Bruce Webber

@drbrucewebber.bsky.social

4405 Followers 874 Following

Global change ecologist: conservation, bioinvasions & climate change 🌳🐜🐈🐊 | adventurer | coffee enthusiast | photographer (views my own) https://linktr.ee/drbrucewebber

Join @BushHeritageAus in Perth WA for our Allies For Nature breakfast to hear leaders from across sectors reimagining a nature‑positive future.

A framework for establishing the impacts on plant fitness via reprioritization of available resources in response to classical bio-logical management. Impacts of biocontrol agents on host plants are depicted pre-agent (red sphere, T0) and post-agent (blue spheres, T1) exposure. For plants hosting non-gall-inducing agents (a, b), finite plant resources (area of the triangle) are optimally partitioned between growth (G), reproduction (R), and defence (D) to maximise plant fitness. Note, overall plant tolerance (T) is optimized by varying investment over the D–G axis. Non-gall-inducing agents can impact negatively on fitness by either shifting investment away from growth and/or reproduction (a) or by reducing the plant’s overall resources (b). For host plants with gall-inducing agents (c, d), finite plant resources (area of the pyramid), and in turn fitness, are additionally impacted through diversion of plant resources into the gall tissue sink (S), with response and counter-response between the agent and host driving investment partitioning toward and along the D–S axis (blue arrows)

A relaxed cat looks at the camera with text overlay stating "Scant evidence for effective rodent control from working cats on Australian dairy farms."

Sir David Attenborough leans against a very large tree trunk as part of his series The Green Planet

Nadzikambia franklinae from Mount Namuli. Werner Conradie, CC BY

Peter Raven in 2010 at Missouri Botanical Garden. Photo credit: Kristi Foster, courtesy of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Perth event, Thu 16th April: The Western Australian launch of Paul Hardisty's latest book The Hope is on this week. Tickets are still available.
This is the third novel in a series that provocatively blurs the lines between fact and fiction in an era of unprecedented global change.
Is this series timely inspiration for navigating through the current geopolitical situation or a prophetic insight into the future we are hurtling towards? Come and listen to find out.

Tallyongut (Royal hakea; Hakea victoria) near Queelup (West Mount Barren), Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia. Photo: Bruce Webber.

CLIMEX Match Climate Composite Match Index (CMI) overlaid with Tipuana tipu distribution location records, projected globally. Insets show the native range, part of South America, part of southern Africa, southwest Australia, and an area of eastern Australia with high levels of cultivation and/or naturalisation. Areas with an orange-red colour (CMI 0.8–1) had high CMI values. Areas with a blue colour (CMI 0.6–0.8) had a climate with moderate CMI values. Records of T. tipu are shown as open circles. Pink circles represent records of plants within the native range. All other colours represent plant records in the non-native range, with purple representing cultivated plant records, yellow representing non-cultivated plant records, green representing records with both cultivated and non-cultivated plants and brown representing plant records where the cultivation status was indeterminate.

A content cat lies in a hammock in an enclosed catio to protect it and wildlife from the dangers of roaming. This photo accompanies a new publication in the journal Pacific Conservation Biology on the benefits of cat containment.

Timing of extirpation of a native mammal population from a location relative to the time of arrival of feral cats at that location. Data are taken directly from Supplement 1 in Wallach and Lundgren (2025), using the last record of the native species, and the earliest arrival date from the range of arrival dates of cats to that location. Based on this information, extirpation of a native mammal occurs before cats arrive in only two cases, and these are where Wallach and Lundgren (2025) arbitrarily give the last record dates of 1788 and 1789 (i.e., time of European colonization, in 1788) for undated subfossil material. Of the 178 cases given in the Supplement, eight are omitted from this graph because: they were repeats of another row (n=4), there is no date for the last record of the species (n=1), the species is still present at the location (n=2), or the species never occurred at the location (n=1).

Bridled Nailtail Wallaby. Photo: Grassland Films.

