Predator-prey interactions may be altered under human-induced rapid environmental change, such as urbanisation. Extensive clearing in urban areas may leave short-range endemic species, such as mygalomorph spiders, more vulnerable to local extinction through predation in remaining remnants. Predation rates on Australian mygalomorph spiders were assessed using clay models of two size classes (5 cm, 3 cm), during two time periods in 2016 (January–February, July–August). Size and phenology of models resembled the mygalomorph genera Aname and Teyl occurring in these local urban remnants. Local predator guilds were significantly influenced by leaf-litter cover (%) and proportion of surrounding parkland. Preference for spider vs. control models was consistent across all predator types (bird, rodent, lizard and wasp), but specialist spider wasps (Pompilidae) only attacked spider models. Generalist predators (birds, lizards and rodents) were more opportunistic. Lizards and rodents exhibit similar predation behaviour, indicating there may be some inter-specific competition. Invasive generalists (e. g. rodents) or urban adapters (e. g. corvids) are more likely to represent an increased threat to spiders than are co-evolved specialists (e.g. spider wasps).

This editorial introduces the Australian Journal of Botany special issue ‘Vegetation science for decision-making’. Vegetation science and classification are crucial to understanding Australian landscapes. From the mulga shrublands of the arid interior to the monsoon rain forests of northern Australia, we have culturally and scientifically built upon the delineation of vegetation into recognisable and repeatable patterns. As remote sensing and database capacities increase, this improved capability to measure vegetation and share data also prompts collaboration and synthesis of complex, specialised datasets. Although the task faces significant challenges, the growing body of literature demonstrates a strong discipline. In Australia, purpose-driven products describe vegetation at broad scales (e.g. the National Vegetation Information System, the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network). At fine scales however (i.e. that of the vegetation community), no uniform framework or agreed protocols exist. Climate and landform dictate vegetation patterns at broad scales, but microtopography, microclimate and biotic processes act as filters at finer scales. This is the scale where climate-change impacts are most likely to be detected and effected; this is the scale at which a deeper understanding of evolutionary ecology will be achieved, and it is the scale at which species need to be protected. A common language and system for understanding Australian communities and impetus for collecting data at this scale is needed. In the face of ongoing climate and development pressures and an increasingly complex set of tools to manage these threats (e.g. offset policies, cumulative impact assessments), a nationally collaborative approach is needed. It is our hope that this special issue will help to achieve this.

Aims: We attempt to review the conceptualisation, science and classification of biomes and propose to limit the definition of a biome to potential natural vegetation as determined by general environmental variables. Results: Classifying the distribution and abundance of vegetation types on earth has been a central tenet of vegetation science since Humboldt’s classic studies in the early 1800s. While the importance of such classifications only grows in the wake of extreme changes, this review demonstrates that there are many fundamentally different approaches to define biomes, hitherto with limited efforts for unifying concepts among disciplines. Consequently, there is little congruence between the resulting maps, and widely used biome maps fail to delimit areas with consistent climate profiles. Conclusions: Gaps of knowledge are directly related to research avenues, and suggestions for defining and classifying biomes, as well as modelling their distributions, are provided. These suggestions highlight the primary importance of the climate, argue against using anthropogenic drivers to define biomes and stabilize the concept of biome to escape from the current polysemy. The last two decades have seen an emergence of new approaches, e.g., using satellite imagery to determine growth patterns of vegetation, leading to defining biomes based on the objective, observable qualities of the vegetation based on current reality.

Conservation reserve selection is guided by vegetation classification and mapping. New survey data and improvements in the availability of archived data through online data-sharing platforms enable updated classifications and the critique of existing conservation criteria. In the Northern Jarrah Forest Region of south-western Australia, percentage-based targets using ‘forest ecosystem units’ (15% of each unit) and the systematic conservation planning principles of ‘comprehensiveness, adequacy and representativeness’ underpin the State’s reserve network. To assess the degree of community-level heterogeneity within the forest ecosystem units, new survey data for the forest (30000 plots) were classified using a non-hierarchical clustering algorithm. Results were assigned to the National Vegetation Information System, and community groups defined at the Association level (Level V). Significant community level heterogeneity was found, including 15 communities in the dominant ‘jarrah woodland’ unit, and 13 in the ‘shrub, herb and sedgelands’ unit. Overall, this research highlights limitations in the current reserve system, including the influence of scale on percentage-based targets and ‘representativeness’. A multi-scale approach to reserve selection, based on a quantitative, floristic, hierarchical classification system, would improve the level of scientific rigour underlying decision-making.

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