This post is a technical note to accompany the article I published this week on the University of Melbourne’s Pursuit platform. It includes additional details regarding the potential impacts on wildlife – including EPBC-listed species – of the planned rocket-launch facility at Whalers Way in South Australia, plus a list of references. Summary A proposed…
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In exciting news, I’ve signed a contract with Wiley to write a second edition of my textbook, Ecology of Urban Environments, for release in 2027. The new edition will be fully updated, with two additional chapters plus a set of data-analysis activities for practical classes. These will support students to model different components of urban…
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Do you live in Victoria, Australia? This October, you can engage with nature in your neighbourhood as part of Frog Month Victoria! 38 frog species in Victoria Simply record the sounds of calling frogs at your local wetland, pond, stream or farm dam using Melbourne Water’s Frog Census App, then upload. The information collected will…
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Russell the growling grass frog (AKA Big Russ) is back with a brand-new single, ‘Have you ever heard the cars?’ Inspired by a visit to Jacana Wetlands on the Moonee Ponds Creek, the noisiest site in Melbourne where his threatened species (Litoria raniformis) is known to persist, Russell sings about the challenges of being an…
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At last – the final installment of this intriguing trilogy! The third reason that frogs and roads don’t mix is that the noise of road traffic (cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles) can make it difficult for frogs to be heard by other frogs. Anyone who has listened to a group of frogs calling at…
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Flying-foxes are big bats – the biggest in the world! They belong to a group of mammals known as the Megachiroptera (pronounced “megga-kai-roptera”) or megabats. Unlike their smaller cousins (the Microchiroptera or microbats), they like to eat fruit, pollen and nectar rather than insects. Megabats are only found in the southern hemisphere, and they mostly…
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