Bush Heritage Australia are purchasing the 1,207-hectare Avocet Nature Refuge! We're raising $1.4 million to help us manage this reserve and others just like it around the country. Donate NOW and your gift will be doubled!
Avocet Nature Refuge is one of only two sites where Bridled Nailtail Wallabies still live wild in Queensland. Once thought extinct, the species was rediscovered in central Queensland decades after vanishing from sight. Today, only some 1,500 of these beautiful wallabies remain in the wild. Buying Avocet Nature Refuge also gives us a real chance to learn more and strengthen Koala populations in the region.

The aurora australis dances over the peaks of the Freycinet National Park peninsula and Schouten Island.

In Episode 5 of the This Changes Everything Podcast, Brad Bowden talks with Bruce Webber and Keith Bradbury about the wonders of trees in Western Australia and what we can be doing to ensure we are responsible custodians to manage the conservation threats they face.

A numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) pauses its morning foraging for ants on a log in the sun.

Jane Goodall in a tall rainforest looking up into the canopy with binoculars in her hands.

Bruce Webber from Bush Heritage Australia, speaking at the Building Private Land Conservation Symposium in Fremantle, Western Australia. Photo: Miles Noel Studio

Can the Albanese government's new climate targets lower the risk of a catastrophic fire season like 2019/20 happening in the future? (ABCMyPhoto: Martin Von Stoll)

Urban wetlands provide essential habitats for wildlife but face increasing contamination from anthropogenic sources, including but not limited to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and metal(loid)s. Accumulation of these contaminants are known to impair organism biological functions. This study quantified PFAS and metal(loid) concentrations in liver tissue of motorbike frogs (Ranoidea moorei) along a contamination gradient of conservation significant urban wetlands in Perth, Western Australia, and assessed relationships of liver concentrations with whole-organism health metrics and metabolomic profiles in four tissues to evaluate biological effects.

A delegation of local government representatives engaged with cat management experts at Kings Park to improve responsible pet cat ownership in Western Australia.

The issue of roaming pet cats in Kings Park featured in The Perth Voice and involved interviews with Adin Lang and Bruce Webber.

Some of the many contributors to helping promote best practice pet cat ownership stand together outside the Legislative Council chamber.

The Cook Labor Government has announced that it intends to amend the Cat Act to prevent pet cats from roaming.

Bush Heritage Australia hosted a sold out screening of the film Wilding at the Luna Palace Cinemas in Leederville, Western Australia. As the sun sets in the west, the exterior lights of the cinema announced that the screening, with an exclusive Q&A session, was sold out.

Bush Heritage Australia presents a special event Wilding film screening with a Q&A panel featuring Dr Bruce Webber, Steve McCabe, Dr Holly Kirk and Dr Jane Chambers. On at Luna Leederville on Wed 3 Sept 2025.

Tiahni Adamson, a wildlife conservation biologist and proud descendant of the Kaurareg Nations, next to a large trunk of a Nothofagus tree in lutruwita/Tasmania's Liffey Valley. In Episode 1 of Big Sky Country Season 3, Tiahni sits down with the legendary Dr Bob Brown in lutruwita/Tasmania’s Liffey Valley.

We're hiring a Reserve Manager to join our team at our beautiful Southwest Reserves in WA.
As Reserve Manager, you’ll oversee the day-to-day management of the Reserves in this area, represent Bush Heritage in the region, and provide valuable input to our planning and operations programs. This is an exceptional opportunity to make a very real contribution to the protection of Australia’s unique wildlife and their habitat.
If you’re passionate about conserving Australia's unique landscapes, we'd love to hear from you!

An indoor cat is lying down and looking at the camera. An overlaid quote on pet cat containment states "The community is demanding this, they've been demanding it for a decade or more now, and they're getting pretty frustrated."

Report cover showing a resting pet cat looking at the camera, with the report title: Responsible cat ownership in Western Australia: past attempts, current efforts and future aspirations.

