David Lindenmayer – författare

The phenomenon of fire in the Australian landscape traverses many interests and disciplines. At a national level, there is an urgent need for the integration of both the natural and social sciences in the formulation of public policy.

With contributions from 30 leading experts, Australia Burning draws together these issues, under the themes:

The book examines some of the key questions that relate to the ecology, prediction and management of fire, urban planning, law, insurance, and community issues, including indigenous and non-indigenous concerns. It looks at what we need to know to inform public policy, given the present risks and uncertainty, and explores the avenues for closer integration between science, policy and the community.

In Ten Commitments: Reshaping the Lucky Country’s Environment, leading environmental thinkers in Australia have written provocative chapters on environmental issues facing the nation. Each chapter includes 10 key issues that must be urgently addressed to improve Australia’s environment.

The book is organised by ecosystem, by sector and by cross-cutting themes. Topics include: deserts, rangelands, woodlands, tropical savannas, urban settlements, forestry, tropical and temperate marine ecosystems, tropical rainforest, alpine and aquatic ecosystems, coasts, fisheries, agriculture, mining, grazing, tourism, climate change, earth systems, water, biodiversity, policy and institutional reforms, the private sector, human population, health, fire, emergency management, Indigenous land management and energy.

With over 40 experts weighing in on Australia’s most pressing issues, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the environment.

More than 300 species of Australian native animals — mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians — use tree hollows, but there has never been a complete inventory of them. Many of these species are threatened, or are in decline, because of land-use practices such as grazing, timber production and firewood collection.

All forest management agencies in Australia attempt to reduce the impact of logging on hollow-dependent fauna, but the nature of our eucalypt forests presents a considerable challenge. In some cases, tree hollows suitable for vertebrate fauna may take up to 250 years to develop, which makes recruiting and perpetuating this resource very difficult within the typical cycle of human-induced disturbance regimes.

Tree Hollows and Wildlife Conservation in Australia is the first comprehensive account of the hollow-dependent fauna of Australia and introduces a considerable amount of new data on this subject. It not only presents a review and analysis of the literature, but also provides practical approaches for land management.

Many landowners are interested in the native animals that live on their farms or once occurred there. In particular they want to know why particular species are present (or absent), what they can do to encourage them to visit, and what they might do to keep them there.

Wildlife on Farms outlines the key features of animal habitats—large flowering trees, hollow trees, ground cover, understorey vegetation, dams and watercourses—and describes why landholders should conserve these habitats to encourage wildlife on their farms. It shows how wildlife conservation can be integrated with farm management and the benefits this can bring.

The book presents 29 example species—mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians—that are common to a large part of southern and eastern Australia. Each entry gives the distinguishing features of the animal, key features of its required habitat, and what can be done on a farm to better conserve the species.

The conservation of Earth''s forest ecosystems is one of the great environmental challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. All of Earth''s ecosystems now face the spectre of the accelerated greenhouse effect and rates of change in climatic regimes that have hitherto been unknown. In addition, multiple use forestry – where forests are managed to provide for both a supply of wood and the conservation of biodiversity – can change the floristic composition and vegetation structure of forests with significant implications for wildlife habitat.

Wildlife, fire and future climate: a forest ecosystem analysis explores these themes through a landscape-wide study of refugia and future climate in the tall, wet forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria. It represents a model case study for the kind of integrated investigation needed throughout the world in order to deal with the potential response of terrestrial ecological systems to global change. The analyses presented in this book represent one of the few ecosystem studies ever undertaken that has attempted such a complex synthesis of fire, wildlife, vegetation, and climate.

Wildlife, fire and future climate: a forest ecosystem analysis is written by an experienced team of leading world experts in fire ecology, modelling, terrain and climate analysis, vegetation and wildlife habitat. Their collaboration on this book represents a unique and exemplary, multi-disciplinary venture.

Forest Pattern and Ecological Process is a major synthesis of 25 years of intensive research about the montane ash forests of Victoria, which support the world''s tallest flowering plants and several of Australia''s most high profile threatened and/or endangered species. It draws together major insights based on over 170 published scientific papers and books, offering a previously unrecognised set of perspectives of how forests function.

The book combines key strands of research on wildfires, biodiversity conservation, logging, conservation management, climate change and basic forest ecology and management. It is divided into seven sections: introduction and background; forest cover and the composition of the forest; the structure of the forest; animal occurrence; disturbance regimes; forest management; and overview and future directions.

Illustrated with more than 200 photographs and line drawings, Forest Pattern and Ecological Process is an essential reference for forest researchers, resource managers, conservation and wildlife biologists, ornithologists and mammalogists, policy makers, as well as general readers with interests in wildlife and forests.

