Large carnivores can play a pivotal role in maintaining healthy, balanced ecosystems. By suppressing the abundances and hence impacts of herbivores and smaller predators, top predators can indirectly benefit the species consumed by herbivores and smaller predators. Restoring and maintaining the ecosystem services that large carnivores provide has been identified as a critical step required to sustain biodiversity and maintain functional, resilient ecosystems. Recent research has shown that Australia's largest terrestrial predator, the Dingo (Canis lupus dingo), has strong effects on ecosystems in arid Australia and that these effects are beneficial for the conservation of small mammals and vegetation. Similarly, there is evidence from south-eastern Australia that dingoes suppress the abundance of macropods and red Fox (Vulpes vulpes). It is likely that dingoes in south-eastern Australia also generate strong indirect effects on the prey of foxes and macropods, as has been observed in the more arid parts of the continent. These direct and indirect effects of dingoes have the potential to be harnessed as passive tools to assist biodiversity conservation through the maintenance of ecologically functional dingo populations. However, research is required to better understand dingoes' indirect effects on ecosystems and the development of dingo management strategies that allow for both the preservation of dingoes and protection of livestock.

In cases where assisted colonisation is the appropriate conservation tool, the selection of recipient sites is a major challenge. Here, we propose a framework for site selection that can be applied to the Australian biota, where planning for assisted colonisation is in its infancy. Characteristics that will be important drivers in the decision-making process include the size of a recipient site, the potential to augment corridors and respond to niche gaps, the maximisation of climatic buffering, bioregional similarity, tenure security, and the minimisation of opportunities for hybridisation and invasiveness. Sites we suggest be precluded from assisted colonisation include sites of high species endemism, IUCN category 1 reference reserves and fully-functioning threatened ecological communities.

There are no national emergency response arrangements for freshwater pest fish incursions in Australia. Individual States and Territories vary widely in their current response arrangements to freshwater pest fish incursions, with many being dealt with on an ad-hoc basis and with varying degrees of efficacy. In recognition of this, the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre funded a project to ‘Advance the development of national emergency response arrangements for freshwater fish incursions in Australia’. One of the recommendations of this project was creating a web-based support tool (DST) to provide direction and assistance in managing freshwater pest fish incursions. This article describes the DST created. The DST leads the user through a series of questions relating to the species sighting, details of the fish and its capture, and site information at a particular location. These questions address issues that managers must consider when choosing appropriate control techniques. Information entered in two sections (site details and fish details) influence the suggested control techniques. The final product of the DST is a standard online report that contains a summary of all information entered and a ranking of the most common control techniques used in Australia. The report is then submitted to and assessed by the relevant State Government authority responsible for the management of freshwater pest fish incursions. Managers are then able to consider their options, taking into consideration current permits, resources and capability. The DST is anticipated to maximize the speed and quality of freshwater pest fish incursion reporting and to help the responsible government agency decide on the most appropriate management action. The DST will also provide government agency staff access to other relevant information and facilitate consistency in the decision-making approach by government agencies throughout Australia.

Water-spreading banks are used in semi-arid areas such as the Cobar pediplain in western New South Wales, Australia to encourage pasture growth, often after removal of woody encroachment. We studied the arrangement of bare inter-patches and vegetated patches, and associated surface soil variables, in three pastures following installation of water-spreading banks (2, 15, 38 years ago) and in an area of woody encroachment near Cobar. The aims of the study were as follows: (i) to determine the number and percent area of inter-patches and vegetated patches, and associated surface soil variables at the three pasture sites and at the woody encroachment site and (ii) by inference, explore effects of establishing water-spreading banks and pasture following removal of woody encroachment on these factors, to understand the role of water-spreading banks as a management tool. The percent area of inter-patches in pasture with 38-year-old water-spreading banks was much lower, and the percent area of medium-vegetated patches (but not of well-vegetated patches) was substantially higher, than in the woody encroachment. Differences in soil carbon and nitrogen between the sites were related to their percent areas of inter-patches and vegetated patches. The results suggest that the mosaic of bare inter-patches and vegetated patches changes over time after clearing of woody encroachment and establishment of pasture with water-spreading banks, from many large inter-patches to a few small inter-patches, and from small to large medium-vegetated patches. Water-spreading banks are a useful management tool in these landscapes because of their benefits for landscape function, that is, bare areas become less connected, the percent area of moderately vegetated patches increases, and soil carbon builds up with time following their installation.

