Category Archives: Science and nature

Protecting Kimberley wildlife from toads with science 2011 – 2014

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Scientists have been working on various methods of protecting Kimberley wildlife against the cane toad, which has started arriving in numbers over the last two wet seasons.

Northern Territory experience has shown many species become severely depleted or even locally extinct after eating the toxic amphibians.

We cannot prevent the toads from spreading throughout the Kimberley, however I interviewed several scientists about their efforts to preserve populations of vulnerable species such as goannas and quolls.

KIM050614KIM1FUL012A couple of studies concentrated on taste aversion: feeding small doses of cane toad to wildlife in order to make it sick enough never to touch the nasty creatures again. Science Network [read this story]

Two scientists noted that toads in desert areas die if they are unable to get to water points during the dry season, and have been working on ways of isolating water sources from cane toads but allowing other species in. Science Network [read this story]

Others have found cane toads communicate chemically. Freshly laid eggs emit a chemical which jealous cane toad tadpoles to detect potential rivals which they destroy. Cane toads also emit an alarm pheronome which causes others to flee. If they are exposed to this chemical often, tadpoles end up becoming stunted little adults, or just die from stress. It may be possible to produce this hormone in sufficient quantity to kill tadpoles. Science Network [read this story]

KIM100414KIM1FUL010Another research group is working to establish a “frozen zoo” – a sperm bank of vulnerable Kimberley species that can be used to re-establish genetic diversity among depleted populations. Science Network [read this story]

 

Ants and termites used to find gold 19/3/14

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TEXT BY GEOFF VIVIAN

Scientists have been seriously examining an old prospectors’ trick.

Termites

COURTESY AARON STEWART, CSIRO.

Termites and ants can be used to detect base metals and gold to a depth of 1.4 metres.

What was part of Goldfields folklore since the 1920s is now scientific fact.

KAL220314KAL1FUL011Science Network [read this story]

An edited version of the story apeared in The Kalgoorlie Miner on 22/3/14

Researchers size up aquifer to capture carbon 16/1/14

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The CSIRO is looking seriously at sequestering carbon dioxide below the Bass Straight seabed, near the oilfields.

The oilfields themselves are in the same aquifer that provides bore water to farmers around Lakes Entrance.

The La Trobe aquifer is a sloping system of porous rock that contains fresh water in its upper levels, salt water further down and petroleum still lower

It is thought that fifty years of oil extraction have been partly responsible for the drop in groundwater levels, and injecting liquid carbon dioxide will help.

Science Network [read this story]

Experts re-assess Kimberley wallaby numbers 10/6/2013

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Science Network WA

TEXT BY GEOFF VIVIAN

THE World Wildlife Fund and Indigenous rangers have commenced a survey of three Kimberley rock wallaby species.

World Wildlife Fund ecologist Darren Grover says the animals’ habitats have not been surveyed for up to 10 years, and there are concerns about declining numbers in the wild.

Science Network [read this story]

This story was also republished in The Kimberley Echo on 11 July 2013.

Sea snakes disappearing from Ashmore Reef 4/11/2013

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Science Network WA

Text by GEOFF VIVIAN

A sea snakes expert says species that used to be abundant at Ashmore Reef have not been seen for years.

Dr Vimoksalehi Lucoschek said the change has been one of the most marked declines of a large marine vertebrate ever recorded.

On her last trip to the reef she made an extensive search, finding just two species present.

Science Network [read this story]

An edited version of this story also appeared in The West Australian on Wednesday 6 November 2013

Kimberley air to inform climate modelling 4/8/2013

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Science Network WA

Text by GEOFF VIVIAN

THE CSIRO has been monitoring air quality at Lake Argyle in the Kimberley, and in Darwin and Jabiru in the Northern Territory, for 10 years.

CSIRO’s Dr Ross Mitchell says the research began because it became clear that aerosol has an important but poorly understood effect on climate.

From Broome Advertiser

From Broome Advertiser

“What we’ve done is to provide the climate modellers with a very firm basis on which to build and test their models of how the fire regime and the subsequent emission of smoke aerosol can be realistically represented in the global climate models,” he says.

“The smoke that we are talking about comes from the seasonal burning of the tropical savannah.

“That includes the Kimberley region of Western Australia, the top two thirds of the Northern Territory, and adjacent areas of Queensland.”

Dr Mitchell says most of the fires are deliberately lit for land management, with the majority of the smoke generated during the late dry season between August and November.

This story first appeared in Science Network WA on Sunday 4 August 2013. You can read the rest of the article if you click here.

Broome Advertiser republished it on Thursday September 5 2013.

Pest millipede gets a leg up 23/9/2013

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Science Network WA

Texy by GEOFF VIVIAN

A scientist says a recent low-speed train collision in Perth attributed to Portuguese millipedes on the tracks is a symptom of growing millipede numbers in WA.

From The West AustralianDr Geoff Baker says we can expect to see more millipedes in Perth and the South West, similar to the 1970s South Australian experience.

“It was invading houses in huge numbers and creating a hell of a nuisance problem to people,” he says.

This story first appeared in Science Network WA on Monday 23 September 2013 – you can read it if you click here.

The West Australian republished an edited version on Wednesday 25 September.

Multiple dating techniques used to eliminate rock art disputes 8/8/2013

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A team of scientists is travelling to the eastern Kimberley to sort out the vexed question of rock art dates.

From The Kimberley Echo 2 September 2013

The hot question is when prehistoric artists stopped painting in the Gwion Gwion style, and when they started painting Wanjinas.

Science Network WA first published my interview with archaeologist Fiona Hook on 8 August 2013, it has since appeared in the Broome Advertiser and Kimberley Echo newspapers on 29 August and on The West Australian’s regional website on 2 September of the same year.

The latter has the best headline, albeit with dubious grammar.

 

Genetic technique tracks endemic insects in the Kimberley 3/3/2013

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TEXT BY GEOFF VIVIAN

TRADITIONAL Owners are helping scientists from UWA and CSIRO conduct a genetic survey of insects in Kimberley vine thickets for bio-molecular analysis in bulk—a technique that comes under the heading of ‘eco-genomics’.

The team has sampled flying and crawling insects from 36 vine thickets in coastal and

The Kimberley Echo 4 July 2013

island locations between Derby and Kalumburu.

At each site a tray is prepared with the specimens laid out and digitally photographed before they are all placed into a combined ‘DNA soup’ for bio-molecular analysis.

CSIRO evolutionary biologist Dr Owain Edwards says the method is being developed in response to a legislated requirement for environmental approvals before resource projects can commence.

He says traditional taxonomic methods used on single sites are time-consuming, and in a poorly studied region like the Kimberley, give no indication as to whether a newly-discovered species is locally endemic or more widespread.

Science Network [read this story]

This story has also been republished in The Broome Advertiser and Kimberley Echo newspapers.