Prof. Harry F Recher
A CELEBRATION OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE IN OUR REGION: THE ATLAS OF LIFE INAUGURAL SCIENCE FORUM Name and preferred titles: Emeritus Professor Harry F. Recher, FRZS, AM
Senior Fellow, Ornithology, The Australian Museum, Sydney, NSW
Biography:
Since arriving in Australia from the United States in 1967, Professor Recher has conducted extensive research on the ecology and behaviour of Australian forest and woodland birds, mammals, and arthropods. Initially these studies were conducted in New South Wales, with a large part of the work done in the southeastern part of the state. Beginning in 1986, Professor Recher developed extensive research interests in Western Australia. The research in southeastern New South Wales focussed on the effects of wildfire and long-term changes in small mammal and heathland bird communities in the Nadgee Nature Reserve, and on the impact of forestry operations on forest and woodland birds in the Eden Forestry District. These studies resulted in a better understanding of the complex relations between patterns of rainfall and fire, which have significant bearing on the likely consequences of climate change to forest wildlife. Both work at Nadgee and the studies of forest birds in the Eden District led to recommendations for the conservation management of forest biodiversity in the South East. Many recommendations were adopted by forestry authorities and contributed to the development of wildlife management guidelines throughout southern Australia. As well, the New South Wales studies figure importantly in recommendations put forward by Dr. Recher for the conservation of the Great Western Woodlands.
A fuller biography is appended.
Regional Research:
I identify two principal research projects in the Nadgee Nature Reserve and four within the Eden Forestry District. All, however, are inter-related. A list of published papers is appended.
Nadgee Nature Reserve Research
1. The ecology of small mammals: In 1969, I established a small mammal study plot immediately south of the crossing of the Nadgee River adjacent to the Palmer's old homestead. The aim of the research to be undertaken was to better understand the ecology and life history of small, ground-dwelling forest mammals, particularly Antechinus stuartii and Rattus fuscipes. I had already determined from a visit to Nadgee with John Calaby in 1968 that both species were present and abundant in the vicinity. From 1969 to 1972, animals were live-trapped, marked and released to obtain data on home ranges, population sizes, habitat use, and life history. Following the 1972 wildfire, the study evolved into one investigating the response of small mammals (A. stuartii, A. swainsonii, R. fuscipes, R. lutreolus, Mus musculus, Cercatatus nanus) to fire. From the mid-70's, this project has been conducted by Dan Lunney and monitors year to year changes in species abundances (Recher et al. 2009), with the most recent sample being in 2012.
2. The effects of wildfire on heathland birds: In 1979, the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service planned to reduce the fire hazard on the Nadgee Nature Reserve through controlled burns. Included was a plan to burn some or all of the coastal heaths, including Impressa Moor, on the incorrect premise that Ground Parrots Pezoporus wallicus required heathlands less than 10 years in age post-fire. I rejected the notion that Ground Parrots were declining at Nadgee and organized volunteers to conduct a survey of birds in 1979 on the moors at Nadgee (Recher 1981). The survey found a healthy avifauna and numerous parrots countering the idea that the heaths needed to be burnt for the management of Ground Parrots. In 1980, a wildfire burnt much of Nadgee and approximately half of Impressa Moor. Following this fire, I established bird census transects traversing all of the remaining unburnt area and an equal sized and adjoining area of burnt heath. Transects were first censused in November 1981 and the vegetation measured. All measurements were repeated in 1982, The last census was in 2000 and the project has been effectively terminated due to difficulties in accessing Impressa following the Wilderness designation, road closures, and vehicle restrictions.
Eden Forestry District:
After preliminary survey work in 1975 on behalf of Harris-Daishowa Pty. Ltd., I initiated extensive studies of the ecology of forest birds in the Eden District. All of this work was done in collaboration with forest biologists from the Forestry Commission of NSW, with the museum's involvement funded by a series of grants from Harris-Daishowa. All projects were inter-related, but are separated here for convenience.
1. The distribution and abundance of forest birds: Census transects for birds were located in State Forest from east of the Pacific Highway, along the Imlay Road, to the Southern Tablelands east of Bombala. Transects were selected to sample the range of available forest types and habitats and included some areas that had been logged for wood chips. Each transect was censused in two or more years from 1976 to 1981. Apart from providing basic information on the distribution and abundance of birds and year to year changes in abundances, an objective was to establish a baseline against which the impacts of logging could be monitored.
2. Fire effects on forest birds: Following the 1980 wildfire, in 1981 we surveyed birds and measured arthropod abundances on transects that had been affected by the fire. The study looked at the interaction between fire and logging (see Recher et al. 1985).
3. Ecology of forest and woodland birds: As part of the study of avian distribution and abundance, two sets of parallel transect lines encompassing an area of 10 ha were established on freehold land near the Bombala work camp, Bondi State Forest. A third 10 ha plot was added in 1980 to sample moister forests. These transects were censused seasonally and foraging data for species of birds encountered collected from 1980 to January 1981 (see Recher et al. 1983, 1985; Recher and Holmes 1985). Abundances of arthropods and other avian foods were measured. In addition to monitoring patterns of abundance, birds were colour banded and territorial and breeding data recorded.
4. Effects of logging and habitat fragmentation on forest birds: As the principal objective of all the research in the Eden District was to development conservation management guidelines for forest fauna in respect to forestry practices, each of the separate studies considered the effects of logging and habitat fragmentation on birds. Habitat fragmentation studies were conducted in the Bondi State Forest where extensive clearing of native forest was being undertaken for the establishment of Radiata Pine Pinus radiata plantations. Census transects were established in a series of corridors of native forest retained along creeks in the pine plantation and the abundances of birds measured annually from 1976 to 1984 (see Recher et al. 1987). Studies were also conducted on alternate logged and unlogged coupes from 1976 to 1980 in the East Boyd State Forest (see Kavanagh et al. 1985); Kavanagh and colleagues repeated this study at intervals after logging had been completed.
Subject of Presentation :
The nature of the research projects and their purpose is described above. I all instances my role was as a researcher and facilitator. I also assumed a primary responsibility for the reporting and publication of the research. The manner of the research (methods, analyses) and locations of the studies are fully described in the published papers. Some procedures, such as bird census procedures, were themselves published (e.g., Recher et al. 1983; Kavanagh and Recher 1983).
A brief description (abstract) and title of my proposed presentation follows. However, I cannot guarantee this will not change over the coming weeks.
Title and Abstract of Presentation:
Great Natural Experiments: Following Where Nature Leads
Harry F. Recher, Senior Fellow, The Australian Museum, Sydney
To be completed.
My Perspective on Science and its Value to Society:
For millennia science has provided humanity with the insight and knowledge needed for technological innovation. Science has enabled people to understand how life works and the chemistry and physics behind life. This has allowed humans to develop agriculture, exploit resources, grapple with the origins of the universe, and see into the future, as with models of climate change. What science has failed to do is provide an ethical basis for the use of the knowledge and technology created. Thus, even in the most developed nations, a majority of people remain ignorant of how the world functions and instead cling to superstition as they try to understand the meaning of life. While science has provided wondrous technologies that should enable all species to co-exist and share the world's resources, it has instead led to a world where humans dominate and expropriate the world's resources at the expense of all other life forms. The consequence is a world of mutual shared destruction, environmental collapse, and mass extinction of species. It does not need to be this way, but science has not provided the leadership to take other paths, with most of the scientific community blindly following the evolutionary imperative of self-enrichment. To paraphrase James Lovelock, 'humans are too stupid to survive science'.
Personal Objectives as Regards Science:
My personal objectives regarding science are fairly simple. Having a good time satisfying my curiosity about the natural world has been foremost in my mind throughout my life. However, I do have other objectives when it comes to science and the research I conduct. Most important I try to use my understanding of nature that comes from research to protect all those species that we should care enough about to be prepared to share the world with them. Thus, I try to communicate science to society and explain in simple words the options available to humanity in using the knowledge and technology provided by science, and the consequences of each option that can be followed. I encourage my scientific colleagues to be less selfish and take more time in communicating with ordinary people. I advocate that scientists should be advocates. As 'experts', scientists are entitled to have opinions and go beyond the data showing society both the costs and benefits of new knowledge. As advocates, scientists need an ethical framework that transcends human superstition and steps aside from the evolutionary imperative of endless reproduction and resource consumption.
Images:
Images are much harder than words, mainly because collating all my images would be very time-consuming. However, I will give it some thought and have already had discussions with the museums archive's staff about depositing my 'images' in the museum's archives. Seems better than the tip, which is where they would go otherwise.
Data:
I do have considerable unpublished data. From the South East, these are mainly the data from the fire studies on Impressa Moor at Nadgee, but also considerable data from the work in the Bondi State Forest and environs on avian ecology. If they remain unpublished (somewhat likely given my age), they will be archived with my field books at the Australian Museum. However, I would still need to do considerable work ensuring the raw data were understandable, even where these have been summarized.
Early in the 1990's, NSW National Parks funded a student to extract specie's locations from my fieldbooks for entry on their data base. I presume those data still exist and are accessible.
