Papers by Dr Christine Hosking
Global warming is affecting extreme events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves and bushfires, w... more Global warming is affecting extreme events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves and bushfires, with important consequences for human communities and ecosystems. Large-scale reforestation, especially in the tropics and sub-tropics, has the potential to help mitigate this warming trend and the projected increases in extreme events. This raises an important question for Australia: what is the potential of large-scale reforestation to help mitigate projected changes in climate during the 21st Century? An important first step in addressing this question is to accurately represent key land surface characteristics in a climate model.
Conserving koalas: A review of the contrasting regional trends, outlooks and policy challenges
Biological Conservation, 2015
Conserving koalas: A review of the contrasting regional trends, outlooks and policy challenges
Biological Conservation, 2015
Regional conservation network planning for widely distributed species: A Koala Phascolarctos cinereus case study
In 2009, one of us (CM) had the fortunate opportunity of attending Copenhagen COP15 as an observe... more In 2009, one of us (CM) had the fortunate opportunity of attending Copenhagen COP15 as an observer, representing The University of Queensland. Despite high hopes, there was little concrete action arising out of COP15 (COP is Conference of the Parties). In light of this outcome, and the recent Cancun Agreement at COP16, this paper will discuss the inherent difficulties of negotiating solutions to the problem of global warming, and outline the implications of these for current climate change projections for Australia, particularly focusing on implications for ecosystems and fauna in the western regions of Queensland.
Wildlife and Climate Change, 2012
Terrestrial biodiversity in eastern Australia has been extensively affected by agricultural devel... more Terrestrial biodiversity in eastern Australia has been extensively affected by agricultural development and the expansion of coal seam gas (CSG) developments will potentially have additional impacts. Currently, there is little scientific research on the current or potential impacts of CSG activities and infrastructure on biodiversity in Australia. Internationally, the limited research (mainly in the USA), has found that CSG-related activities are having a range of measurable ecological impacts on the wildlife and habitats studied. It has also been found that these impacts are multi-scale (local and regional) and potentially cumulative (different projects in a region having compounded effects).
Conserving koalas in the 21st century: synthesising the dynamics of Australia's koala populations
Terrestrial biodiversity in eastern Australia has been extensively affected by agricultural devel... more Terrestrial biodiversity in eastern Australia has been extensively affected by agricultural development and the expansion of coal seam gas (CSG) developments will potentially have additional impacts. Currently, there is little scientific research on the current or potential impacts of CSG activities and infrastructure on biodiversity in Australia. Internationally, the limited research (mainly in the USA), has found that CSG-related activities are having a range of measurable ecological impacts on the wildlife and habitats studied. It has also been found that these impacts are multi-scale (local and regional) and potentially cumulative (different projects in a region having compounded effects).
Global warming is affecting extreme events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves and bushfires, w... more Global warming is affecting extreme events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves and bushfires, with important consequences for human communities and ecosystems. Large-scale reforestation, especially in the tropics and sub-tropics, has the potential to help mitigate this warming trend and the projected increases in extreme events. This raises an important question for Australia: what is the potential of large-scale reforestation to help mitigate projected changes in climate during the 21st Century? An important first step in addressing this question is to accurately represent key land surface characteristics in a climate model.
For species that are increasingly threatened by the combined impacts of habitat
loss and climate... more For species that are increasingly threatened by the combined impacts of habitat
loss and climate change, the identification of priority regions for conservation
planning efforts is urgently required. In the case of specialist folivores, consideration
of the effects of climate change on the distributions of their essential
food resources should be a key component of conservation planning. The
koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) was listed in 2012 as vulnerable under Australian
Commonwealth Government law. Here, we incorporate species distribution
models for the koala, an arboreal marsupial, and its specialized food resources,
to identify broad-scale priority conservation regions. We demonstrate a spatial
prioritization approach that informs conservation planning and that links
the shifting distribution of this declining species and its critical food resources
under climate change. We find that the inclusion of food plants affected the
identification of priority regions for conserving koalas, and that priority regions
for the conservation of this species are predicted to shift considerably,
often outside the current range of this species, posing additional challenges for
its conservation.
The koala Phascolarctos cinereus is the only member of the once diverse marsupial family Phascola... more The koala Phascolarctos cinereus is the only member of the once diverse marsupial family Phascolarctidae to have survived the Last Glacial Maximum. A climate envelope model for P. cinereus was developed to predict the range for this species at present and at the Last Glacial Maximum. The model was compared to the contemporary koala records and the known fossil records of P. cinereus during the Quaternary. The predicted current core range for koalas was concentrated in southeast Queensland, eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria. At the Last Glacial Maximum their predicted core range contracted significantly to southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales. Our findings concord with other studies that find species experienced range contractions during glacial maxima. In the context of the future conservation planning for koalas in the wild, our historical perspective demonstrates the past adaptations of koalas to changes in climate and their probable range contraction to climatic refugia. The future survival of wide-ranging specialist species, such as the koala, may depend on identifying and protecting, future climatic refugia.
Aim An important consideration when planning to conserve a species under climate change is to und... more Aim An important consideration when planning to conserve a species under climate change is to understand how the distribution of its food resources may also contract or shift under those same climatic conditions. Here, we use a case study to demonstrate a spatial conservation planning approach to inform decisions about where, under climate change, to protect and restore critical food and habitat resources for highly specialized species.
Landscape …, Jan 1, 2010
Wildlife Research, Jan 1, 2011
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Papers by Dr Christine Hosking
loss and climate change, the identification of priority regions for conservation
planning efforts is urgently required. In the case of specialist folivores, consideration
of the effects of climate change on the distributions of their essential
food resources should be a key component of conservation planning. The
koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) was listed in 2012 as vulnerable under Australian
Commonwealth Government law. Here, we incorporate species distribution
models for the koala, an arboreal marsupial, and its specialized food resources,
to identify broad-scale priority conservation regions. We demonstrate a spatial
prioritization approach that informs conservation planning and that links
the shifting distribution of this declining species and its critical food resources
under climate change. We find that the inclusion of food plants affected the
identification of priority regions for conserving koalas, and that priority regions
for the conservation of this species are predicted to shift considerably,
often outside the current range of this species, posing additional challenges for
its conservation.