ScienceNetwork WA

A NEW strain of the deadly water mould Phytophthora may be the key to combating the spread of European blackberry – an invasive weed taking hold in the south-west.

WESTERN Australian research groups and conservationists are continuing to work together in the fight to conserve the Carnaby’s black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) which has long been recognised as the Swan Coastal Plain’s most iconic bird, once blackening Perth skies with countless flock sizes – now seriously endangered.

TAMMAR wallaby reproduction is influenced by individual variation in body condition as well as climate variation according to a new study.

AN article by Western Australian and American environmental scientists is putting forward a new way of looking at the native versus non-native species debate and proposes species origin is no longer the best judgement tool in the ever-changing environment.

ADDING nutrients beneath planted seedlings can improve rehabilitation success in revegetation efforts, according to a Murdoch University study.

EDITH Cowan University is playing a crucial role in a massive new project, unveiled last month, which will help CSIRO to understand and estimate the potential of marine environments to capture and store blue carbon in Australia.

FOREST health scientists at Murdoch University hope collaboration with Canadian remote sensing experts will help attract research funding for projects in south-west WA.

THE impact of projected climate change on water resources and water dependant ecosystems in south-western Australia has been assessed in extensive research by the CSIRO’s Water for a Healthy Country (WfHC) Flagship.

ENVIRONMENTAL scientists are using remote sensing technology to identify phytophthora outbreaks without conducting lengthy and expensive ground surveys.

A DRYING climate may be contributing to the decline of Western Australia’s Jarrah forests.

WHILE drought in WA’s south-west continues to worsen, a new analysis of global drought shows that, worldwide, the problem has been overestimated for decades.  

THE Leschenault estuary is under threat and unless decisions are made now, some of its wildlife and riparian vegetation may be lost.

SPEAKING as part of the UWA Oceans Institute Dialogue Series, Dr Robert J Nicholls warns a one-metre rise in sea levels could have as great an impact on coastlines as fast onset disasters such as a tsunami.

SECTIONS of older forest habitat in WA should be excluded from burning by the Department of Environment and Conservation to promote reptile diversity, according to a Murdoch University research paper.

MURDOCH University PhD student So Thea is researching a number of different techniques to find ways to improve seedling success rates that will assist in reforestation programs.

WA Museum’s ornithology curator says black cockatoos, which once flocked to the Swan Coastal Plain in tens of thousands, could be extinct within 50 years.

A NEW plant species has been discovered by West Australian scientists in the Perth suburb of Kenwick.

THE Climate Commission has recently launched a new report highlighting some of the major impacts WA will incur due to climate change.

MURDOCH University researchers are setting woody debris alight to investigate whether the ash-beds and heat will allow tuart trees (Eucalyptus gomphocephala) to regenerate.

THE beginnings of a mass flowering event in Western Australia’s Yalgorup National Park have given researchers at Murdoch University’s State Centre of Excellence for Climate Change Woodland and Forest Health a reason to believe in the saying that where there is life, there is hope.