25 September 2012
APPENDIX A
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Emeritus Professor Harry F. Recher, FRZS, AM
Dr. Recher arrived in Australia in 1967 to join the staff of the University of Sydney as a Lecturer in Zoology. He was appointed to the Australian Museum (Sydney) in 1968 as Head of the newly formed Environmental Studies team (see Recher and Pyke, 2012 for a history of ecological studies on birds at the Australian Museum). His position at the Museum placed him in contact with environmental problems throughout Australia, but he was particularly involved with national park reservation and management, the conservation of wetlands and coastal ecosystems, the impact of forest management on wildlife, biological survey, and the effects of fire on fauna. Dr. Recher has special interests in the structure of vertebrate communities, avian foraging ecology, the effects of fire on vertebrate populations, habitat fragmentation and the restoration of degraded landscapes, and the management and conservation of forest ecosystems. Although he has worked extensively with mammals and forest arthropods, Dr. Recher is primarily an avian ecologist. In 1994, he was awarded the Serventy Medal by the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union for his contributions to Australian ornithology. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society (NSW) in 2000 for his contributions to Australian zoology. In 2004, he received an Order of Australia (AM), General Division for contributions to the ecological sciences, environmental management and biodiversity conservation, and as an author and lecturer.
Since 1970, his research has focussed on Australian forest and woodland bird communities. Major projects included investigating the relationship between bark structure, insect abundance and the use of tree species by bark-gleaning birds; habitat structure and bird species diversity; community structure of acacia woodland (Mulga) birds; the foraging ecology of herons (Ardeidae); the foraging and breeding ecology of eucalypt woodland and forest birds; the long-term effects of fire on heathland birds in the Nadgee Nature Reserve, NSW; and, bird predation on canopy eucalypt arthropods. Dr. Recher’s current research includes studies of the long-term changes in the avifauna of a large urban park (Kings Park, Perth, WA); long-term changes in the avifauna of the Brisbane Waters National Park, NSW; the ecology of honeyeaters (Meliphagidae); and, the ecology of avian communities in the Great Western Woodlands centred on the Norseman area of Western Australia. Dr. Recher has a particular interest in the foraging ecology of Australian warblers (Acanthizidae). He also maintains projects in New South Wales investigating and small, ground-dwelling mammals on the Nadgee Nature Reserve. His study of small mammals at the Nadgee Nature Reserve in southeastern New South Wales which commenced in 1968 is conducted co-operatively with Dan Lunney from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and is probably now the longest study of any animal community in Australia. Dr. Recher's work on heathland birds at Nadgee was also a long-running project having commenced in 1979, but it was terminated in 2000 by the wilderness dedication of the Nadgee Nature Reserve. His studies on Australian heathland birds started with work near Sydney in 1967 at Warrah in the Brisbane Waters National Park. This work continued through the early 1980s and was renewed in 2010 with the goal of documenting long-term changes in the avifauna emphasizing nomadic and migratory honeyeaters. Dr. Recher's studies in the Great Western Woodlands, mulga, and on Australian warblers are conducted in collaboration with Emeritus Professor William E. Davis, Jnr. (Boston University, USA).
During the 1970s, Dr. Recher participated in studies of estuarine and mangrove ecology with Dr. Pat Hutchings from the Australian Museum. After a lapse of some years, this work was renewed in 1991 as a historical study of the biota of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River Catchment.
Although no longer actively conducting research in the Hawkesbury River, Dr. Recher maintains a strong interest in the river's ecology and changing biota and applies his knowledge of marine ecology to the management of the Hawkesbury system through membership on the Estuarine Advisory Committee of Hornsby and Gosford Shires. All of Dr. Recher's projects are designed to provide guidelines for the management of natural ecosystems. Dr. Recher works in collaboration with biologists from the Australian Museum, CSIRO, Australian National University, Curtin University of Technology, Murdoch University, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NSW).
In a major shift in research direction, in 1980 Dr. Recher initiated studies on the relation between forest birds and their arthropod prey. This work involved extensive sampling of arthropod populations in the same forests and woodlands where studies of avian foraging ecology were being conducted. In 1986, while on sabbatical from the Australian Museum at Curtin University in Western Australia, Dr. Recher collaborated with Professor J. D. Majer to develop a program studying the distribution, abundance and species richness of eucalypt canopy arthropod faunas in eastern and western Australia. This work was closely integrated with concurrent studies on forest and woodland birds. A series of grants enabled Drs. Recher & Majer to extend their canopy studies to fragmented ecosystems and subsequently to studies of arthropod bark faunas in Jarrah/Marri (Eucalyptus marginata/E. calophylla) and Wandoo (E. wandoo) ecosystems. Part of this work involved the experimental exclosure of birds from canopy foliage and the monitoring of long-term change in arthropod populations. Fieldwork on these projects has ceased, but writing up the extensive results obtained continues.
After leaving the Australian Museum and joining the University of New England in 1988, Dr. Recher initiated studies on the conservation and management of rainforest pigeons in northeastern New South Wales and extended his studies of forest birds to remnant vegetation to the New England Tablelands. His work on rainforest pigeons was conducted jointed with Drs. E. Date and H. Ford. This same group later obtained grants to study the avifauna of the Pillaga Scrub, a threatened ecosystem, in north central New South Wales. A joint grant with Dr. Hugh Ford (Zoology, UNE) from The World Wildlife Fund enabled work by students on the distribution, abundance and habitat requirements of forest owls in northeastern New South Wales. The studies of pigeons, owls and the Pillaga have been completed, but research on nest site selection by birds and the foraging behaviour of Australian birds begun in 1975 in southeastern New South Wales, as part of a joint study between the Australian Museum, the NSW Forestry Commission and Harris-Daishowa Pty. Ltd. into the ecological impacts of the Eden Woodchip Industry, has continued through 2012 with studies in Acacia and Eucalyptus woodlands in New South Wales, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory in collaboration with Professor Davis.
Dr. Recher resigned from the University of New England in 1995 taking up the position of inaugural Professor of Environmental Studies at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia. At Edith Cowan, Dr. Recher conducted a postgraduate discussion group on ecology and the environment and taught units on conservation biology and forest management. With his wife, Judy, he introduced a program of public speaking to postgraduate students at ECU, a program subsequently taken up by Curtin University and Macquarie University. After joining ECU, Dr. Recher focussed his research interests in Western Australia and has a special interest in the conservation management of the Great Western Woodlands.
Professor Recher retired in 2003 and was made Emeritus. He is also an adjunct Professor at Murdoch University and at Curtin University of Technology. On returning to Sydney in 2003, Dr. Recher was made a Senior Fellow in Ornithology at the Australian Museum.
Dr. Recher has published more than 350 scientific papers, conference papers, books, book chapters, popular articles, editorials, and reports as well as writing numerous book reviews. He is strongly committed to communicating the results of scientific research to the general public and assisting lay people to understand the environmental choices available to society and has written extensively on this topic. Before retiring in 2003, he frequently spoke to community groups and regularly appeared on radio and television to discuss environmental issues. While at the university, he was a regular presenter on the University of New England's Talking to New England radio education program. During 1993, he wrote a series of environmental articles for the Weekend Times (Armidale) many of which were reprinted in the Northern Star (Lismore). Since retiring, Dr. Recher has concentrated on research and writing and has been less active in public speaking and the media.
With Dan Lunney and Irina Dunn, Dr. Recher co-edited 'A Natural Legacy: Ecology in Australia' named by the Royal Zoological Society (N.S.W.) in its annual book awards as the 'best Australian natural history textbook' published in 1979. A completely revised second edition was published in 1986, but contractual problems have prevented a 3rd edition from being published. Despite this, the book apparently remains in wide use throughout Australia. With Alan Keast, Hugh Ford and Denis Saunders, Dr. Recher edited 'Birds of Eucalypt Forests and Woodlands: Ecology, Conservation, Management' published in 1985 by Surrey-Beatty Pty. Ltd. in association with the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union. The Royal Zoological Society (N.S.W.) named this book as the 'best edited Australian natural history symposium' published in 1985. A children's book written by Dr. Recher on Australia's 'Forests, Woodlands and Heaths' was published in 1991 by Reed Books Pty Ltd in association with the Australian Museum and was commended by the Royal Zoological Society as the 'the Best Children's Educational Series’. During 2005, Professors Davis and Recher decided to extend the ‘History of Ornithology’ series edited by Professor Davis and Dr. Jerry Jackson to Australia. A first volume of the ‘History of Australian Ornithology’ was published in 2008 with the collaboration of Dr. Walter Boles at the Australian Museum and the second volume is due for publication late in 2012. Work has commenced on a third volume, with publication planned for 2014.
In 1977, Dr. Recher chaired the Land Conservation Study Group which reported to the New South Wales Government on the needs for conservation in the State. Prior to that he had coordinated the environmental survey of Lord Howe Island for the Australian Museum and the Lord Howe Island Board. Ultimately, that study led to Lord Howe being declared a World Heritage Area. Dr. Recher’s work on the Eden Woodchip Industry led to the introduction of wildlife management and conservation protocols in production forests throughout Australia. Among other organisations, Dr. Recher has been a member of the N.S.W. National Parks & Wildlife Service Advisory Council, the Landscape Committee of the National Trust (NSW), and the Councils of the Royal Zoological Society (NSW), the Royal Society of Western Australia, and the Australian Conservation Foundation. As well, he was a member of the Board of Western Australian (Natural History) Museum and President of the Royal Society of Western Australia. He was a member of the Research Committee of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union during 1989 and 90. More recently, Dr. Recher has acted as a scientific adviser to The Wilderness Society (Australia), as a member of the society's Scientific Committee, and the Bell Miner Study Group, a NSW Government initiative, and before that to Bush Heritage Australia.
