Science as an antidote to horse trading in the Australian Alps

Carbon emissions from Australian Sphagnum peatlands increase with feral horse (Equus caballus) presence

Peatlands are globally significant carbon sinks, but when disturbed, have the potential to release carbon back to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases. Feral horse populations in the Australian Alps degrade Sphagnum peatlands, which are highly sensitive to disturbance. However, the link between this degradation and peatland carbon cycling is not understood. Here, we compared the autumn daytime carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes of 12 alpine and subalpine Sphagnum peatlands in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia. The presence of feral horses at these sites was correlated with higher carbon loss: sites with horses were losing carbon to the atmosphere (4.83 and 8.18 g CO2-e m-2 d-1 in areas of Sphagnum moss and bare soil, respectively), whereas sites without horses were removing carbon from the atmosphere (-6.39 g CO2-e m-2 d-1). Sites with feral horses also had higher soil bulk density, temperature, and electrical conductivity (EC), and higher water pH, EC, and turbidity, than sites without horses. Our findings suggest that excluding feral horses from peatland areas could reduce rates of carbon loss to the atmosphere, in addition to improving overall site condition, peat soil condition, and water quality. We discuss potential management applications, further research, and restoration opportunities arising from these results.

Understanding and managing the interactions of impacts from nature-based recreation and climate change

Disturbance to ecosystems in parks and protected areas from nature-based tourism and recreation is increasing in scale and severity, as are the impacts of climate change-but there is limited research examining the degree to which these anthropogenic disturbances interact. In this perspective paper, we draw on the available literature to expose complex recreation and climate interactions that may alter ecosystems of high conservation value such that important species and processes no longer persist. Our emphasis is on ecosystems in high demand for tourism and recreation that also are increasingly experiencing stress from climate change. We discuss the importance of developing predictive models of direct and indirect effects, including threshold and legacy effects at different levels of biological organization. We present a conceptual model of these interactions to initiate a dialog among researchers and managers so that new research approaches and managerial frameworks are advanced to address this emerging issue.

Assessing discourses about controversial environmental management issues on social media: Tweeting about wild horses in a national park

Public participation is critical for planning and management of protected areas. With people increasingly using social media, including Twitter, to obtain news and express opinions, park agencies should recognize the utility of monitoring and engaging with this public discourse. We used a conservation culturomics approach to analyse Tweets during a period of controversy about the management of large mammals (horses) in a park (Kosciuszko National Park in Australia), including examining who talked about what, when and what emotions were expressed. An automated programming interface was used to collect metadata for Tweets about the Park, with keywords coded while sentiments and emotions were analysed using a standard lexicon of terms. The debate over introduced wild/feral horses in the Park dominated the discourse, accounting for 56% of the 2085 Tweets referring by name to the Park over 275 days. Many Tweets referred to horses (44.8%) and/or used the alternative term, brumbies (15%). They were more likely to be Retweets, be sent by Australians, with a potential reach of over 5 million followers. Peaks in Tweets related to specific events in the news, with Tweets sent by journalists and others in a professional capacity or specific organisations engaged in the debate more likely to be retweeted. Despite considerable polarisation in the broader debate, including in the traditional media and on other social media platforms, the discourse on Twitter focused mainly on the environmental impacts of horses, and ways to reduce their numbers, rather than wanting to keep horses in the Park. There are important issues with the use of Twitter data including challenges in identifying relevant Tweets, biases in who Tweets and what is retweeted, limited text in Tweets, and increasing focus of the rights to privacy online. Twitter, however, remains a relatively fast, timely and often free way to listen into public debate with a large potential audience, is simple to analyse and hence provides valuable insights into public reactions to park management decisions complementing other data sources.