Unravelling the mystery of endemic versus translocated populations of the endangered Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri).

The Australian lungfish is a primitive and endangered representative of the subclass Dipnoi. The distribution of this species is limited to south-east Queensland, with some populations considered endemic and others possibly descending from translocations in the late nineteenth century shortly after European discovery. Attempts to resolve the historical distribution of this species have met with conflicting results based on descriptive genetic studies.

Total-evidence analysis of an undescribed fauna: resolving the evolution and classification of Australia's golden trapdoor spiders (Idiopidae: Arbanitinae: Euoplini).

In the trapdoor spider genus Euoplos Rainbow & Pulleine (tribe Euoplini), it was discovered recently that two divergent lineages occur in sympatry in eastern Australia. This challenged the monogeneric classification of the tribe and, in combination with inadequate taxonomic descriptions of some species, precluded comprehensive taxonomic revision. To resolve these issues, we conducted a total-evidence cladistic analysis on a largely undescribed continental fauna-the first such analysis on a group of Australian Mygalomorphae.

Genetic structure of Australian glass shrimp, in relation to altitude.

Kemp (Decapoda: Atyidae) is a widely distributed freshwater shrimp in eastern Australia. The species has been considered as an important stream organism for studying genetics, dispersal, biology, behaviour and evolution in atyids and is a major food source for stream dwelling fishes. is a cryptic species complex consisting of nine highly divergent mitochondrial DNA lineages.

Heritability of plumage colour morph variation in a wild population of promiscuous, long-lived Australian magpies.

Colour polymorphisms have evolutionary significance for the generation and maintenance of species diversity. Demonstrating heritability of polymorphic traits can be challenging for wild populations of long-lived species because accurate information is required on trait expression and familial relationships. The Australian magpie Cracticus tibicen has a continent-wide distribution featuring several distinct plumage morphs, differing primarily in colour of back feathers.

Dissection by genomic and plumage variation of a geographically complex hybrid zone between two Australian non-sister parrot species, Platycercus adscitus and Platycercus eximius.

The study of hybrid zones advances understanding of the speciation process, and approaches incorporating genomic data are increasingly used to draw significant conclusions about the impact of hybridisation. Despite the progress made, the complex interplay of factors that can lead to substantially variable hybridisation outcomes are still not well understood, and many systems and/or groups remain comparatively poorly studied. Our study aims to broaden the literature on avian hybrid zones, investigating a potentially geographically and temporally complex putative hybrid zone between two native Australian non-sister parrot species, the pale-headed and eastern rosellas (Platycercus adscitus and Platycercus eximius, respectively).

Monitoring age-related trends in genomic diversity of Australian lungfish.

An important challenge for conservation science is to detect declines in intraspecific diversity so that management action can be guided towards populations or species at risk. The lifespan of Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) exceeds 80 years, and human impacts on breeding habitat over the last half century may have impeded recruitment, leaving populations dominated by old postreproductive individuals, potentially resulting in a small and declining breeding population. Here, we conduct a "single-sample" evaluation of genetic erosion within contemporary populations of the Australian lungfish.

Patterns of genetic structuring at the northern limits of the Australian smelt () cryptic species complex.

Freshwater fishes often exhibit high genetic population structure due to the prevalence of dispersal barriers (e.g., waterfalls) whereas population structure in diadromous fishes tends to be weaker and driven by natal homing behaviour and/or isolation by distance.

Spiny trapdoor spiders (Euoplos) of eastern Australia: Broadly sympatric clades are differentiated by burrow architecture and male morphology.

Spiders of the infraorder Mygalomorphae are fast becoming model organisms for the study of biogeography and speciation. However, these spiders can be difficult to study in the absence of fundamental life history information. In particular, their cryptic nature hinders comprehensive sampling, and linking males with conspecific females can be challenging.

Genome-Wide SNPs Identify Limits to Connectivity in the Extreme Freshwater Disperser, Spangled Perch Leiopotherapon unicolor (Terapontidae).

The utility of restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) to resolve fine-scale population structure was tested on an abundant and vagile fish species in a tropical river. Australia's most widespread freshwater fish, the "extreme disperser" Leiopotherapon unicolor was sampled from 6 locations in an unregulated system, the Daly River in Australia's Northern Territory. Despite an expectation of high connectivity based on life history knowledge of this species derived from arid zone habitats, L.

A novel genus and cryptic species harboured within the monotypic freshwater crayfish genus Riek, 1951 (Decapoda: Parastacidae).

Identifying species groups is an important yet difficult task, with there being no single accepted definition as to what constitutes a species, nor a set of criteria by which they should be delineated. Employing the General Lineage Concept somewhat circumvents these issues, as this concept allows multiple concordant lines of evidence to be used as support for species delimitation, where a species is defined as any independently evolving lineage. Genetically diverse groups have previously been identified within the monotypic parastacid genus Riek, 1951, but no further investigation of this diversity has previously been undertaken.

Complete mitogenomes for two lineages of the Australian smelt, (Osmeriformes: Retropinnidae).

Complete mitochondrial genome sequences were determined for two lineages ("CEQ" and "SEQ") of the Australian smelt, . Both mitogenomes contain the typical vertebrate arrangement of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and control region. A conventional start codon for ND2 was not present in either lineage; instead CTG (Leucine) was present at this position.

Movement of a Hybrid Zone Between Lineages of the Australian Glass Shrimp (Paratya australiensis).

In 1993, a population of freshwater glass shrimp (Paratya australiensis) was translocated from Kilcoy Creek to Branch Creek in the Conondale Range, Queensland. Subsequent genetic analysis revealed that the translocated and resident shrimp belonged to different mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages that were capable of hybridizing. Monitoring of the pools along Branch Creek up until 2002 suggested that the translocated lineage had an advantage in upstream pools and the resident lineage dominated downstream.