Dr. Recher has been a regional editor for Colonial Waterbirds and an assistant editor for the short-lived Australian Zoological Reviews published by the Royal Zoological Society (NSW). He was an associate editor (1993 - 96), and book review editor (1993 - present) of Pacific Conservation Biology before taking over as editor in 1996. Apart from 18 months (2006-2007), he remained editor of Pacific Conservation Biology through 2009. Dr. Recher also participated actively in community affairs and has served as president of the Hawkesbury River Association, an activist scientifically based environmental organization active during the 1970s and early 1980s, as president of the Dangar Island League, a ratepayers association, and as Patron to WEAR, a waterfront owners association advising the NSW Government on rental costs of permissive occupancies. He is currently a member of Hornsby & Gosford Shire’s Estuarine Management Committee developing plans of management and conservation for the lower Hawkesbury River from Berowra Waters to Broken Bay.
In 1978, Dr. Recher was a visiting professor at the University of California (Irvine) in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology where he gave courses on the application of ecological theory to the management and conservation of natural areas and on the ecology of Australian vertebrates. In 1974, he spent a semester as a visiting research associate at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, the University of California, Berkeley. During 1986, Dr. Recher was a research fellow in the School of Biology at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (Curtin University of Technology) in Perth at the invitation of Professor Brian Collins. At WAIT , Dr. Recher participated in the advanced ecology and applied biology courses. At the University of New England, he taught first year resource management and lectured on politics, conservation policy, and environmental ethics, as well as offering an ecology course for engineers and rural science students. From 1993 through 1995, he contributed to the development of conservation training programmes for resource managers from Southeast Asia and Indochina.
Dr. Recher remains active in biodiversity conservation and, as a scientist, is committed to open debate on Australia's environmental and population problems and the need to redefine national priorities in the use of Australia's natural resources. He believes that the conservation of continental biodiversity should be a national priority. Dr. Recher stood for the Australian Senate as an independent green in the 1989 election with Irina Dunn and Peter Prineas, but was unsuccessful: he advocates greater involvement by biologists in the political process and argues strongly that conservation biologists must be activists. He is convinced that conservation biologists must set the agenda for society in the 21st Century in the same way that economists set the agenda for the 20th Century and that Australian biologists must be leaders and advocates in this process. Dr. Recher was elected to the National Biodiversity Council in 1994 as an inaugural member of the council and chaired the Council from 1996 to 1999.
Dr. Recher was born in New York City in 1938. He is married and has two daughters and two grandchildren. He became an Australian citizen in 1975. After retirement in 2003, he returned to his home on Dangar Island on the Hawkesbury River just north of Sydney.
References
Recher, H. F. and Pyke, G. (2012) A History of Environmental Ornithology at the Australian Museum. pp. 395-425 in 'Contributions to the History of Australian Ornithology. Vol. 2' ed by W. E. Davis, Jnr., H. F. Recher, and W. E. Boles, Memoirs of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, No. 18.
25 September 2012
APPENDIX B
PUBLICATIONS: SOUTH EASTERN NEW SOUTH WALES
Emeritus Professor Harry F. Recher, FRZS, AM
BOOKS:
Sole Author:
Recher, H. F. 1991. Forests and Woodlands of Australia. Reed Pty. Ltd., Sydney.
Edited Books:
Keast, A., H.F. Recher, H. Ford & D. Saunders. (eds.) 1985. Birds of Eucalypt Forests and Woodlands: Ecology, Conservation, Management. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton.
BOOK CHAPTERS:
Sole Author:
Recher, H.F. 1981. Death of an Australian myth: fire and its effects on wildlife. pp. 39-48. in. P. Stanbury, (ed.). Bushfires - Their Effect On Australian Life and Landscape. Macleay Museum, Sydney.
Recher, H.F. 1984. Use of bird census procedures in Australia: a review. pp 3-14. in Davies, S.J.J.F. (ed.). Methods of Censusing Birds in Australia. Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union Report No. 7.
Recher, H.F. 1985. Forests, woodlands and birds. pp 1-10 in. Keast et al. (eds.), Birds of Eucalypt Forests and Woodlands: Ecology, Conservation, Management. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton.
Recher, H.F. 1985. Synthesis: A model of forest and woodland bird communities. pp 129-35 in. Keast et al. (eds.), Birds of Eucalypt Forests and Woodlands: Ecology, Conservation, Management. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton.
Recher, H. F. 1991. Alternative resources in the management and conservation of forest birds. pp. 25-34. in D. Lunney (ed) Conservation of Australia's Forest Fauna. Royal Zoological Society, Sydney.
Recher, H. F. 1996. Conservation and management of eucalypt forest vertebrates. pp. 339-88. in R. M. DeGraff and R. I. Miller (eds.) Conservation of Faunal Diversity in Forested Landscapes. Chapman and Hall, London.
Recher, H. F. 2004b. Eucalypt forest birds: the role of nesting and foraging resources in conservation and management. Pp. 23-35 in Conservation of Forest Fauna. D. Lunney (ed) Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman. 2nd ed.
Joint Author:
Christensen, P., H. Recher and J. Hoare. 1981. Response of dry sclerophyll forest to fire. pp. 367-394. in A. M. Gill, R. H. Groves and I. R. Noble (eds). Fire and The Australian Biota. Australian Academy of Science., Canberra.
Recher, H.F. and P. Christensen. 1981. Fire and the evolution of the Australian biota. pp. 137-162. in. A. Keast (ed.) Ecological Biogeography of Australia. Dr. W. Junk, The Hague.
Milledge, D. and H.F. Recher. 1985. A comparison of forest bird communities of the New South Wales south and mid-north coasts. pp 47-52. in Keast et al. (eds.), Birds of Eucalypt Forests and Woodlands: Ecology, Conservation, Management. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton.
Recher, H.F. and R. T. Holmes. 1985. Foraging ecology and seasonal patterns of abundance in a forest avifauna. pp 79-96. in Keast et al. (eds.), Birds of Eucalypt Forests and Woodlands: Ecology, Conservation. Management. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton.
Kavanagh, R., J. Shields, H.F. Recher, and W. Rohan-Jones. 1985. Bird populations of a logged and unlogged forest mosaic in the Eden woodchip area. pp 273-81. in Keast et al. (eds.), Birds of Eucalypt Forests and Woodlands: Ecology, Conservation, Management. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton.
Recher, H.F., D. Allen, and G. Gowing. 1985. The impact of wildfire on birds in an intensively logged forest. pp 283-90. in Keast et al. (eds.), Birds of Eucalypt Forests and Woodlands: Ecology, Conservation, Management. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton
Recher, H.F., J. Shields, R. Kavanagh & G. Webb. 1987. Retaining remnant mature forest for nature conservation at Eden, New South Wales. pp. 177-94. in D. A. Saunders et. al. (eds.) Nature Conservation: The Role of Remnants of Native Vegetation. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton.
Woinarski, J. C. Z., Recher, H. F., and Majer, J. D. 1997. Vertebrates of eucalypt formations. pp. 303-41 in J. Williams and J. Woinarski (eds) . Eucalypt Ecology: Individuals to Ecosystems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Sutherland, E. F., Lunney, D., Matthews, A. and Recher, H. F. 2004. Post-fire observations of the eastern pygmy possum Cercartetus nanus in Nadgee Nature Reserve and Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park New South Wales. pp. 230-236 in The Biology of Australian Possums and Gliders. R. L. Goldingay and S. M. Jackson (eds). Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton.
Recher, H. F. and Pyke, G. 2012. A History of Environmental Ornithology at the Australian Museum. pp. 395-425 in 'Contributions to the History of Australian Ornithology. Vol. 2' ed by W. E. Davis, Jnr., H. F. Recher, and W. E. Boles, Memoirs of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, No. 18.
ARTICLES:
REFEREED JOURNALS:
Sole Author:
Recher, H. F. 1989. Counting terrestrial birds: use and application of census procedures in Australia. Australian Zoological Reviews 1, 25-45.
Recher, H. F. 1990. Ecology, forest management and the timber industry. Australian Biologist 3, 85-88.
Recher, H. F. 1990. Wildlife conservation in Australia: State of the nation. Australian Zoologist 26, 5-10.
Recher, H. F. 1990. Wildlife conservation in Australia: Prophesies of doom. Australian Zoologist 26, 66-70.
Recher, H. F. 1990. Response to 'Conserving what? - The basis for nature conservation reserves in New South Wales 1967-1989. Australian Zoologist 26, 83-84.
Recher, H. F. 2002. Challenges for nature conservation. Australian Zoologist 32 (1), 112-116.
Recher, H. F. 2002. Scientists in the wilderness Australian Zoologist 32(1): 139-149.
Joint Author:
Posamentier, H., S. Clark, D. Haynes, and H. Recher. 1981. Plant succession following wildfire in coastal heathland. Australian Journal of Ecology 6, 165-175.
Recher, H. F. and M. Schulz. 1983. Observations on the breeding of white-browed woodswallows. Corella 7, 1-6.
Recher, H. F., D. Milledge, P. Smith and W. Rohan-Jones. 1983. A transect method to count birds in eucalypt forest. Corella 7, 49-54.
Kavanagh, R. and H. F. Recher. 1983. Observer variability and the estimation of bird numbers. Corella 7, 93-100.
