured... more
Altered fire regimes are a driver of biodiversity decline. To plan effective management, we need to know how species are influenced by fire and to develop theory describing fire responses. Animal responses to fire are usually measured using methods that rely on animal activity, but animal activity may vary with time since fire, potentially biasing results. Using a novel approach for detecting bias in the pit-fall trap method, we found that leaf-litter dependent reptiles were more active up to six weeks after fire, giving a misleading impression of abundance. This effect was not discovered when modelling detectability with zero-inflated binomial models. Two species without detection bias showed early–successional responses to time since fire, consistent with a habitat-accommodation succession model. However, a habitat specialist did not have the predicted low abundance after fire due to increased post-fire movement and non-linear recovery of a key habitat component. Interactions between fire and other processes therefore must be better understood to predict reptile responses to changing fire-regimes. We conclude that there is substantial bias when trapping reptiles after fire, with species that are otherwise hard to detect appearing to be abundant. Studies that use a survey method based on animal activity such as bird calls or animal movements, likely face a similar risk of bias when comparing recently-disturbed with control sites.
There are three key drivers of the biodiversity crisis: (1) the well known existing threats to biodiversity such as habitat loss, invasive pest species and resource exploitation; (2) direct effects of climate-change, such as on coastal... more
There are three key drivers of the biodiversity crisis: (1) the well known existing threats to biodiversity such as habitat loss, invasive pest species and resource exploitation; (2) direct effects of climate-change, such as on coastal and high elevation communities and coral reefs; and (3) the interaction between existing threats and climate-change. The third driver is set to accelerate the biodiversity crisis beyond the impacts of the first and second drivers in isolation. In this review we assess these interactions, and suggest the policy and management responses that are needed to minimise their impacts. Renewed management and policy action that address known threats to biodiversity could substantially diminish the impacts of future climate-change. An appropriate response to climate-change will include a reduction of land clearing, increased habitat restoration using indigenous species, a reduction in the number of exotic species transported between continents or between major regions of endemism, and a reduction in the unsustainable use of natural resources. Achieving these measures requires substantial reform of international, national and regional policy, and the development of new or more effective alliances between scientists, government agencies, non-government organisations and land managers. Furthermore, new management practices and policy are needed that consider shifts in the geographic range of species, and that are responsive to new information acquired from improved research and monitoring programs. The interactions of climate-change with existing threats to biodiversity have the potential to drive many species to extinction, but there is much that can be done now to reduce this risk.
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Research Interests: Climate Change, Conservation, Fire Management, Prescribed Fire, Biodiversity, and 19 moreResearch Agenda, Biological Sciences, Biodiversity Conservation, Population viability analysis, Environmental Sciences, Biological Conservation, Biological, Research Method, Empirical Research, Wildfire, Natural experiment, Simulation modelling, Sustainable Management, Longitudinal Study, Adaptive Management, Large Scale, Long Term, Controlled Burning, and Fire regime
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... Blight. Bio After an undergraduate science degree at Melbourne University and Honours at the Australian National University, Don Driscoll studied frog conservation and genetics at the University of Western Australia for his PhD. ...
Losses to life and property from unplanned fires (wildfires) are forecast to increase because of population growth in peri-urban areas and climate change. In response, there have been moves to increase fuel reduction—clearing, prescribed... more
Losses to life and property from unplanned fires (wildfires) are forecast to increase because of population growth in peri-urban areas and climate change. In response, there have been moves to increase fuel reduction—clearing, prescribed burning, biomass removal and grazing—to afford greater protection to peri-urban communities in fire-prone regions. But how effective are these measures? Severe wildfires in southern Australia in 2009 presented a rare opportunity to address this question empirically. We predicted that modifying several fuels could theoretically reduce house loss by 76%–97%, which would translate to considerably fewer wildfire-related deaths. However, maximum levels of fuel reduction are unlikely to be feasible at every house for logistical and environmental reasons. Significant fuel variables in a logistic regression model we selected to predict house loss were (in order of decreasing effect): (1) the cover of trees and shrubs within 40 m of houses, (2) whether trees and shrubs within 40 m of houses was predominantly remnant or planted, (3) the upwind distance from houses to groups of trees or shrubs, (4) the upwind distance from houses to public forested land (irrespective of whether it was managed for nature conservation or logging), (5) the upwind distance from houses to prescribed burning within 5 years, and (6) the number of buildings or structures within 40 m of houses. All fuel treatments were more effective if undertaken closer to houses. For example, 15% fewer houses were destroyed if prescribed burning occurred at the observed minimum distance from houses (0.5 km) rather than the observed mean distance from houses (8.5 km). Our results imply that a shift in emphasis away from broad-scale fuel-reduction to intensive fuel treatments close to property will more effectively mitigate impacts from wildfires on peri-urban communities.
