| |
|
AWMS 2016 | AWMS 2017 | |
---|---|---|
Registrations | 108 | 135 |
Full registrations | 96 | 118 |
1- and 2-day registrations | 9 | 9 |
Sponshorship and trade exhibit delegates | 3 | 8 |
Presentations | ||
Talks | 70 | 67 (12 min) 15 (5 min) |
Posters | 12 | 17 |
Income | ||
Registrations and field trip | $57,942.00 | $77,307.00 |
Sponsorship inc. trade stalls | $7,027.00 | $13,740.00 |
Overall conference expenditure | $45,326.50 | $64,665.23 |
PayPal fees | $1,457.10 | $1,239.94 |
Balance AWMS 2017 | +$18,185.40 | +$25,141.83 |
This report relates to the period of 1/11/2016 to 30/6/2017. This reflects the change in financial year that was established at the 2016 AGM. As such, no comparison between this year and previous years is possible. However, based on the status of the accounts as of 30/6/2017 the AWMS financial position is in a stable and improving condition. The total assets were $211,577. A full breakdown is below.
CURRENT ASSETS | $ |
CBA cheque account | 77,372.90 |
CBA term deposit | 17,051.75 |
CBA public fund | 105,600.00 |
CBA transaction account | 1,357.06 |
PayPal account | 7,332.22 |
Prepaid expenses (MemberClicks) | 2,863.60 |
TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS | 211,577.53 |
Total income (including donations) was $182,348, which provided a net income before tax of $124,956. A breakdown is provided below.
INCOME | $ |
Membership fees | 10,317.22 |
Conference income | 66,530.95 |
Interest | 13.72 |
Donation (Bequest) | 105,500.00 |
TOTAL INCOME | 182,361.89 |
EXPENSES | $ |
Audit | 4,125.00 |
Awards | 2,755.41 |
Bank charges and PayPal | 596.63 |
Conference expenses | 45,201.91 |
Insurance | 805.11 |
General and admin expenses | 442.88 |
MemberClicks | 2,478.43 |
Printing and stationary | 1,000.00 |
TOTAL EXPENSES | 57,405.37 |
NET INCOME | 124,956.52 |
Other business:
Our membership numbers have decreased slightly although it should be acknowledged that the AWMS financial year has been reset to align with the standard financial year. The figures presented in this report therefore only represent a partial year (1st November 2016 – 30th June 2017). At the end of the financial year for 2016-2017 we had 210 members, which is similar to last year (213 members). Prior to this year’s conference we had an influx of new members registering (22 students, 13 full, 2 retired, 1 institutional – these will be included in next year’s membership figures).
We are looking at a few options to assist with retaining members, such as automatic renewals. In addition, I have put forth a constitutional change to be discussed at this AGM which will allow new members to apply and pay in one transaction.
If anyone has any suggestions or comments related to increasing or retaining members, I would love to hear them. Is there something you would like as a ‘perk’ for being an AWMS member? Would a discounted membership rate make you more inclined to renew your membership for multiple years? I would especially like to hear from students – why did you join AWMS? Are you likely to keep your AWMS membership after you graduate?
Figures for 2017-2021 are current as at 30 June2017. "Number" indicates total number of financial members for that AWMS financial year.
Number | Number | Number | Number | Number | ||
Rate $ | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
Full member | 50.00 | 41 | 40 | 12 | 3 | 0 |
70.00 | 65 | 57 | 21 | 9 | 5 | |
Student member | 30.00 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
50.00 | 25 | 23 | 5 | 3 | 0 | |
Retired member | 30.00 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
50.00 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
Institutional member | 80.00 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
100.00 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
TOTAL | 160 | 148 | 46 | 16 | 5 | |
Payment $ | Payment $ | Payment $ | Payment $ | Payment $ | ||
Rate $ | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
Full member | 50.00 | 2,050.00 | 2,000.00 | 600.00 | 150.00 | 0.00 |
70.00 | 4,550.00 | 3,990.00 | 1,470.00 | 630.00 | 350.00 | |
Student member | 30.00 | 450.00 | 450.00 | 120.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
50.00 | 1,250.00 | 1,150.00 | 250.00 | 150.00 | 0.00 | |
Retired member | 30.00 | 60.00 | 60.00 | 30.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
50.00 | 500.00 | 450.00 | 100.00 | 50.00 | 0.00 | |
Institutional member | 80.00 | 160.00 | 160.00 | 80.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
100.00 | 300.00 | 300.00 | 100.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Totals | 9,320.00 | 8,560.00 | 2,750.00 | 980.00 | 350.00 | |
TOTAL | 21,260.00 |
Name | Award | Total Value $ | YR 1 | Remaining Value $ |
Helen Smith | Best presentation 2014 | 90 | 2015 | 30 |
Bronwyn Fancourt | DW Cooper 2015 | 150 | 2016 | 50 |
Carolyn Hogg | Practitioner 2015 | 150 | 2016 | 50 |
Patrick Garvey | Best presentation 2015 | 150 | 2016 | 100 |
Heather Crawford | Best poster 2015 | 150 | 2016 | 100 |
Kakapo Recovery Programme | Practitioner 2016 | 210 | 2017 | 210 |
Emily Gregg | Best presentation 2016 | 150 | 2017 | 150 |
Anushika Herath | Best poster 2016 | 150 | 2017 | 150 |
Total | 1,200 | 840 | ||
Less PayPal transaction fees | 98.52 | |||
TOTAL MEMBERSHIP REVENUE | 20,321.48 |
Postgraduate Research Award: Laura Tan
D.W. Cooper Award: Patrick Garvey
Best student presentation winner: Sarah Reid-Anderson
Best student Presentation runner-up: Kyla Johnstone
Best student poster winner: Hannah Bannister
Best student poster runner-up: Ben Stepkovitch
You can read about the work of our Postgraduate Award winner Laura Tan in this issue of the newsletter.
