Research Projects

The team of scientists from Biodiversity Conservation can be found throughout the Top End investigating its largely unknown wildlife ecology. Projects include research on plants and animals with a focus on threatened species and the development of advice for biodiversity management.

Biodiversity North

Research Projects

• Biogeography of the monsoon tropics

Review the literature on the evolutionary history and historical biogeography of the Australian monsoon tropics. Funded by the ARC Environmental Futures Network

• Coastal Dolphin Research Project

• Cobourg Peninsula (pdf 63Kb)

• Collaborative Biodiversity Surveys in the NT (pdf 155Kb)

A pilot collaborative biodiversity survey was conducted by NRETA Scientists, Thamarrurr rangers and the Wadeye community, in the Macadam Range south of Wadeye in June 2007. One of the main aims of the survey was to and improve stakeholder engagement in regional biodiversity surveys. NRETA Scientists recently met with the Thamarrurr rangers in Darwin to present the final results of the survey and discuss plans for further surveys. Funding provided by the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT)

• Conservation management of threatened land snails

Implement and complete surveys of the NT's 31 threatened snails in the Victoria River District, Tiwi Islands and Cobourg Peninsula to assess conservation status, prepare recovery plansand establish a long-term monitoring programme. Funded by the Natural Resource Management (NRM) Board.

• Exotic Ants

• Flock Pigeons (pdf 77Kb)

• Fragmentation and Biodiversity (pdf 64Kb)

• Gouldian Finch Recovery Project

• Groote archipelago

• Recovery Plan for Tiwi Island Threatened Plants.

• Recovery Plan for Boronia quadrilata and Boronia viridiflora.

• Invertebrate biodiversity associated with tropical mistletoe

Determine species richness, composition and relative abundance of the invertebrate fauna associated with the tropical mistletoe Decaisnina signata in the Darwin region. Supervision of Masters thesis project.

• Island Arks - Northern Quoll Translocation

• Microbats (pdf 62Kb)

• Pastoral land Biodiversity (pdf 70Kb)

• Pigeon Hole Project: (pdf 328Kb) implications of pastoral development for biodiversity conservation.

  This is part of a large multidisciplinary project examining how the profitability of pastoral enterprises in northern Australia can be improved through intensification of management and paddock development, while maintaining long-term sustainability. The project is taking place on Pigeon Hole Station in the Victoria River District, with participants including Heytesbury Beef, Meat and Livestock Australia, two NT departments (Business, Industry and Resource Development, and Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts), CSIRO and the Tropical Savannas CRC. Research is examining a broad range of issues including grazing distribution, pasture utilisation levels, land condition monitoring and impacts on biodiversity.

  Alaric Fisher, from the Biodiversity Conservation Division, is leading the biodiversity component of the project. This is examining the response of a broad range of biota (plants, birds, small mammals, reptiles, ants) to the range of grazing treatments in the trail, and seeks to develop guidelines and monitoring systems to promote “biodiversity-friendly” pastoral management. The project started in 2002 and will be completed in 2008. Preliminary results can be found in the 2007 field day handbook.

• Sites of Significance (pdf 548Kb)

Sites of international and national conservation significance in the NT were identified in the Draft Parks Masterplan (NRETA 2005) using a range of criteria. Information dossiers that summarise the ecological values, management issues and current conservation initiatives are currently being prepared for each site and will be completed in 2008. Significant sites will be prioritised and then a consultation process will commence to determine stakeholder interest in collaborative management of priority sites in the future. Funding provided by the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT).

• Stuffed Mammals (pdf 93Kb)

• Threatened Species (pdf 64Kb)

• Top End Invertebrates

Project involving: (i) surveys ofthe giant Atlas mothto assess conservation status and management options in the Top End;(ii) surveys of Desert Sand-skipper to assess conservation status and management options in the Macdonnell Ranges; (iii) development of relational database of threatened invertebratesin the NT; (iv) development of an Atlas of NT diurnal Lepidoptera (butterflies and day-flying moths) to assess patterns of diversity and spatial distribution, includes critical identificationand curation of the insect collection at Museum and Art Galley of the N.T.; (v) taxonomic appraisal and evaluation of the conservation statusof Australian butterflies, with particular focus on the Top End; includes two colloborative studies on threatened species in the Brigalow Belt of Qld and mallee-heathland of South Australia and Victoria.

• Recovery plan for the Gove Crow butterfly

Prepare a management plan for the Nationally endangered Gove Crow; includes surveys of known and potential sites, as well as investigation of the population genetics and phylogeography of the Euploea alcathoe complex. Funded by the Federal Department of Environment and Heritage.

Biodiversity South

Research Projects

• Desert Fire (pdf 72Kb)
• Slater's Skink (pdf 74Kb)

Herbarium

Research Projects

• Figs and Wasps (pdf 233Kb)
• Polygala (pdf 71Kb)
• Ethnobiology in the NT (pdf 60Kb)
• East Timor's first National Park (proposed) (pdf 63Kb)

 

back to top