Congratulations to the BSSA Committee for organising another...

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Biology Society of South Australia, Inc. C/- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences , DX650-312, THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, SA 5005, AUSTRALIA Website: http://users.esc.net.au/~biologysociety E-mail: [email protected] Congratulations to the BSSA Committee for organising another successful Quiz Night! Do you need volunteers? Email your project details to: biologysociety @esc.net.au What would you like to see in future BSSA newsletters? Email dragos.moise @adelaide.edu.au with suggestions. Issue 37: Summer 2008/09 This issue: This issue: This issue: This issue: BSSA Quiz Night The President speaks Upcoming events Meet the new BSSA Committee 2009 BSSA Grant open for apps. Creature Feature Manu Biosphere Reserve Point Danger Gan- net Colony Volunteer Oppor- tunities For inside info on the 2008 BSSA Quiz Night, see pages 5-6 Many thanks to all our sponsors!

Transcript of Congratulations to the BSSA Committee for organising another...

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Biology Society of South Australia, Inc. C/- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences ,

DX650-312, THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, SA 5005, AUSTRALIA Website: http://users.esc.net.au/~biologysociety E-mail: [email protected]

Congratulations to the BSSA Committee

for organising another successful

Quiz Night!

Do you need

volunteers?

Email your project

details to:

biologysociety

@esc.net.au

What would you like to see in future BSSA

newsletters?

Email dragos.moise @adelaide.edu.au with

suggestions.

Issue 37: Summer 2008/09

This issue: This issue: This issue: This issue:

• BSSA Quiz Night

• The President

speaks

• Upcoming events

• Meet the new

BSSA Committee

• 2009 BSSA Grant

open for apps.

• Creature Feature

• Manu Biosphere

Reserve

• Point Danger Gan-

net Colony

• Volunteer Oppor-

tunities

For inside info on the 2008 BSSA Quiz Night, see pages 5-6

Many thanks to

all our sponsors!

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 2 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

The President Speaks!

Welcome to 2009! This year is heralding some significant ‘firsts’ for the Biology Society of SA. First and fore-most, I would like to officially welcome our new BSSA Committee. Elected in September of 08, the commit-tee has kept relatively quiet until now, but we will be in full swing from the beginning of March. A profile of

each of your representatives is found on pages 3 and 4.

Two committee members haven’t been at all quiet thus far though. Our Website Officer, Liberty, has done

a terrific job in completely revamping the BSSA website. It was a rather lengthy job, but the result is, I’m sure you’ll agree, a vast improvement on our tired old website. Please take a look at it at http://esc.net.au/~biologysociety/ and feel free to get back to us with any comments. I’d also like to thank our new Newsletter Editor, Dragos, for putting together this first newsletter edition of 2009, especially during the Christmas break! Being a newsletter editor can sometimes feel rather thankless as the response

rate is very low – please feel very free to pass on your comments and/or congratulations to Dragos.

BSSA also has a new meeting schedule! In 2008, we held some meetings with Nature Conservation Society of South Australia (NCSSA), and some by ourselves. This has now been streamlined and we will be having

meetings on the FIRST Thursday of the following months – March, May, August and September. All except the September meeting will be held jointly with NCSSA; our September meeting will also be held on the

SECOND Thursday, rather than the first.

This newsletter also heralds the opening of our BSSA Field Research Grant for applications. This year, we will be awarding one or more grants to the sum of $2,500. We thank NRMjobs for their generous contribution

to the grant. The closing date is 1 April 2009 and the best site for information is our website.

Happy reading and most of all, happy volunteering!

