Only a few times in human history have scientists had the opportunity to study a volcanic eruption, its impact, and the following repopulation and revegetation. In August of 1952 a volcano erupted on San Benedicto Island, Mexico and killed approximately 20 000 sea birds in a few minutes. This study reports on 60 years of post-volcanic research on sea birds, land crabs and plants. The responses of these organisms was variable and not easily predictable.

Fiji has >240 species of native terrestrial snails with an endemism level of ~80%. Information on four potentially threatened endemic Partulidae species is urgently needed. The descriptive information reported here will raise awareness of these tree snails, particularly for remote island communities that have little knowledge of the snail’s uniqueness or threatened conservation status.

The study explores the use of a fragmented landscape by Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroos (Dendrolagus lumholtzi). The spatial distribution of suitable habitat and the ability of the species to move into various types of matrices suggest that the current degree of fragmentation of the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland provides functional connectivity for this species.

This paper identifies some important factors affecting the density of frogs in the Solomon Islands. Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) was used to select the most parsimonious model of frog density. Factors identified in the selected model to predict density of 16 species were island, landform, and forest type. These findings have important management implications for the conservation of frogs in the Solomon Islands.

Anomalies in young of the Australian lungfish are now found in altered environments but not in fish collected from natural rivers. The cause of abnormal development is the production of deficient eggs by adult lungfish that are not well fed. This has serious implications for survival of the species, since most lungfish habitats are now altered.

The culturally and economically valued sandalwood of Fiji and Tonga has faced cyclical harvesting and fluctuating distribution and abundance from the early 19th century to the present. Sparse and scattered distribution and discontinuous size–class structure reveal waning wild populations, while economic and sociocultural challenges complicate management practices.

The Stiphodon rutilaureus in the New Georgia Group, Solomon Islands were studied using mitochondrial analysis and microsatellites. The results indicate low or no population structure among populations of amphidromous sicydiine goby species on different islands within an archipelago. This study provides suggestions for management and conservation of fragile aquatic species.

We developed a population viability model for the woylie (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi), which identified predation by introduced animals and its interaction with reduced fitness (for example due to inbreeding depression or a disease) as main threatening processes. We anticipated that the developed framework will facilitate similar work in other bettong species.

We explored the spatial distribution of bird species, and functional and phylogenetic diversity relative to elevational gradient in Taiwan. Our results indicate that the bird-protected areas in Taiwan may have been established with an over-dependence on species richness but overlooked the importance of phylogenetic diversity.

A habitat classification system identified 46 biophysical habitat types in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. Existing marine protection does not include a majority of habitats, and includes on average only 2.28% of demersal fish species’ ranges. Furthermore, habitats were poorly correlated with demersal fish biodiversity.

Reptiles fare poorly in terms of conservation attention and funding, due in part to their unpopularity compared to other terrestrial vertebrates. This paper documents worsening trends in the status of reptiles in Victoria, examines key threats to this fauna, and considers the steps needed to conserve Victorian reptiles.