Reduction of high levels of roadkill in Tasmania may be improved by warning signage for motorists, however, signage may be ineffective if the suggested speed is too high to allow animals to be detected and a collision avoided. I determined safe driving speeds to avoid collision with nine nocturnal Tasmanian mammals. Driving speeds slower than 80 km h^–1 allow timely detection of most species and species-specific night-time driving speeds can be implemented for vulnerable species.

Non-native predators pose a major threat to global biodiversity, because local prey is often not able to recognize them as a threat or to respond accordingly. Mammalian prey commonly use odour cues to assess predation risk, and although voles in our study were apparently able to recognize odours of both native weasel and non-native mink, they responded inadequately to mink predation risk. Thus, management strategies that, for example, train prey in recognition of novel threats must induce effective responses if they are expected to succeed.

Vaccination of brushtail possums against bovine tuberculosis could be an alternative to poisoned buffers for reducing the risk of disease spreading from large tracts of forest to farmland. The effectiveness of a buffer depends on the chance it could be crossed by a potentially infected possum. By measuring distances travelled by possums, we showed that vaccinated buffers (with no reduction in possum density) have potential to be as effective as much wider poisoned buffers for an equivalent level of risk. Photograph by Helene de Meringo.

Fire is a major driver of mallee eucalypt and spinifex-dominated landscapes. In this study, we investigated the effects of an extensive wildfire on a small mammal community in semi-arid southern Australia. We documented changes before and after the fire, and compared burnt and unburnt sites. The mallee ningaui, a marsupial with relatively specific habitat requirements, showed a marked decline in the immediate post-fire environment, corresponding with a reduction in hummock grass cover. Maintaining sources for recolonisation after large-scale wildfires will be vital to the conservation of mammals in mallee ecosystems. Photograph by Lauren Brown.

Female aggregation is a key element of mating systems, influencing the degree of polygyny and hence affecting the intensity of sexual selection and the maintenance of genetic diversity. Because of the little consensus existing on how to quantify female aggregation in the field, our work intended to describe different spatial methods to measure female aggregation and to evaluate their idoneity in capturing the real situation relevant for mating system research. We concluded that Ripley's K analysis, a procedure most used for studies on plant ecology, resulted the best method for our studied red deer populations, and we propose the it may be useful to measure female aggregation in wildlife research and management. Photograph by Javier Pérez-González.

Australia relies on biological control agents, myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV, also known as calicivirus) to limit rabbit damage to agriculture and native ecosystems. We conducted releases of RHDV on bait to determine why it has been less effective in higher-rainfall regions and found that another pre-existing benign calicivirus is blocking its impact. Therefore, we can use bait to re-introduce RHDV, but such releases will have little or inconsistent benefit wherever benign caliciviruses are already common. Photograph by Greg Mutze.

Globally, roads can disrupt the population processes of vertebrate wildlife species through habitat fragmentation and vehicle collision. We synthesised the recent international literature on road impacts on wildlife to identify gaps in our understanding and to guide future research and management in Australia. We concluded that future priorities should focus on population-level studies of crossing structure effectiveness; genetic studies of a range of taxa; and developing a national strategy to mitigate the impacts of roads on wildlife populations. Photograph by R. Goldingay.

Despite that habitat alteration is known to be a primary cause of declines in biodiversity, our understanding of habitat quality, or differences in survival and reproduction among habitats, is limited. In this paper, I illustrate how metrics from the rapidly expanding field of conservation physiology, including measures of energy use, body condition, and stress, can be integrated into field studies to elucidate mechanisms of population declines. Collaboration among physiologists and wildlife researchers is integral to fully recognize the rewards of using this conservation framework. Photograph by Jessica Homyack.

Populations of the protected grey mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) are increasing in number in Spain, hence, potential conflicts with human interests due to predation of small-game species may arise in the future. We predicted potential suitable areas for the expansion of the grey mongoose using a niche modelling approach, overlapping them with relevant areas of small-game hunting activities. We report the existence of large regions of potential conflict that may result in the increase of non-selective methods of predator control, implying a threat to other protected predators such as the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) or the imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti).