Biologic

Last week several Biologic staff members attended the Biodiversity Conference 2021, at The University Club of Western Australia. 

 

The themes for this year's conference were Indigenous Stewardship, Restoration and Conservation, Threats and Their Impact, Trends and Conditions, Technology and Innovation, and Our Biodiversity Assets.

 

Dozens of speakers presented over the course of 3 days, including the following presentations by Biologic Staff:

 

Dr Giulia Perina - Bathynellacea (Crusacea): A diverse subterranean group in Australian aquifers. What we know and what we need for conservation

 

Dr Joel Huey - Environmental DNA for targeted environmental surveys

 

Dr Juliana Pille Arnold - Floral resource energetics in the surrounding landscape drives abundance of bees in woodland remnants

 

Dr Nihara Gunawardene - The value of small urban bushlands and the importance of documenting and preserving biodiversity in the suburbs

 

Shae Callan - A new framework for 3D modelling of subterranean fauna habitats

 

We thank the conference hosts and organisers for the chance to present, and look forward to more opportunities to showcase our work and our team.

 

For further information about the presentations please contact our admin team, abstracts for each presentation can be found here https://biodiversity2021.com/program/

Environmental DNA (eDNA) potentially allows us to detect species in the environment, without physically sampling organisms. This could revolutionise environmental surveys, especially in subterranean environments where sampling is challenging.

 

Biologic Environmental Survey has been collaborating with industry partners Genotyping Australia to explore the possible applications of eDNA to subterranean surveys. Paired with robust baseline survey work, we have successfully detected eDNA of two species of subterranean micro-crustacean from Pilbara groundwater samples.

 

Biologic’s Senior Geneticist, Joel Huey, will be presenting “Environmental DNA for targeted environmental surveys” at the Biodiversity Conference 2021 (Resilient Landscapes) 15-17 September 2021 https://biodiversity2021.com/program/

 

For more information about the conference, follow the link below.

https://biodiversity2021.com/program/

 (image: M. Lythe)

Western Australia’s Pilbara and Yilgarn regions are recognised as global biodiversity hotspots for subterranean fauna, and yet subterranean habitats provide extreme challenges for fauna surveys and impact assessment.

 

Biologic Environmental Survey has worked intensively with industry partners Rio Tinto to produce a robust framework for three-dimensional (3D) subterranean fauna habitat modelling.

 

The framework combines specialist technical knowledge with advanced modelling capabilities in Leapfrog Geo to produce a rigorous 3D representation of the suitability, extent, and connectivity of subterranean fauna habitats.

 

Biologic’s Subterranean Fauna Technical Leader, Shae Callan, will be presenting “A new framework for 3D modelling of subterranean fauna habitats” at the Biodiversity Conference 2021 (Resilient Landscapes) 15-17 September 2021 

 

For more information about the conference and to learn more about how and why we do this work, follow the links below.

https://biodiversity2021.com/program/

https://youtu.be/YfPpwtaqCGs