Ancient Roots, Modern Tech: The Race to Save Our Species

The biodiversity component of Australia's 2026 State of the Environment report relies on monitoring of a tiny proportion of the species found on the continent reflecting the inadequate monitoring we do nationally. This contrasts with developing countries, like India, that has achieved the world's largest mammal monitoring project in their National Tiger Census. I provide some examples of what Australia could be doing to improve our monitoring.

The ancient Gondwana rainforests of eastern Australia are some of the most diverse and beautiful forests Australia has, but they’re under stress. These forests evolved in reliably wet conditions, yet climate change is bringing longer droughts and more intense fires. My research looks at how rainforest trees cope when water runs short and what happens after fire. We’ve found that many species struggle to recover, and some, like Antarctic beech, are especially vulnerable. Even five years after the 2019-20 fires, full recovery remains a long way off, revealing just how slowly these remarkable forests recover.