Recher, H. F., G. Gowing, R. Kavanagh, J. Shields, and W. Rohan-Jones. 1983. Birds, resources and time in a tablelands forest. Proceedings Ecological Society Australia 12, 101-123.
Gowing, G. and H. F. Recher. 1984. Length-weight relationships for invertebrates from forests in south-eastern New South Wales. Australian Journal of Ecology 9: 5-8
Shields, J. and H. F. Recher. 1985. Breeding bird censuses: an evaluation of four methods for use in sclerophyll forest. Corella 8, 29-41.
Recher, H. F., G. Gowing and T. Armstrong. 1985. Causes and frequency of deaths among birds mist-netted for banding studies at two localities. Australian Wildlife Research 12, 321-6.
Gowing, G. and H. F. Recher. 1985. Further comments on length-weight relationships of invertebrates. Australian Journal of Ecology 10, 195.
Pyke, G. H. and H. F. Recher. 1985. Estimated forest bird densities by variable distance point counts. Australian Wildlife Research 12, 307-19.
Recher, H. F., R. T. Holmes, M. Schulz, J. Shields, and R. Kavanagh. 1985. Foraging patterns of breeding birds in eucalypt forest and woodland of south-eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 10, 399-420.
Holmes, R. T. and H. F. Recher. 1986. Search tactics of insectivorous birds foraging in an Australian eucalypt forest. Auk 103, 515-30
Holmes, R. T. and H. F. Recher. 1986. Determinants of guild structure in an Australian eucalypt forest - woodland bird community. Condor 88, 427- 39.
Recher, H. F., W. E. Davis and R. T. Holmes. 1987. Ecology of Brown and Striated Thornbills in forests of southeastern New South Wales. Emu. 87, 1-13.
Recher, H. F. and Gebski, V. 1989. Analysis of the foraging ecology of eucalypt forest birds: sequential versus single-point observations. Studies in Avian Biology 13, 534-48.
Recher, H. F., Kavanagh, R. P., Shields, J. M. and Lind, P. 1991. Ecological association of habitats and bird species during the breeding season in southeastern New South Wales. Australian Journal of Ecology 16, 337-52.
Woinarski, J. C. Z. and Recher, H. F. 1997. Impact and Response: A Review of the Effects of Fire on the Australian Avifauna. Pacific Conservation Biology 3, 183-205
Lindenmayer, D. B. and Recher, H. F. 1998. Aspects of ecologically sustainable forestry in temperate eucalypt forests - beyond an expanded reserve system. Pacific Conservation Biology 4, 4-10.
Recher, H. F. and Holmes, R. T. 2000. The foraging ecology of eucalypt forest and woodland birds, I. Differences between males and females. Emu 100, 205-15.
Recher, H. F and Lunney, D. H. 2003. Wilderness obsession: A threatening process. Nature Australia 27(9): 84. {reprinted Oct. 2004; Bandicoot Tails [Newsletter of the Friends of Scott Creek Conservation Park (SA)] No. 92: 2-3.}
Lunney, D. H., Lunney, H. W. M. and Recher, H. F. 2008. Bushfire and the Malthusian guillotine: survival of small mammals in a refuge in Nadgee Nature Reserve, southeastern New South Wales. Pacific Conservation Biology 14: 263-278.
Recher, H. F., Lunney, D., O’Connell, M. and Matthews, A. 2009. Impact of fire and drought on populations of forest-dwelling small mammals in Nadgee Nature Reserve, south-eastern New South Wales. Wildlife Research 36: 143–158.
EXTENSION (SERVICE) ARTICLES:
NON-REFEREED JOURNALS:
Sole Author:
Recher, H. F. 1981. Bird communities of heathlands and their management and conservation requirements Pp. 27-40. in Heaths in New South Wales. C. Haigh, ed., N.S.W. Parks and Wildlife, July 1981.
Recher, H. F. 1982. Pinus radiata - a million hectare miscalculation. Australian Natural History 20, 319-325.
Recher, H. F. 1984. The 'conservation ethic' in practice. Australian Natural History 21, 152-154.
Recher, H. F. 1986. Integrating national park and forestry objectives for wildlife conservation: the forester's responsibility. The Forestry Log 18, 5-7.
Recher, H. F. 1990. Fire & its effect on heathland plants & birds. Native Plants for New South Wales 25, 13-16.
Recher, H. F. 2005. Birds, fire and Nadgee. Pp. 24 -25 in ‘Fire and Birds: Fire Management for biodiversity’ ed by P. Olsen and M. Weston, Supplement to Wingspan, Vol. 15, No. 3., September 2005.
Joint Author:
Recher, H. F., D. Lunney and H. Posamentier. 1975. 'A grand natural experiment'. Australian Natural History 18: 152-163.
Recher, H. F. and W. Rohan-Jones. 1981. Forests and wildlife management: conflict or challenge. Living Earth. June 1981, pp. 11-14.
Recher, H. F., M. Fox, and H. Tranter. 1981. Nature's flower gardens. Australian Natural History 20: 111-116.
Recher, H. F., D. Lunney, P. Smith and W. Rohan-Jones. 1981. Woodchips or wildlife?. Australian Natural History 20(8):239-244.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS:
GOVERNMENT AND TECHNICAL REPORTS:
Sole Author:
Recher, H. F. 1976. An interim report: the effects of woodchipping on wildlife at Eden. Dept. Env. Studies Tech. Report 76/3 pp. 1-33.
Recher, H. F. and H. Posamentier. 1972. A preliminary report on a population survey of small mammals in dry sclerophyll forests. Dept. Env. Studies Tech. Report 72/1, pp. 1-13.
Recher, H. F., S. S. Clark and D. Milledge. 1975. An assessment of the potential impact of the woodchip industry on ecosystems and wildlife in southeastern Australia. pp. 108-183 in. A Study of the Environmental, Economic and Sociological Consequences of the Wood Chip Operations in Eden, New South Wales. W. D. Scott and Co., Sydney, Australia.
Recher, H. F., W. Rohan-Jones and P. Smith. 1980. Effects of integrated logging on wildlife with recommendations for management. Forestry Commission of N.S.W. Research Note No. 42, Govt. Printer, Sydney. 83 pp.
Shields, J., R. Kavanagh, H. F. Recher and G. Webb. 1985. The effectiveness of buffer strips for wildlife management within pine plantations at Bondi S.., N.S.W. Forestry Commission (NSW), Internal Report.
Jenkins, B. and Recher, H. F. 1990. Conservation in the eucalypt forests of the Eden Region in south east New South Wales. Dept. of Ecosystem Management, University of New England, Armidale. July 1990.
Published Conference Papers:
Sole Author:
Recher, H. F. 1985. A diminishing resource: Mature forest and its role in forest management. pp 28-33. in. J. Kikkawa (ed.), Wildlife Management In the Forests and Forestry - Controlled Lands in the Tropics and the Southern Hemisphere. IUFRO, University of Queensland, Brisbane.
Recher, H. F. 1991. Reforming the NSW forestry act - the ecological imperative. pp. 53-60 in Towards
Recher, H. F. 1992. Paradigm and paradox: sustainable forest management. pp 7-18. in M. Rowland (ed) Sustainable Forest Management. Board of Environmental Studies Occasional Paper No. 18, University of Newcastle, Newcastle.
Recher, H. F. 1998. Parks for biodiversity: an old and tarnished vision. pp. 128-139 in P. Prineas (ed). National Parks: New Visions for a New Century, Proceedings of the Paddy Pallin Conference , Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales, Sydney.
Joint Author:
Recher, H. F., D. Lunney and H. Posamentier. 1978. Effects of wildfire on small mammals at Nadgee Nature Reserve, N.S.W. Proceedings Third Fire Ecology Symposium, Forests Commission Victoria.
Recher, H. F. and W. Rohan-Jones. 1978. Wildlife conservation: a case for managing forests as ecosystems. IUFRO Proceedings 8th World Forestry Congress. Jakarta, Indonesia.
DR James Shields
Dr. James M. Shields Career Summary:
I have had the opportunity to undertake wildlife research and to apply the
knowledge gained to broad-scale land management. Through my employment with
Forests NSW, I have practiced active wildlife management with a major forest
agency, monitor the results, learn from mistakes, and adopt new, adaptive
procedures.
My involvement in tertiary education, policy development, research,
environmental communications, and the application of basic scientific
principles to all have allowed me to influence the ethics, economics and
direction of natural resource management in New South Wales (NSW)
particularly, and in a general manner across Australia, the Pacific
Northwest, and other areas within my sphere of operations. The principal
achievements set out below are the results.
Since moving on from the Public Service in 2008, I have continued with my
academic and research activities privately through Local Environmental
Solutions, an enterprise that uses social and environmental accounting as
well as economics. I have innovated new research and management options
for natural resources, notably through Rent-a-Ruminant (biological
vegetation control) and Conservation Canines (using dogs to locate and
survey wildlife).
Presentation title: "Time and Birds Remain - We Fly through"
I will present for the first time since 1992 a summary of the work I started with my PhD dissertation, "The Effect of
Logging on Birds at Eden, NSW." I now have data collected over the course 25 years on the same plots, including data on bird communities before the
experimental plots were logged (1985-87).
Your personal objectives as regards science:
To find out something I didn't know before, and apply that, if possible, to making a better world.