Laura Ruykys, BSSA President

UPCOMING EVENTSUPCOMING EVENTSUPCOMING EVENTSUPCOMING EVENTS

GET YOUR DIARIES OUT FOR 2009GET YOUR DIARIES OUT FOR 2009GET YOUR DIARIES OUT FOR 2009GET YOUR DIARIES OUT FOR 2009

BSSA & NCSSA joint meetings 2009 - March 5, May 7, August 6 BSSA AGM 2009 - September 10

(this year all except the AGMs will be BSSA/NCSSA joint meetings) BSSA Quiz Night 2009 - October 9

SA HERP GROUP MEETING, ROYAL SOCIETY ROOMS, 7.30PM (ON 2ND TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH)

BIRDS SA GENERAL MEETINGS, 7:45PM ON THE LAST FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH (EXCEPT DECEMBER) AT THE CHARLES HAWKER CONFERENCE CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE - WAITE CAMPUS

SO DON’T FORGET:

March 5, 5:30 pm, University of Adelaide - Biology Society and Nature Conservation Society Joint Meeting and Welcome BBQ,

bring your appetites and friends.

(Speaker to be confirmed)

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 3 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

Meet the new BSSA Committee!

President - Laura Ruykys Hi, I’ve been a member of BSSA since 2005, when I was undertaking my Hon-

ours at the University of Adelaide. I was recruited by a very enthusiastic Mem-

bership Officer and have been a part of the Society since then. I joined the

BSSA committee in 2006 as Newsletter Editor, then moved on to Publicity Offi-

cer, and now President. I am undertaking a PhD studying the ecology of the

black-footed rock-wallaby in the APY Lands of SA.

Vice President - Joel Allan Hi all. I’m doing a PhD at Adelaide Uni with the society’s patron, David Paton.

I am looking at habitat use by woodland birds in the revegetation at Monarto

that was established in the 1970s. The aim of this work is to develop guidelines

to maximise the effectiveness of future revegetation programs at providing habi-

tat for declining bird species. Through my work I have also developed a broad

interest in plants, especially Eucalypts. I also keep native freshwater fish.

Secretary - Claudia Flaxman I am a PhD student in Geology and Geophysics at Adelaide University. My re-

search is in marine geology on calcareous epiphytes that grow on seagrass, in

particular their growth rates and their contribution to the sediments on the sea

floor and adjacent beach. I am concentrating my studies on epiphytic growth

rates in the Gulf St Vincent area and looking at marine sediments from around

coastal South Australia. My academic background is in Geology, Environmental

Studies and Environmental Biology. I have been involved in many environ-

mental organisations and have a passion for the protection of natural heritage

and habitat. I was a very appreciative recipient of a BSSA Grant in 2007. I hope

to help the BSSA give other research students the same opportunity .

Website Officer - Liberty Olds Hi! I’m undertaking a PhD at Adelaide Uni, but my research is based up in the

Kimberley, W.A. I’m studying the ecology and life history of small mammals,

such as bandicoots, dasyurids and native rodents. I’m interested in all sorts of

things, from mammals to reptiles and everything in between. I’m having a crack

at designing and running a website for the first time in a long while, so I’d love

any comments!

Treasurer & Membership Officer - Grace Chan I am an honours graduate in Environmental Science majoring in Soil and Water

Conservation. Now I am pursuing a higher research degree in the fields of Water

Science, Management and Conservation. In my leisure time, I also enjoy being a

volunteer to learn and explore the natural beauty of Australia. The BSSA is a

good platform for me to get volunteering information nearby!

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 4 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

Meet the new BSSA Committee! (cont’d)

Newsletter Officer - Angela Maguire My name is Angela McGuire and I am from Flinders University. I am nuts

about birds (and yes I am also one of those weird ‘twitcher’ people). For my

honours I worked on the nest adornment of the stunning Diamond Firetail under

the supervision of Sonia Kleindorfer. I am now a PhD candidate studying the

bioacoustics of the beautiful melodic songs of the Western Whipbird under the

supervision of Jeremy Robertson and Sonia. I am also infinitely curious about

how this amazing world works and intensely passionate about conserving the

unique wildlife we have.

