updates

PAPER(S) ALERT!!

Recent BSc Honours grad James Dowling has had 3 (?!) papers published from his honours project looking at the movement of eastern long-neck turtles.

1. The influence of fence design on the movement patterns of eastern long‐necked turtles - Journal of Wildlife Management [PAPER LINK]

2. Ninja turtles: an experimental evaluation of potential anthropogenic barriers to movement for a freshwater turtle - Journal of Zoology [PAPER LINK]

3. Overwintering under ice: A novel observation for an Australian freshwater turtle - Ecology and Evolution [PAPER LINK]

Conference season! A big chunk of the lab went to Borneo for the World Congress of Herpetology conference (back row left to right: Sully, Michelle, Tessa, Hal, Darryl, Grant, Deb; front row left to right: Remo, Brad, and Max). They presented oral talks on their respective research projects inbetween some crazy herping.
At the same time, Eric was an invited speaker to the Ecological Society of America conference in Long Beach California, where he spoke about the impacts and potential use of large-scale solar farms to support wildlife habitat.

PAPER ALERT!!

Our latest paper has just been published in Biological Reviews, titled "Creating wildlife habitat using artificial structures: a review of their efficacy and potential use in solar farms". Here, we discuss the use of artificial structures as wildlife habitat around the world and suggest their potential use in solar farms. Much like artificial reefs in aquatic systems, if strategically designed and managed, we suggest that solar farms may add structural complexity to a farm environment, creating suitable micro-climates and habitats for a variety of wildlife. This also marks the first publication for MSc candidate Remo Boscarino-Gaetano - what a first paper! [PAPER LINK]

Welcome new PhD student - Julie Trezise! Julie has just begin her PhD which will investigate the ecology and conservation of Christmas Island Giant Geckos! We're all excited to dive into this project. Julie lives on Christmas Island and is perfectly suited to deliver this project to help us understand why/how this last remaining reptile has not suffered the same declines as other Christmas Island species.

PAPER ALERT!!

Our recent paper "How turtles keep their cool: Seasonal and diel basking patterns in a tropical turtle" was just published in a special issue (Thermoregulatory and Metabolic Adaptations in a Changing World) in The Journal of Thermal Biology. This study builds on our work investigating nocturnal basking behaviours in tropical freshwater turtles and further suggests that nocturnal basking is a mechanism to cool down when environmantal water temperature are uncomfortably hot. This paper was a collaboration between UNE and JCU and included recent Honours lab alum Rosie Kidman and long-time collaborator and friend Dr Don McKnight as co-first authors. [PAPER LINK]

Interested in doing a PhD on the Christmas Island Giant Gecko? Check out the job add and get in touch. Must be eligible for a domestic scholarship (https://www.une.edu.au/research/graduate-research-school/scholarships/rtp-scholarship) and willing to relocate to Armidale, NSW.

PAPER ALERT!!

Our paper "Opportunities for research and conservation of freshwater turtles in Australia" was published in the Freshwater Turtle Ecology and Conservation special issue of Austral Ecology. This paper came about from our symposium discussion at the Australian Society for Herpetologists conference in 2022. We highlight the current needs and requirements for conservation and management of species across Australia, including the lack of baseline data to inform population modelling as a key deficiency and heavy bias of research on common species. The full special issue will be published in October and include many excellent papers - so check it out. [PAPER LINK].

Rosie Kidman is the first official graduate of the REED lab! She graduated with a 1st Class Honours, the University Medal, and the Zoology Award for her project looking at drivers of nocturnal basking in freshwater turtles. 

To top it all off, her paper was published in the Freshwater Turtle Ecology and Conservation special issue of Austral Ecology. Rosie's paper found that water temperature was a primary driver initiating nocturnal basking - when the water was hotter than the turtles thermal preference, turtles were more likely to emerge and bask to avoid overheating. [PAPER LINK].

PAPER ALERT!!

Two papers have come out as a result of our work on nocturnal basking in freshwater turtles and crocodiles. 

In collaboration with long-time pal, Dr Don McKnight and I organised a global assessment of nocturnal basking activity in freshwater turtles. Along with 25 coauthors from around the world, we identified that nocturnal basking was widespread in tropical and subtropical regions. The paper was published in Global Ecology and Conservation [PAPER LINK].

Similarly, we conducted repeated surveys along the Ross River in Townsville QLD to identify seasonal trends in nocturnal basking in freshwater turtles and crocodiles, and identified anthropogenic and environmental factors influencing nocturnal basking behaviour. The paper was published in the Freshwater Turtle Ecology and Conservation special issue of Austral Ecology. [PAPER LINK].

PAPER ALERT!

We were invited to submit a paper to the 'Hot Topic' section of Austral Ecology. We talk about the potential for solar farms to be used to support biodiversity as a multi-use landscape, which we term conservoltaic systems (conservation + photovoltaic). New MSc student Remo will continue to investigate this throughout his masters - so stay tuned! [PAPER LINK]

PAPER ALERT!

