Conservation biology

• You’d be forgiven for thinking water-dwelling animals like platypuses were spared.
• But our new research, published today in Biological Conservation, reveals platypuses are disappearing from waterways after fire.
• We found platypuses were less likely to be found in burnt catchment areas, six months after fire.

An evolutionary masterpiece

• They’re one of only five species of mammals that does – the other four are echidnas.
• And they have electroreceptors in their bills to help them find food in rivers and streams.
• There may be gradual changes over time, or rapid responses to a big disturbance, such as a fire.

DNA detective work

• Ideally we would have good data on species before and after a fire, to draw comparisons.
• Other research shows aquatic invertebrates (animals with no backbones) and fish can be harmed by bushfire, especially when rain follows fire.
• We took more environmental DNA samples from the same 118 sites at six months after the megafires, and also 12–18 months post-fire, giving us three data points for the same rivers and creeks.
• Read more:
  Scientists at work: We use environmental DNA to monitor how human activities affect life in rivers and streams

What we found

• But the difference between burnt and unburnt sites was negligible after 18 months.
• The combination of severe fire and rainfall minimised the chance of finding platypuses living at a site.
• We classified high severity fire as fire which removed all of the leaves from trees and burnt grasslands or pasture.

Understanding change

• Climate change is predicted to lead to more frequent, severe and extensive bushfires in south-eastern Australia, as well as to more extreme rainfall events.
• Our work adds to our understanding of how just one species could be harmed by the climate crisis.
• We need these types of systematic surveys to provide baselines and monitor how populations and communities are changing.

• XPRIZE , the world’s leader in designing and operating incentive competitions to solve humanity’s grand challenges, announced six teams will advance to the finals stage of its global, $10 million XPRIZE Rainforest competition, sponsored by Alana Foundation, to develop new biodiversity assessment technologies that improve our understanding of rainforest ecosystems.
• Launched in 2019, the goal of XPRIZE Rainforest is to accelerate the innovation of technologies that rapidly and comprehensively survey biodiversity and produce impactful insights to inform conservation efforts.
• “We need serious intervention to halt rainforest destruction, and I believe that the technologies in development through this competition can help get us closer to achieving this,” said Atossa Soltani, Founder & Board President of Amazon Watch and member of the XPRIZE Rainforest judging panel.
• “The technologies offered by the finalist teams come right on time to address critical issues on the conservation of tropical ecosystems,” said Dr. Oris Sanjur, Deputy Director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and member of the XPRIZE Rainforest advisory board.

• There are strict rules around the import and export of both native and exotic species.
• Our research published today in the journal Biological Conservation uncovers the surprising scale and diversity of the domestic online pet trade in Australia.
• Threatened species, invasive pests, banned imports, and animals not yet known to science are all for sale.

What’s the problem with trading exotic pets?

• As well as the conservation threat of unsustainably harvesting live animals from the wild, wildlife trade is a source of novel invasive species and their diseases.
• When exotic species escape from captivity they can become pests.
• Australia goes well beyond its international obligations and prohibits the commercial import of most live animals.

Booming online trade

• But now, thanks to online marketplaces, pet trade has largely shifted to the internet.
• To investigate if this was also happening in Australia, we identified 12 of the most prominent online platforms that sold exotic pets.
• To our surprise and alarm, 56% of the trade involved alien species (over 600 species in total).

Not everything is clearly illegal

• The reality is more ambiguous: Australia’s import ban of most animals only came into effect in the early 1980s.
• So some exotic pets may have arrived in Australia before the ban and have been bred in captivity ever since.
• The presence of undescribed species in Australia, mostly freshwater catfish and African cichlids, can only be explained by illegal smuggling or the exploitation of trade loopholes.

Is greater oversight needed?

• Some researchers call for e-commerce platforms such as Facebook to take greater responsibility by policing wildlife trade.
• Meta, the parent company of Facebook, was recently fined for failing to remove illegal trade.
• A permit is harder to acquire if the species in question poses a greater threat.

• The health and sustainability of every species on earth is interconnected, including people.
• EarthEcho International, the global nonprofit founded on the belief that youth have the power to change our planet, is accepting submissions for the 2023 OurEcho Challenge beginning November 3, 2022.
• The STEM competition is designed to engage young problem solvers in understanding and protecting the amazing diversity of species and ecosystems essential for the future of our planet.
• Recent studies underscore the need for innovative solutions and action now:
  1 million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction.