Bonsen, G, Law, B & Ramp, D 2015, 'Foraging Strategies Determine the Effect of Traffic Noise on Bats', Acta Chiropterologica, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 347-357.
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© Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS. Anthropogenic noise is a concern in many ecological systems. One important source of noise pollution is traffic noise as it can dominate the soundscape in urban and peri-urban environments. Taxa that rely on acoustics for behavioural strategies are likely to be especially susceptible to noise, as noise can inhibit the perception of informational sounds. Bats use echolocation to hunt prey while foraging and are therefore prime candidates for adverse effects. Captive studies have shown that foraging efficiency can be significantly reduced in noisy environments for some bat species, and that these species actively avoid noisy areas. However, it remains unclear how this selective sensitivity manifests in urban environments. Given that mode of flying and use of echolocation is entwined with foraging strategies, we hypothesised that different foraging guilds (i.e. fast flyers versus slow flyers) may show different levels of sensitivity to noisy roads. We used transects running perpendicular to a major traffic route in Sydney, Australia, to record bat activity and traffic noise levels. Noise amplitude levels across each frequency band dropped by over 50% in the first 50 m, with high frequency components (> 10 kHz) being especially soft at this distance. Furthermore, all traffic noise above 5 kHz was lost within the first 150 m from the road. Fast flying bats flew close to the road, despite the traffic noise. In contrast, slow flying species appeared to fly more often away from the road. However, few calls of slow flyers were recorded, probably reflecting their difficulty in detecting them using acoustic surveys as well as their earlier decline in these peri-urban environments.
Driscoll, DA, Catford, JA, Barney, JN, Hulme, PE, Inderjit, Martin, TG, Pauchard, A, Pysek, P, Richardson, DM, Riley, S & Visser, V 2015, 'Reply to Proenca et al.: Sown biodiverse pastures are not a universal solution to invasion risk', PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, vol. 112, no. 14, pp. E1696-E1696.
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Gollan, JR, Ramp, D & Ashcroft, MB 2015, 'Contrasting topoclimate, long‐term macroclimatic averages, and habitat variables for modelling ant biodiversity at landscape scales', Insect Conservation and Diversity, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 43-53.
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AbstractSpatial modelling is part of the solution for incorporating insects into conservation policy. Uptake, however, rests on identifying robust environmental predictors. Coarse‐grained climate models based on long‐term averages and similarly coarse environmental features may not be adequate, especially at regional scales where most planning is done. Here, we test whether topoclimatic variables, which are derived from local‐scale climate forcing factors, are more important for structuring ant assemblages.We quantified ant richness and species composition at 86 sites across a large (200 × 300 km) temperate region of southeast Australia, and tested the explanatory power of three groups of environmental variables: (i) topoclimatic variables, (ii) long‐term climatic averages modelled from global data, and (iii) habitat features, namely, habitat complexity, soil pH, and soil texture. Generalised Additive and Generalised Dissimilarity Models were used to test predictors.In univariate models, the topoclimatic estimator of maximum temperature (95maxT) explained the largest amount of variance in both richness and compositional turnover (20% and 24% of deviance respectively). The plot for richness indicated a positive but decelerating function of 95maxT. This was consistent for two of three habitat types. Habitat complexity was the most important predictor in cleared habitat (28%).While a topoclimatic variable was a strong predictor of ant biodiversity across the landscape, this was not a ‘magic bullet’. Other predictors such as complexity may be more applicable in certain habitat types. We concluded that tailored predictors are needed for landscapes with a mosaic of different ...
Ramp, D & Bekoff, M 2015, 'Compassion as a Practical and Evolved Ethic for Conservation', BioScience, vol. 65, no. 3, pp. 323-327.
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© The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. The ethical position underpinning decisionmaking is an important concern for conservation biologists when setting priorities for interventions. The recent debate on how best to protect nature has centered on contrasting intrinsic and aesthetic values against utilitarian and economic values, driven by an inevitable global rise in conservation conflicts. These discussions have primarily been targeted at species and ecosystems for success, without explicitly expressing concern for the intrinsic value and welfare of individual animals. In part, this is because animal welfare has historically been thought of as an impediment to conservation. However, practical implementations of conservation that provide good welfare outcomes for individuals are no longer conceptually challenging; they have become reality. This reality, included under the auspices of 'compassionate conservation,' reflects an evolved ethic for sharing space with nature and is a major step forward for conservation.
Riley, S 2015, 'Model Codes for Humane Treatment of Animals: Australian Law and Policy on Lethal Control of Pests', Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 276-288.
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The regulation of ‘invasive’ or ‘pest’ animals presents decision makers with many challenges. These include how to manage species that are instrumental in the decline of native biodiversity, or otherwise conflict with the human use of natural resources. In this context, philosophies of environmental ethics regard the value of animals as an integral component of the decision-making process. This calls into question how regulators appraise competing interests and whether regimes should be shaped by utilitarian notions of welfare or extend to consideration of the life of individual species. The paper uses Australia as a case study, examining sources that include the Model Codes of Practice for the Humane Control of animals such as goats, camels, donkeys and horses (Model Codes). The Model Codes become a locus for acquiescing on the impacts of ‘pest’ animals as well as deciding what welfare considerations are relevant to their eradication. By invoking the risk that invasive or pest species pose, the Model Codes conclude that pest species must be killed, otherwise management goals remain unfulfilled. Killing animals thus becomes an assimilated part of the reality of natural resource management. Yet this approach promotes killing as a first point regulatory response, which does not adequately consider either the long-term effectiveness of culling, or the morality of wholesale killing.
Wallach, AD, Bekoff, M, Nelson, MP & Ramp, D 2015, 'Promoting predators and compassionate conservation', Conservation Biology, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 1481-1484.
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Boronyak, LJ, Ben-Ami, D & Ramp, D Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS 2015, Kanganomics: a socio-economic assessment of the commercial kangaroo industry, Sydney, Australia.
Ramp, D 2015, 'Reshaping conservation with compassion', National Parks Association of NSW, pp. 16-17.
Wallach, AD & Ramp, D 2015, 'Let's give feral cats their citizenship', The Conversation.
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There’s been a lot of talk about killing feral cats, with the government’s recently announced war on cats setting the goal of killing two million by 2020. On The Conversation last week, Katherine Moseby and John Read explained several different ways to control feral cats, including baiting. But we would like to offer a different idea: let’s embrace cats as part of Australia’s environment. We could even rename them “Australian wildcats”. Let us explain.