Your perspective on science and its value to/for communities:
Science is the process where we assess the truth in the real, physical
world. Some science may have very little value to human communities (at
present) whilst other science is conducted for no other reason than to solve
social and economical problems for Homo sapiens.
Published papers
Kemmerer, E.P., Shields, J.M. and Tidemann, CR. (2008) High densities of
bell miners Manorina melanophyrys associated with reduced diversity of other
birds in wet eucalypt forest: Potential for adaptive management. Forest
Ecology and Management 255 (2008) 2094-2102.
Shields, J., Kavanagh, R. and Rohan Jones, W. (1987) Forest avifauna of the
upper Hastings River. In: Birds of Eucalypt Forest and Woodlands: Ecology,
Conservation and Management. Keast, A., Recher, H.F., Ford, H. and Saunders,
D. (Eds). Surrey Beattey and Sons, Sydney.
Shields, J., Kavanagh, R., Recher, H.F. and Webb, G. (1986) The
effectiveness of buffer strips for wildlife management within pine
plantations at Bondi State Forest, New South Wales. Forestry Commission of
New South Wales, Sydney, Report. PO Box 100 Beecroft. NSW Australia.
Shields, J., Stanton, M. and Longmore, W. 1994. Birds of the Tumbarumba
State Forests. Unpublished Report. Forest Research and Development
Division, State Forests of NSW. Oratava Avenue, Pennant Hills, NSW, PO Box
100 Beecroft. NSW Australia.
Shields, J.M. and Boles, W. (1981)
Evidence of the Pink Robin breeding in southern NSW. Corella, 21, 18-19.
Shields, JM. (2008) 'Australia's Biodiversity Credits' in Conservation &
Biodiversity Banking Editors Carroll N, Fox J, and Bayon R. 298 pp.
Earthscan, International Institute for Environment and Development. London,
Sterling VA USA.
Recher, H.F., Gowing, G., Kavanagh, R., Shields, J. and Rohan-Jones, W.
(1983)
Birds, resources and time in a tablelands forest. Proceedings of the
Ecological Society of Australia, 12, 101-103.
Recher, H.F., Holmes, R.T., Schulz, M., Shields, J. and Kavanagh, R. (1985)
Foraging patterns of breeding birds in eucalypt forest and woodland of
southeastern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology, 10, 399-419.
Recher, H.F., Kavanagh, R.P., Shields, J.M. and Lind, P. (1991)
Ecological associations of habitats and bird species during the breeding
season in southeastern New South Wales. Australian Journal of Ecology, 16,
337-352.
JANIS (1997). Nationally Agreed Criteria for the Establishment of a
Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative Reserve System for Forests in
Australia. Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council, (April 2003).
Kavanagh, R.P., Shields, J., Recher, H.F. and Rohan-Jones, W. (1985)
Birds in a logged-unlogged forest mosaic in the Eden woodchip region. In:
Birds of Eucalypt Forest and Woodlands: Ecology, conservation and
management. Keast, A., Recher, H.F., Ford, H. and Saunders, D. (Eds). Surrey
Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton, Sydney, pp. 273-281.
Dr Rod Kavanagh
Senior Principal Research Scientist (- 2011)
Forest Science Centre, NSW Department of Primary Industries, West Pennant Hills 2119
Principal Research Ecologist (2012 -)
Niche Environment and Heritage Pty Ltd, Parramatta 2150
Autobiography:
I began work in the south-east region of NSW in 1977 as part of the joint Forestry Commission-Australian Museum research team that was investigating the effects of intensive logging practices on wildlife. My first field trip was to “The Five Forests” (Tanja West, Tanja East, Mumbulla, Murrah and Bermagui State Forests) north-east of Bega where I began bird census counts on recently logged coupes and areas that had been subject to Timber Stand Improvement (TSI) during the 1960s. It was during this field trip that I saw, for the first time, a family group of Yellow-bellied Gliders in what is now Mimosa Rocks National Park, sparking a career-long fascination for gliders and possums, and indeed all nocturnal mammals and birds. The Yellow-bellied Glider was the subject of my first scientific paper, published in 1982, and this species was the subject of one of my most recent papers (published in 2011), with many other papers about gliders in between. This fascination for nocturnal forest fauna led me to complete a (part-time) MSc at the Australian National University in 1987, based on ecological studies of an entire community of gliders and possums living in the tall, montane, escarpment forests in Coolangubra State Forest (now South-east Forests National Park) about 20 km east of Bombala. I later completed a (part-time) PhD at the University of Sydney in 1997, based on ecological studies of the Powerful Owl, Sooty Owl and Masked Owl which covered the whole region.
My employment as a scientist with the Department (Forestry Commission, State Forests, Primary Industries) continued for more than 34 years (1977-2011), based at the Forest Science Centre (previously Forest Research Division) in West Pennant Hills, Sydney. This position led to numerous interesting opportunities and ecological research projects covering a wide range of species throughout the publicly-owned State Forests and National Parks of NSW. However, the forests of south-eastern NSW, particularly those between Eden, Bombala and the Victorian border, have remained of special interest to me. These forests have been the location for several of the most comprehensive, and long-running, ecological experiments ever done on forest fauna and flora in the country. The results of these studies have significantly influenced forest management in the region, and elsewhere, and contributed to the public debate about forest conservation and ecological sustainability. I have published 125 papers and reports, including 75 peer-reviewed articles in books and Australian and international scientific journals, and made more than 100 presentations at scientific conferences. During 2009-2011, I was a member of the NSW Scientific Committee.
Research in South-East NSW:
1. Regional surveys
Patterns of distribution and abundance of owls and gliders in relation to vegetation type, topography, geology and logging history throughout the south-east forests. Three region-wide surveys, involving 228 sites in 1988-89 (Kavanagh and Peake 1993b), 200 sites in 1992 (Kavanagh and Bamkin 1995) and 220 sites in 1994 (Kavanagh 1997) formed the basis of statistical models and subsequent mapping to represent the distribution of habitat for these species (Kavanagh 2002a).
An assessment of the contribution of forest and woodland fragments on privately-owned and other unprotected lands towards the conservation of large forest owls and their arboreal marsupial prey in the south-east region. Surveys at 120 sites during 1995 showed that small forest fragments within extensive agricultural areas provided little or no habitat for most forest-dependent species (Kavanagh and Stanton 2002).
Patterns of distribution and abundance of diurnal forest birds in relation to vegetation type, topography and logging/fire history throughout the south-east forests. A regional survey, involving 143 sites surveyed during 1976-1980, formed the basis of an understanding of bird species assemblages and their associations with different habitat types in the region (Recher, Kavanagh, Shields and Lind 1991).
2. Variable-intensity logging experiments
Before-after-control-impact experiments were conducted in the tall, montane tablelands/escarpment forests east of Bombala to determine the effects on fauna of a range of logging intensity treatments. These included standard logging operations (as applied in the mid-late 1980s) in which both sawlogs and woodchips were removed leaving approximately 10% tree canopy retention in logged areas, compared to modified or reduced intensity logging operations in which 25% and/or 50 % of the tree canopy was retained in logged areas. Published papers reported the short-term (0-7 years) effects of logging on a wide range of species (arboreal marsupials, small terrestrial/scansorial mammals, reptiles and amphibians) (Kavanagh and Webb 1998, Kavanagh 2000). Sampling continued for 25 years to record the rates of population recovery following these logging events, but these data remain unpublished.
3. Fuel-reduction burning (and logging) experiments
Before-after-control-impact experiments were conducted in Yambulla State Forest south-west of Eden to determine the cumulative effects of repeated fuel-reduction burning and logging on forest plants, birds, small mammals and reptiles. The design, scope, duration and attention to detail of this fire ecology study makes it one of the best of its kind in Australia. Pre-treatment assessments of flora and fauna were completed by 1987. Thereafter, logging was imposed on half of the experimental coupes (n=18) and the first burning treatments began in 1988. Coupes have now received between 0-10 burns, depending on treatment, over the past 25 years. Several papers documenting the intensity and extent of the logging and burning treatments, and their impacts on plant species assemblages, have been published (e.g. papers involving Kavanagh, including Penman et al. 2007, 2008a, 2008b, 2009), and others on related topics by Penman and co-authors). The data recording the responses of fauna species to logging and prescribed burning treatments remain unpublished.
4. Species recovery trajectories following disturbance
In addition to the long-term experiments described above in points 2. and 3., in which pre-treatment data were available, there were several long-term studies in which pre-logging and pre-wildfire data were not available. These studies included assessments of the impact on bird species assemblages of a change in the logging pattern from very large coupes to small, alternate-coupes. A study in Timbillica State Forest, south-west of Eden, began shortly after the first small alternate coupe logging pattern was implemented in 1976 and assessments of bird species composition and abundance continued for 32 years. Two papers documenting bird species recovery in the short and medium term post-logging were published (Kavanagh, Recher, Shields and Rohan-Jones 1985, Kavanagh and Stanton 2003), but there remains a further decade of data to this story which has not yet been published.
A similar long-term study assessed the presence of large forest owls and arboreal marsupials at 100 sites distributed throughout East Boyd State Forest, Ben Boyd National Park, Timbillica State Forest, Nadgee State Forest and Nadgee Nature Reserve. Sampling began in 1988, following the devastating wildfire of 1980 and earlier intensive logging during the 1970s, and continued every three years until 2011. A remarkable pattern of species recovery following these major disturbances was observed, but the data have not been published.