Vertical Distribution of Soil Denitrifying Communities in a Wet Sclerophyll Forest under Long-Term Repeated Burning.

Soil biogeochemical cycles are largely mediated by microorganisms, while fire significantly modifies biogeochemical cycles mainly via altering microbial community and substrate availability. Majority of studies on fire effects have focused on the surface soil; therefore, our understanding of the vertical distribution of microbial communities and the impacts of fire on nitrogen (N) dynamics in the soil profile is limited. Here, we examined the changes of soil denitrification capacity (DNC) and denitrifying communities with depth under different burning regimes, and their interaction with environmental gradients along the soil profile.

Phylogenetic analysis of the Australian rosella parrots (Platycercus) reveals discordance among molecules and plumage.

Relationships and species limits among the colourful Australian parrots known as rosellas (Platycercus) are contentious because of poorly understood patterns of parapatry, sympatry and hybridization as well as complex patterns of geographical replacement of phenotypic forms. Two subgenera are, however, conventionally recognised: Platycercus comprises the blue-cheeked crimson rosella complex (Crimson Rosella P. elegans and Green Rosella P.

Human effects on ecological connectivity in aquatic ecosystems: Integrating scientific approaches to support management and mitigation.

Understanding the drivers and implications of anthropogenic disturbance of ecological connectivity is a key concern for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Here, we review human activities that affect the movements and dispersal of aquatic organisms, including damming of rivers, river regulation, habitat loss and alteration, human-assisted dispersal of organisms and climate change. Using a series of case studies, we show that the insight needed to understand the nature and implications of connectivity, and to underpin conservation and management, is best achieved via data synthesis from multiple analytical approaches.

Extremely low microsatellite diversity but distinct population structure in a long-lived threatened species, the Australian lungfish Neoceratodus forsteri (Dipnoi).

The Australian lungfish is a unique living representative of an ancient dipnoan lineage, listed as 'vulnerable' to extinction under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Historical accounts indicate this species occurred naturally in two adjacent river systems in Australia, the Burnett and Mary. Current day populations in other rivers are thought to have arisen by translocation from these source populations.

Shared phylogeographic patterns between the ectocommensal flatworm Temnosewellia albata and its host, the endangered freshwater crayfish Euastacus robertsi.

Comparative phylogeography of commensal species may show congruent patterns where the species involved share a common history. Temnosewellia is a genus of flatworms, members of which live in commensal relationships with host freshwater crustaceans. By constructing phylogenetic trees based on mitochondrial COI and 28S nuclear ribosomal gene sequences, this study investigated how evolutionary history has shaped patterns of intraspecific molecular variation in two such freshwater commensals.

Genetic structuring of remnant forest patches in an endangered medicinal tree in North-western Ethiopia.

Background: Habitat loss and fragmentation may have detrimental impacts on genetic diversity, population structure and overall viability of tropical trees. The response of tropical trees to fragmentation processes may, however, be species, cohort or region-specific. Here we test the hypothesis that forest fragmentation is associated with lower genetic variability and higher genetic differentiation in adult and seedling populations of Prunus africana in North-western Ethiopia.

Low interbasin connectivity in a facultatively diadromous fish: evidence from genetics and otolith chemistry.

Southern smelts (Retropinna spp.) in coastal rivers of Australia are facultatively diadromous, with populations potentially containing individuals with diadromous or wholly freshwater life histories. The presence of diadromous individuals is expected to reduce genetic structuring between river basins due to larval dispersal via the sea.

Indirect estimates of natal dispersal distance from genetic data in a stream-dwelling fish (Mogurnda adspersa).

Recent work has highlighted the need to account for hierarchical patterns of genetic structure when estimating evolutionary and ecological parameters of interest. This caution is particularly relevant to studies of riverine organisms, where hierarchical structure appears to be commonplace. Here, we indirectly estimate dispersal distance in a hierarchically structured freshwater fish, Mogurnda adspersa.

Ecological drivers of biogeographic patterns of soil archaeal community.

Knowledge about the biogeography of organisms has long been a focus in ecological research, including the mechanisms that generate and maintain diversity. In this study, we targeted a microbial group relatively underrepresented in the microbial biogeographic literature, the soil Archaea. We surveyed the archaeal abundance and community composition using real-time quantitative PCR and T-RFLP approaches for 105 soil samples from 2 habitat types to identify the archaeal distribution patterns and factors driving these patterns.

Sequence variation in the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) does not explain continent-wide plumage color differences in the Australian Magpie (Cracticus tibicen).

The genetic basis of plumage color variation has already been determined for many model species; however, the genetic mechanisms responsible for intraspecific color variation in the majority of wild-bird species are yet to be uncovered. The Australian magpie (Cracticus tibicen) is a large black and white passerine which is widely distributed across the Australian continent. The proportion of melanized back plumage varies between regionally delineated subspecies; where back-color forms overlap, intermediate color phenotypes are produced.

Extreme genetic structure in a small-bodied freshwater fish, the purple spotted gudgeon, Mogurnda adspersa (Eleotridae).

Freshwater fish are a group that is especially susceptible to biodiversity loss as they often exist naturally in small, fragmented populations that are vulnerable to habitat degradation, pollution and introduction of exotic species. Relatively little is known about spatial dynamics of unperturbed populations of small-bodied freshwater fish species. This study examined population genetic structure of the purple spotted gudgeon (Mogurnda adspersa, Eleotridae), a small-bodied freshwater fish that is widely distributed in eastern Australia.