30 years of macropod population dynamics at Idalia National Park

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Zoology and wildlife biology

Description: 

The former grazing property Idalia National Park (western Queensland) was gazetted in 1992, when cattle were removed. From 1993 to 2019, University of Queensland students helped to conduct standardised annual surveys and pasture assessment during the 3rd year course 'outback ecology'. They used distance sampling to estimate abundance of five kangaroo and wallaby species. This included the bridled nailtail wallaby for most of this period. In 1996 there was a translocation of the threatened bridled nailtail wallaby to this site, which failed in 2015. We also have rainfall and predator baiting records. This project would analyse the relative importance of drivers of population change and time lags in macropods of different body size (rainfall, pasture components, and predator control), interpret factors in the failure of the bridled nailtail wallaby reintroduction, and rangeland recovery after grazing removal.

Additonal Information

This project has several collaborators (current and past staff in the course, and a former master of quantatative biology student who has done some initial data processing). The student on this project needs some ecological modelling and R skills.

Contact: Assoc Prof Diana Fisher