Each year The Royal Society of Western Australia makes John Glover Research-Support Grants, at present valued at $15,000 each for one year, to PhD students undertaking projects in Natural Sciences, Anthropology or Archaeology. The students are selected based on open competition among applicants from the active PhD-student cohort at Western Australian universities. After one year as a John Glover Scholar the students are given the opportunity to present highlights of their year’s work to a special meeting of the Society and to incorporate a summary of their work in a joint research article for this journal. This is intended to cover particularly the aspects of the project for which the John Glover grant funding was sought. The summaries are based on preliminary results for one year of the projects that usually extend over three to four years. Seven of the 2025 John Glover Scholars have contributed to this paper in four major research areas. (1) Plant–Soil Interactions: Recently burned soils show greater ectomycorrhizal loss following pathogen invasion (Mnqobi Zuma); Biochemical phosphorus allocation is linked to photosynthetic phosphorus-use efficiency in a phosphorus-impoverished environment (Ling-Ling Chen); Protection of eucalypt species against Phytophthora infection in phosphorus-impoverished environments: roles of mycorrhizal fungi (Zhe Zhang). (2) Terrestrial animals: Cryptic kultarr: investigating a potential new species of kultarr ( Antechinomys sp.) not caught alive for 50 years (Cameron Dodd); How do predators prefer to move through the landscape? An analysis of telemetry data (Natalie Grassi). (3) Freshwater invertebrate ecology: Biodiversity responses in temporary waters due to a rapidly drying climate. (Zac Kayll). (4) Coastal oceanography: Observations of 2024/2025 marine heatwave along Ningaloo coast (Hannah Whitaker).
Abandoned mine tunnels can provide critical roosting habitat for cave-dwelling bats. Joker’s Tunnel, a 19th-century gold-mining adit and tourist attraction in Western Australia’s Midwest, is publicly accessible and receives visitation, including for its roosting bat populations. We conducted harp-trapping, acoustic monitoring, and roost emergence surveys between 31 October and 5 November 2025 to determine species use, confirm maternity roosting, and assess the site’s suitability for citizen science. Two species were confirmed using the tunnel as a maternity roost: Finlayson’s cave bat ( Vespadelus finlaysoni ) and Hill’s sheathtail bat ( Taphozous hilli ), the latter recorded outside its previously known distribution. Additional species were detected in surrounding foraging areas and at the Yalgoo town dam. Roost emergence observations demonstrated that citizen scientists could successfully collect useful data on emergence timing and occupancy by multiple species. As an openly accessible site, Joker’s Tunnel illustrates both the potential for disturbance to a sensitive roost and the importance of carefully managing visitor access, as normally, roost locations are kept confidential to minimise these impacts. At the same time, the site presents an opportunity to integrate bat conservation with heritage tourism and community-based monitoring, providing a model for accessible, low-impact citizen science initiatives.
This research note provides the first characterisation of the fibrous material in the seed capsules of Norfolk Island Hibiscus, Lagunaria patersonia , an Australian plant species known to cause severe skin irritation. Using scanning electron microscopy, the fibres were found to be smooth, acicular structures approximately 1.5 mm long and 50 µm wide, with notably sharp tips (<10 µm radius) and no surface ornamentation. Their geometry suggests the ability to easily penetrate human skin. These findings clarify the physical basis of irritation associated with this species and contribute to understanding its potential health risks and safe handling
This is the second part of an extensive survey of outcrops of the Bandeira Formation (Triassic massive shallow-marine limestone successions) in Timor-Leste on the northwestern margin of the present-day Australian continent. During the Late Triassic (Carnian to within the Rhaetian), the limestones were deposited as carbonate platforms in the East Gondwana Interior Rift system. Foraminiferal assemblages in the studied limestones from the Turiscai, Lilu, Pualaca, Paitchau and Tutuala regions in eastern Timor-Leste belong mainly within the Norian and lower Rhaetian. The age determinations are at variance with some previous stratigraphic correlations of the limestone units in each area, and this together with a consistent set of adjacent stratigraphic formations, results in revision of the tectonostratigraphic affinities of these shallow-water Triassic carbonate deposits.