Publicity Officer - Amanda De Waal I am an undergraduate student at Flinders University currently undertaking a

Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology. I am a new member of the BSSA com-

mittee and looking forward to the opportunity to get involved in research and

gain knowledge and experience. Part-time I work in fashion and I love it! In my

spare time, which is very rare, I like to go snorkelling or sit back and read a

good book.

Undergraduate Representative - Josh Coldwell Mornin' all. My names Josh and 2009 will be my second year at Adelaide Uni-

versity, with 2008 being my first year, straight out of High School (I know, "so

young", right). Anyhoo, I'm currently undertaking a Bachelor of Science/Arts

Double Degree (For those who have no idea what they want to do with their life)

and I will probably do a Diploma of Education after it. Biology is one of my

main passions and one of my majors will be Environmental Biology. When I'm

not "working" I can usually be seen wandering down the banks of the River Tor-

rens marveling at nature.

Undergraduate Representative - Matthew Vasey G’day my name is Matthew Vasey and I am currently studying a BSc at the

Adelaide Uni. I was bred in the Riverland before moving to Adelaide in 2008 to

undertake tertiary study and lived in a small town called Loveday. My interests

are basically all outdoors and I enjoy fishing, camping and a wide range of

sport. I have volunteered with local action planning groups and have done vari-

ous voluntary stints with DEH. When I found out about BSSA and what they are

about I knew straight away it was for me. So I applied for BSSA’s undergradu-

ate representative, so I could get involved and be a part of such a wonderful or-

ganisation.

Newsletter Officer - Dragos Moise Hi, I'm Dragos. I've got Romanian background. And yes, vampires are a seri-

ously declining species down there! They cleared out most of those hardwood

forests (good coffin timber) to make room for extensive garlic crops. Where

this world is heading to?...

I'm one of DCP's. (Almost) done a PhD in avian ecology, more precisely on

whistlers (stop press: I submitted my Thesis early in December 2008, woo-

hoo!) Currently I am the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer with the South East

NRM Board. And I really miss all that fieldwork!...

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 5 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

2008 BSSA Fantastic Quizzical Night! By Grace Chan (Treasurer and Membership Officer)

On the quiet, peaceful Friday night of October 10, eighty-eight guests with their nibbles and

drinks gathered at Burnside Community Centre for the BSSA Annual Quiz Night. The annual Quiz Night is the single most important funding raising activity conducted by the Society. The money raised is used for providing an annual BSSA Field Research Grant, which is awarded to research-

ers working on the conservation of South Australian flora or fauna.

This year, we had 9 rounds of interesting questions and challenging tablesheets themes, such as Famous

Ducks, World Leaders, Exotic Fruits and Tricky Acro-nyms. Preserving our tradition, we carried out prize giving activities - Who Am I, Heads & Tails, Door

Prizes, Raffle Prizes and Silent Auction. Congratula-tions to all our winners, in particular, the winning table of Mr David Keane who has won for the third time!

Additionally, we would like to thank our sponsor Meerkat Wine Network, for holding a lovely wine tasting session for SA reds and whites.

Congratulations too to Jasmine Packer! Ms Packer is

the lucky chosen one among those who placed an or-der that night, and she walked away with 6 bottles of wines at the end of our Quiz Night!

Victorious yet again, David Keane and team take

out their third BSSA quiz night title in a row!

Second prize winners celebrate their success

Third place-getters proudly display the fruits of

their efforts

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 6 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

Thanks to our 2008 Sponsors! Thanks to our 2008 Sponsors!

The Biology Society of South Australia is very pleased to acknowledge and thank our sponsors for the Annual Quiz Night 2008:

Adelaide Showground Farmer’s Market, Andrew Isles Natural History Books, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Australian Plants Society, Butterfly Conservation SA, Cleland Wildlife Park, Eco

Voice, Email Media/NRM jobs, Haigh’s Chocolates, MeerKat Wine Network, Nature Conservation Society of South Australia, New Internationalist, Orlando Wines, Pelican Lagoon Research & Wildlife Centre, Robern Menz, SA Water, The Wilderness Society, Trees for Life.