You can read more about the work of our other award winners (Best student presentation, Best student poster and D.W. Cooper Award) in our July Newsletter.
The 2017 Postgraduate Student Award winner is Laura Tan, for her project investigating corvid ecology to better combat ravens preying on clutches of a burrow-nesting bird.
Congratulations Laura!
Introduction
The intelligence and adaptability of Corvids (ravens, crows) contributes to their ability to shift foraging strategies to exploit new prey (Marzluff & Neatherlin 2006), and coupled with their abundance this makes them difficult to manage (Bolton et al. 2007). The consequences for the prey include compromised population viability, and where prey are economically valuable (Admiraal et al. 2013), predation could detrimentally affect associated economically and socially significant industries such as ecotourism (e.g. Rowat & Engelhardt 2007). Recently in southern Australia, Little Ravens (Corvus mellori) have been identified as an emerging threat to the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) population on Phillip Island (Victoria). Little Ravens now actively and systematically target eggs in penguin burrows, resulting in significant penguin clutch loss of up to 60 % (Ekanayake et al. 2015a,b,c). This depredation has emerged in the last few years and is apparently increasing, but its extent has only been quantified recently.
In conjunction with Phillip Island Nature Parks, we have identified key information gaps which currently prevent the implementation of successful, long-term corvid management. On Phillip Island, most penguin clutch loss appears to be attributable to a small number of ravens (Ekanayake unpubl. PhD data). Corvids have the ability to share learned information and skills with conspecifics (Jolles et al. 2013) and sharing of skills may occur only between birds with high genetic relatedness (Holzhaider et al. 2011). Ravens have a broad diet (Rowley & Vestjens 1973), and analysis of collected feather, faecal, and blood samples will allow us to examine the dietary composition of Little Raven individuals and the role Little Penguin plays in their diet. It may also potentially identify additional raven individuals preying on penguin clutches. There is a critical need to identify culprit birds and examine to what degree skill transmission occurs, to make an informed decision on how best to manage this intelligent and abundant species, and protect the iconic Little Penguin population. By identifying culprits, examining their diet, and investigating the genetic links between individual ravens, we aim to determine the relevance of genetic and social relatedness to transmission of egg predation skills. This research provides Phillip Island Nature Parks with vital information on whether targeting individual culprit birds represents a feasible solution, enabling effective threat mitigation. Given the abundance of corvids, their adaptive nature, and ability to exploit vulnerable species, the results of this study will have applications for corvid management programs worldwide.
Remote camera footage of a raven observing the inside of a penguin burrow while the adult penguin is present. An adult penguin typically remains with the clutch until chicks have reached around 2 weeks of age.
A raven with a penguin egg after successfully breaching a penguin burrow.
An example of roof holes some ravens create to obtain access to penguin eggs or chicks.
Remote camera footage of a colour-banded raven eating a penguin egg successfully obtained from the pictured burrow.