Environmental monitoring is becoming increasingly sophisticated with the widespread adoption of data loggers, sensor arrays and remote sensing, leading to larger scale, higher resolution and superior quality data. However, interpreting monitoring data and deciding when and how to apply environmental management remains a subjective and underdeveloped area of research. Control charts, developed in industrial settings to identify when manufacturing processes were beyond the acceptable bounds of production quality, represent one solution. Despite their potential utility, control charts have rarely been adopted in environmental monitoring. In theory, they are able to identify undesirable trends early and provide transparent and broadly consensual criteria for defining when management action should take place, that is action is triggered when parameter values are observed beyond the agreed control limits of the process. Once triggered, a predetermined management action is implemented. Possible actions are many and varied, and range from investigation and increased monitoring to intervention in the system. Here, the utility of control charts in monitoring water supply in south-western Australia from 1911 to 2010 is examined, and their ability to provide an early, transparent and easily understandable means of triggering management action is assessed. Two control chart types are applied: the X-bar chart and the CUSUM chart. X-bar charts varied widely in their ability to trigger action and were insensitive to many traditional threshold criteria (of which there are many to choose from). In contrast, standard CUSUM charts are specifically designed to detect subtler shifts away from a mean trend and hence provided a more consistent warning of the decline in water supply. While managers were aware of the decline in water supply from an early stage, we believe that control charts could have clearly communicated this earlier, enabling consensus among decision makers to be reached more rapidly.

Flooding is often considered a stimulus for production of fish in floodplain rivers. In the southern Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), Australia, however, few native fish species have been shown to use the floodplain for spawning, and recruitment has been positively and negatively associated with flooding. In 2010/11, extensive flooding in the lower River Murray provided an opportunity to investigate the recruitment response of Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua ambigua) following 10 years of drought and floodplain isolation. Annual variation in Golden Perch abundance and recruitment were investigated in anabranch and main channel habitats at Chowilla in the floodplain geomorphic region of the lower River Murray over a 7-year period incorporating the flood and 6 years of in-channel flow. Spatial variation in recruitment in the lower River Murray was also investigated by comparing the age structure of Golden Perch in the swamplands/lakes, gorge and floodplain geomorphic regions. Golden Perch abundance in the Chowilla region increased significantly postflooding compared with drought years. Age structures indicated that increased abundance was due predominantly to fish spawned during the flood (2010/11) and the previous year (2009/10), which was characterised by in-channel flows. Age structure was similar in the nearby Katarapko Anabranch system indicating a uniform postflood recruitment response in the floodplain geomorphic region. Juvenile Golden Perch from the 2010/11 and 2009/10 cohorts were less apparent in the gorge and swamplands/lakes regions. Golden Perch have flexible life histories and will spawn and recruit in association with in-channel rises in flow and overbank flows, but significant increases in abundance in the lower River Murray may result from overbank flooding. Contemporary approaches to flow restoration in the MDB emphasise overbank flows and floodplain processes. We suggest, however, that environmental flow management that incorporates floodplain and in-channel processes, at appropriate spatio-temporal scales, will result in more robust populations of Golden Perch.

Slender Banksia (Banksia attenuata) is a primary component of declining Banksia woodlands around Perth, south-western Australia. It is important that its re-establishment be promoted, but there are little data on its growth rates and response to applied nutrients. To quantify longer-term growth rate, I periodically measured heights of Slender Banksia planted mid-2005 over 7½ years. Without fertiliser, these seedlings grew slowly to about 1½ m. In mid-2009, I planted Slender Banksia on the same site, with and without fertiliser tablets, and evaluated survival, growth and root development over 1½ years. First-summer Slender Banksia seedling survival of around 30% was not unusual for this species. Low-phosphorus native plant fertiliser tablets increased growth significantly.

Restoration of postmining substrates to native forest is a standard requirement of resource consents for mine sites located within areas of native forest in New Zealand. Unweathered waste rock presents significant challenges for plant growth, and past research highlights the importance of replacing soil as part of restoration. However, replacing soil with its horizon structure intact or even obtaining sufficient soil for restoration can be a challenge in some situations. In this paper, we describe the results of two trials undertaken at the OceanaGold Ltd. open-cast gold mine in Reefton to explore the influence of substrate conditions on the growth of native forest seedlings. We show that beech (Nothofagus) seedlings grown on A-horizon soil grew significantly better than those grown on soil mixed with waste rock, and both grew significantly better than plants grown just on waste rock. In the second trial, we show that bark chips are not a good substitute for soil. These results confirm the importance of having the correct substrate for successful native forest restoration.

Planting of woody perennial vegetation for carbon sequestration continues to gain momentum as markets for carbon develop in Australia. With the impetus of the Clean Energy Future package, these plantings have the potential to contribute to biodiversity gains if established and managed appropriately. In this study, we sought to link indicators of biodiversity to carbon storage in remnant vegetation, mixed-species native revegetation and single-species eucalypt plantations in the Mount Lofty Ranges (MLR) of South Australia. Native plant species richness was higher in remnant vegetation than in revegetation and plantation sites in the southern MLR, but only remnant and plantation sites were different in the northern MLR. Native bird species richness was higher in remnant than plantation sites, but revegetation sites were similar to both plantation and remnant sites in northern and southern sites. Mean total standing carbon varied across treatments in southern sites, and there were no statistically significant differences in mean carbon sequestration rate between planted treatments. Monoculture plantation sites lack the structural complexity required and offer limited resources for native fauna compared with mixed-species revegetation or remnant vegetation. This reinforces the importance of carefully constructed incentives to compensate landholders for potential carbon shortfalls if the opportunity for biodiversity gains from carbon plantings is to be realised in the longer term. The value of the standing carbon in remnant vegetation should also be recognised in emerging markets.