5. Ecology of threatened species
Numerous studies were undertaken to better understand the ecological requirements of threatened (and non-threatened) species so that sensible management recommendations could be developed. Publications arising from this work on threatened species in south-eastern NSW include: Kavanagh and Rohan-Jones 1982, Kavanagh 1984, Kavanagh 1987a, 1987b, Kavanagh 1988, Goldingay and Kavanagh 1990, 1991, 1993, Kavanagh 1992, 1996, McNabb, Kavanagh and Craig 1997, Kavanagh 2002a, 2002b, Kavanagh and Stanton 2002, Kavanagh 2004, Kavanagh et al. 2004 and Wintle, Kavanagh et al. 2005.
Ecological studies were also completed on a number of (currently) non-listed species. Among the most important of these were studies on the Greater Glider (Kavanagh 1988, Kavanagh and Lambert 1990, Kavanagh 2000 and Kavanagh and Wheeler 2004), a species which is very sensitive to logging.
6. Riparian reserves, buffer strips, coupe size and habitat trees
An early research finding was the importance to wildlife conservation in situ of retaining unlogged, mature forest distributed throughout the landscape. Old-forest retention was most effective for conservation, and provided least disruption to logging operations, when riparian zones (creeks and adjacent creek flats) were protected in this way (Recher, Shields, Kavanagh and Webb 1987). The tall, wet forest types typically found in or near riparian zones provided important habitat for many species (Recher, Kavanagh, Shields and Lind 1991). It was also recognised that logging impacts could be reduced by decreasing the distance of logged areas to unlogged forest. This was achieved through a reduction in the size of logged coupes and by spreading the impact across a larger area by logging alternate coupes (Kavanagh, Recher, Shields and Rohan-Jones 1985). Old forest elements (habitat trees) also began to be retained throughout logged areas and their densities (number per ha) were increased, depending on forest type, following research by Kavanagh (unpublished internal report 1992). These findings were implemented as part of the review of forest management procedures brought on by the Environmental Impact Assessments of forestry operations in the Eden region (1993-94).
7. Forest and woodland bird ecology
A significant research effort during the late 1970s and early 1980s was directed towards obtaining a detailed understanding of the ecology of forest and woodland birds in south-eastern NSW. Most of this work was located in native forest areas adjacent to, and within, the Pinus radiata plantations of Bondi State Forest, south of Bombala. These studies included: development of methods to census forest birds (e.g. Kavanagh and Recher 1983); documentation of the seasonal patterns of abundance (including migration) of bird species and how these fluctuate in relation to climate and food availability (Recher, Gowing, Kavanagh, Shields and Rohan-Jones 1983); and the foraging behaviour and use of forest structural and floristic attributes by an assemblage of forest and woodland bird species (e.g. Recher, Holmes, Schulz, Shields and Kavanagh 1985). Many other detailed studies were undertaken (e.g. bird territory mapping, based on observations of thousands of colour-banded birds, and bird nesting ecology, including annual fidelity to nest-sites and territories, together with annual breeding success), but the results of these studies have not been published.
[8. Eucalypt plantations on farms]
Extensive research on the role of eucalypt plantations in restoring habitat for wildlife in agricultural landscapes has been done in other regions of NSW (Holbrook-Wangaratta and the Liverpool Plains), but these results (e.g. Kavanagh et al. 2007 Austral Ecology 32, 635-650, Kavanagh and Stanton (2012) Ecological Management and Restoration 13, 297-305), and others (e.g. Kavanagh et al. 2007 Wildlife Research 34, 94-107) are also highly relevant to current issues (e.g. Koala conservation) in south-eastern NSW.
Subject of Presentation:
A personal perspective of the nature, scope and influence of forest wildlife research conducted in south-eastern NSW from 1977-2011.
Title: SOME PLACES ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS…
Abstract of Presentation:
South-eastern NSW, like many other regions in Australia, is a generally warm, dry, low-fertility, fire-prone environment with highly variable rainfall. Consequently, there are relatively few places in the landscape where species are concentrated or populations most abundant, yet these locations provide important refuges for many species. When conditions are favourable, population density for many species tends to increase and spread very slowly across the landscape, only to contract rapidly when conditions become unfavourable. Intensive forest management practices have placed additional stresses on many ecosystems within the region and it has been a career-long project to understand the effects of these overlays and to minimise their adverse, and sometimes cumulative, impacts on forest biodiversity.
Initial studies in the region confirmed the high degree of patchiness in the distribution and abundance of forest birds and mammals in the landscape. Further, it was recognised that intensive logging operations within large coupes, where few mitigative prescriptions were employed, resulted in a significant impact on populations of many species. Research quickly showed the importance of reducing the distance between logged and unlogged forest (e.g. reducing the size and spatial arrangement of logged coupes) and of retaining some mature forest within and adjacent to logged coupes to reduce these impacts. In particular, the (now) widespread practice of retaining old-forest in protected strips along all creeks and drainage lines throughout State Forests was perhaps the single most important conservation measure that has been implemented as it provided fauna with important refuges from logging, fire and drought. The subsequent Eden Regional Forest Agreement in 1999 extended these measures to include over-ridge corridors connecting drainage systems in adjacent catchments and standardised a range of additional prescriptions, including protection of rainforest and provision of buffers around nests, roosts and feed trees for a range of threatened species.
The cumulative effects of frequent (up to 10 burns), low-intensity, fuel-reduction burning regimes were found to be less harmful to flora and fauna than expected. A new treatment is being introduced to this long-term experiment to measure the effects of a less frequent, but higher intensity burning regime that may be more typical of current burning practice in the region. Protecting important habitat areas for wildlife through the application of scientifically-based prescriptions has been a successful strategy, however, this good work can be undone if numbers of introduced predators are not controlled. Indeed, bandicoots and potoroos have been observed using more open forests when foxes and wild dogs are controlled, hence increasing the available habitat for these species. In the future, as forestry in the south-east becomes more industrial in nature (i.e. shorter logging rotations, smaller average tree-sizes) it will be important to establish long-term, comprehensive biodiversity monitoring programs to assess the cumulative effects of these changes. At the same time, opportunities to restore habitat in priority areas (e.g. revegetation for Koalas in the Bega Valley) should be sought.
My Perspective on Science and its value to Society:
I am continually astounded by the low (and apparently decreasing) level of education, training and interest in science within Government and the general community. Science (including ecology) is fundamental to Society, yet many people seem prepared to ignore or overlook this reality in favour of other personal goals. Poor or delayed decisions about important issues usually result.
Personal objectives regarding Science:
I have always been driven by a desire to understand the reasons why animals and plants are found in the places, and in the numbers, that they occur. Wherever I go, I find myself looking at the landscape and mentally (or verbally!) describing its suitability for the range of species that must occur there. Of course, the activities of man and large-scale natural disturbances provide a complex overlay to these patterns. An immense source of frustration is lack of knowledge about historical and cumulative events. It is clear to me that Australian forest ecosystems are very different to those I have observed in northern Europe and North America, providing a renewed fascination for our unique continent.
My position as forest wildlife research scientist, a public service position within the NSW state government forestry agency, provided me with a great opportunity to explore these interests which, I hope, resulted in the provision of quality information and advice to Government and the general public regarding forest biodiversity and ecologically sustainable forest management.
Images:
Note: A higher resolution image of this photo is available if required (see below).
The joint Forestry Commission – Australian Museum wildlife research team of 1980-1981 standing or sitting on the stump of a large Brown Barrel tree (Eucalyptus fastigata) on the Victorian border in Bondi State Forest south of Bombala.
From left to right: Eve Kavanagh, Peter Dostine, Dick Holmes, Jim Shields, Wyn Jones, Greg Gowing, Harry Recher, Martin Schulz, Rod Kavanagh, John Woinarski and Kristin Bardsley.
Publications based on research in South-East NSW - R.P. Kavanagh:
Refereed Papers in Scientific Journals
Penman, T.D., Beukers, M., Kavanagh, R.P., Doherty, M. (2011). Are long unburnt eucalypt forest patches important for the conservation of plant species diversity? Applied Vegetation Science 14, 172-180.
Penman, T.D., Binns, D.L. and Kavanagh, R.P. (2009). Patch occupancy modelling as a method for monitoring changes in forest floristics: A case study in south-eastern Australia. Conservation Biology 23, 740-749.
Penman, T.D., Binns, D.L., Shiels, R.J., Allen, R.M. and Kavanagh, R.P. (2008). Changes in understorey plant species richness following logging and prescribed burning in shrubby dry sclerophyll forests of south-eastern Australia. Austral Ecology 33, 197-210.
Penman, T.D., Binns, D.L. and Kavanagh, R.P. (2008). Quantifying successional changes in response to forest disturbances. Applied Vegetation Science 11, 261-268.
Penman, T.D., Kavanagh, R.P., Binns, D.L. and Melick, D.R. (2007). Patchiness of prescribed burns in dry sclerophyll forests in south-eastern Australia. Forest Ecology and Management 252, 24-32.
McNabb, E.G., Kavanagh, R.P. and Craig, S.A. (2007). Further observations on the breeding biology of the Powerful Owl Ninox strenua in south-eastern Australia. Corella, 3 (1), 6-9.
Lemckert, F., Brassil, T., Kavanagh, R. and Law, B. (2006). Trapping small mammals for research and management: how many die and why? Australian Mammalogy 28, 201-207.
