The present study demonstrates one solution to a problem faced by managers of species of conservation concern – how to develop broad-scale maps of populations, within known general distribution limits, for the purpose of targeted management action. We aimed to map the current populations of the koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, in New South Wales, Australia. This cryptic animal is widespread, although patchily distributed. It principally occurs on private property, and it can be hard to detect. We combined a map-based mail survey of rural and outer-urban New South Wales with recent developments in estimating site occupancy and species-detection parameters to determine the current (2006) distribution of the koala throughout New South Wales. We were able to define the distribution of koalas in New South Wales at a level commensurate with previous community and field surveys. Comparison with a 1986 survey provided an indication of changes in relative koala density across the state. The 2006 distribution map allows for local and state plans, including the 2008 New South Wales Koala Recovery Plan, to be more effectively implemented. The application of this combined technique can now be extended to a suite of other iconic species or species that are easily recognised by the public.

In a global environment of increasing species extinctions and decreasing availability of funds with which to combat the causes of biodiversity loss, maximising the efficiency of conservation efforts is crucial. The only way to ensure maximum return on conservation investment is to incorporate the cost, benefit and likelihood of success of conservation actions into decision-making in a systematic and objective way. Here we report on the application of a Project Prioritization Protocol (PPP), first implemented by the New Zealand Government, to target and prioritize investment in threatened species in New South Wales, Australia, under the state’s new Saving our Species program. Detailed management prescriptions for 368 threatened species were developed via an expert elicitation process, and were then prioritized using quantitative data on benefit, likelihood of success and implementation cost, and a simple cost-efficiency equation. We discuss the outcomes that have been realized even in the early stages of the program; including the efficient development of planning resources made available to all potential threatened species investors and the demonstration of a transparent and objective approach to threatened species management that will significantly increase the probability of meeting an objective to secure the greatest number of threatened species from extinction.

Environmental flows were released to the Macquarie Marshes (*210,000 ha) in north-west NSW of Australia between October and December 2005, inundating an estimated 24,600 ha of floodplain area. According to the flood pulse concept, the marsh floodplains would have stored large amounts of nutrients and carbon during dry antecedent conditions, which would be released into the overlaying flood water. Field studies were conducted in mid-December 2005 at two sites, one on open floodplain woodland with a sparse canopy of River Red Gum and ground cover dominated by saltbushes and the other on open floodplain with black rolypoly. At each site, nutrients, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), planktonic bacteria and phytoplankton were monitored daily for a 6-day period from the overlaying water of a floodplain inundated by the environmental water release. Those in mesocosms deployed in situ, containing marsh floodplain sediments that had been inundated artificially, were also monitored. The mesocosm results from both the sites showed that release of nitrogen was rapid, attaining mean concentrations of total nitrogen of 3.7-14.8 mg l -1 , followed by more gradual increases in total phosphorus (mean concentrations 0.6-0.8 mg l -1 ) and DOC (26.1-50.2 mg l -1 ) within the 6-day experiment; planktonic microbial communities developed concomitantly with the increasing concentrations of nutrients and DOC, attaining mean densities of (6.0-6.9) 9 10 6 cells ml -1 of planktonic bacteria and (80.7-81.4) 9 10 3 cells ml -1 of phytoplankton; and for each site the overall measured condition of the mesocosm tended to approach that of the Marshes, over the course of the 6-day experiment. The present study (both observational and experimental) demonstrates that the floodplain sediments in the Marshes, which have been exposed to dry antecedent conditions, release nutrients and carbon to the overlaying flood water following inundation. These resources are thought to have been stored during the dry antecedent phase in accord with the flood pulse concept. Based on the mesocosm experiment, the released nutrients and carbon are in turn most likely to be used by microbial components, such as bacteria and algae, which develop within days of inundation of the floodplain sediments. Thus, environmental flow release provides potential for floodplains to attain a series of ecological responses including initial release of inorganic nutrients and dissolved organic matter and increase in planktonic bacteria and phytoplankton.

Hollows in trees are recognized as a critical and threatened resource for a wide range of fauna in Australian forests and woodlands, yet little data are available on the impact of fire on hollow-bearing trees. We report an opportunistic, post-fire assessment of the proportion of burnt, hollow-bearing trees that collapsed in stands near roads following low intensity prescription burns in three areas of mixed eucalypt forest in the Pilliga forests. Mean collapse rates on 29 plots (40 by 50m), separated by burn Area, ranged from 14?26% for a total of 329 burnt hollow-bearing trees. Collapse rates on individual plots ranged from 0?50%. Collapsed, hollow-bearing trees were predominantly older, with 40% of senescent trees and 44% of live stags collapsing. The best predictor in models of tree collapse was the presence of a basal fire entry point. We cannot determine the extent to which collapse rates on our plots are representative of burnt areas away from containment roads due to sampling limitations, but they appear to be higher than those reported from wildfire and more intense prescription burns in southern Australia. Our results point to an urgent need for comprehensively designed studies to address the impacts of prescribed burns on hollow-bearing trees.

sity/ BiodivLawReview.pdf 2 International Union for Conservation of Nature of protected areas for fauna research and conservation. Specifically, we considered the deliberations of the IUCN World Parks Congress, and in particular the following paragraph from stream 1 in the Promise of Sydney: "Protected areas, when properly and effectively managed, are a proven effective tool for the conservation of wild fauna, flora, and fungi; the persistence of well-functioning,