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Historical information from the Hobart Botanical Gardens (1864–1885) was used to identify species and phenological phases that were responsive to climatic variations and have the potential to be used as climate change indicators in southern Australia. Of the 49 species considered, 26 (53%) had at least one phenophase that appeared to be driven by changes in rainfall, minimum temperature, or both. This was particularly true for fruiting species, including currants, pears and plums, and for the phenophases harvest commencement, seed ripening or fall, and fruit ripening.

Modern non-parametric methods allow the estimation of a population size under weaker conditions than the classical methods if there are frequent capture occasions. Here a non-parametric estimate of the number of penguins occupying Summerland Beach, Phillip Island, Australia, was computed. This estimator did not assume equal catchability of individuals, did not assume a parametric form for the population size as a function of time and allowed individuals to leave and re-enter the population. The resulting estimate was then decomposed into a seasonal component and a trend component using seasonal time series models to facilitate the understanding of the changes in the population size. The estimated seasonal effects quantified the difference between the number of penguins in the breeding and non-breeding season, and the trend component indicated an increase in the population size over the period of the study. The estimates of the number of penguins are shown to be consistent with other estimates obtained from a variety of sampling methods and statistical analyses.