David B Croft | The University of New South Wales (original) (raw)
Papers by David B Croft
Debate on the pros and cons of kangaroo management in Australia has recently centred on the aware... more Debate on the pros and cons of kangaroo management in Australia has recently centred on the awareness that commercial killing (commonly referred to as harvesting), a by-product of management, is difficult to regulate and that there are animal welfare costs that the current regulatory framework is yet to resolve. Moreover, public interest in animal welfare is at an unprecedented height and is expected to increase over time. At the core of animal welfare law and policy is a question of ends and means. Animal welfare laws have existed for around 200 years, and presently attempt to prevent ‘unnecessary’ or ‘unreasonable’ suffering by animals. Yet at the same time, large scale animal industries have developed that often involve high levels of harm and suffering being inflicted upon a great number of animals in order to produce food and other products for human use. From a policy perspective, industrial suffering of animals is ‘necessary’ or ‘reasonable’ where there is both legitimacy of ...
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Austral Ecology, 2014
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ABSTRACT Nocturnal observation of wildlife is a popular tourist attraction. However, there is ver... more ABSTRACT Nocturnal observation of wildlife is a popular tourist attraction. However, there is very little research about its impact on wildlife and thus the optimal trade-off in minimizing impacts and maximizing visitor satisfaction. We first used a questionnaire-based survey to determine the characteristics of a satisfying nocturnal wildlife tour for visitors to a popular Australian rangeland tourist site. This revealed a particular interest by visitors in high-tech wildlife observation equipment such as night vision devices and bat detectors. Further satisfaction was gained from the types of wildlife viewed and the conduct of the tour. Respondents underestimated aversive effects on wildlife imposed by night-time tours. With this context, we analysed observation methods typically employed in night-time wildlife tours. We compared the results achieved with different illumination (white vs. red vs. infrared light), watch modes (sitting at artificial watering points vs. hiking in creek beds), observation times (starting at dusk vs. 2 h past dusk) and wind speed. Abundance and species richness of the non-bat fauna and bat activity were greatest at artificial watering points directly after dusk during calm nights. A night vision device enhanced by infrared light facilitated closer observations, the viewing of undisturbed wildlife behaviour and revealed more species than under white or red light. We consolidated our findings from the visitor survey and the wildlife observation research to recommend a tour design that minimizes impacts and optimizes observation outcomes when conducting night-time tours of wildlife.
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Journal of environmental management, 2014
Vegetation communities along recreational tracks may suffer from substantial edge-effects through... more Vegetation communities along recreational tracks may suffer from substantial edge-effects through the impacts of trampling, modified environmental conditions and competition with species that benefit from disturbance. We assessed impacts on trackside vegetation by comparing high and low usage tourism sites at a 1-10 m distance from recreational tracks in a popular arid-lands tourism destination in South Australia. The central aim was quantification of the strengths and spatial extent of tourism impacts along recreational tracks with a qualitative comparison of roads and trails. Track-distance gradients were most prevalent at high usage sites. There, species community composition was altered, total plant cover decreased, non-native species cover increased, plant diversity increased or decreased (depending on the distance) and soil compaction increased towards recreational tracks. Roadside effects were greater and more pervasive than trailside effects. Further, plant diversity did not...
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Wildlife Research, 2010
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Wildlife Research, 2006
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Wildlife Research, 2006
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Wildlife Research, 2011
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Urban Ecosystems, 2006
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Tourism Management, 2012
ABSTRACT Best-practice visitor-monitoring techniques are crucial for the assessment of tourism-re... more ABSTRACT Best-practice visitor-monitoring techniques are crucial for the assessment of tourism-related impacts in natural areas of high conservation value. In such studies, ecosystem variables are typically compared between high and low usage tourist sites. We assessed visitor use at 80 sites in the Flinders Ranges gorges and compared 11 visitor variables for their potential to differentiate usage levels between sites either exposed to vehicle or hiker traffic. We show that the efficiency with which a visitor variable represents usage levels depends on the access mode to gorges, with the number of passing visitors best suited for monitoring of usage levels in gorges permitting hiker access only, and variables describing camping usage best suited for gorges permitting vehicle access. Further, the distinct advantages and disadvantages of four visitor-monitoring techniques were examined; namely, the direct monitoring of visitor use by staff observers, the assessment of proxy variables from which past and present use can be inferred, GPS tracking of visitors and the survey of visitors by an interview-based questionnaire. We recommend GPS tracking because of the reliability and detail of data and the many sites per day that can be sampled. Due to a strong, positive correlation, the campground size and the number of fireplaces may be recorded in proxy of the camper numbers to increase time-efficiency and robustness of measures against short-term fluctuations in usage. Survey data gathered in relation to specific site-use were tempered by the memory of visitors and their ability to describe or reference the visited sites on a map. Visitor surveys were therefore useful only as a supplementary method for differentiating usage levels on a coarser spatial scale.
