The detritus of human occupied landscapes. A problem flowing away to become someone else’s problem. Like access to highly toxic rodenticides, Australians want the convinience of modern life but none of the responsibilty for the flow on Impacts.
Associate Professor John White
@johnwhitewildlife.bsky.social
I’m a wildlife ecologist at Deakin University Australia. Long-term small mammal, fire and climate research in Gariwerd (Grampians). Rodenticide impacts in wildlife. Urban ecology. Powerful owls. Native gardener :)
New research in @wildliferesearchj.bsky.social shows the critical importance of landscape composition in #PowerfulOwl nest cavity selection and highlights how cavity availability influences #breeding productivity. doi.org/10.1071/WR25... #WildlifeResearch
Distressing watching the demise of a once great nation. Feel like I am watching dystopia novels playing out in the real world. I really hope the USA can drag itself out of this and somehow say good bye to this destructive and self interested president before he does irreparable damage.
New paper. Dynamics of the introduced house mouse in the Gariwerd-Grampians landscape in response to fire and climate. With climate change driving more regular fires and changes in rainfall, we show one of the species to benefit will be the house mouse. rdcu.be/eRIWA
Why we need better management of rodenticides post. A #rentokil bait station at the interface af a pond with wildlife and a public swimming pool. All rodenticides must be within 3m of a building. This is at least 20m from a building and in a place where it will attract the attention of wildlife.
It bothers me so much that every building I encounter has rodenticides outside them. The bait in these boxes out doors will more than likely spread to the food chain. We need to do so much better and ban second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). Do better APVMA!!
Feral bees getting ready to take over my glider nesting box. They came in with a massive buzz and are looking like staying in the garden for a while.
Hot off the press. Using species distribution models to find species in landscapes where they are increadibly rare. Our adventures finding potoroo in the Grampians landscape. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Finding a needle in a heath stack: A strategy to optimize the detection of a rare marsupial on the brink of local extinction
Anthropogenic pressures are reducing species distributions and driving extinctions within ecosystems. As the urgency to address biodiversity loss inte…
sciencedirect.com
An old one. But is sums up one of our favourite study species. Enjoy :)
Could the APVMA be any more clear how they view scientific evidence of rodenticide poisoning of our wildlife? Time to ditch our regulator? #APVMA
So apparently the APVMA is supposed to release the recommendations of their review into rodenticides in Australia this month (only a few days left). It is over a year late and we still have no indication if they will do anything. Rat poison is a disaster for our wildlife. @davidpocock.bsky.social
When you reach for the rat poisons, stop for one second and think about where it goes. Often not rats and mice. Here we demonstrate it ends up in possums, many are then eaten by predators like powerful owls. Please avoid second generation anticoagulants 🙏♥️🦉 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Fire not only resets our biological infrastructure but also has significant economic costs. Fire is good for ecosystems in the right dose, but the more frequent mega-fires we are seeing in the Grampians are not good.
A tiny little reddish scops owl (Otus rufescens) I encountered in Coastal scrub in Borneo once. At about 20cm in height they are a cute little owl.
A squadron of green long legged flys waiting for take off. Kubah NP, Borneo.
Sri Lankan green vine snake (Ahaetulla nasuta). Super good looking snake.
Winter burning grass trees. Even in the middle of winter they go up with such force.
My personal native plant nursery. Australian native daisies, emu bush, banksia and grevillea from cuttings. Masses of grass trees grown from seed over many year. I give most of these away to people in my street willing to plant them on their nature strips. 1 plant at a time will make a difference
It is a tough world out there for male eastern great kangaroos. A series of shots of a fight in the Grampians.
Just a little reminder on rat poisons. They don’t just kill rodents! Second generation anticoagulant rodenticides are killing native predators the world over. Think twice, maybe even thrice before using SGARs.
A superb fairywren foraging for insects on seaweed on a beach in Cape Conran.
One of the more amazing wildlife experiences I have ever had. A chance encounter with Wallace’s flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus). Given It was so special!!
Microhyla borneensis, also known as the Matang narrow-mouthed frog, lays its eggs in pitcher plants. This shot was in Kubah NP and one of several times I have seen them laying eggs.
This is a male agile Antechinus. He has rather large “nuts”, and like most dasyurid marsupials will live a short life and go out in a flurry of sex. After a short breeding season all the males die off. Generally referred to as going out with a bang.
Swamp Antechinus in the Otways. These chunky little marsupials are feisty little carnivores who seem to be declining across their distribution.
A harvestman prowling the leaf litter of a Bornean jungle.