In all, the 2008 BSSA Annual Quiz Night helped raise over $1500 towards the 2009 BSSA Field Research Grant. We would like to extend a big thank you to all sponsors and participants, for

their active and generous support in making our Quiz Night a fun and successful night!

2008 BSSA Quiz Night (cont’d)

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 7 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

BSSA Field Research Grant 2009BSSA Field Research Grant 2009BSSA Field Research Grant 2009BSSA Field Research Grant 2009

Opened 1st January 2009Opened 1st January 2009Opened 1st January 2009Opened 1st January 2009

Thanks to our generous sponsors and 2008 Quiz Night supporters, we are able to offer one or more grants to the sum of $2500 in 2009. We

especially want to thank NRMjobs for their generous contribution of $1000 towards these grants.

The Biology Society of South Australia (BSSA) sponsors an award program to sup-port field research conducted in South Australia relating to the conservation of SA flora or fauna. Honours and postgraduate students are encouraged to apply. The maximum award for any proposal recommended by our review panel will be $2,500. BSSA may award multiple grants in one year for less than or equal to $2,500. APPLICATION GUIDELINES: Applicants must be members of BSSA. Membership dues ($10 pa) will be accepted with grant applications, or paid separately to BSSA.

Applications should be submitted electronically by the due date to the email [email protected]. It is preferred that all documents (preferably in PDF for-mat) are sent in one attachment.

Researchers must obtain all necessary permits for conducting their research.

We ask that the recipient write a 2 page non-technical article on their research for

the BSSA Field Guide, our quarterly newsletter by March the following year. Recipi-ents are also encouraged to attend the subsequent May BSSA meeting and dis-seminate their research findings in a 10-minute presentation.

Deadline for submission is April 1st with decisions announced by the end of April. Grants will be awarded at our May general meeting.

See the BSSA website for forms and other specifications:

http://users.esc.net.au/~biologysociety

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 8 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

Creature Feature: The Red-lored Whistler

“From the little I saw of it, I am induced to believe that it is a very solitary

bird; […] its actions were so particularly quiet, and its plumage so unattrac-

tive, that it might be easily overlooked. I never heard it utter any note, nor

did I observe anything in its economy worthy of remark”. That’s how John

Gould described the bird he discovered back in 1839: the Red-lored Whistler.

Gould could not foresee that this elusive bird would became a quest for bird-

watchers, for it declined so dramatically that nowadays it is to be found only

in certain areas of mallee in south-eastern Australia.

The Red-lored Whistler Pachycephala rufogularis is a medium sized passer-

ine (i.e. songbird), resembling a large robin. Its overall plumage is brownish-

grey, with rufous-orange lores (hence the name; btw lore: the area between

the beak and the eye), throat and belly. The sexes are alike (monomorphic in

plumage), with the females being paler overall. They feed mainly on insects

(beetles, caterpillars, moths, grasshoppers, mantids), taken from among the canopy foliage, or in the

shrubs, or on ground, or in the air. The Red-lored Whistler is sedentary and rather shy and elusive. It vo-

calises in a sweet, wistful, haunting call.

Nationally, the Red-lored Whistler is listed as Vulnerable under

the EPBC Act 1999, while in South Australia is listed as Rare

under the revised Schedule 9 of the NPW Act 1972.

In South Australia, the species is patchily distributed in mallee

or mallee-heath areas in the Murray-Mallee and Upper South-

East Regions (such as Gluepot Res, Billiatt CP, Ngarkat CP). It

was revealed that it has strict habitat requirements, their distri-

bution in the mallee or mallee-heath vegetations being limited

by the presence of spinifex Triodia. The age of vegetation is

also very important for their ecology; Red-lored Whistlers have

been recorded breeding only in habitats older than 15 years af-

ter fire.