Artificial roost structures such as bat boxes are increasingly used to support bats in urban environments, particularly where natural hollows are scarce due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Despite widespread installation across the Perth and Peel regions of Western Australia, coordinated monitoring to assess their effectiveness remains limited. This research note presents preliminary findings from an ongoing citizen science initiative aimed at understanding bat box occupancy and informing conservation efforts. Monthly monitoring at three sites, Canning River Regional Park, Paganoni Swamp, and Samphire Cove, involved visual inspections, guano recording, and acoustic surveys. Consistent occupancy was only observed at Canning River Regional Park, likely influenced by factors such as freshwater proximity, habitat connectivity, box design and age. Non-target fauna including wasps, moths, skinks, and geckos was also recorded. Notably, two deceased bats were found in one box, and a live bat showing signs consistent with metabolic bone disease was observed, raising concerns about bat health in urban environments. As climate change leads to more frequent and intense heat waves, further investigation is needed into how environmental conditions, urbanisation and bat box design together influence roost temperatures and other aspects of bat welfare. These early insights highlight the value of community-led monitoring in guiding future conservation planning.
The Bandeira Formation includes Triassic massive shallow-marine limestone successions in Timor-Leste on the northwestern margin of the present-day Australian continent. During the Late Triassic (Carnian to within the Rhaetian), the limestones were deposited as carbonate platforms in the East Gondwana Interior Rift system. Older Middle Triassic deposits may also be present but have not been confirmed. In past mapping of the high peaks and mountain ranges in western Timor-Leste, these Triassic limestones were often identified as the Lower Miocene Cablac Limestone. This paper outlines the stratigraphic settings of four localities of the Bandeira Formation, including the type locality, as well as information on rock types and fossil assemblages that provide the bases for the age determinations. Past stratigraphic designations, age determinations and revised tectonostratigraphic implications, many of which have been misleading, are discussed.
New palynological processing of core from UWA 4 drilled in 1964 adjacent to outcrop of the non-marine Wagina Sandstone near the Darling Fault on the Irwin Terrace of the northern Perth Basin yielded spores and pollen of the mid-Roadian Microbaculispora villosa Zone. However, this formation name has also been applied to shallow-marine facies containing spore-pollen of the Wordian to Changhsingian Didecitriletes ericianus to Dulhuntyispora parvithola zones in petroleum exploration wells within the western part of the basin. Not only are these zones significantly younger, but in that part of the basin the M. villosa Zone is restricted to the unconformably underlying Kungurian Carynginia Formation. That hiatus spans at least the late Roadian to early Wordian Dulhuntyispora granulata Zone whereas in outcrop along the Irwin Terrace the Wagina Sandstone appears to be conformable on the Carynginia Formation. Despite these differences and the name Wagina Sandstone having historical precedence for the outcrop, its overwhelming application in the subsurface is given priority to avoid confusion. Accordingly, the outcrops next to the Darling Fault are renamed as ‘Ebano Sandstone’. Other upper Permian subsurface units are retained: Dongara Sandstone for shoreface facies overlying the Wagina Sandstone, and Beekeeper Formation for the dominantly sandy carbonate facies in the south. Nevertheless, these three units interfinger such that differentiating them can be subjective. By comparison, none of the names listed above are appropriate for the upper Permian non-marine sections east of Geraldton in the north of the basin near Eradu and Indarra.
Previous analysis of hydrological data in the eucalypt dominated forests of Western Australia’s Darling Ranges show that reduced winter rainfall over the last 50 years has lowered groundwater levels and diminished streamflow by up to 70%. Consequently, climate-independent reverse osmosis seawater desalination and groundwater resources now supply Perth and nearby regional areas, as runoff from forested catchments is no longer sufficient or reliable. In the high rainfall (~1200 mm/yr) mixed forest areas dominated by Eucalyptus diversicolor (karri) and Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah) 200 km to the south of Perth (the ‘Southern Forest’), similar analysis of climate impacts on watertables has not been conducted. In this paper we collate over 48 years of groundwater data (1975/76–2024) along with climate and streamflow records to understand changes in the Southern Forest catchments. We assemble data from eleven research catchments that were intensively studied from 1975/1976 until mid-1990s, then abandoned. Some of these small watersheds were logged (1976–78 or 1982–83) and others left as unlogged controls. Both were monitored to study impacts on streamflow and water quality. We returned to these catchments after two decades of lapsed monitoring, comprising a period of reduced rainfall and forest regrowth, to determine how watertables contained in the deeply weathered regolith had responded. Analysis of climate data indicates that, like the Darling Ranges, annual rainfall reduced during the latter part of the 20th century. There have also been changes to seasonal rainfall and temperature patterns. Relative responses vary depending on location. Results from over 48 years of groundwater monitoring, comparing levels taken at the end of each dry season, show watertables in the deeply weathered regolith have fallen on average by 5.1 to 6.7 m (<0.16 m/yr) beneath the stream zone and hillslopes in the paired and comparison catchments. In all cases, watertables are now > 5 m below the stream