A black and white cat looking up inquisitively at the camera over a bright yellow background.

Climate stripes temperature change figure for Australia since 1876.

First light shines through jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) and marri (Corymbia calophylla) on Noongar boodja, Avon Valley National Park, Western Australia.

Last light on Bunuba country, Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges, Kimberley region, Western Australia.

Looking west down Mini palms gorge at Purnululu National Park, on the traditional lands of the Djaru and Gija Aboriginal people.

A new rain sensor installed on top of a metal pole in the Millstream Chichester National Park, Western Australia

Bruce Webber talks to students as part of the Keen2STEAM event with Churchlands Primary School. The theme was 'Decoding the Universe', following Australia's 2025 National Science Week theme.

People attending the City of Vincent's annual native plant sale.

An invitation to the WA local government cat containment workshop - an online event to be held on Thu 12 June 2025 at 10:30am AWST. Three presentations will be followed by facilitated Q&A.

Sir David Attenborough sits in a chair in Sandakan, Borneo, while talking with scientists working on the SAFE Project.

A poster of Tony Martin with a frog on a fork and an empty plate, as part of a communications piece for the ABC TV program Eat the Invaders.

Two novels - 'The Forcing' and 'The Descent' by Paul E. Hardisty are sitting side by side on a white background.

Two novels - 'The Forcing' and 'The Descent' by Paul E. Hardisty are sitting side by side on a white background.

A southern cassowary stands next to a bitumen road with rainforest behind, in the Wet Tropics bioregion of Queensland, Australia

On a barren dirt covered slope in Kings Park, only stumps remain of borer-infested century-old trees. Photo: Philip Gostelow.

A quenda (Isoodon fusciventer) forages in bark chip mulch outside an office building in urban Perth, Western Australia

Blue–green urban infrastructure is a strategic approach to promoting biodiversity and enhancing fair access to its benefits in cities by establishing a network of multifunctional green and blue spaces, and incorporating the built environment. Tree cover can be increased and blue–green roofs and streetscapes can be developed. Ecological restoration, rewilding efforts and adapted design and management increase biodiversity in urban green spaces and water bodies, and novel wilderness areas emerging on abandoned land can be incorporated. Specific approaches will vary depending on the environmental, cultural and social–economic settings in cities.

Bioaccumulation and metabolic impact of PFAS on wild-caught cane toads. Cane toads were collected across a known urban water PFAS gradient and were screened for 28 PFAS compounds. Metabolomics, lipidomics and proteomics-based approaches were applied to tissues. We found that PFOS was the dominant PFAS but concentrations in the liver were relatively low with minimal noticeable impacts on animal health.

The company Colossal claims on their website that "The Solution Is De-Extinction, a functional application of advanced gene editing technology aimed at rebuilding the DNA of lost megafauna and other creatures that had a measurably positive impact on our fragile ecosystems."

Paul Hardisty's climate change novels The Forcing and The Descent.

Number of threatened animal species in Australia between 2010 and 2020. The number of threatened species* in 2020 was 1,898 species, up from 1,772 species in 2015.

Paul Hardisty speaks on environmental writing with @editsannotations.bsky.social

There is a very good reason we leave peer review to the experts. Large language models should not be considered experts and are not an appropriate tool to use in peer review.

We must not become robot editors, and automated reviewers, blindly letting the use of AI further ruin the peer review process.

A referee choosing to "press the LLM button" when reviewing a manuscript as part of the peer review process.

Jack Collard addresses the audience in his presentation at WALGA's 2025 Urban Forest Conference.

Josh Byrne hosts a panel discussion on polyphagous shot hole borer at WALGA's 2025 Urban Forest Conference. Panel members include Alison Xamon, Mia Carbon, Bruce Webber and Giles Pickard.

A pair of forest red-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii naso) perching in a lemon scented gum (Corymbia citriodora).