The rigid habitat requirements of the Red-lored

Whistler, together with its sedentary nature, render

this species vulnerable to disturbances such as wild-

fires. In the current context of the global warming,

wildfires have become more severe, frequent and ex-

tensive, with devastating effects for wildlife. While

fire is recognised as one of the most important natural

variables in determining the structure and composi-

tion of Australian environments, and it’s a common

belief that fire is a necessary process by which many

native plants and animals depend, frequent and exten-

sive wildfires are undesirable, especially from the

point of view of fauna population recovery. Leaving

little or no nearby habitat to support the displaced

populations, extensive fires are a threat to native ani-

mals and might ultimately contribute to extinctions of

some of the unique Australian wildlife.

Male Red-lored Whistler

Female Red-lored Whistler at nest in spinifex

Red-lored Whistler at Gluepot Reserve, 2004. Its habitat,

of more than 50 years old, burned in 2006 fires, as did

more than half of the Birdseye Block. It will take a while

till the habitat here will become suitable again for this

species. (Photos: D. Moise)

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 9 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

MANU BIOSPHERE RESERVE, PERU

Manu Ecological Adventures – Jungle Specialists

Jill Woodhouse

In 2007 I went on the best trip ever, an ecologists dream you might call it - mosquito filled, mud-covered and sweaty with more flora and fauna than you could poke a camera at! And it wasn’t even planned. While traveling in Peru we saw a little shop advertising themselves as

“Jungle Specialists”. This piqued our interest, and after hearing a little bit about this place we could not resist. Turns out it was a highlight of our 12 month travels!

In 1977, the Peruvian government hired scientists to scour Peru

for the ultimate piece of land from which to make a reserve, and Manu National Park is it. The reserve totals 1.5 million hectares. Two additional zones add to the National Park to make a Bio-

sphere Reserve, the 257,000 hectare Reserved Zone, and the 91,395 hectare Cultural Zone, with these the Biosphere totals 1,881,200 hectares. Tourists

are only allowed into the Cultural and Reserved

Zones, with a handful of sci-entists (lucky things!) and Indigenous tribes existing in

the core of the reserve.

The park encompasses the entire watershed of the

Manu River, which is itself amazing. While we were there it would move 20 metres overnight, washing away anything in its path – including a hut at a camp we were supposed to stay in one night.

You have to cross the Andes to get to this spectacular little piece of earth, and the jour-ney can be arduous – we lost count of the

number of landslides along the way. But once you are there it’s heaven. Touted as the most diverse reserves on the planet, with the high-

est bird, mammal, and plant diversity of any park on Earth, it is great for birders - 1,000 of bird species, 200 mammal species, and bota-

nists will go wild at the 15,000 flowering plant species (we also loved the amazing range of fungi!).

Poison Dart Frog Crazy Bug

Pancho the Tapir

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 10 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

MANU BIOSPHERE RESERVE,

PERU (cont’d)

It is the only place I have ever been where I could not see the negative impacts of humans on the landscape.

What we did see was amazing; Cock of the Rock, Hoat-zins and Hummingbirds galore, Tapirs, Giant River Ot-ters and the abundant swimming Capybara (a giant

Guinea Pig). Occasionally we came across Jaguar foot-prints, but they remained elusive,

although this is one of the best

places in the world to see them. One interesting spot

from an Aussie’s point of view was

seeing the Cane Toad in its natural habitat – much bigger than any I’ve seen in Australia. And an interesting plant for a chocoholic was seeing chocolate growing on trees,

where the best bit is the fruit surrounding the bean!

The group we went with was small, with two amazing Pe-ruvian biologists as guides. Tourism in the reserved zone is

strictly controlled, National Parks Guides must accompany all visitors inside the zone. As well as the abundant wild-life, we packed a few fun activities in – rappelling through

the jungle canopy, canoeing on an Amazon tributary and downhill mountain biking through the Cloud Forest. We even came across a coca plantation or two (our guides insisted it is all still sold to Coca-cola – there’s something to think about!).