zone (range: 5 to 13 m bgl), indicating little or no connection. Average falls were greater in the intermediate and higher rainfall catchments (paired catchments – 6.3 m (treated), 5.9 m (control); comparison catchments, 8.9 m (treated), 4.6 m (control)), with maximum falls of 10-12 m in some individual bores. In the low rainfall Yerraminnup catchments, falls were less (~2 m), however most bores are now dry. The timing and magnitude of reductions in watertables was variable between catchments, but in all cases had accelerated since 2000 and especially after 2010, when the driest years in the region were recorded. Reduced watertables at the end of the dry season equate to losses of 42% of the saturated zone storage under the stream zone and up to 64% storage under hillslopes. If rates of fall are sustained into the future, extensive areas of saturated regolith under hillslopes and stream zones would be depleted. Regionally, reduced rainfall and watertable decline has contributed to a 66% reduction in streamflow of the Donnelly River since monitoring commenced in 1952. From 2000, the Donnelly River has become intermittent, with dry periods in summer regularly exceeding 100 days. Ecologically important forests and riverine systems may become vulnerable to receded streamflow if these trends remain. In dry years, seasonal flows are dominated by water generated from upland cleared catchments, with first and last flows resulting from overflowing farm dams. CSIRO modelling, that accounts for the effects of non-stationarity, and uses current Global Climate Models, indicates a potential for additional reductions of streamflow of 32–45% by 2059, if forecasts of reduced rainfall remain classified as ‘ almost certain ’. This paper presents several metrics to help explain recent drying recorded in the Southern Forest. It suggests some drivers that explain the change in streamflow regime and outlines actions to improve data available to inform future decision making.
Bryozoans represent a dominant faunal element in the Lower Permian of Western Australia. Here, three new trepostome species are described from the Callytharra Formation (Sakmarian – Artinskian): Nikiforopora haigi sp. nov., Iraidina dendroidea sp. nov., and I. multicava sp. nov. The genera Nikiforopora and Iraidina were previously unknown from the Permian deposits of Australia. The genera have no contemporary equivalents from other areas, so their use for stratigraphic correlation and palaeobiogeography remains limited. Intensive studies of the Permian Bryozoa from Australia appear necessary to better understand the Gondwanan distributions of the genera and species.
The cosmopolitan organic-cemented agglutinated foraminifer Trochamminita irregularis previously identified in Australian salt marshes of the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria and Little Swanport Estuary in Tasmania, has been recognised for the first time in Western Australia in the Hay River connected to Wilson Inlet, in the south-west of the State. The irregular test and chamber shapes may be related to the species mode of living restricted to the upper-marsh or river-margin environments in organic-rich sediment associated with filamentous rhizomes/stolons of marsh vegetation. Morphological variation may also be due to highly variable seasonal to daily environmental changes ranging from tidal variation, salinity changes (within a hyposaline range) and variable river flow. Trochamminita ’s fragmented global distribution could likely be attributed to attachment to migratory waterbirds dispersing it along major flyways such as the East Australasian Flyway where Australia acts as one of the main foraging and breeding ground for these birds. The discovery of the species in the Hay River allows some preliminary investigations of the micro-living habitat of Trochamminita and its potential means of dispersion. Molecular and more in-depth ecological studies on living T. irregularis are required to more fully understand this global and ecologically significant marsh indicator species.
Hopping mice are omnivorous rodents known for their burrowing habits and are not typically found in trees. We provide a record of an unusually high number of hopping mice caught in tree-mounted Elliott traps targeting red-tailed phascogales ( Phascogale calura ) at a multi-species reintroduction site in Western Australia. In 2024, 43 captures of hopping mice, representing two extant Notomys spp. (spinifex hopping mouse N. alexis and Mitchell’s hopping mouse N. mitchellii ), were unexpectedly captured in Elliott traps positioned >1.5 m off the ground, including three instances where two hopping mice were captured in a single trap. These captures provide evidence of previously unrecorded climbing behaviour by foraging hopping mice.
Fossil assemblages preserved in nodules of the methane-seep deposits, recognized by Haig et al. (2022) in the lower Permian (Cisuralian, Sakmarian stage) of the Irwin Basin, include representatives of three ecosystems: seep, pelagic, and coastal plain. The seep biota, new to the Australian Permian, consists of small thickets with a framework of tubeworms, less common algal-like Tubiphytes, and problematica (? algae or sponges). Other components include microbial mats, macrophyte alga Litostroma (first report from Gondwana); foraminifers; sponges with siliceous monaxon spicules; a new group of small, lightly ornamented rostroconchs; microgastropods and rare larger types; ostracods and minute scolecodonts from polychaete jaws. Elements of the pelagic ecosystem are ammonoids (abundant in enclosing shale) and marine microphytoplankton. Probable vertebrate bone (possibly amphibians) and diverse spores and pollen from land plants come from the adjoining coastal plain. The surrounding mudstone lacks benthic macrofauna but includes an unusual assemblage of siliceous agglutinated foraminifers. The seeps were oases of high organic productivity on an otherwise barren muddy seafloor. The Holmwood Shale’s seep carbonates have close similarities to modern seep deposits in shallow-marine settings.
