Australasian Wildlife Management Society

We participated in the Australasian Wildlife Management Society 21^st Annual Conference: Human Impacts on Wildlife in Fremantle, WA, from November 24 to 27, 2008. Conference collaborators included the Invasive Animals CRC, Department of Agriculture and Food, Eco Gene, Department of Conservation and Environment, Alcoa, and Landcare Research. The conference consisted of 4 days of presentations on relevant study areas, including multiple symposiums on ‘Invasive species' and keynote speeches in the areas of ‘management of invasive species' and ‘invasive animals'. The proceedings of the conference are available as a book of abstracts.

We presented our paper entitled ‘Biosecurity surveillance design using risk and power: A case study of the Black rat (Rattus rattus)', and our poster entitled ‘Targeting rats in a trap: Detection of invasive species using a biosecurity surveillance system' based on our work in CRC30084 ‘Biosecurity Quarantine Model System' and its supplementary project on vertebrates. The paper and poster led to very positive comments and useful feedback from invasive species experts from several agencies in Australia. This was a timely peer review that will assist in delivery of project milestones. No other comparable methodologies for designing complex surveillance programs were presented and there are many applications for our work. Conference attendees were especially interested in the ability to vary statistical power according to the specific project goals. The conference was very valuable in enabling us to form general links with invasive species specialists in Australia, particularly in island and arid zone ecology.

We thank the CRC NPB for supporting our attendance at this very worthwhile conference.