Wintle, B.A., Kavanagh, R.P., McCarthy, M.A. and Burgman, M.A. (2005). Estimating and dealing with detectability in occupancy surveys for forest owls and arboreal marsupials. Journal of Wildlife Management 69, 905-917.
Kavanagh, R.P. and Stanton, M.A. (2003). Bird population recovery 22 years after intensive logging near Eden, New South Wales. Emu 103, 221-231.
Wintle, B.A., McCarthy, M.A., Volinsky, C.T. and Kavanagh, R.P. (2003). The use of Bayesian Model Averaging to better represent uncertainty in ecological models. Conservation Biology 17, 1579-1590.
Kavanagh, R.P. (2000). Effects of variable-intensity logging and the influence of habitat variables on the distribution of the Greater Glider Petauroides volans in montane forest, southeastern New South Wales. Pacific Conservation Biology 6, 18-30.
Kavanagh, R.P. and Webb, G.A. (1998). Effects of variable-intensity logging on mammals, reptiles and amphibians at Waratah Creek, southeastern New South Wales. Pacific Conservation Biology 4, 326-347.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1998). Thesis abstracts: Ecology and management of large forest owls in southeastern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 23, 184-185.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1996). The breeding biology and diet of the Masked Owl Tyto novaehollandiae near Eden, New South Wales. Emu 96, 158-165.
Goldingay, R.L. and Kavanagh, R.P. (1995). Foraging behaviour and habitat use of the Feathertail Glider (Acrobates pygmaeus) at Waratah Creek, New South Wales. Wildlife Research 22, 457-470.
Kavanagh, R.P. and Bamkin, K.L. (1995). Distribution of nocturnal forest birds and mammals in relation to the logging mosaic in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Biological Conservation 71, 41-53.
Goldingay, R.L. and Kavanagh, R.P. (1993). Home-range estimates and habitat of the Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis) at Waratah Creek, New South Wales. Wildlife Research 20, 387-404.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1992). Reply. The impact of predation by the Powerful Owl Ninox strenua on a population of the Greater Glider Petauroides volans. Australian Journal of Ecology 17, 469-472.
Recher, H.F., Kavanagh, R.P., Shields, J.M. and Lind, P. (1991). Ecological association of bird species and habitats during the breeding season in southeastern New South Wales. Australian Journal of Ecology 16, 337-352.
Goldingay, R.L. and Kavanagh, R.P. (1990). Socioecology of the Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis) at Waratah Creek, N.S.W. Australian Journal of Zoology 38, 327-341.
Kavanagh, R.P. and Lambert, M.J. (1990). Food selection by the Greater Glider Petauroides volans: Is foliar nitrogen a determinant of habitat quality? Australian Wildlife Research 17, 285-299.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1988). The impact of predation by the Powerful Owl, Ninox strenua, on a population of the Greater Glider, Petauroides volans. Australian Journal of Ecology 13, 445-450.
Goldingay, R.L. and Kavanagh, R.P. (1988). Detectability of the Feathertail Glider, Acrobates pygmaeus (Marsupialia: Burramyidae), in relation to measured weather variables. Australian Mammalogy 11, 67-70.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1987). Forest phenology and its effect on foraging behaviour and selection of habitat by the Yellow-bellied Glider, Petaurus australis Shaw. Australian Wildlife Research 14, 371-384.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1987). Foraging behaviour of the Yellow-bellied Glider, Petaurus australis (Marsupialia: Petauridae), near Eden, New South Wales. Australian Mammalogy 10, 37-39.
Recher, H.F., Holmes, R.T., Schulz, M., Shields, J. and Kavanagh, R. (1985). Foraging patterns of breeding birds in eucalypt forest and woodland of southeastern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 10, 399-419.
Recher, H.F., Gowing, G., Kavanagh, R., Shields, J. and Rohan-Jones, W. (1983). Birds, resources and time in a tablelands forest. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia 12, 101-123.
Kavanagh, R.P. and Recher, H.F. (1983). Effects of observer variability on the census of birds. Corella 7, 93-100.
Kavanagh, R.P. and Rohan-Jones, W.G. (1982). Calling behaviour of the Yellow-bellied Glider, Petaurus australis Shaw (Marsupialia: Petauridae). Australian Mammalogy 5, 95-111.
Edited Books
Newton, I., Kavanagh, R.P., Olsen, J. and Taylor, I.R. (eds) (2002). The Ecology and Conservation of Owls. CSIRO, Melbourne.
Refereed Book Chapters and Reports
Kavanagh, R.P., Loyn, R.H., Smith, G.C., Taylor, R.J. and Catling, P.C. (2004). Which species should be monitored to indicate ecological sustainability in Australian forest management? Pp. 959-987 in Conservation of Australia’s Forest Fauna (second edition), ed. by D. Lunney. Royal Zoological Society of NSW, Sydney.
Kavanagh, R.P. (2004). Distribution and conservation status of possums and gliders in New South Wales. Pp. 130-148 in The Biology of Australian Possums and Gliders, ed. by R.L. Goldingay and S.M. Jackson. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Sydney.
Kavanagh, R.P. and Wheeler, R.J. (2004). Home-range of the Greater Glider Petauroides volans in tall montane forest of south-eastern New South Wales, and changes following logging. Pp. 413-425 in The Biology of Australian Possums and Gliders, ed. by R.L. Goldingay and S.M. Jackson. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Sydney.
Kavanagh, R.P. (2002). Conservation and management of large forest owls in south-eastern Australia. In, I. Newton, R.P. Kavanagh, J. Olsen, I.R. Taylor (eds) The ecology and conservation of owls. CSIRO, Melbourne.
Kavanagh, R.P. (2002). Comparative diets of the Powerful Owl, Sooty Owl and Masked Owl in south-eastern New South Wales. In, I. Newton, R.P. Kavanagh, J. Olsen, I.R. Taylor (eds) The ecology and conservation of owls. CSIRO, Melbourne.
Kavanagh, R.P. and Stanton, M.A. (2002). Response to habitat fragmentation by the Powerful Owl, Sooty Owl, Masked Owl and other nocturnal fauna in south-eastern New South Wales. In, I. Newton, R.P. Kavanagh, J. Olsen, I.R. Taylor (eds) The ecology and conservation of owls. CSIRO, Melbourne.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1997). Ecology and Management of Large Forest Owls in South-eastern Australia. PhD Thesis, University of Sydney, Sydney.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1994). Powerful Owl Ninox strenua. Pp. 70-74 in Cuckoos, Nightbirds and Kingfishers of Australia, ed. by R. Strahan. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Kavanagh, R.P. and Peake, P. (1993b). Distribution and habitats of nocturnal forest birds in south-eastern New South Wales. Pp. 101-125 in Australian Raptor Studies, ed. by P. Olsen. Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, Melbourne.
Kavanagh, R.P. and Peake, P. (1993a). Survey procedures for nocturnal forest birds: An evaluation of the variability in census results due to temporal factors, weather and technique. Pp. 86-100 in Australian Raptor Studies, ed. by P. Olsen. Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, Melbourne.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1991). The target species approach to wildlife management: gliders and owls in the forests of southeastern New South Wales. Pp. 377-383 in Conservation of Australia's Forest Fauna, ed. by D. Lunney. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales.
Goldingay, R.L. and Kavanagh, R.P. (1991). The Yellow-bellied Glider: a review of its ecology, and management considerations. Pp. 365-375 in Conservation of Australia's Forest Fauna, ed. by D. Lunney. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1987). Floristic and Phenological Characteristics of a Eucalypt Forest in Relation to its Use by Arboreal Marsupials. M.Sc. Thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.
Recher, H.F., Shields, J., Kavanagh, R. and Webb, G. (1987). Retaining remnant mature forest for nature conservation at Eden, New South Wales: A review of theory and practice. Pp. 177-194 in Nature Conservation: The Role of Remnants of Native Vegetation, ed. by D.A. Saunders, G.W. Arnold, A.A. Burbidge and A.J.M. Hopkins. Surrey Beatty and Sons in association with CSIRO and CALM.
Kavanagh, R.P., Shields, J.M., Recher, H.F. and Rohan-Jones, W.G. (1985). Bird populations of a logged and unlogged forest mosaic at Eden, N.S.W. Pp. 273-281 in Birds of Eucalypt Forests and Woodlands: Ecology, Conservation, Management, ed. by A. Keast, H.F. Recher, H. Ford and D. Saunders. Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union and Surrey Beatty and Sons.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1984). Seasonal changes in habitat use by gliders and possums in south-eastern New South Wales. In, A.P. Smith and I.D. Hume (eds) Possums and Gliders. Australian Mammal Society, Sydney. pp. 527-543.
Non-refereed Papers and Reports
Munks, S.A., Kavanagh, R.P. and Loyn, R.H. (2010). Monitoring effectiveness of forest practices to conserve biodiversity in western North America: lessons for Australian forest management. A report to the Max Jacobs Fund Committee, the Forest Practices Authority, Tasmania, the Department of Industry and Investment, New South Wales and the Arthur Rylah Institute, Victoria. (http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/357284/F-and-RR_2010_Output-1774_et-al-Kavanagh_Biodiversity-Report_REPORT.pdf)
Kavanagh, R. (2007). Monitoring biodiversity in Scandinavia: Lessons for Australian forest management. 2007 Gottstein Fellowship Report, Gottstein Trust, Melbourne. October 2007. (http://www.gottsteintrust.org/html/reports/catalog.htm#rkavanagh)
Penman, T.D., Binns, D.L. and Kavanagh, R.P. (2007). Burning for biodiversity or burning the biodiversity. Proceedings of the Australasian Fire Association Council Conference, Hobart, Australia. http://proceedings.com.au/tassiefire/papers_pdf/fri_penman.pdf
Kavanagh, R.P. (2000). Draft Recovery Plan for the Large Forest Owls: Powerful Owl Ninox strenua, Sooty Owl Tyto tenebricosa, Masked Owl Tyto novaehollandiae. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hurstville. Draft for public comment.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1994). Ecology and management of large forest owls. Final report to World Wide Fund for Nature (Australia) for Project 149.