Our paper looking at the movement patterns of freshwater turtles around feral animal fences has just been published in Wildlife Biology! This large collaborative paper involved field surveys in Cape York as well as experimental work south of Townsville, QLD. We found that mesh size (and orientation) had a large impact on the passage rates of turtles that could navigate through feral pig fencing. We created 'turtle gates' by removing one of the vertical bars in the mesh that greatly increased passage rates of turtles in and out of the wetlands. This simple fence modification can greatly decrease the changes of turtles getting stuck in a wetland that has dried up or prevent them from making overland migrations during the nesting and breeding season. [PAPER LINK]

PAPER ALERT!

Our recent paper tests if basking reduces leech loads in freshwater turtles and has just been published in Ecology and Evolution! It has long been hypothesised that turtles bask to reduce ectoparasite loads, however, few studies have imperially tested this. In our paper, we quantified initial leech loads from freshly captured turtles, and tested if basking reduced the number of leeches. We tested various basking durations and time of day, and compared the efficacy of leech removal to basking times in nature. In short - basking can remove leeches, but extensive basking durations or heat intensity are required for this to be effective - basking durations that were much longer than what is typically observed in the wild. Therefore, basking does not appear to be a driving mechanism for basking. [PAPER LINK]

PAPER ALERT!

Check out our new paper in Global Ecology and Conservation looking at the spatial ecology of timber rattlesnakes in fragmented rural landscapes. This paper highlights the extent to which snakes move in-and-outside protected nature preserves and shows how rattlesnakes have high site fidelity, using the same areas each year. We also found evidence that snakes used fence rows as travel corridors to travel through open fields to avoid exposure, predation, or getting run over by ag equipment. Very excited to have this one out to the world! Check the paper out here: [PAPER LINK]

PAPER ALERT!

MS student Rheanne Denny has just published her first ever manuscript in Animal Behaviour! She compared the boldness and activity levels of invasive Asian house geckos and native Australian house geckos. While many invasive species show behavioural syndromes and correlated traits like aggression, boldness, and exploratory activity, she found that invasive geckos were more active, but not bolder than natives. Check out the paper here [PAPER LINK]

Welcome to the lab Brad!

Brad Traynor joins the REED lab as the first lab member at UNE! Brad will investigate the thermal biology of southern angle-headed dragons (Lophosaurus spinipes) in the temperate rainforests of NSW. Stay tuned for updates!

I am super excited to announce that I have accepted a job as a Lecturer in Zoology and Ecology at the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia! I'm really excited to start my own lab and continue building research projects around landscape disturbance ecology, reptile ecology, conservation, and natural history. Stay tuned for student opportunities to join my lab!

PAPER ALERT!

PhD student Rishab Pillai et al. have just published a second paper from his MS work where we examined associations between habitat selection and performance in Oedura geckos. We found a strong association between habitat use and performance - whereby geckos showed greater adhesive performance on substrates they choose to use. Check out the paper here [PAPER LINK]

I'm honored to announce I have been awarded the Mike Bull Award for Early Career Nature Scientists through the Nature Foundation. I met Mike a few times while at conferences and he was always super nice and easy to talk to. This award will contribute to my study on the odd nocturnal basking behavior in freshwater turtles.

In May we conducted a follow-up biodiversity assessment at Mt Pleasant for a post-wet season survey. PhD student Rishab Pillai and MSc student Tash Ryan once again joined in on the fun. Recent rains brought in bucket-loads of frogs! Other interesting things we found include planigales, oscillated velvet geckos, and dingoes. We will return to Mt Pleasant with targeted search efforts to try and find species of interest including northern quolls, knob-tail geckos, and feather-tail gliders.

The COVID-19 lock-down has halted many field projects, but luckily I got a new project up and running in my back yard just in time! I'm looking at the basking ecology of freshwater turtles and crocodiles in the Ross river, Townsville Australia. My friend and colleague Dr Don McKnight and I just published a short paper describing 'nocturnal basking' in Kreft's river turtles in Ecology [PAPER LINK]. We're planning on exploring the mechanisms that influence this odd behavior in great detail in the coming months! So stay tuned...

PAPER ALERT!

In a joint effort by combining data from PhD candidate Jendrian Riedel and myself, we have published a paper on the ecological niche space and microhabitat use in Australian geckos for an up-coming special issue on geckos in the Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution. PAPER LINK

Field work: 

MPhil student, Tash Ryan is investigating how Rufus bettongs (a small rat-kangaroo, Aepyprymnus rufescens), a potential digging ecosystem engineer, may enhance land condition on cattle properties through its digging habits. We have placed VHF radio collars with GPS units on animals in the Wambiana Grazing Trial and will monitor their behaviours over the next 18 months. Stay tuned for updates!