Publications

Ian J. Radford, Leigh-Ann Woolley, Ben Corey, Tom Vigilante, Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation, Ed Hatherley, Richard Fairman, Karin Carnes & Antony N. Start  August 2020, Biodiversity and Conservation 29(7)DOI: 10.1007/s10531-020-02010-9 Despite substantial investment in prescribed burning for biodiversity conservation there has been surprisingly little demonstration of its efficacy in achieving intended conservation aims for fauna. In the case of northern Australia’s threatened mammal fauna, most studies …

Prescribed burning benefits threatened mammals in northern Australia Read More »

Phil J. Bouchet, Deborah Thiele, Sarah A. Marley, Kelly Waples, Frank Weisenberger, Balanggarra Rangers, Bardi Jawi Rangers, Dambimangari Rangers, Nyamba Buru Yawuru Rangers, Nyul Nyul Rangers, Uunguu Rangers and Holly RaudinoFrontiers in Marine Science, 21 January 2021Access the paper — DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2020.614852 Implementing conservation measures for data-limited species is a fundamental challenge for wildlife managers …

Regional Assessment of the Conservation Status of Snubfin Dolphins (Orcaella heinsohni) in the Kimberley Region, Western Australia Read More »

Stefania Ondei, Lynda D. Prior, Hugh W. McGregor, Angela M. Reid, Chris N. Johnson, Tom Vigilante, Catherine Goonack, Desmond Williams and David M. J. S. Bowman 27 November 2020 — Wildlife ResearchAccess the paper — DOI: 10.1071/WR20010 Populations of native mammals are declining at an alarming rate in many parts of tropical northern Australia. Fire regimes …

Small mammal diversity is higher in infrequently compared with frequently burnt rainforest–savanna mosaics in the north Kimberley, Australia Read More »

March 2020 — Austral EcologyAngela M. Reid, Brett P. Murphy, Tom Vigilante, David M. J. S. Bowman Australian mammals have exhibited exceptionally high rates of decline since European settlement 230 years ago with much focus on small mammals in northern tropical savannas. In these systems, little scientific attention has been given to the suite of …

Distribution and abundance of large herbivores in a northern Australian tropical savanna: A multi‐scale approach Read More »

Angela M. Reid, Brett P. Murphy, Tom Vigilante, David M.J.S. BowmanNovember 2019 — Austral EcologyAccess the paper — DOI:10.1111/aec.12834 Australian savannas lack native megaherbivores (>500 kg body mass), but since the commencement of European colonisation in the 19th century bovine livestock, such as cattle (Bos sp.) and water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), have established large feral …

Carbon isotope analysis shows introduced bovines have broader dietary range than the largest native herbivores in an Australian tropical savanna: Dietary range of introduced and native herbivores Read More »

Tom Vigilante, Stefania Ondei, Catherine Goonack, David M. J. S. BowmanOctober 2017 — Land 6(4):68Access the paper — DOI: 10.3390/land6040068 Indigenous groups are increasingly combining traditional ecological knowledge and Western scientific approaches to inform the management of their lands. We report the outcomes of a collaborative research project focused on key ecological questions associated with monsoon …

Collaborative Research on the Ecology and Management of the ‘Wulo’ Monsoon Rainforest in Wunambal Gaambera Country, North Kimberley, Australia Read More »

June 2017 — Article in Journal of Biogeography 44(10)DOI: 10.1111/jbi.13039 Stefania Ondei, Lynda D. Prior, Tom Vigilante, David M.J.S. Bowman Aims To detect changes in area and vegetation dynamics of monsoon rain forests in relation to disturbance and an observed wetting trend. Location The Mitchell Plateau and the Bougainville Peninsula (north Kimberley, Australia). Methods Geo‐rectified aerial …

Fire and cattle disturbance affects vegetation structure and rain forest expansion into savanna in the Australian monsoon tropics Read More »

May 2017 — Ecological Management & Restoration 18(2):124-133DOI: 10.1111/emr.12257 Beau Austin, Tom Vigilante, Stuart Cowell, Zerika Clement The importance of Indigenous peoples’ and their ancestral estates for the maintenance and protection of biodiversity, ecosystem function, threatened species and cultural diversity is clear. Due to their nature, processes and tools to measure the impact of intercultural Indigenous …

The Uunguu Monitoring and Evaluation Committee: Intercultural Governance of a Land and Sea Management Programme in the Kimberley, Australia Read More »

February 2017 — Ecology and Evolution 7(5)DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2734 Stefania Ondei, Lynda D. Prior, Grant James Williamson, David M. J. S. Bowman The small rainforest fragments found in savanna landscapes are powerful, yet often overlooked, model systems to understand the controls of these contrasting ecosystems. We analyzed the relative effect of climatic variables on rainforest density at …

Water, land, fire, and forest: Multi-scale determinants of rainforests in the Australian monsoon tropics Read More »

Plant Ecology 217(6) · Oct 2015Stefania Ondei, Lynda D. Prior, Tom Vigilante, David M. J. S. Bowman Access the paper – DOI: 10.1007/s11258-015-0531-3 In tropical areas where climatic conditions support both rainforests and savannas, fire is considered one of the main factors determining their distribution, particularly in environments where growth rates are limited by water availability. …

Post-fire resprouting strategies of rainforest and savanna saplings along the rainforest–savanna boundary in the Australian monsoon tropics Read More »