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Tourism in Marine Environments, 2007
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Marine Mammal Science, 2009
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Learning & Behavior, 2006
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Animal Learning & Behavior, 2003
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Journal of Environmental Management, 2013
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Biological Conservation, 2005
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Biological Conservation, 2006
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Australian Journal of Zoology, 2005
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2010
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Debate on the pros and cons of kangaroo management in Australia has recently centred on the aware... more Debate on the pros and cons of kangaroo management in Australia has recently centred on the awareness that commercial killing (commonly referred to as harvesting), a by-product of management, is difficult to regulate and that there are animal welfare costs that the current regulatory framework is yet to resolve. Moreover, public interest in animal welfare is at an unprecedented height and is expected to increase over time. At the core of animal welfare law and policy is a question of ends and means. Animal welfare laws have existed for around 200 years, and presently attempt to prevent ‘unnecessary’ or ‘unreasonable’ suffering by animals. Yet at the same time, large scale animal industries have developed that often involve high levels of harm and suffering being inflicted upon a great number of animals in order to produce food and other products for human use. From a policy perspective, industrial suffering of animals is ‘necessary’ or ‘reasonable’ where there is both legitimacy of ...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Austral Ecology, 2014
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ABSTRACT Nocturnal observation of wildlife is a popular tourist attraction. However, there is ver... more ABSTRACT Nocturnal observation of wildlife is a popular tourist attraction. However, there is very little research about its impact on wildlife and thus the optimal trade-off in minimizing impacts and maximizing visitor satisfaction. We first used a questionnaire-based survey to determine the characteristics of a satisfying nocturnal wildlife tour for visitors to a popular Australian rangeland tourist site. This revealed a particular interest by visitors in high-tech wildlife observation equipment such as night vision devices and bat detectors. Further satisfaction was gained from the types of wildlife viewed and the conduct of the tour. Respondents underestimated aversive effects on wildlife imposed by night-time tours. With this context, we analysed observation methods typically employed in night-time wildlife tours. We compared the results achieved with different illumination (white vs. red vs. infrared light), watch modes (sitting at artificial watering points vs. hiking in creek beds), observation times (starting at dusk vs. 2 h past dusk) and wind speed. Abundance and species richness of the non-bat fauna and bat activity were greatest at artificial watering points directly after dusk during calm nights. A night vision device enhanced by infrared light facilitated closer observations, the viewing of undisturbed wildlife behaviour and revealed more species than under white or red light. We consolidated our findings from the visitor survey and the wildlife observation research to recommend a tour design that minimizes impacts and optimizes observation outcomes when conducting night-time tours of wildlife.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal of environmental management, 2014
Vegetation communities along recreational tracks may suffer from substantial edge-effects through... more Vegetation communities along recreational tracks may suffer from substantial edge-effects through the impacts of trampling, modified environmental conditions and competition with species that benefit from disturbance. We assessed impacts on trackside vegetation by comparing high and low usage tourism sites at a 1-10 m distance from recreational tracks in a popular arid-lands tourism destination in South Australia. The central aim was quantification of the strengths and spatial extent of tourism impacts along recreational tracks with a qualitative comparison of roads and trails. Track-distance gradients were most prevalent at high usage sites. There, species community composition was altered, total plant cover decreased, non-native species cover increased, plant diversity increased or decreased (depending on the distance) and soil compaction increased towards recreational tracks. Roadside effects were greater and more pervasive than trailside effects. Further, plant diversity did not...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Wildlife Research, 2010
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Wildlife Research, 2006
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Wildlife Research, 2006
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Wildlife Research, 2011
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Urban Ecosystems, 2006
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Tourism Management, 2012
ABSTRACT Best-practice visitor-monitoring techniques are crucial for the assessment of tourism-re... more ABSTRACT Best-practice visitor-monitoring techniques are crucial for the assessment of tourism-related impacts in natural areas of high conservation value. In such studies, ecosystem variables are typically compared between high and low usage tourist sites. We assessed visitor use at 80 sites in the Flinders Ranges gorges and compared 11 visitor variables for their potential to differentiate usage levels between sites either exposed to vehicle or hiker traffic. We show that the efficiency with which a visitor variable represents usage levels depends on the access mode to gorges, with the number of passing visitors best suited for monitoring of usage levels in gorges permitting hiker access only, and variables describing camping usage best suited for gorges permitting vehicle access. Further, the distinct advantages and disadvantages of four visitor-monitoring techniques were examined; namely, the direct monitoring of visitor use by staff observers, the assessment of proxy variables from which past and present use can be inferred, GPS tracking of visitors and the survey of visitors by an interview-based questionnaire. We recommend GPS tracking because of the reliability and detail of data and the many sites per day that can be sampled. Due to a strong, positive correlation, the campground size and the number of fireplaces may be recorded in proxy of the camper numbers to increase time-efficiency and robustness of measures against short-term fluctuations in usage. Survey data gathered in relation to specific site-use were tempered by the memory of visitors and their ability to describe or reference the visited sites on a map. Visitor surveys were therefore useful only as a supplementary method for differentiating usage levels on a coarser spatial scale.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Tourism in Marine Environments, 2007
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Marine Mammal Science, 2009
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Learning & Behavior, 2006
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Animal Learning & Behavior, 2003
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Journal of Environmental Management, 2013
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Biological Conservation, 2005
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Biological Conservation, 2006
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Australian Journal of Zoology, 2005
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2010
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