Strategic Adaptive Management for Transparency, Accountability and Learning: Insights from More Than a Quarter Century of Practice.

Adaptive management has long been advocated as a framework of choice for addressing the complexities and uncertainties of natural resource management. Despite its theoretical appeal, successful implementation remains elusive, with many documented barriers and limited operational examples. This paper examines Strategic Adaptive Management (SAM), a long-running adaptive management program originating from the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

River regulation and climate change reduce river flows to major Australian floodplain wetland.

Freshwater ecosystems, including rivers and floodplain wetlands, face severe stress from unsustainable water resources development, with climate change exerting further pressure. This study compares the relative effects of river regulation and projected climate change on river flows to the semi-arid Lowbidgee Floodplain (3250 km), the largest wetland ecosystem on the heavily regulated Murrumbidgee River, Australia's second longest river, within the Murray-Darling Basin. We modelled annual natural streamflow in the lower Murrumbidgee River before major dam constructions and water diversions (1890-1927), linking river flows to runoff from the upper Murrumbidgee catchment.

Fragmentation by major dams and implications for the future viability of platypus populations.

The evolutionarily unique platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) has experienced major declines and extinctions from a range of historical and recent interacting human-mediated threats. Although spending most of their time in the water, platypuses can move over land. Nevertheless, uncertainties remain whether dams are barriers to movement, thus limiting gene flow and dispersal, essential to evolution and ecology.

A function-based typology for Earth's ecosystems.

As the United Nations develops a post-2020 global biodiversity framework for the Convention on Biological Diversity, attention is focusing on how new goals and targets for ecosystem conservation might serve its vision of 'living in harmony with nature'. Advancing dual imperatives to conserve biodiversity and sustain ecosystem services requires reliable and resilient generalizations and predictions about ecosystem responses to environmental change and management. Ecosystems vary in their biota, service provision and relative exposure to risks, yet there is no globally consistent classification of ecosystems that reflects functional responses to change and management.

Anthropogenic habitat modification alters calling phenology of frogs.

Anthropogenic habitat modification significantly challenges biodiversity. With its intensification, understanding species' capacity to adapt is critical for conservation planning. However, little is known about whether and how different species are responding, particularly among frogs.

Measuring plant biomass remotely using drones in arid landscapes.

Measurement of variation in plant biomass is essential for answering many ecological and evolutionary questions. Quantitative estimates require plant destruction for laboratory analyses, while field studies use allometric approaches based on simple measurement of plant dimensions.We estimated the biomass of individual shrub-sized plants, using a low-cost unmanned aerial system (drone), enabling rapid data collection and non-destructive sampling.

Using DNA metabarcoding as a novel approach for analysis of platypus diet.

Platypuses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) forage for macroinvertebrate prey exclusively in freshwater habitats. Because food material in their faeces is well digested and mostly unidentifiable, previous dietary studies have relied on cheek pouch assessments and stable isotope analysis. Given DNA metabarcoding can identify species composition from only fragments of genetic material, we investigated its effectiveness in analysing the diet of platypuses, and to assess variation across seasons and sexes.

Seasonal and geographic variation in packed cell volume and selected serum chemistry of platypuses.

Platypuses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) inhabit the permanent rivers and creeks of eastern Australia, from north Queensland to Tasmania, but are experiencing multiple and synergistic anthropogenic threats. Baseline information of health is vital for effective monitoring of populations but is currently sparse for mainland platypuses. Focusing on seven hematology and serum chemistry metrics as indicators of health and nutrition (packed cell volume (PCV), total protein (TP), albumin, globulin, urea, creatinine, and triglycerides), we investigated their variation across the species' range and across seasons.

Species' traits drive amphibian tolerance to anthropogenic habitat modification.

Anthropogenic habitat modification is accelerating, threatening the world's biodiversity. Understanding species' responses to anthropogenic modification is vital for halting species' declines. However, this information is lacking for globally threatened amphibians, informed primarily by small community-level studies.

Synergistic effects of a severe drought and fire on platypuses.

The strong inter-dependence between terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, mediated by the character of vegetation and landscapes, can have significant impacts to freshwater species. A changing climate towards hotter and drier climates is already increasing fire frequencies and severity around the world. The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is an iconic freshwater Australia species, facing increasing threats since European colonisation and with a distribution which coincides with fire prone areas.

Long-term movements and activity patterns of platypus on regulated rivers.

The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal, endemic to freshwater habitats of eastern Australia. There are gaps in the understanding of platypus movement behaviour within river systems, including spatial and temporal organization of individuals. We tracked movements of 12 platypuses on the regulated Snowy and Mitta Mitta Rivers for up to 12-months, the longest continuous tracking of platypus using acoustic telemetry.

Rapidly mapping fire effects on biodiversity at a large-scale using citizen science.

The unprecedented scale of the 2019-2020 eastern Australian bushfires exemplifies the challenges that scientists and conservation biologists face monitoring the effects on biodiversity in the aftermath of large-scale environmental disturbances. After a large-scale disturbance, conservation policy and management actions need to be both timely and informed by data. By working with the public, often widely spread out over such disturbed areas, citizen science offers a unique opportunity to collect data on biodiversity responses at the appropriate scale.

Aerial surveys of waterbirds in Australia.

Tracking long-term environmental change is important, particularly for freshwater ecosystems, often with high rates of decline. Waterbirds are key indicators of freshwater ecosystem change, with groups reflecting food availability (e.g.