Preliminary results
Fieldwork (observations and camera-monitoring of burrows to identify culprit ravens) has been completed for this project, and through laboratory work we aim to establish Little Raven diet composition through stable isotope analysis and DNA diet analysis, and the genetic relatedness between egg-eating ravens and those that do not eat penguin eggs/chicks. We are currently preparing 197 unique raven samples to send to the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF) for genotyping, using 19 microsatellite markers identified in other corvid species (Haas & Hansson 2008) which have successfully amplified against our Little Raven samples. We have also recently received results from a small feasibility study we conducted on DNA diet analysis using raven faecal samples, and look to analyse our remaining faecal samples using this method. DNA diet analysis will complement stable isotope analyses that is to be conducted, to gain a broader understanding of raven diet composition and potentially assist in identifying culprit birds.
Funding from AWMS allows us to complete PCR work for our genetic relatedness samples, and also allows us to proceed and examine our remaining faecal samples. Little is known about the diet composition of Australian corvid species, and at present DNA diet analysis has not previously been conducted on any Australian corvid species. Understanding raven diet will further assist us in more accurately determining the relevance of genetic relatedness on raven predation of penguin clutches, and informing direction for corvid management.
Thank you AWMS!
References
Admiraal, J. E., Wossink, A., de Groot, W. T., and de Snoo, G. R. (2013). More than total economic value: How to combine economic valuation of biodiversity with ecological resilience. Ecological Economics 89, 115-122.
Bolton, M., Tyler, G., Smith, K., and Bamford, R. (2007). The impact of predator control on lapwing Vanellus vanellus breeding success on wet grassland nature reserves. Journal of Applied Ecology 44, 534-544.
Ekanayake K., Sutherland D., Dann P., and Weston M. (2015a). Out of sight but not out of mind: corvids prey extensively on eggs of burrow-nesting penguins. Wildlife Research 42, 509-517.
Ekanayake K., Whisson, D. A., Tan L. X. L., and Weston M. A. (2015b). Intense predation of non-colonial, ground-nesting bird eggs by corvid and mammalian predators. Wildlife Research 42, 518-528.
Ekanayake K. B., Weston M. A., Dann P., and Sutherland D. R. (2015c). Corvids congregate to breeding colonies of a burrow-nesting seabird. Austral Ecology 41, 291-301.
Haas, F., and Hansson, B. (2008). Identification of 20 polymorphic microsatellite loci in European crow (Corvus corone) from existing passerine loci. Molecular Ecology Resources 8, 846-850.
Holzhaider, J. C., Sibley, M. D., Taylor, A. H., Singh, P. J., Gray, R. D., and Hunt, G. R. (2011). The social structure of New Caledonian crows. Animal Behaviour 81, 83-92.
Jolles, J. W., Ostojic, L., and Clayton, N. S. (2013). Dominance, pair bonds and boldness determine social-foraging tactics in rooks, Corvus frugilegus. Animal Behaviour 85, 1261-1269.
Marzluff, J. M., and Neatherlin, E. (2006). Corvid response to human settlements and campgrounds: Causes, consequences, and challenges for conservation. Biological Conservation 130, 301-314.
Rowat, D., and Engelhardt, U. (2007). Seychelles: A case study of community involvement in the development of whale shark ecotourism and its socio-economic impact. Fisheries Research 84, 109-113.
Rowley, I., and Vestjens, W. J. M. (1973). The comparative ecology of Australian corvids. V. Food. Wildlife Research 18, 131-155.
The minutes from the 2017 AGM can be found here. Highlights from the meeting include:
New Office Bearers:
Position | Nominee | Nominated by | Seconded by |
Vice President | Ben Allen | Pip Masters | Stuart Dawson |
Treasurer | Tom Newsome | Tarnya Cox | Bronwyn Fancourt |
Membership Secretary | Shannon Dundas | Tarnya Cox | Peter Fleming |
Committee Member 1 | Sarsha Gorissen | Martin Denny | Peter Fleming |
Committee Member 2 | Bronwyn Fancourt | Tarnya Cox | Peter Fleming |
Committee Member 3 | Mike Braysher | Terry Korn | Trish Fleming |
Committee Member 4 | Melissa Snape | Tarnya Cox | Peter Fleming |
Student Representative (AUS)* | Maquel Brandimarti | Lily van Eeden | Trish Fleming |
Student Representative (NZ) | Vacant | ||
Position Statement Coordinator | Andrew Bengsen | Tarnya Cox | Melissa Snape |
Media Officer | Margarita Medina | Shannon Dundas | Greg Baxter |
SAWMA Liaison Officer | Pip Masters | Shannon Dundas | Lily van Eeden |
*The Student Representative (AUS) was decided upon after the AGM as there were multiple nominations received during the AGM and the nominees elected to choose the representative among themselves.
This newsletter reflects the opinions of the author(s) but not necessarily those of the AWMS Committee or membership. AWMS makes no claim as to the accuracy of stated claims and any party using this information does so at their own risk.