Below is a list of research activities that are currently being undertaken in the North East Region.  To contribute to this list please click here and submit a request.

Herbicide control options for topped lavender

Trialling a variety of weed control product and mixes for effectiveness on topped lavender, using a trial plot in Allan's Flat and regular photo monitoring.

Project Lead: GLT weed management
Partner Organisations: Indigo Shire Council
Project Start Date: 8th May 2017
Project Completion Date: 28th June 2018
Contact: Jill Croome, Indigo Shire Council, jill.croome@indigoshire.vic.gov.au, 03 5728 8048

Conservation of declining turtles in the Murray River catchment

For several years, we have been surveying turtle populations throughout the southern Murray catchment. That work is now in review at Scientific Reports, and shows that turtles are in decline across the catchment. The decline is worst in South Australia, where we caught very few turtles. In the upstream regions, we caught relatively high numbers of turtles, but we still detected the potential for decline because populations were dominated by large adults, with very few juveniles in the system. This trend reflects a continuing loss of recruitment, which is probably caused by high rates of nest destruction (>95%) by invasive red foxes. I am now leading a continuing project focused on the Albury-Wodonga region to further study the causes of this loss of recruitment, raise public awareness of it, and find solutions to mitigate it. At the same time, I am collaborating with other researchers across Australia to develop catchment-wide strategies for turtle conservation.

Project Lead: Charles Sturt University and Western Sydney University are each leading aspects of the project
Partner Organisations: University of Canberra, University of Sydney, Winton Wetlands, NCCMA, and others
Funding Body: CSUgreen currently funds my work at CSU. We are also developing proposals for the ARC Linkage program.
Project Dates: Ongoing in its current phase
Contact: James Van Dyke, Charles Sturt University, jvandyke@csu.edu.au, +61 2 6051 9837

Exploring the potential of Murray Cod Mounts as scientific records

The research is about contributing to our knowledge and understanding of Murray cod mounts, their locations and how they coud be usesd as scientific records.

Further information: www.codspot.com.au
Project Lead: Charles Sturt University
Partner Organisations: MDBA, CSU
Funding Body: MDBA, CSU
Project Start Date: 1st Jan 2018
Project Completion Date: 1st Jan 2019
Contact: Matt O'Connell, Charles Sturt University, murraycodspot@gmail.com, 0427220506
Other information: The survey (at this link https://www.research.net/r/5VFQCMN) will step you through submitting vital statistics and information on the Murray cod mounts like;
1) photos of the cod mount, its context and any records
2) information that you know of around things like – size, date and location caught
3) your knowledge on why the fish was chosen to be mounted and displayed
4) your interest in the research