The tiger snake (Notechis scutatus) population on Carnac Island has been well-studied by ecologists, but the origin of this population is still the subject of debate. Many published studies make reference to the population being artificially established by a snake showman in the early 20th century. Here, we provide an alternative perspective, backed up with new genetic evidence, and propose that the population is more likely a remnant from the natural isolation of the island that may have been supplemented by any such translocation event.
Stratigraphic units, characterized by distinct rock types, ages and depositional environments, are described from one of the most geologically chaotic terranes on the present-day western Australian continental margin. The Matebian Overthrust Terrane in Timor-Leste has components interpreted to have been deposited (1) on the Early Jurassic northern margin of eastern Gondwana; (2) off the Late Cretaceous southern Sundaland margin of south-east Asia, probably in the vicinity of east Java–south Sulawesi; and (3) in an Eocene to earliest Miocene orogenic belt along the southern Sundaland margin. By the Early Miocene, the units were stitched together in a coherent terrane as evidenced by olistoliths, debris-slide conglomerates and detrital material in turbidites. During the Late Miocene the terrane rifted from the Sundaland margin, probably during the opening of the Banda Sea, and collided with Timor–Scott Plateau at the Australian continental margin, becoming incorporated in the Timor–Seram orogenic belt along this margin. The following stratigraphic units are described from the terrane: Perdido Limestone (Early Jurassic, Sinemurian–Pliensbachian, ~ 199–184 Ma; neritic deposit); Sagadati Argillite (new unit; Early Jurassic, Sinemurian–Pliensbachian, ~ 199–184 Ma; lower bathyal deposit adjacent continent margin); Tibalari Pelagite (new unit; early Late Cretaceous, mainly Cenomanian–Turonian, ~ 100–90 Ma; lower bathyal oceanic deposit); Lakamutu Mudstone (new unit; Middle Eocene, ~ 45–43 Ma; abyssal oceanic deposit near continent margin); Liloli Calcarenite (new unit; Middle Eocene; bathyal slope deposit adjacent continent margin); probable Barique Volcanics (probably Middle Eocene; submarine volcanics); Afalari Pelagite (new unit; mid Oligocene, ~ 30–28 Ma; lower bathyal oceanic deposit); Booi Limestone (Late Oligocene to earliest Miocene, ~ 27–20 Ma, neritic deposit); Atelari Mudstone (new unit; Late Oligocene to earliest Miocene, ~ 26–21 Ma, upper bathyal deposit). [Editor’s Note: Most of the content of this paper was originally archived as an unpublished supplementary file to Nano, J., Haig, D.W., Fraga, E., Soares, M., Barros, I.S., McCartain, E., Baillie, P., 2023. Debris-slides, olistoliths and turbidites: keys to understanding the tectonostratigraphic affinities of a terrane block in a young orogenic belt, Timor-Leste. Journal of the Geological Society, London, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2023-079 (https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2023-079). It is here published with permission from this journal]
The recent decline of terrestrial insects in many parts of the world is of growing concern due to the fundamental ecosystem services they perform. Pollination is a vital ecosystem service predominantly performed by insects, with inestimable environmental and economic benefits. Accurate assessment and management of insect pollinator declines, and of other ecosystem impacts are hindered by a lack of long-term monitoring data and notably an absence of Southern Hemisphere studies. This preliminary study aims to address some of these gaps by determining if the diversity of insect floral visitors and potential pollinators of the canopy tree species Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) within Kings Park may have changed over 26 years by replicating the methods employed by previous research (undertaken by Yates et al. in 2005). Additionally, this study aims to determine if the relative abundance of the introduced European honeybee (Apis mellifera) compared to native bees visiting Jarrah flowers may have also changed. We observed insect visitors to flowers at three trees across the morning, midday, and evening over three consecutive days in mid-December 2023 (peak flowering). A total of 3023 individual observations were made, recording insects of 7 orders, 25 families, 39 genera, and 45 species. We found that abundances were comparable to 26 years ago but found a substantial shift in the composition of insect visitors with 46% less species documented and only 25% of species reoccurring. Ten additional families were observed that were not documented 26 years ago, with most visitors capable of performing pollination to varying efficacies. Ants had replaced the European honeybee as the most common visitor to Jarrah flowers, and while the relative abundance of honeybees was still significantly greater than native bees, the proportion of honeybee visitors had declined, at least at the time of our study. The documented shift in the composition of Jarrah insect pollinators should be confirmed by more replicated studies in Kings Park, and highlights the importance of long-term monitoring, and the need for further avenues of urban pollination research to accurately assess and address any widespread decline of insects. This is important for protecting the pollination services that insect pollinators provide at local and global scales.