Binns, D. and Kavanagh, R.P. (1990). Flora and fauna survey, Nullica State Forest (part) Eden District, Eden Region. Forestry Commission of New South Wales, Forest Resources Series No. 10. 134 pp.
Binns, D.L. and Kavanagh, R.P. (1990). Flora and fauna survey of Nalbaugh State Forest (part) Bombala District, Eden Region, south-eastern New South Wales. Forestry Commission of New South Wales, Forest Resources Series No. 9. 103 pp.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1990). Survey of Powerful and Sooty Owls in south-eastern New South Wales. Final report to World Wildlife Fund (Australia) for Project 120.
Shields, J.M. and Kavanagh, R.P. (1985). Wildlife research and management in the Forestry Commission of N.S.W.: A review. Forestry Commission of N.S.W. Technical Paper No. 32. 84 pp.
Kavanagh, R.P. (1983). Forestry and conserving arboreal mammals. Forest and Timber 19(1), 8-11.
Other relevant papers by Garry Webb (previously of the Forest Science Centre, Sydney) including:
Webb, G.A. (1985). Habitat use and activity patterns in some southeastern Australian skinks. Pp. 23-30 in Biology of Australasian Frogs and Reptiles, ed. By G. Grigg, R. Shine and H. Ehmann. Surrey-Beatty and Sons, Sydney.
Webb, G.A. (1991a). The effects of logging on populations of small ground-dwelling vertebrates in montane eucalypt forest in south-eastern New South Wales. M.Sc. Thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.
Webb, G.A. (1991b). A survey of the reptiles and amphibians of Bondi State Forest and surrounding areas, near Bombala, New South Wales. Australian Zoologist 27, 14-19.
Webb, G.A. (1995). Effects of logging on lizards in eucalypt forest at Eden, New South Wales. Australian Zoologist 58, 155-159.
Many other relevant, but more recent, papers on herpetofauna (and understorey plants) by Dr Trent Penman and Dr Frank Lemckert (both previously of the Forest Science Centre, Sydney)
Papers on the distribution, and factors explaining the abundance, of arboreal marsupials in the south-east forests (Dr Wayne Braithwaite, CSIRO Canberra).
Papers on the ecology of terrestrial mammals, including introduced predators, in far south-eastern NSW (Dr Peter Catling, CSIRO Canberra)
Papers on the ecology and impacts of forestry practices on birds (Dr Peter Smith, Australian Museum and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service), mammals, reptiles and amphibians in the “Five Forests” north-east of Bega (Dr Dan Lunney, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service).
STEVE MACKAY MSC
Biography
After graduating in forestry, Steve worked for two years as a management forester before commencing a Masters program in Natural Resources and then specialising in forest hydrology research for the following 16 years. During this period he managed the Yambulla Forest Hydrology Study located in native forest south of Eden NSW and published research papers on aspects of forest hydrology, water quality and erosion.
He also designed and managed the Tantawangalo Catchment Study from its inception in 1981 until 1990. Steve was a member of the national Forest Hydrology Working Group from 1976 to 1990 and Secretary from 1984 to 1990. He was also a member of the interdepartmental Tantawangalo Technical Committee 1987-90, which had oversight of the Tantawangalo study, and a referee for the First National Symposium on Forest Hydrology in 1982.
In June 1990, Steve joined the Sydney Water Board as Section Leader of the Urban Runoff Group in the Scientific Services Division. He built and led a team of up to 40 science graduates who sampled, analysed and reported on water quality investigations for the Clean Waterways Program conducted by Sydney Water Corporation in the early nineties. This included the Stormwater Monitoring Project that measured event and dry weather loads of nutrients, suspended solids and indicator bacteria at 24 sites across the Sydney/Illawarra Region.
Steve co-authored a paper - Sampling methodology for the assessment of nutrient and bacterial loads in stormwater presented at the Water Down Under Conference in 1994. This study used data from the Stormwater Monitoring Project to compare flow proportional and composite sampling for load estimation of sediment and nutrients. Steve also has experience in water quality modelling, commencing with his Masters program and later in an UWRAA study published in 1999 - Sediment, Nutrient and Heavy Metal Characteristics of Urban Stormwater Runoff.
In December 1995, Steve was appointed as a Project Director in the Environment and Science Division of Australian Water Technologies, a wholly subsidiary of Sydney Water Corporation. In this role he managed a number of specialist teams – aquatic ecology, vegetation management, modelling, lake limnology, environmental microbiology and urban runoff - conducting a wide range of projects for clients in Sydney Water Corporation, Sydney Catchment Authority and various Local Government Councils. Involvement in these studies as Project Director has provided broad knowledge and understanding of water and catchment management issues, as well as experience in the management of multi-disciplinary teams.
Since June 2001, Steve has operated as a self-employed environmental consultant on projects in Brisbane and Sydney.
Research experience in the SE Region
This is summarised in the first two paragraphs of the biography above.
Presentation title: Early hydrological, water quality and erosion studies in the forests of southeast NSW – an overview.
Scope of presentation
It is proposed that the presentation will encompass a broad, plain-English overview of the major hydrological, water quality and erosion studies conducted in the SE forests during the late nineteen seventies and eighties.
These studies were initiated by NSW State Government agency responsible for managing State Forests at the time – The Forestry Commission of NSW. This was in recognition of the need to understand the impact of proposed woodchip and sawlog logging operations on runoff characteristics, water quality and erosion, and to develop expertise within the organisation on operational procedures to minimise any likely adverse impacts.
A paired catchment approach was adopted and resulted in the selection of five small catchments in the Yambulla State Forest, south of Eden (see attached map). These were instrumented in 1977 for the measurement of runoff (using V-notch weirs, see attached photo) rainfall and water quality. After an initial period of data collection in all catchments, a logging treatment was commenced in one catchment in May 1978. The logging was incomplete when a wildfire swept through the area in January 1979, burning four of the five catchments, including the one being logged. Fortuitously, one catchment remained unburnt, thus providing the opportunity to quantify the effects of wildfire on hydrology and water quality.
A sixth catchment was instrumented later in 1979 to pursue the original objectives of the study.
Salvage logging treatments were conducted in two of the bunt catchments and an erosion study was established in the catchment logged before the wildfire.
Scientists from CSIRO and the University of NSW (ADFA) were also involved in complementary research on the analysis and reporting of suspended sediment data from the catchments, detailed investigations of sediment production processes, hydrologic process studies and catchment modelling. The catchments were also used for vegetation and wildlife studies.
Another paired catchment study was established by the Forestry Commission in the Tantawalgalo State Forest in the early nineteen eighties to assess the impact of possible logging on the water quality and yield because the catchment was used for part of the water regional water supply.
Perspectives on Science
These will be added later.
Some of the publications from early hydrological, water quality and erosion studies in SE NSW
Lane, P.N.J. and Mackay, S.M. (2001). Streamflow response of mixed-species eucalypt forests to patch cutting and thinning treatments. For. Ecol. Mgmt. 143 131-142.
Crapper, P.F., O'Loughlin, E.M. and Mackay, S.M. (1989). The hydrological effect of intensive logging operations on a small forested catchment near Eden, N.S.W. I.E. Aust.
Christchurch. Ryan, P.J., Williams, R.D., Mackay, S.M. (1988). Tantawangalo research catchments: variability of soil and vegetation in relation to terrain and comparison with Yambulla study area. Aust. For. Res.
Mackay, S.M. and Robinson, G. (1987). Effects of wildfire and logging on streamwater chemistry and cation exports of small forested catchments in southeastern New South Wales. Hydrol. Processes 1 (4) 359-384.
Moore, I.D., Mackay, S.M., Wallbrink, P.J., Burch, G.J. and O'Loughlin, E.M. (1985). Hydrologic characteristics and modelling of a small forested catchment in south-eastern New South Wales. Pre-logging condition. J. Hydrol. 83, 307-335.
Mackay, S.M., Long, A.C., Chalmers, R.W. (1985). Erosion pin estimates of soil movement after intensive logging and wildfire. In R.J. Loughran (ed). Drainage Basin Erosion and Sedimentation. Univ. of Newcastle. 15-22.
Mackay, S.M. and Cornish, P.M. (1982). Effects of wildfire and logging on the hydrology of small catchments near Eden, N.S.W. In E.M. O'Loughlin and L.J. bren (eds.). The First National Symposium on Forest Hydrology 1982. Melbourne 11-13 May. The Institution of Engineers, Australia. National Conference Publication No. 82/6. 111-117.
Mackay, S.M., Michell, P.A. and Young, P.C. (1980). Hydrologic changes after burning in small catchments near Eden, N.S.W. p. 149-155. I.E. Australia, Hydrology Water Resources Symp. Adelaide.