Society for Conservation Biology (SCB)

You are here: Home > Sections > australasia >

Oceania Awardees

Pacific Conservation Biology

SCB-OCEANIA STUDENT AWARD WINNERS
YEAR	NAME	PRIZE	AWARD	CONFERENCE	WHERE HELD	CURRENT INSTITUTION	TITLE of PRESENTATION

2011
2010	Patricia Sutcliffe	Best student talk on a conservation topic	1 yr SCB memb + 1 yr online subs to pubs	Ecological Society of Australia	Canberra, AU	University of Queensland	"Biological Surrogates In Benthic Tropical Marine Systems – A Community Analysis Based Approach"
2010	Catherine Price	Best student talk on a conservation topic	1 yr SCB memb + 1 yr online subs to pubs	Australasian Wildlife Management Society	Torquay, Victoria	University of New South Wales	'Olfactory camouflage weakens the foraging motivation of an alien predator - a novel approach to reduce the impacts of prey switching by stoats Mustela erminea'
2010	Josie Galbraith	Best talk with a conservation theme	1 yr SCB memb + 1 yr online subs to pubs	NZ Ecological Society	Dunedin, NZ	University of Auckland	Nesting ecology of the Eastern Rosella
2010	Jade Berman	Merit prize for student talk	1 yr SCB memb + 1 yr online subs to pubs	NZ Marine Science Society Meeting	Wellington, NZ	Victoria University of Wellington	Are sponge biodiversity patterns consistent with the bioregions proposed to represent different areas of marine biodiversity in New Zealand?
2009	Gillian Bryant	Best student talk on a conservation topic	1 yr SCB memb + 1 yr online subs to pubs	Australasian Wildlife Management Society	Napier, NZ	Murdoch University	Is bigger better? The influence of body size and thermal biology on the diet of a threatened python species (Morelia spilota imbricata).
2008	Peter Macreadie	Best student talk on a conservation topic	2 yr SCB memb + 1 yr PCB sub	Ecological Society of Australia	Sydney	University of Melbourne	Life on the edge of habitat fragments: the stomach rules the mind
2008	Ben Barr	Best student talk on a conservation topic	SCB membership + PCB subscription	NZ Ecological Society	Christchurch	Massey University	"Investigating chevron skink (Oligosoma homalonotum) ecology and the impacts of rat control"
2008	Barbara Lokes	Best oral presentation	SCB membership	New Guinea Biological Conference	Jayapura, ID	University of PNG Remote Sensing Centre	Detecting and Delineating Forest Cover Change in the Lowland Rainforest of West Coast Manus using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques
2008	Ira Aldila Putri	Best oral presentation - runner-up	PCB subscription	New Guinea Biological Conference	Jayapura, ID	Supeni Sufaati	Putative Orchid Mycorrhiza of Spathoglottis plicata Blume at University of Cendrawashi Campus Waena, Jayapura.
2008	Rijal Idrus	Best presentation on a conservation topic	SCB membership; PCB subscription	Australia/NZ Marine Sciences Conference	Christchurch	University of Canterbury	Analysing the anthropogenic threats to sustainability of coral reefs.
2008	Tarnya Cox	Best presentation on a conservation topic	SCB membership; PCB subscription	Australasian Vertebrate Pest Conference	Darwin, Australia	University of Queensland	"Carnivore odours as repellents: an effective pest management tool?"
2007	Rachel Musgrave	Best Honours/Masters presentation	SCB membership; PCB subscription	Biodiversity Extinction Conference	Sydney, Australia	University of New South Wales	Management Units in the Tasmanian Bettong (Bettongia gaimardi)
2007	Steve Hamilton	Best poster by a student	SCB membership; PCB subscription	Biodiversity Extinction Conference	Sydney, Australia	University of New South Wales	Intraspecific Mammalian Phylogeography: Conservation Connections between Australia and New Guinea
2007	Edward Narayan	Best Pacific Island presentation	SCB membership; PCB subscription	Biodiversity Extinction Conference	Sydney, Australia	University of the South Pacific	Captive management, Breeding and Apsect of Reproductive Physiology of endangered Fijian ground frog: (Platymantis vitianus)
2007	Nunia Thomas	Best overall presentation (runner-up)	PCB Membership	Biodiversity Extinction Conference	Sydney, Australia	University of the South Pacific	Determining the spatial associations of the Fiji Ground Frog and the Cane Toad on Viwa Island, Fiji using SADIE: Implications for conservation and management
2007	Wendy Foster	Best overall presentation (runner-up)	SCB membership; Books and gift voucher from UNSW Bookstore	Biodiversity Extinction Conference	Sydney, Australia	University of Adelaide and Zoos South Australia	Captive breeding with multiple paternity: A case study using the red-tailed phascogale, Phascogale calura
2007	Alana Burley	Best overall presentation (runner-up)	SCB membership; Books and gift voucher from UNSW Bookstore	Biodiversity Extinction Conference	Sydney, Australia	University of Melbourne	Demography of Pometia pinnata and Canarium indicum in tropical rain forest: impacts of anthropogenic disturbance from subsistence agriculture
2007	Monica Ruibal	Best overall presentation	SCB membership; PCB sub; Books and gift voucher from UNSW Bookstore	Biodiversity Extinction Conference	Sydney, Australia	Australian National University	Non-invasive faecal DNA sampling : An evaluation of field and genetic methods for estimating population abundance of the spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus)
2006	Jennifer Germano	Best talk on a conservation topic	2 yr membershiop to SCB w/ (which one?)	Australian Wildlife Management Society	Auckland, New Zealand	University of Otago	A review on amphibian and reptile re-introductions, translocations, and supplementations
2006	Tanya Rankin	Best poster by a student	2yr membership to SCB w/ Pacific Con Bio	Australian Society of Limnology	Albury/Wodonga AUS	University of Sydney	Diet and dietary selectivity of the platypus in relation to season and macroinvertebrate assemblages
2006	Joanne Hoare	Best spoken paper by a student	2yr membership to SCB w/Con Bio	ESA /NZES: Ecology Across the Tasman	Wellington, NZ	Victoria University of Wellington	Behavioural plasticity in habitat use enables large, nocturnal geckos, Hoplodactylus duvaucelii, to persist following invasion by kiore, Rattus exulans
2005	Sarina Loo	Best spoken paper by a student	2yr membership to SCB w/Con Bio	ESA	Brisbane, AUS	Monash University	Predicting the Spread of Invasive Species using GARP Models and Time-Series Data
2004	Chris Dahl	Best spoken paper by a student	2yr membership to SCB w/Con Bio	6th New Guinea Biological Conference	Manokwari, Indonesian Papua	University of PNG	The montane frog fauna of Mt Michael, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea
2004	Liana Joseph	Joint - Best spoken paper by a student	2yr membership to SCB w/Con Bio	Aust ESA	Adelaide, AUS	University of Queensland	Optimal monitoring strategies for listing threatened species
2004	Monika Rhodes	Joint - Best spoken paper by a student	2yr membership to SCB w/Con Bio	Aust ESA	Adelaide, AUS	Griffith University	The application of network theory to the conservation of habitat trees
2004	Peter Turner	Best poster by a student	have asked	Aust ESA	Adelaide, AUS	University of Western Australia	Changes in plant and invertebrate communities as a response to weed biological control
2004	Marie Yee	Best spoken paper by a student	2yr membership to SCB w/Con Bio	International Congress of Entomology	Brisbane, AUS	University of Tasmania	Why large logs support saproxylic beetles of conservation importance
2003	Martine Maron	Best spoken paper by a student	2yr membership to SCB w/Con Bio	Birds Australia/AOU	Canberra, AUS	Monash University	Spatial and temporal variation in landscape and habitat relationships of declining woodland birds
2003	Miriam Supuma	Best spoken paper by a student	2yr membership to SCB w/Con Bio	5th New Guinea Biological Conference	Goroka, PNG	James Cook University	The dynamics of a Papua New Guinean submontane forest
2002	Samantha Fox	Best poster by a student	2yr membership to SCB w/Con Bio	ESA	Cairns, AUS	James Cook University	Spectacled flying-foxes: genetics, geography and management
2002	Jennifer Martin	Best spoken paper by a student	2yr membership to SCB w/Con Bio	ESA	Cairns, AUS	University of Melbourne	Den-tree use by Bobucks (Trichosurus caninus) in north-eastern Victoria