For the first few days all I could think about while I was there was ‘how can I be a scientist who works here?’ But by the tenth day the mosquitoes had beaten me, and I was ready to get back to the mosquito-free altitude of Cuzco. But now, back in the office, day dreaming of adventures

been, I might just have another look into it…

Chocolate!

Landslide (Photos: J. Woodhouse)

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 11 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

The Gannet Colony from Point Danger

(and some unusual conservation guardians)

The Australasian Gannet Morus serrator is a large seabird (size 90

cm, wingspan 1.7-2 m), of the family Sulidae. The gannets forage

over the continental shelf and are specialised to capture small fish

or squid by diving on them from a height - it's spectacular when a

large group are feeding, plunging arrow-like into a school of fish.

Adults have a white body with dark wing tips, and the head is yel-

low with a pale blue-grey bill. Young birds are black in their first

year, and gradually acquire more white in subsequent seasons until

they reach maturity after five years.

Gannet pairs may remain together over several seasons. They per-

form elaborate greeting rituals at the nest, stretching their bills and

necks skywards and gently tapping bills together. The adults mainly

stay close to colonies, whilst the younger birds disperse. When they fledge, and are able to fly, immature

Gannets embark on a great journey, flying away from their birth colony for up to 4 years.

The Australasian Gannet breeding habitat is on islands off Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand. They nor-

mally nest in large colonies on coastal islands.

Point Danger is Australia's only mainland colony of Aus-

tralasian Gannets and is located approximately 6 kilome-

tres outside the township of Portland in western Victoria. It

is unusual in the fact that the breeding of Australasian Gan-

nets is normally restricted to rocky offshore islands. The

gannets bred for centuries on Lawrence Rocks, located 2

kilometres south- southeast of the mainland. In October

1996, due to overcrowding, some of the colony relocated

to Point Danger.

When the pioneering gannets left the crowded Lawrence

Rocks for nearby Point Danger, they became vulnerable to

the mainland threats of hu-

mans and introduced preda-

tors, mainly feral cats and foxes. In the first year of mainland living, the

birds failed to nest successfully and produced no offspring because of distur-

bance. Today the colony is protected through programs implemented jointly

by the Victoria state government's environmental authority, the local com-

munity, and the Alcoa's Portland Aluminium smelter. To protect the colony

from humans and predatory animals an electrified fence was erected, but the

most unusual thing is that Italian Maremma dogs were employed to guard

the colony from exotic predators.

Highly territorial dogs, maremmas have been bred in Italy to guard livestock

for 2000 years. They instinctively ward off intruders such as foxes and dogs.

The use of Maremma dogs at Point Danger as conservation guardians fol-

lows the success of the Maremma dog program on Warrnambool's Middle

Island. The dogs were put on Middle Island in 2006 year to protect a Little

Penguin colony after foxes devastated the population, reducing it from

The mainland gannet colony from Point Danger

(it writes: “Maremma Dogs

Guarding Gannets”. You can

see the DO NOT ENTER part)

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 12 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

The Gannet Colony from Point Danger (cont’d)

thousands of birds to a low point of 29. There are now more than 100 penguins on Middle Island. The

Maremma dogs were employed to protect the mainland gannet colony from Point Danger in August 2007.

There are now up to 3000 gannets living and nesting at Point Danger since the introduction of the

Maremma dogs, up from around 50 in December 2006 and 400 in December 2007. Since the dogs arrived,

no gannets or eggs have been lost to foxes or ravens on the only mainland colony in Australia. Also the

dogs predate or chase away rabbits, and the natural recovery of the native vegetation is obvious.

The dogs were five-months-old when they first arrived. Now fully grown, many of the early challenges

they faced have been sorted out. In the first few months the pups tasted a few gannet eggs, swam around the

boundary fence, roved around the golf course and nearby residential areas, and were even taken to the

RSPCA shelter by tourists who thought they were strays. A virtual fence, with a wire around the perimeter

of the nesting area and the dogs’ enclosure stopped this wandering by warning the dogs if they get too close

to the fence, with a buzz through their collars.

