SER in the News

Note: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view pdf files. Get Adobe Acrobat reader.

2006

January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December

December: The Monsoon Rainforests of Northern Australia (CO2 Science)

Banfai and Bowman (2006) report that "a number of processes are thought to be threatening the ecological integrity of monsoon rainforests in Northern Australia," including "the combined effects of an increase in late dry season fires, feral animal damage and weed invasion." (full text)

10 November: Shark Tagging (ABC News Northern Territory)

As fish stocks continue to decline in Asia, illegal fishermen are encroaching further into Australia's northern waters. (video .wmv, 3MB) right click to save, left click to play)

24 October: Due north (The Bulletin)

Stop subsidising a dying business - farms in the south - and shift to the far north, where the climate and water will support it. (full text)

20 October: Sleeping Giants (Broome Happenings)

From the jungle streams of the Top End of the Northern Territory to the vast desert dunes of Central Australia, opportunities are emerging like giants that have been sleeping. (full text, .pdf ,178KB)

6 October: Volunteer army tries to halt toxic toad invasion (The Times)

Their poison kills with gruesome efficiency and, after 70 years on the march, they are a season away from conquering Australia from east to west — almost wiping out once plentiful native animals. (full text)

1 October: Northern water resources receive national focus

Northern Australia's water resources are increasingly coming to national attention for both their development potential and in recognition of their outstanding natural and cultural values. (full text, .pdf, 146KB)

21 September: $27 million for Water Research (The Australian)

Scientists will be given $27 million to study rivers and coastlines in tropical Australia as part of a major water announcement by Prime Minister John Howard. (full text)

21 September: Fishermen asked to help with shark study (The Age)

Sharks may be feared for their sharp teeth and lethal bite but scientists are trying to determine whether too many of them are being fished in Australia's northern waters. (full text)

7 September: Time’s up for Australia’s last frontier (Australian Policy online)

The north is Australia’s last frontier. Here, dreams of development, conservation and indigenous rights collide. (full text)

25 August: How much do fire breaks and preventative burns and even bushfires themselves cost Top End pastoralists? (ABC Country Hour)

Reporter: Kate Sieper
Professor Stephen Garnett from Charles Darwin University is researching the true cost of fire to landholders, with their help. (more)

12 August: Banteng and the Torresian crow - a case of mutualism (The Science Show)

Reporter: Lynne Malcolm
Banteng is a cow species native to south east Asia. It was introduced to Australia in 1849 and released along with pigs and buffalo with the failure of settlement at Port Essington. (full text)

8 August: Gamba Grass

Reporter: Melinda James
Gamba grass has up to about ten times as much fuel in the area compared with native grasses and as a result when the fires do come through in the dry season they're up to about twenty times as hot as the fires that you would expect that you'd get in native grass. (full text)

5 August: Endangered cattle find pastures new (The New Scientist)

Reporter: Emma Young
Far from home in a remote region of Australia roams the world's largest herd of a wild, pure-bred species of threatened Indonesian cattle. (summary, full text for New Scientist subscribers)

August: The fragile millions of the tropical north (Australasian Science)

Despite its huge numbers in Northern Australia, the magpie goose has disappeared from its former southern strongholds and faces and uncertain future. (full text .pdf)

29 July: Crocodiles - ancestor found in Australia and tracking them today (ABC Science Show)

Corey Bradshaw talks to Lynne Malcolm about his work on population dynamics of crocodiles in the Northern Territory. (full text)

16 July: Northern exposure (ABC Landline)

Reporter: Tim Lee
The Federal Government has allocated a record $500 million to combat illegal fishing in Australia's northern waters. (full text)

8 July: $8M for Top End river watch (NT News)

A grant of $8 million has been allocated to establish a world-class research hub at Charles Darwin University Casuarina Campus. (full text .pdf, 46KB)