2010 Whitley Certificate of Commendation for Zoological Text.

This is an easy to use field guide for identifying the 80 reptile species currently known to occur in the Murray catchment area of New South Wales. Illustrated with high quality colour photographs, the book describes the key distinguishing features of each reptile and includes details on habitats and conservation status. Uniquely, it has a detailed chapter on how to conserve reptiles and manage key habitats, providing landholders and natural resource agencies with the knowledge to help conserve reptiles in agricultural farming landscapes. The up-to-date distribution maps are based on 10 years of extensive surveys and research on reptiles in the Murray catchment. The final chapter includes a section on similar looking species to further enable readers to accurately and quickly identify difficult species.

Reptiles of the NSW Murray Catchment promotes a broad appreciation of reptiles in the region, and is a must-have for natural history enthusiasts.

This book tells the story of ecological forest recovery in the wet forests of Victoria following major wildfires in February 2009. It also focuses on the science of ecological recovery – a major body of information that is not well known or understood by the vast majority of Australians and the vast majority of environmental policy makers.

Forest Phoenix presents this important story via short engaging text and truly spectacular images, which are accompanied by highly informative captions.

If you''ve ever wanted to better understand how forests and forest biodiversity recover after wildfire, then this book is a must-read.

2011 Whitley Award Commendation for Ecological Zoology.

This book summarises the main discoveries, management insights and policy initiatives in the science, management and policy arenas associated with temperate woodlands in Australia. More than 60 of Australia’s leading researchers, policy makers and natural resource managers have contributed to the volume.

It features new perspectives on the integration of woodland management and agricultural production, including the latest thinking about whole of paddock restoration and carbon farming, as well as financial and social incentive schemes to promote woodland conservation and management.

Temperate Woodland Conservation and Management will be a key supporting aid for farmers, natural resource managers, policy makers, and people involved in NGO landscape restoration and management.

Across Australia, woodlands are increasingly being planted on formerly cleared or semi-cleared land. Such revegetation efforts can improve biodiversity of farm wildlife, enhance aesthetics of the landscape and even boost farm production.

Planting for Wildlife provides the latest information on restoring woodlands, with particular emphasis on plantings as habitat for wildlife. Key topics include why it is important to revegetate, where to plant, how to prepare a site, how to maintain and manage plantings, and how they change over time.

The authors focus on the south-eastern grazing region where domestic livestock grazing and/or cropping have been prominent forms of land use. These agricultural landscapes have suffered widespread land degradation and significant losses of biodiversity. Revegetation is a vital step towards solving these problems.

The book includes high-quality colour photographs to support the themes discussed. It is ideal for natural resource managers; field staff from state and federal government agencies; landholders; hobby farmers; vineyard owners; naturalists interested in birds, conservation and revegetation; as well as policy makers in regional, state and federal government.

Ecological and biodiversity-based monitoring has been marked by an appalling lack of effectiveness and lack of success in Australia for more than 40 years, despite the billions of dollars that are invested in biodiversity conservation annually. What can be done to rectify this situation?

This book tackles many aspects of the problem of biodiversity monitoring. It arose from a major workshop held at The Australian National University in February 2011, attended by leaders in the science, policy-making and management arenas of biodiversity conservation. The diversity of participants was deliberate – successful biodiversity monitoring is dependent on partnerships among people with different kinds of expertise.

Chapter contributors examine what has led to successful monitoring, the key problems with biodiversity monitoring and practical solutions to those problems. By capturing critical insights into successes, failures and solutions, the authors provide high-level guidance for important initiatives such as the National Biodiversity Strategy, similar kinds of conservation initiatives in state government agencies, as well as non-government organisations that aim to improve conservation outcomes in Australia. Ultimately, the authors hope to considerably improve the quality and effectiveness of biodiversity monitoring in Australia, and to arrest the decline of biodiversity.

There can be little doubt that there are truly colossal challenges associated with providing food, fibre and energy for an expanding world population without further accelerating already rapid rates of biodiversity loss and undermining the ecosystem processes on which we all depend. These challenges are further complicated by rapid changes in climate and its additional direct impacts on agriculture, biodiversity and ecological processes.

There are many different viewpoints about the best way to deal with the myriad issues associated with land use intensification and this book canvasses a number of these from different parts of the tropical and temperate world. Chapters focus on whether science can suggest new and improved approaches to reducing the conflict between productive land use and biodiversity conservation.

Who should read this book? Policy makers in regional, state and federal governments, as well as scientists and the interested lay public.