Unsustainable forest exploitation coupled with a shift to a dryer, warmer climate has changed the northern jarrah forest, with ecologically disruptive consequences. Achieving sustainability now requires reassessment of existing bauxite rehabilitation, with future rehabilitation focussed on the understorey. This should be accompanied by valorisation and restoration of the surrounding forest matrix. Escalating challenges under projected transformative change will increasingly require societal engagement.

With its large hooked beak suggesting a link to the dodo, Samoa’s tooth-billed pigeon now faces the same fate. Major cyclones and human clearance have left the species with little pristine forest. Hunting, rats and cats compound the problem. Major investment in research and management is urgently needed.

Cane toads (Rhinella marina) were first introduced to the Solomon Islands in the 1940s. Surveys were conducted between May 2009 and August 2012, and toads were recorded on 11 of 13 islands. Modified Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC_c) tests were used to establish the most parsimonious model for cane toad density in Solomon Islands.

3D high-definition aerial photography was demonstrated to be more accurate and cost-effective than on-ground searches for active malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) mounds for environmental impact assessments in the mid-west of Western Australia.

In developing countries, little published information is available for many species. Using visits to populations and existing local knowledge, we evaluated the conservation status of four rare, iconic Fijian trees. This approach produced important new information about the performance and size of populations, highlighting its potential to increase our knowledge about threatened Pacific Island species.

Fauna-rescue programs undertaken before and during vegetation clearing for mining and land development projects can significantly reduce the number of vertebrates that are lost and injured during this process. Different machine types and techniques can significantly alter the survival rate during vegetation clearing programs.

Deconstructed termitaria (n = 158) near Onslow in the Pilbara of Western Australia supported an average of 30.4 vertebrates and 4.5 species. The fauna assemblage in termitaria was significantly different to that in adjacent areas, with the Pilbara dtella (66.3% of all captures) being the most abundant species present.

The sea star Parvulastra parvivipara occurs only on western Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. Its habitat requirements include small unstable boulders, suggesting a susceptibly to any increases in physical disturbance. Large individuals of a co-occurring chiton were associated with small, heavily-encrusted boulders. Information of such habitat requirements is necessary for conservation planning for this coastline.

The role of the critically endangered woylie marsupial in recruiting sandalwood in south-western Australia was investigated in a eucalypt woodland. Woylies preferentially carried and buried sandalwood, then quandong seed, before investigating legume seed. The study highlights the importance of providing seed to seed-dispersal marsupials for ecosystem repair.