In many farming landscapes, aquatic features, such as wetlands, creeks, and dams, provide water for stock and irrigation, while also acting as habitat for a range of plants and animals. Indeed, some species threatened by land‐use change may otherwise be considerably rarer—or even suffer extinction—in the absence of these habitats. Therefore, a critical issue for the maintenance of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes is the extent to which the management of aquatic systems can promote the integration of agricultural production and biodiversity conservation. We completed a cross‐sectional study in southern New South Wales (southeastern Australia) to quantify the efficacy of two concurrently implemented management practices—partial revegetation and control of livestock grazing—aimed at enhancing the vegetation structure, biodiversity value, and water quality of farm dams. We found that excluding livestock for even short periods resulted in increased vegetation cover. Relative to unenhanced dams (such as those that remained unfenced), those that had been enhanced for several years were characterized by reduced levels of turbidity, nutrients, and fecal contamination. Enhanced dams also supported increased richness and abundance of macroinvertebrates. In contrast, unenhanced control dams tended to have high abundance of a few macroinvertebrate taxa. Notably, differences remained between the macroinvertebrate assemblages of enhanced dams and nearby “natural” waterbodies that we monitored as reference sites. While the biodiversity value of semilotic, natural waterbodies in the region cannot be replicated by artificial lentic systems, we consider the extensive system of farm dams in the region to represent a novel ecosystem that may nonetheless support some native macroinvertebrates. Our results show that management interventions such as fencing and grazing control can improve water quality in farm dams, improve vegetation structure around farm dams, and support greater abundance and diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates.

Feral Apis mellifera colonies are widespread globally and cause ecological impacts as pollinators and competitors for food and nesting opportunities. The magnitude of impact depends on their population density, but knowledge of this density is poor. We document feral A. mellifera colonies at 69 per km2 in fragmented Eucalyptus woodlands in Australia, exceeding estimates from elsewhere in the world, and matched only by one other Australian study. We surveyed 52.5 ha of woodland patches with 357 nest boxes installed to provide nesting opportunities for threatened vertebrates. Our sites covered a region of more than 140 km across with repeated surveys over 3 to 6 years. We show that nest box use by feral A. mellifera colonies is influenced by box design (p = 0.042), with weak evidence for an interactive effect of type of vegetation at a site (woodland remnants vs. replanting) and woody cover within 500 m (p = 0.091). At 69 colonies per km2, this density is equivalent to the recommended stocking of hives for pollination of some crops and is therefore likely to influence pollination and lead to competition with other flower visitors. Apis mellifera is also likely to be competing for hollows with cavity dependent native fauna, especially in landscapes where there has been extensive tree removal.

Aims The effect of spatial scale on the location and abundance of species has long been a major topic of interest in ecology. Accounting for key drivers at multiple scales is critical for rigorous description of patterns of species distribution and biodiversity change. We quantified the effects of potential drivers of bird occupancy across a geographically dispersed, but heavily disturbed and fragmented ecosystem. Location Threatened Box‐Gum Grassy Woodlands in south‐eastern Australia, which stretch across 9° of latitude (~900 km). Taxon Birds (Class Aves). Methods We grouped data from four monitoring studies of birds that spanned 10–22 years in Box‐Gum Grassy Woodlands. We then employed joint species distribution modelling to investigate multi‐species responses to environmental drivers measured at patch, landscape and regional scales, and selected combinations of all three. Results We show that in Box‐Gum Grassy Woodlands: vegetation structure influences bird occupancy beyond the presence of the despotic Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala); woodland cover is more important than vegetation productivity and topographic position; bird occupancy is sensitive to a combination of average climate, seasonality, and summer and winter extremes; and there is limited redundancy between drivers of bird occupancy at different scales. Species differ most in their response to presence of the Noisy Miner, high summer temperatures and nearby woodland cover. Main Conclusions Quantifying the influence of environmental drivers that act at different spatial scales is valuable for understanding patterns of bird species occurrence. Fine‐scale studies can benefit from considering the climate and biogeographical context in which the research occurs. Conversely, large‐scale studies should recognise that downscaling species occupancy projections from continental to patch scales requires careful consideration of the role of patch‐scale vegetation.

Crucial to an Evolutionary Algorithm's performance is its selection scheme. We mathematically investigate the relation between polynomial rank and probabilistic tournament methods which are (respectively) generalisations of the popular linear ranking and tournament selection schemes. We show that every probabilistic tournament is equivalent to a unique polynomial rank scheme. In fact, we derived explicit operators for translating between these two types of selection. Of particular importance is that most linear and most practical quadratic rank schemes are probabilistic tournaments.

This paper describes the development of a system for decimetre-scale monitoring of land-surface and land-cover in urban and peri-urban environments. We describe our methodology that comprises the application of highly automated processing and analysis methods to digital aerial photography. The approach described in this paper addresses a monitoring need by providing the ability to generate change information at a spatial resolution suitable for urban, peri-urban and coastal areas, where an increasing percentage of the worlds' population dwells. These areas are dynamic, with many environmental issues associated with planning, service provision, resource management and allocation, as well as monitoring regulatory compliance. We present a system based on standardised data and methods, which is able to track and communicate changes in features of interest in a way that has not been previously possible. We describe the methodology and then demonstrate its feasibility by applying it to geographic areas of planning and policy relevant size (the order of tens of thousands of square kilometres). We demonstrate the approach by applying it to the problem of urban forest assessment.