Australia’s east coast named as 'deforestation front' in WWF Living Planet report

Australia’s east coast has been compared to the Amazon as a “deforestation front” in a new global report by the World Wide Fund for Nature that underscores the threat to populations of koalas and other native species.

 Deforestation means koalas could disappear from the
wild in New South Wales by 2050, WWF warns. 

The Living Planet report, produced by WWF every second year for the past 20 years, says global populations of vertebrate species have declined 60% since 1970. But koala numbers have disappeared at a much faster rate – more than 20% a decade – to the extent they could disappear from the wild in New South Wales by 2050.

The report assessed 11 deforestation hotspots, where broadscale clearing had occurred at problematic levels since 2010, and where deforestation was expected to continue in the next decade. Eastern Australia was the only location in the developed world to make the list.

Read the story from The Guardian by Ben Smee - “Australia’s east coast named as 'deforestation front' in WWF Living Planet report.”

Insect population decline leaves Australian scientists scratching for solutions

A global crash in insect populations has found its way to Australia, with entomologists across the country reporting lower than average numbers of wild insects.

Entomologists are concerned Australia's insect populations are in decline.

University of Sydney entomologist Dr Cameron Webb said researchers around the world widely acknowledge that insect populations are in decline, but are at a loss to determine the cause.

"On one hand it might be the widespread use of insecticides, on the other hand it might be urbanisation and the fact that we're eliminating some of the plants where it's really critical that these insects complete their development," Dr Webb said.

"Add in to the mix climate change and sea level rise and it's incredibly difficult to predict exactly what it is."

Entomologist and owner of the Australian Insect Farm, near Innisfail in far north Queensland, Jack Hasenpusch is usually able to collect swarms of wild insects at this time of year.

Read the ABC News story by Mark Rigby - “Insect population decline leaves Australian scientists scratching for solutions.”

Species on the move

As climate change impacts habitats around the world, species are on the move, trying to adapt — and survive.

With climate change comes
a new threat to Lemurs.

Lemur - these furry, charismatic mammals adored by many, are intrinsic to Madagascar. Roughly 100 lemur species live in the African island nation, where they play a critical ecological role in maintaining the forest habitats. 

Healthy lemur populations mean a healthy environment—but lemurs are far from thriving. 

Habitat loss from deforestation has been devastating, making the species among the most endangered in the world. 

Further losses—like those projected from climate change—could trigger extinction cascades. That could have disastrous consequences both ecologically and economically, because lemur-driven tourism revenue is central to Madagascar's economy. 

Read the Inside Climate News story - “Species on the move.”

Grampians are struggling with drought and deluge.: EcoCheck

The Grampians National Park is a large conservation reserve, sprawling across 168,000 hectares embedded in western Victoria’s agricultural landscape. With a rich cultural heritage and regionally important flora and fauna, it is a hugely significant area for conservation. But in recent years it has been subjected to a series of major wildfire events, a flood, and long periods of low rainfall.

Our research shows that this has sent small mammal populations on the kind of boom-and-bust rollercoaster ride usually seen in arid places, not temperate forests.

The fire and the flood

We began studying the Grampians in 2008, investigating how small mammals had responded to a catastrophic wildfire that burned half of the national park in 2006. What started as a one-year study has turned into a long-term research program to investigate how the past few years of hypervariable rainfall and heightened bushfire activity have affected the animals that live in the park.

Fortunately (for our study, at least), the beginning of our research in 2008 was in the middle of a long run of very poor rainfall years, as the Millennium Drought reached its height. The drought was broken at the end of 2010 by the Big Wet, which led to well-above-average rainfall and floods in the Grampians.

Read the piece on The Conversation by an Associate Professor in Wildlife and Conservation Biology at Deakin University, John White; a Lecturer in Ecology at Charles Sturt University, Dale Nimmo; and a PhD Candidate in ecology at Deakin University, Susannah Hale - “EcoCheck: the Grampians are struggling with drought and deluge.”