SCB STUDENT AWARD WINNERS - AUSTRALASIAN STUDENTS
2004	Tara Martin	1st place spoken paper		SCB AGM	NYC, USA	The University of Queensland	Do experts know anything about birds and grazing? A Bayesian approach using expert opinion
2003	Nick Souter	1st place spoken paper		SCB AGM	Minnesota, USA

Prize awarded for best spoken paper at International Congress of Entomology, Brisbane, QLD, AUS - 2004

Why large logs support saproxylic beetles of conservation importance M. Yee, S.J. Grove, A.M.M. Richardson, C.L. Mohammed.

Marie Yee, PhD student - CRC-Sustainable Production Forestry, University of Tasmania Email address: Marie.Yee@ffp.csiro.au Postal address: CRC-Sustainable Production Forestry, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 12, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia

Abstract:
It is not clear why large diameter logs generally host saproxylic (dead wood dependent) beetle assemblages different to that of small diameter logs. In Tasmanian wet eucalypt forest, 42 Eucalyptus obliqua logs of two size classes (>100cm and 30-60cm diameter) were destructively sampled to assess the beetle fauna and their associations with the specific successional phases of decomposing wood (rot types). Ninety beetle species were collected and of these at least 19 also occurred in their larval form. The two log size-classes differed in beetle assemblages. These differences could be explained by the observation that certain species and rot types were associated. Species showing a preference for brown rot, which is rot type more common in the large logs, were rare or absent in small logs. This rot type seems to be a relatively stable microhabitat and accordingly, the four most strongly associated species (in the genera Cossonus, Dryophthorus, Prostomis and Pycnomerus) seem to have low dispersal ability. Although relatively common in this habitat, each of them belongs to a genus whose European counterparts have undergone drastic range reductions. Our research highlights the importance of maintaining sufficient large diameter logs in the landscape over the long term.