Drone-based effective counting and ageing of hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) in the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

Accurately estimating hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) numbers is difficult due to their aggressive nature, amphibious lifestyle, and habit of diving and surfacing. Traditionally, hippos are counted using aerial surveys and land/boat surveys. We compared estimates of numbers of hippos in a lagoon in the Okavango Delta, counted from land to counts from video taken from a DJI Phantom 4TM drone, testing for effectiveness at three heights (40 m, 80 m, and 120 m) and four times of day (early morning, late morning, early afternoon, and late afternoon).

The platypus: evolutionary history, biology, and an uncertain future.

The platypus () is one of the world's most evolutionarily distinct mammals, one of five extant species of egg-laying mammals, and the only living species within the family Ornithorhynchidae. Modern platypuses are endemic to eastern mainland Australia, Tasmania, and adjacent King Island, with a small introduced population on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, and are widely distributed in permanent river systems from tropical to alpine environments. Accumulating knowledge and technological advancements have provided insights into many aspects of its evolutionary history and biology but have also raised concern about significant knowledge gaps surrounding distribution, population sizes, and trends.

The case for embedding researchers in conservation agencies.

Although protected areas represent a pivotal response to escalating anthropogenic threats, they face many pressures, inside and outside their boundaries. Amid these challenges, effective conservation is guided by evidence-based decision making supported by dynamic processes of learning and knowledge exchange. Although different models promote knowledge exchange, embedding research scientists within conservation agencies is best suited to supporting evidence-based conservation.

Use of implanted acoustic tags to assess platypus movement behaviour across spatial and temporal scales.

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is an evolutionarily distinct mammal, endemic to Australian freshwaters. Many aspects of its ecology and life-history, including detailed understanding of movements, are poorly known, hampered by its cryptic and mainly nocturnal habits and small numbers. We effectively trialled intraperitoneal implanted acoustic transmitters in nine platypuses in the Severn River (NSW), Australia, as a potential approach for studying movements in this challenging species.

Defending the scientific integrity of conservation-policy processes.

Government agencies faced with politically controversial decisions often discount or ignore scientific information, whether from agency staff or nongovernmental scientists. Recent developments in scientific integrity (the ability to perform, use, communicate, and publish science free from censorship or political interference) in Canada, Australia, and the United States demonstrate a similar trajectory. A perceived increase in scientific-integrity abuses provokes concerted pressure by the scientific community, leading to efforts to improve scientific-integrity protections under a new administration.

Continental impacts of water development on waterbirds, contrasting two Australian river basins: Global implications for sustainable water use.

The world's freshwater biotas are declining in diversity, range and abundance, more than in other realms, with human appropriation of water. Despite considerable data on the distribution of dams and their hydrological effects on river systems, there are few expansive and long analyses of impacts on freshwater biota. We investigated trends in waterbird communities over 32 years, (1983-2014), at three spatial scales in two similarly sized large river basins, with contrasting levels of water resource development, representing almost a third (29%) of Australia: the Murray-Darling Basin and the Lake Eyre Basin.

A Switch in Keystone Seed-Dispersing Ant Genera between Two Elevations for a Myrmecochorous Plant, Acacia terminalis.

The dispersal capacity of plant species that rely on animals to disperse their seeds (biotic dispersal) can alter with changes to the populations of their keystone dispersal vectors. Knowledge on how biotic dispersal systems vary across landscapes allows better understanding of factors driving plant persistence. Myrmecochory, seed dispersal by ants, is a common method of biotic dispersal for many plant species throughout the world.

Life history and dynamics of a platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) population: four decades of mark-recapture surveys.

Knowledge of the life-history and population dynamics of Australia's iconic and evolutionarily distinct platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) remains poor. We marked-recaptured 812 unique platypuses (total 1,622 captures), over four decades (1973-2014) in the Shoalhaven River, Australia. Strong sex-age differences were observed in life-history, including morphology and longevity.

Prioritizing Wetlands for Waterbirds in a Boom and Bust System: Waterbird Refugia and Breeding in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Dryland rivers have considerable flow variability, producing complex ecosystems, processes, and communities of organisms that vary over space and time. They are also among the more vulnerable of the world's ecosystems. A key strategy for conservation of dryland rivers is identifying and maintaining key sites for biodiversity conservation, particularly protecting the quantity and quality of flow and flooding regimes.

The role and value of conservation agency research.

Governments charge their conservation agencies to safeguard biodiversity through protected areas and threat mitigation. Increasingly, conservation management and policy need to be supported by rigorous evidence provided by science. As such, institutional arrangements should consider and enable effective scientific research and information dissemination.

Regime shifts, thresholds and multiple stable states in freshwater ecosystems; a critical appraisal of the evidence.

The concepts of ecosystem regime shifts, thresholds and alternative or multiple stable states are used extensively in the ecological and environmental management literature. When applied to aquatic ecosystems, these terms are used inconsistently reflecting differing levels of supporting evidence among ecosystem types. Although many aquatic ecosystems around the world have become degraded, the magnitude and causes of changes, relative to the range of historical variability, are poorly known.

Maximizing colonial waterbirds' breeding events using identified ecological thresholds and environmental flow management.

Global wetland biodiversity loss continues unabated, driven by increased demand for freshwater. A key strategy for conservation management of freshwater systems is to maintain the quantity and quality of the natural water regimes, including the frequency and timing of flows. Formalizing an ecological model depicting the key ecological components and the underlying processes of cause and effect is required for successful conservation management.