1. Translocations have become an increasingly popular tool in threatened macropod conservation in Australia. Although previous evaluations of Australian macropod translocations have been published, the number of contemporary translocation programmes awaiting analysis, and new data regarding historic translocations, required a new assessment of macropod translocation programmes. 2. We aimed to assess trends in the way macropod translocations were conducted during the period 1969-2006, determine the number of successful translocations and identify factors common to successful translocations. 3. Data regarding macropod translocations were obtained from a wide variety of sources, including peer-reviewed journals, 'grey' literature and popular interest publications. Questionnaires were also sent to translocation managers to acquire detailed information. Specific aspects of macropod translocation methodology were analysed, and classification tree analysis was conducted to identify methodological and environmental factors common to successful translocations. 4. We identified 109 macropod translocations for which sufficient data could be collected to permit analysis. Using the presence of a population on 1 January 2007 as a simple criterion, 61% of translocations were successful. Of these translocations, 66% were also considered successful by Short et al.'s criteria (population persisted for five years and is deemed likely to continue to persist); the remainder could not be assessed due to lack of data or insufficient elapsed time since release. Classification tree analysis suggested methodological and environmental factors common to successful translocations; the overriding factor determining success was the absence of cats and foxes at the release site. 5. Although Australian macropod translocation proponents are faced with myriad methodological options when designing a translocation protocol, the primary consideration should be whether or not cats or foxes are present at the release site. Managers should be aware that there may be no safe population level of such predators for some translocation candidate species. Ignoring this fact will inevitably lead to a repeat of past translocation failures.

Key to the conservation of waterbirds on coastal floodplains in Australia is improved management of their wetland habitats. Waterbirds and wetlands of the Clarence River floodplain, in north-east New South Wales, were studied from 2005 to 2007 to gather ecological information about the waterbird species that use the floodplain and the physical properties of the constituent wetlands. The work contained in this PhD consisted of a review of historical accounts, including oral history, appraisals of the wetland types and waterbird species present, monitoring of selected wetlands for waterbirds and water quality, particularly salinity, and bathymetric mapping of selected wetlands. Also, the grazing habits of one species (Black Swan 'Cygnus atratus') were studied, and an assessment of the value of drains as waterbird habitat was undertaken. Finally, wetland management on the floodplain was reviewed to contextualise how this would most favour waterbirds.

Camera trapping in scientific research has captivated practitioners globally and is now widely used as a primary survey method despite the unknowns and uncertainties of the tools. Using photos to identify species, especially coexisting species of similar appearance and niche are fraught with danger and can lead to serious conservation and management outcomes if identification is incorrect. The aim of this investigation was to test how accurately mammalogists with expertise in wildlife surveys could identify a range of species that were recorded during camera trap surveys. The identification of small-to-medium sized Australian mammal species using camera trap imagery by 158 professional wildlife surveyors was investigated using an internet survey. Fifty eight questions were posed to assess practitioner expertise in mammal trapping, and their accuracy in identifying 21 photos of 10 small-medium sized mammal species. Particular focus was placed on the identification of the Hastings River Mouse ('Pseudomys oralis') but other rodent species such as the Black Rat ('Rattus rattus'), the Bush Rat ('Rattus fuscipes'), and the Swamp Rat ('Rattus lutreolus') were included. The survey indicated that the correct identification of small mammals is highly variable between images of the same species, and that as a whole the professional wildlife community performs poorly at the identification of such species. Identification was more accurate where species were less likely to be confused with similar looking species, or where their identification was simple and/or obvious.

Despite drainage culverts being numerous along highways, there is a scarcity of data evaluating their use as roadway underpasses by wildlife, including the bare-nosed wombat ('Vombatus ursinus'), a large marsupial that is involved in substantial numbers of vehicle collisions in New South Wales. Culvert use was measured with camera traps positioned at 19 drainage culverts along an 8-km stretch of 'Thunderbolt's Way' near Nowendoc on the Northern Tableland, north-eastern New South Wales. The estimated probability of the occupancy/use of a culvert by a wombat was 0.46 ± 0.10. Culvert use was related to structural variables (e.g. diameter and length) and both the distance to the next adjacent culvert and to forest cover. This suggests that wombats readily use drainage culverts to cross under roads and that these structures could be modified (e.g. by maintaining proximate forest cover) to increase the likelihood that wombats would use them, thus reducing vehicle collisions and road mortality of wombats.