Australian Ornithological Union (Birds Australia) - December 2003

Spatial And Temporal Variation In Landscape And Habitat Relationships Of Declining Woodland Birds

Maron, Martine*1 and Lill, Alan1,2
*Corresponding author
1 Wildlife Ecology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia
2 Department of Psychology, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia
Martine.Maron@sci.monash.edu.au; Alan.Lill@sci.monash.edu.au

An understanding of the responses of declining bird species to habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation is essential for their conservation. However, species may respond differently to threatening processes in different habitats, and in dynamic systems may also display different relationships with landscape and habitat variables in the same habitat at different points in time. We investigated spatial and temporal variation in the relationships between habitat remnant size, isolation, and degree of degradation and the presence of eleven declining woodland bird species. Relationships we identified for these species in remnant Buloke woodland were compared with a) those reported from other southern Australian woodland habitats, and b) those determined for the same species in the same suite of remnants based on data collected seven years earlier. Surprisingly, many relationships commonly encountered in other studies of these bird species and thought to be typical of other woodland landscapes were not apparent in this habitat. For example, all eleven species, including the Hooded Robin, Brown Treecreeper, and Varied Sittella, were present in sites < 9ha. The distribution of declining species among the remnants was substantially different from that recorded seven years previously, suggesting that they were able to disperse among remnants. This change in distribution also led to temporal differences in observed relationships between species and landscape and habitat variables. The observed spatial and temporal variability in declining species' responses to landscape and habitat variables considerably complicates the decisions confronting conservation managers.

2003 Biology Conference in Papua New Guinea

The dynamics of a Papua New Guinean submontane forest

MIRIAM SUPUMA, Wildlife Conservation Society - PNG Program, P. O. Box 277, Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.

Little is known about the dynamics of a pristine rainforest in Papua New Guinea. This is an important part of ecology that needs further research. I recensused 4.2 hectares of 0.1 ha plots in a submontane forest 8 years after the initial enumeration. Total basal area was 33.95 m2ha-1 with a density of 622.6 stems ha-1. The mean growth rate of diameter of trees was 0.29 cm per year. Larger trees had a higher absolute growth rate, but smaller trees had a faster growth rate for their size. Average mortality of trees was not size dependent but was positively related to density. An average of 18 trees = 10 cm dbh died ha-1yr -1. There was no significant difference in the distribution of size classes of trees between censuses. The absence of net change in the number of stems, basal area or size distribution suggests that this is a climax forest in equilibrium. Studies such as this give us knowledge of forest dynamics in undisturbed sites, which can be compared to the regeneration of disturbed sites.

Ecology 2002 Meeting in Cairns

Den-tree use by Bobucks (Trichosurus cunninghami) in north-eastern Victoria.
J.K. Martin*, K.A. Handasyde and A. Reside.
*Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010. j.martin@zoology.unimelb.edu.au

Tree hollows are an essential resource for most species of arboreal marsupial. We are investigating the use of den-trees by 48 radio-collared Bobucks (Trichosurus cunninghami) in the Strathbogie Ranges, north-eastern Victoria. We have collected more than 4000 daytime radio-fixes on Bobucks located in both a 150ha forest block and in narrow linear remnant forest vegetation beside roads. All individuals use multiple dens, however Bobucks in the forest population use significantly fewer dens than those in the roadside population (mean (+ SE) 6.6 + 0.6 dens/individual and 10.4 + 0.9 dens/individual, respectively). In the forest population, each tree is used by only one adult male and female pair and their associated offspring, suggesting that Bobucks have some form of 'ownership' of particular trees, and den-sharing patterns suggest that these pairs defend access to their den-trees. In addition, most den-trees used by an individual are located on the periphery of the area used at night for foraging by that individual. It appears that suitable den-trees may be limiting at this site and we are artificially supplementing den availability using nest boxes to test the hypothesis that home range and social dynamics are influenced by den availability.

Spectacled flying foxes: genetics, geography and management.
S. Fox*, M. Waycott, D. Blair, Jonathan Luly and David Westcott
*School of Tropical Biology and School of Tropical Environment Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811. samantha.fox@jcu.edu.au

Spectacled flying-foxes act as pollinators and seed dispersers in Australia's wet tropical rainforests and adjacent areas. However, spectacled flying-foxes also cause damage and economic loss to fruit farmers every year and their management is a divisive issue. Management of the species is severely limited by a lack of demographic and population structure data on which to base decisions. This project has two main aims; (1) To investigate the genetic structure of the spectacled flying-fox to determine relatedness of individuals within and between colonies, and between colonies which are geographically isolated (i.e. Iron Range and Papua New Guinea). This will enhance our knowledge of their movements and mating systems and possibly allow us to determine whether orchard-raiding individuals are locals or visitors. (2) To describe the demographic structure of spectacled flying-fox populations to determine longevity of the species and possible vulnerable stages in the life history. This data will be used in population viability modelling. A rigorous investigation into unknown aspects of the biology and ecology of this species is important to permit informed decisions on management of the spectacled flying-fox.