Along with the maremma that protects the Little Pen-

guins at Middle Island, these are the only two ac-

counts in the world where dogs protect wildlife.

To get to the Point Danger gannet colony, follow the

Madeira Packet Rd south out of Portland, along the

coastline and past the golf course. Before the alumin-

ium smelter turn left the unsealed road with the

‘Gannet Colony’ sign to the car park, and walk to the

viewing area overlooking Lawrence Rocks and the

Point Danger colony.

Photos Dragos Moise, October 2008

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 13 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

Volunteer Opportunities

There are a number of ways to get involved in natural resource management (NRM) activities at a local, regional, state or national level. Australian Government and other organisations that facilitate NRM activities can help people find an appropriate group to join, or support the formation of a new group

concerned about the quality of the land and water in their area.

There are also a range of community groups working in urban and rural areas on local environmental issues such as conservation and rehabilitation of river systems, coastal areas and urban remnant native vegetation areas. Contact your regional NRM facilitator for additional information about community groups

in your region.

Conservation Volunteers

Conservation Volunteers provides support for a range of practical conservation projects through the volunteers that it attracts. See the conservation connect part of their web site for details of projects for

which volunteers are sought. http://www.conservationvolunteers.com.au/conservation-connect.asp

Friends of Parks Groups

Volunteers get hands-on work in National Parks and at heritage sites in various parts of the state. Activities include revegetation, weeds management, administration, guiding, trail maintenance and wildlife monitoring. All ages welcome. Need an interest in the environment. May have to supply own transport. G roups meet a t va r ious t imes du r ing the week and on weekends .

http://www.communitywebs.org/FriendsofParks/

Landcare Australia

Landcare is a uniquely Australian partnership between the community, government and business to 'do something practical' about protecting and repairing our environment. More than 4,000 volunteer community landcare groups - including bushcare and urban landcare, rivercare, coastcare and sustainable agriculture groups - are tackling land degradation in every corner of Australia. Landcare Australia provides advice on forming new community groups as well as identifying existing groups.

http://www.landcareonline.com

Waterwatch

Waterwatch is a national community water quality monitoring network that encourages all Australians to become involved and active in the protection and management of their waterways and catchments. There are now nearly 3000 Waterwatch groups monitoring water quality at over 7000 sites throughout 200 catchments. The projects include education, training and water monitoring activities. Waterwatch groups conduct biological and habitat assessments plus physical and chemical water tests.

www.waterwatch.org.au

Greening Australia

Greening Australia is focused on the health, diversity and productivity of our unique landscapes through the restoration and management of Australia's vegetation. It has offices in all states and territories. Find

out about opportunities in your state or territory by visiting their web site. www.greeningaustralia.org.au

WWF-Australia

WWF-Australia maintains a website calendar providing information on volunteering opportunities to support on-ground conservation projects for threatened species throughout Australia.

http://wwf.org.au/act/volunteer/

Threatened Bird Network

The Threatened Bird Network is a community based initiative of Birds Australia and the Natural Heritage Trust. For details on how to get involved visit the web site http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/our-

projects/volunteering-with-tbn.html

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 14 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

All field trips are carried out under the auspices, supervision and insurance provisions of the organisations offering the work, not the Biology Society. It is your

responsibility to check with the organisation and determine the arrangements you need to make for insurance, liability etc.

