Michael Calver

This poster presents preliminary findings from a proof of concept trial for satellite tracking of Baudin's cockatoos. The study follows the work by Christine Groom, which is successfully demonstrating that Carnaby's cockatoos can be tracked using satellite transmitters, and a trial which involved attaching transmitter devices to captive black cockatoos of all three species (Le Souef et al. 2013). Two rehabilitated adult female Baudin's cockatoos were anaesthetised and fitted with tail-mounted satellite trackers and released in Kelmscott in September 2012. Prior to release, both birds were health checked and flight tested to demonstrate fitness for release. The movements of the cockatoos were monitored according to Argos satellite transmissions, as well as ground truthing using flock sightings and reception of VHF signals from the satellite units using a radio telemetry antenna. According to their transmissions, the birds initially stayed in the Kelmscott area in close proximity to one another and other groups of Baudin's cockatoos in the area. However, after several days, one of the cockatoos flew south and joined a flock of Baudin's cockatoos migrating further south. Interestingly, during this migration, this bird returned to the Serpentine area from which she was originally found injured. This bird currently remains in the Beela area, 140km southeast of Perth, with other Baudin's cockatoos. The second cockatoo remained in the release area for several weeks before also moving south to Cardup, 33km southeast of Perth, where her transmitter was found two months later, still attached to the tail feathers which had possibly moulted out.

In his report to the British Empire Conference in 1920, Western Australia’s Conservator of Forests Charles Lane Poole looked forward to the time ‘when the people develop a forest conscienceness’ and ‘see to it that the forest policy is maintained and the forests are used for the benefit of the community as a whole forever, and not for the benefit of the few sawmillers, timber hewers, and timber merchants of to-day.’ With forest management still a major political issue, the statement has a contemporary ring even though it is nearly a century old. The unusual word ‘conscienceness’ at its core is not listed by serious dictionaries (although it does appear in some dictionaries of colloquialisms). We can never know whether Lane Poole used ‘conscienceness’ in error for ‘consciousness’, or deliberately forged a word for a new concept. He was erudite, as his writings attest, so I’m tempted to believe that he punned and to speculate on what conscienceness means. It includes perception (consciousness) and also responsibility (conscience). Thus conscienceness incorporates awareness of issues and a moral position. Of course, based on their experience and values, individuals may be aware of different aspects of complex issues such as forest management and take differing moral positions in relation to them. Or, to use Lane Poole’s term, they may have different forest consciencenesses. Here, I wish to explore three of the many consciencenesses that exist in relation to the forests of southwestern Australia: those of the forestry professional, the conservationist and the agriculturalist. By examining the unique combination of awareness and moral perspective characterising each group, we can come closer to what forests mean to our community today.

The three species of black cockatoo endemic to the south-west of Western Australia (Carnaby's Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris, Baudin's Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus baudinii and Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus banksii naso) face population declines as a result of several threatening factors including habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching for the pet trade, competition with other species for nesting hollows, vehicle strikes, shootings and extreme weather events. A research project to determine the health status and population demographics of wild black cockatoos is currently being undertaken by Murdoch University as a collaborative project with the Department of Environment and Conservation, Perth Zoo and University of West Virginia, with support from Newmont Boddington Gold, BHP Billiton Worsley Alumina and the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC). Whilst this initial research project has funding for a three year period, it is hoped that this project will be able to be conducted over the long-term.

Listed as a threatened species in Western Australia, nationally and internationally, the western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis) is restricted to the south-west corner of Western Australia. Despite this, the current known geographic range of P. occidentalis is considerably different from, and more expansive than, published accounts from the 1990s. This most likely represents an increase in knowledge of the species’ distribution. Recognised threats to the species persistence include habitat loss, predation, inappropriate fire regimes and effects from climate change. The most immediate threat to persistence of P. occidentalis is habitat loss associated with rapid urban expansion in the greater Bunbury, Busselton and Albany areas and introduced predators more broadly. Attempts to mitigate the effects from habitat loss have historically focused on translocation which has met with some success. Low density populations have established at translocation release sites within Yalgorup National Park and dispersal of recruits has been confirmed from genetic analyses. Genetic studies have also revealed no evidence of historic or contemporary mixing of in situ (naturally occurring) populations separated by as little as 30 km and with no physical barriers to dispersal or movement. This raises immediate concerns for, and conservation interest in, several recently confirmed populations, including those at Dawesville and Binningup, where development and habitat clearing is proposed. The conservation significance of these populations, in terms of genetics and demographics, is not known.

Massive health decline of Mediterranean-type-ecosystem (MTE) woodlands results in inadequate levels of natural regeneration. This can drive woodlands across biotic thresholds, where they are pushed beyond normal resilience and sudden and unpredictable changes occur. Without some form of management intervention these woodlands will suffer local extinction. Using declining Eucalyptus gomphocephala woodlands as a case study, we undertook field trials to increase restoration success by introducing propagules to overcome the biotic threshold and mimicking favourable conditions for species that primarily recruit following fire. This involved adding abiotic (nutrient and moisture) resources, even though the ecosystem had not crossed an abiotic threshold. We found that control plants had low establishment, confirming the crossing of a biotic but not an abiotic threshold, and the irreversibility of the degraded woodland without intervention. Establishment was higher in treated compared with control plots and the supplementation of nutrient resources seemed to be most critical in increasing early establishment. We suggest that although some declining woodlands have crossed biotic but not abiotic thresholds, supplementing abiotic resources which simulate ecosystem processes can increase restoration success. This study has implications for restoration activities in degraded MTE communities that naturally recruit following fire and where biotic thresholds have been crossed.

The Ludlow Tuart Forest is the only remaining tall tuart forest in the world and one of the rarest ecosystems on earth. Tuart forests are of immense value for conserving biodiversity and protecting ecosystem function, as well as providing important cultural, social and economic values. However, these areas have been impacted upon by various disturbances including logging, grazing, clearing and weed and pathogen invasion, which have resulted in changes in vegetation structure and composition. This is concerning to scientists, land managers and the public and has resulted in a growing desire to develop techniques to restore these forests. This study investigated techniques for establishing tuart forest species in degraded tuart forests, including: the creation of ashbeds; and the addition of nutrients, chelating agents and water sources. Restoration trials were undertaken with the assistance from a number of community-based programs aimed to facilitate participation in a number of phases of the restoration process. These included provenance seed collection, planting and monitoring. Trials indicated that creation of conditions that mimic natural disturbances has a positive influence on seedling survival and growth. Significant levels of survival and growth can also be produced through the use of plant treatments such as specific types of fertilisers and chelating agents. This study has shown that together with a range of plant and site treatments community engagement can be successfully captured to assist in the establishment and on-going monitoring of restoration trials. These types of trials will drive continued improvement of restoration techniques for degraded forests.