Significant and ongoing land clearing within the Perth region has resulted in severe declines in its rich herpetofauna diversity over the last several decades, with many species experiencing widespread extirpations. Several species have since become extremely rare and are confined to a handful of locations; whether or not some species even continue to persist in the region is ambiguous, due to a lack of recent records. The aims of this study are to examine contemporary occurrences of Brachyurophis fasciolatus fasciolatus, Ctenotus gemmula, Delma concinna concinna, Diplodactylus polyophthalmus, Lerista christinae and Lucasium alboguttatum in the Perth region. These records suggest that the distribution of the species have declined here in recent decades. Further survey-work is required to address knowledge gaps in their current distributions, in order to identify remaining populations and conserve locally significant species, which may continue to persist in localities bearing sufficient habitat. Targeted surveys are most suited for this task, with heavy focus on historical collection sites and under-surveyed expanses of habitat. [Editor’s note: Grey literature listed in the Appendix is denoted in the text by an asterisk]
Marri (Corymbia calophylla), an endemic and keystone tree species of southwest Western Australia (SWWA), provides significant environmental, conservation, economic and cultural values. This study aims to analyse the effect of stand density, manipulated through thinning, on growth and allometry of marri-dominated forest. Although individual tree diameter (DHBUB, diameter at breast height under bark), basal area, height and crown-width (CW) growth was stimulated by thinning, stand basal-area growth was highest in denser (less thinned) stands. Stand density had a significant effect on the allometry between DBHUB and each of height and height-diameter ratio (HDR). Height and CW increased with an increase in DBHUB although the relationship with CW was not statistically significant; HDR was inversely related to DBHUB. Thinning has the potential to increase yields of merchantable timber, firewood, and enhance ecological values including tree hollows for arboreal fauna and marri-fruit production (important for cockatoos) that depend on retention of sufficient large old trees. Reduction of stand density through thinning reduces inter-tree competition and may help in reducing the risk of marri canker disease.
This state-wide and long-term overview of rural change in Western Australia employs Craig Colten’s hierarchical categorisation of rural change into transitions and adaptations. It identifies two major transitions in the nature of human use of Western Australia’s rural land. The first was the shift from a localised subsistence economy and society spanning tens of millennia, as practised by the Indigenous population, to a commercially productive and imperial system between the early nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries as British colonisation and Indigenous dispossession progressed. Then, from roughly the mid-twentieth century onwards, there has been a ‘multifunctional rural transition’. Whereas commercial and productive activities have remained an important function of rural Western Australia, these have been increasingly complemented by, and may even be in competition with protection of the state’s pre-existing environments and ecosystems, and consumption of non-metropolitan Western Australia’s aesthetic and recreational resources by a predominantly urban population from within and without the state. Adaptations have continued throughout and across both transitions, but they have become more frequent and necessary as global rates of technological, political and social change have accelerated. A case study of the social, economic and land use shifts in the Margaret River region illustrates these processes.
Ghost bats of Western Australia’s Pilbara region are widespread, although patchily distributed, and are threatened with local extirpation, largely in part due to the expanding mining footprint across the region. The extensive data collected to inform environmental impact assessments for mineral exploration projects, however, provides a key source of information to inform ghost bat policy and management. At present, the effectiveness of this resource is limited by accessibility. To help bridge this gap, we conducted a comprehensive review of the grey literature on ghost bats, summarising strategies for survey techniques, perceived threats, and threat mitigation strategies. Numerous threatening processes were identified as impacting ghost bats, with habitat loss and the cumulative impacts of mining most reported. Survey techniques were found to often include a combination of indirect and direct methods, although the suitability of different techniques is reliant on the context of the study. For this reason, it is important for future environmental assessment reports to include a detailed method rationale to support better data comparability and population estimation across the Pilbara. Overall, comprehensive and comparable research outputs will help to better assess and understand extinction risks, and to develop effective conservation management plans for this threatened species.