Working Bees/Fieldwork OpportunitiesWorking Bees/Fieldwork OpportunitiesWorking Bees/Fieldwork Opportunities

Project Location Activities Contact Dates

One to Five days *see BSSA website for more details

Arid Recovery Arid Recovery Reserve, Roxby

Downs

small vertebrate trapping

Helen Crisp [email protected]

(08) 8671 8282

15-20 February 2009

SA Urban Forests - Million

Trees Various Adelaide

planting and plant conservation activities

DEH’s Urban Biodiversity Unit [email protected]

Various 2009

NTSA Natural Heritage

Various SA Bush care,

weeding and planting

Russ Sinclair russell.sinclair

@adelaide.edu.au Various 2009

Threatened Plant Action

Group Various SA Weeding and planting [email protected] Various 2009

South Para Biodiversity Nursery

South Para Reservoir,

Williamstown Nursery work

Yvonne: (08) 85246401 or Kym: (08) 0439555372

Various 2009

One week or more *BSSA see website for more details

Southern Brown Bandicoots

Adelaide Hills trapping and handling

bandicoots & antechinuses

Jasmin Packer [email protected]

(08) 8303 7140 or 0448 122 044

3-13 February 2009

Managing bat populations in fragmented habitat

Various Vic

bat trapping, species ID,

DNA sampling, radio tracking

Nik Fuller [email protected]

(08) 8303 7140 or 0423 932246

Various in 2009

Fire Ecology in Reptiles

Mallee CPs, Eyre Peninsula SA

reptile trapping, species ID,

morphometry & demographic info, DNA sampling, radio-tracking

Annabel Smith [email protected]

(08) 83033698 or 0415539509

5-24 February, 4-18 March

2009

Your Project Here!

Koonamore NE pastoral area, north of Yunta

Gathering veg data & general reserve maintenance

Russ Sinclair russell.sinclair

@adelaide.edu.au

November/ December

2009

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ISSUE 37 PAGE 15 THE BIOLOGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

The Aims of the Biology Society of South Aus-

tralia are: • To develop and maintain contact between peo-

ple with an interest in field biology and the con-servation and management of natural resources in South Australia.

• Provide fieldwork opportunities, either directly through the society’s own activities, or, more commonly, by advertising requests for assis-tance by professional ecologists or conservation organisations.

• Organise field camps to provide additional op-portunities for members to assist with field-based biological studies.

• Seek government support for field-based activi-ties relevant to the conservation and manage-ment of South Australian biota.

• Provide independent comment on proposals that impact the status of biodiversity.

Membership is open to anyone with an interest in field biology and gaining research skills through volunteering. General Meetings BSSA meets quarterly at the University of Adelaide. Our meetings are on the first Thursday of every March, May, August, and on the 2nd Thursday of September at 5.30 pm. At each meeting there is a guest speaker as well as an opportunity to meet friendly, like-minded people including practising bi-ologists who work in your field of interest. Please join us for beers and nibbles on these relaxing and educational Thursday evenings. Annual Quiz Night BSSA holds an annual quiz night on the 2nd Friday in October at Burnside Community Centre. See our website for further details. Enquiries Membership enquiries should be directed to the Membership Officer, Grace Chan at email: [email protected] Activities suggestions and advertising for volunteers to help with your research should be directed to [email protected] General enquiries about the society can be made to BSSA at [email protected]

Tel: (08) 8165 2716, Fax: (08) 8303 6222 BSSA Membership Form Name: ……………………………………………... Address: …………………………………………... City, State, Code: …………………………………. Telephone: ………………………………………... E-mail: ……………………………………………... How would you like to receive your quarterly news- letter? Electronically Sent to the address above Sent to the alternate address below Alternate Address: …………………………………………………….. City, State, Code: …………………………………. Telephone: ………………………………………... E-mail: ……………………………………………... Annual Membership $10 Is this a new membership or a renewal? Please state your main biological interests (certain taxa, etc.) ………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………. Please send your membership form along with $10 membership fee to: BSSA Membership Officer C/- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences DX650-312 THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE SA 5005 AUSTRALIA

Phone: 08 8303 7369 Fax: 08 8303 6222 Email: [email protected]

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Sender:

Biology Society of South Australia, Inc. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences DX650-312 THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE SA 5005