Research Interests: Management, Forestry, Climate Change, Biomass, Land management, and 20 moreHousing, Population Dynamics, Urbanization, Multidisciplinary, Humans, Land, Nature Conservation, House, Trees, Population Growth, Wildfire, Victoria, PLoS one, Fires, Fuel Treatment, Ecosystem, Conservation of Natural Resources, Logistic Regression Model, Logistic Models, and Urban Area
Altered fire regimes threaten the persistence of many animal species globally, thus understanding how fire affects demographic processes is critical for conservation. Using 2years of mark-recapture data from the Australian gecko Nephrurus... more
Altered fire regimes threaten the persistence of many animal species globally, thus understanding how fire affects demographic processes is critical for conservation. Using 2years of mark-recapture data from the Australian gecko Nephrurus stellatus, we investigated the effect of fire on (i) detectability to reliably measure post-fire changes in abundance, and (ii) survival and reproductive rates to investigate the mechanisms of
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Page 1. Roadside connectivity does not increase reptile abundance or richness in a fragmented mallee landscapeaec_2292 1..9 JOEL R. WILLIAMS,1,2* DON A. DRISCOLL2 AND C. MICHAEL BULL1 1School of Biological ...
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... Workshop report: 'The Worlds of Ecology and Environmental Policy: Never the Two Shall Meet?'. Jason Cummings,; Paula Peeters,; Stephen Dovers,; Liz Tasker,; Don A. Driscoll. ... 2008; Morton et al. 2009), the media... more
... Workshop report: 'The Worlds of Ecology and Environmental Policy: Never the Two Shall Meet?'. Jason Cummings,; Paula Peeters,; Stephen Dovers,; Liz Tasker,; Don A. Driscoll. ... 2008; Morton et al. 2009), the media (eg Dayton 2008) and policy-makers (Banks 2009). ...
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... Peer Reviewed: Yes. Affiliation: (1) Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, WK Hancock Building, 43 Biology Place, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia, email:don.driscoll@anu.edu.au. Database: Humanities... more
... Peer Reviewed: Yes. Affiliation: (1) Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, WK Hancock Building, 43 Biology Place, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia, email:don.driscoll@anu.edu.au. Database: Humanities & Social Sciences Collection. ...
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... BCurrent Address: Fenner School of Environment and Society, WK Hancock Building 43, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. CCorresponding author. Email: don.driscoll@anu.edu.au Abstract. The ...
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ABSTRACT
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... 1Present Address: CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology, PO Box 84, Lyneham, ACT, 2602, Australia. E-mail: Don.Driscoll@dwe.csiro.au and ecologically similar group of four species (Roberts et al., 1990) with similar dispersal ten-dencies... more
... 1Present Address: CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology, PO Box 84, Lyneham, ACT, 2602, Australia. E-mail: Don.Driscoll@dwe.csiro.au and ecologically similar group of four species (Roberts et al., 1990) with similar dispersal ten-dencies (Driscoll, 1996). ... DON DRISCOLL each stop. ...
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Page 1. Australian Journal of Ecology (1997) 22, 334-339 Impact of fuel-reduction burning on the frog Geocrinia lutea in southwest Western Australia DON A. DRISCOLL AND J. DALE ROBERTS Department of Zoology, University ...
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Research Interests: Genetics, Genetic Drift, Ecology, Endangered Species, Biological Sciences, and 15 moreBiodiversity Conservation, Environmental Sciences, Biological Conservation, Effect size, Genetic Structure, Population Size, Effective Population Size, Western Australia, Threatened Species, Genetic Divergence, Ecological Applications, Local Extinction, Population Size Estimation, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT, and Random Genetic Drift
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Research Interests: Genetics, Conservation Biology, Conservation, Phylogeography, Population Genetics, and 14 moreEvolution, Endangered Species, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Range Expansion, Biological Conservation, Genetic Structure, Animal migration, Animal Conservation, Metapopulation, Evolutionary History, Conservation Management, Allele Frequency, and Conservation strategies
SOULE, ETAL: ROLE OF CONNECTIVITY IN AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION 267 landowners, and the Wildlands Project USA (Wildlands). Mackey et al. (in press) present the scientific and technological framework for this project, including the need for a... more
SOULE, ETAL: ROLE OF CONNECTIVITY IN AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION 267 landowners, and the Wildlands Project USA (Wildlands). Mackey et al. (in press) present the scientific and technological framework for this project, including the need for a more ...
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Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................................... .. 2 Executive Summary ............................................................. ...... more
Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................................... .. 2 Executive Summary ............................................................. ... ... Appendix 1. Species listed as threatened by firewood collection in Regional Forest Agreements ........... 51 Appendix 2. ...
Page 1. Evolution, 52(4), 1998, pp. 1147-1157 GENETIC STRUCTURE OF THE FROGS GEOCRINIA LUTEA AND GEOCRINIA ROSEA REFLECTS EXTREME POPULATION DIVERGENCE AND RANGE CHANGES, NOT DISPERSAL ...
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... Correspondence: Don A. Driscoll,. *Correspondence: *Don A. Driscoll, School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia. E-mail: don.driscoll@flinders.edu.au. Publication History. ...
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