Identifying species and the relationships among them remains important for assessing biodiversity trends and is a critical focus for reversing global biodiversity loss. The saw-shelled turtles of Australia, in the genus 'Myuchelys', show cryptic diversity and include species that range from Endangered ('M. bellii'), through those that are locally abundant but extremely limited in distribution ('M. georgesi' and 'M. purvisi') to those that are common and widespread ('M. latisternum'). The Endangered 'M. bellii' is restricted to 3 small isolated populations in the headwaters of the Murray-Darling basin, in the Border, Gwydir and Namoi tributaries. There is no evidence of strong differentiation among these 3 populations based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) divergences; rather there is only a shallow genetic structure ranging from 0.1 to 0.3% divergence. The 3 restricted and small populations of the Endangered 'M. bellii' face a number of threatening processes and require conservation management across state boundaries as a single biological species. The mtDNA phylogeny supports previous phylogenetic findings of a deep phylogenetic divergence between 'M. purvisi' and 'M. georgesi' (13.5% mtDNA) and the sister taxa relationship of 'M. latisternum' and 'M. bellii'. A notable exception was our finding that 'Emydura macquarii' and 'M. georgesi' are sister taxa inside the 'Myuchelys' radiation.

Key to Bhutan’s economic development strategy is the expansion of the country’s hydropower projects, which requires the construction of a number of large dams. As dams affect the natural hydrological regime of rivers, the objective of this study was to assess these impacts on water quality and macroinvertebrate communities. Baseline physical and chemical properties of rivers in central Bhutan were gathered to provide spatial context for hydrological change associated with hydropower development. Physico-chemical measures from central Bhutan rivers suggested that aquatic macroinvertebrate communities are not currently impacted1 by poor water quality. An in situ experiment using flow diversion barriers in Chamkharchu at Jakar (Bumthang) was conducted to assess the short-term impacts of reduced water velocity on benthic macroinvertebrate communities to simulate the impacts of flow velocity changes associated with reaches downstream of hydropower facilities. We found benthic macroinvertebrate taxa abundance, richness and diversity were not significantly different between high and low flow velocity treatments, but community composition was significantly different between before and after the construction of flow diversion barriers, with reduced abundance of rheophilic (flow-dependent) taxa in treatments with reduced velocity. Current impacts of hydropower facilities are focused on the construction phase. This study has highlighted that the operation of hydropower facilities can also impact the ecological condition of rivers, and that these long-term impacts must be included in the decision making processes for hydropower development. Further investigation is warranted to determine how wide-ranging these impacts will be throughout Bhutan.

Estimating the density of large, feral species such as wild horses at landscape scales can present a logistical hurdle for wildlife managers attempting to set density-based management targets. We undertook aerial surveys of wild horses by using a helicopter in Guy Fawkes River National Park in north-eastern New South Wales across 3 years to determine whether meaningful density estimates could be obtained efficiently by a mark–recapture technique based on recognition of individual horses. Horse groups photographed from the air on the first of two surveys conducted each year were 'marked' on the basis of a unique combination of colours and natural markings, and 'recaptured' if they were photographed and identified on the second survey. Population size was estimated with the program MARK using a range of population estimators; however, because horses appeared to be evading detection on the second survey of each year, we chose a final estimation model that accounted for detection shyness in the study species. In 2005, the density estimate was 3.8 horses per km² (upper and lower 95% CL = 3.5-5.7 horses per km²). Following horse control in these catchments, the estimate in 2007 was 2.3 horses per km² (upper and lower 95% CL = 2.1-3.4 horses per km²), and this change in density can be accounted for by the known number of horses removed from the survey area between survey periods. Overall, the technique proved useful for estimating densities of wild horses in deeply dissected gorge country where other estimation techniques (such as line transects) are not practical; however, low recapture rates in one of the years of the study shows that the technique may not always be applicable. Our technique should also be suitable for surveying other large mammals with broad ranges in open environments, provided recognition of individuals from unique marks is possible.