-WILDLIFE BIOLOGY LAB @UWS-
Current Projects
Managing
Urban Emu Populations
This PhD project will assess three paradigms regulating urban emus: 1) the ‘food paradigm’; 2) the ‘predator paradigm’; and 3) the ‘social paradigm’.
The project will focus on an Emu population in Western Sydney that is under threat from development. This PhD project will aim to investigate the applicability of these three paradigms to regulating the emu population in western Sydney. Specifically, whether factors such as food, micro-habitat and non-food specific resources such as suitable nest-sites, predation or social interactions between individuals, regulate or limit the emu population. This will allow for the determination of the size of the population that may be sustainably maintained or the notional carrying capacity of the land.
Project Investigator- Dr Ricky Spencer
Optimising Fox Management to Reduce Nest Predation
This project is part of the ARC Linkage project investigating Murray River Turtle declines. The project partners with Winton Wetlands, North Central CMA, and Goulburn Broken CMA to develop optimal control methodologies to mange foxes and reduce predation rates on turtles and ground nesting birds. The project is testing a range of lethal and non-lethal control methods. WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR U/G AND HONOURS PROJECT STUDENTS TO WORK ON THIS PROJECT.
Project Investigator- Dr Ricky Spencer