7 July: Outstations good for economy, environment (NT News)

Remote Aboriginal outstations play a vital role in Australia's economy, environment, and social well-being, a leading researcher says. (full text .pdf, 68KB)

28 June: Best fire management practices workshop (Tablelands Advertiser)

A workshop will be help on Cape York Peninsula in August to establish the best fire management practices for the region. (full text .pdf, 70KB)

5 June: Aborigines were no giant killers, say scientists (Sydney Morning Herald)

Claims that Aborigines killed off Australia's giant animals are based on faith, not fact, say Sydney scientists whose latest research suggests most of the creatures were long extinct when humans arrived on the continent. (full text .pdf, 43KB)

5 June: Irwin's croc hunting claims 'not based on fact' (ABC NT)

A Northern Territory crocodile expert says claims made in a letter from Steve Irwin to the Federal Environment Minister advising against crocodile safari hunting are not based on fact. (full text)

27 May: Recovery of Carpentarian rock-rat population (The Science Show, ABC)

There are 70 Australian mammals, birds, fish and plants currently on the International Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species, but one of them, the Carpentarian Rock-rat, seems to have recovered with the increase of rainforest in its area. (full text)

20 May: Australia's megafauna extinction (The Science Show, ABC)

Was it climate change or human intervention which caused the extinction of Australia's Pleistocene megafauna? (full text)

17 May: Radio rats on the run (ABC Northern Territory)

A group of scientists in Darwin have one really important question for rabbit-rats. (full text) (MP3 audio (.mp3, 3.5MB)

3 May: Hunt widens for megafauna killer (The Australian)

New evidence shows Aborigines may have hunted our giant beasts to extinction, writes Brendan O'Keefe (full text)

15 April: Irwin leaves croc safaris dead in the water (The Australian)

Crocodile safaris in the Northern Territory were on track for federal government approval until Steve Irwin, Australia's most famous crocodile hunter, put the bite on the plan. (full text)

8 April: Battle to hold back greedy fish bandits (Melbourne Herald Sun)

Poachers are raiding our coastal waters to steal our fish for Asian restaurant tables. (full text)

7 April: Gangs loot coast (Melbourne Herald Sun)

Organised crime gangs are plundering Australia's coastline, poaching priceless fish stocks and threatening catastrophic environmental damage. (full text)

6 April: Indonesian islands focus of rural development workshop (ABC Rural)

Agroforestry could be a major step towards food security across Nusa Tengarra Timur. (full text)

29 March: Endangered finch sightings leave ornithologists hopeful (ABC News)

Bird researchers in northern Australia are hoping the endangered gouldian finch could finally be on the path to recovery. (full text)

5 March: Local experts, global issues (NT News)

Water wars and threats to Asian security are being played out at the Museum and Gallery of the NT this month. (full text, .pdf, 95KB)

March: People and Plants International Supporting the Indonesian Indigenous Weavers' Festival (Threads of Life Newsletter)

The 2005 Indonesian Indigenous Weavers' Festival was greatly enhanced by the support of Professor Tony Cunningham, an ethnobotanist from South Africa now living in Australia. (full text)

9 February: Frilled-neck lizard babies are out! (ABC Scribbly Gum)

Across the Top End, baby frilled-neck lizards are hatching and heading for the heights of the nearest tree. (full text)

30 January: Where Did the Crocs Go? (Time Magazine)

Crocodiles relocated in northern Australia under government control schemes could now be anywhere. (full text)

18 January: Biologist prizes data connection (The Australian) Barry Brook awarded Fenner medal

'I'm essentially a theoretical ecologist', says Barry Brook of the Northern Territory's Charles Darwin University. (full text, .pdf, 96KB)

18 January: Who lives, who dies in the jungle (BBC)

The woolly mammoth and the dodo have gone; the dinosaur kingdom lies withered in its fossil graveyard. (full text)

18 January: World's biggest fish 'shrinking' (BBC)

Whale sharks spotted off the coast of Australia are getting smaller, researchers have said. (full text)