National Australian Environmental Science Programme

A knowledge synthesis to inform a national approach to fighting extinction

Through the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Programme, April worked on a knowledge synthesis to look at actions for threatened species across Australia.

Collectively, a wealth of knowledge is held by managers, traditional owners and scientists across Australia about what we can do to improve the outlook for threatened species. However, further efforts are needed to draw this knowledge together into a coordinated assessment of options for mitigating key threats to threatened species.

We synthesise research and expertise across threatened species in Australia to generate and evaluate options for ensuring the persistence of threatened species, using the best available scientific and policy knowledge.

Refuges for threatened species

Through the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Programme Theme 4 Reintroductions and refugia April has investigated the role of refuges for Australia's threatened species.

Refuges are important to many species, as they allow many species to survive environmentally stressful times, like droughts, fires and disease outbreaks. While fixed refuges like mountain tops can be easy to identify, many species rely on temporary refuges which move in time and space.

This project will advance our understanding of both fixed and shifting refuges to support their protection and management. It will also identify the critical refuge attributes for a number of threatened species including: the spotted tree frog, great desert skink, several species of antechinus, Sharman’s rock wallaby, and northern quoll. It will also examine how feral cats use refuges in arid zones and rangelands.

Relevant publications:

Reside, A.E., Briscoe, N.J., Dickman, C.R., Greenville, A.C., Hradsky, B.A., Kark, S., Kearney, M.R., Kutt, A.S., Nimmo, D.G., Pavey, C.R., Read, J.L., Ritchie, E.G., Roshier, D., Skroblin, A., Stone, Z., West, M., Fisher, D.O., 2019. Persistence through tough times: fixed and shifting refuges in threatened species conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation, 28,1303–1330.