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Murray-Darling Freshwater Research CentreMDFRC item.For decades the floodplain forests of the River Murray have endured the effects of prolonged water stress. This has resulted in significant crown dieback and loss of condition. The Living Murray (TLM) initiative aims to restore the ecological health of six Icon Sites along the River. The two eucalypts River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) and Black Box (Eucalyptus largiflorens) that dominate the forests at five of the six Icon Sites are undergoing widespread decline. To enable effective management and restoration of these forests, we developed a standardised tree condition assessment method. Named the TLM tree condition assessment method, it utilises visual assessment of a range of tree crown variables (extent and density of the foliage in the crown, epicormic growth, new tip growth, reproductive activity, leaf die-off, mistletoe infestation) and measurements of bark condition, diameter at breast height and dominance class. This article describes the TLM tree condition assessment method and assesses it for consistency between multiple observer teams after limited training. The level of observer agreement between six teams each comprised of two observers was assessed for seven of the ten variables. Intra-class correlation was used to compare scores of 30 River Red Gum trees assessed on Gunbower Island on the River Murray. The level of agreement for all variables was statistically significant with six of seven variables having correlation coefficients over R = 0.5. The TLM tree condition assessment method was found to provide accurate estimates of a range of tree variables that can be used to determine tree condition. The TLM tree condition assessment method provides a valuable monitoring tool that can be used to assess management interventions, such as management flooding and silvicultural thinning.

Neang, Thy, Hartmann, Timo, Hun, Seiha, Souter, Nicholas J., Furey, Neil M. (2014): A new species of wolf snake (Colubridae: Lycodon Fitzinger, 1826) from Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, Cardamom Mountains, southwest Cambodia. Zootaxa 3814 (1), DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3814.1.3

Lycodon zoosvictoriae sp. nov. (Fig. 2���6; Table 1) Holotype ( Fig. 2 ). CBC02238, an adult female, collected by Thy Neang and Seiha Hun, 15 June 2013 at N 12 ��09'22.0", E 102 �� 59 ' 18.7 ", 1,284 m above sea level (a.s.l.) in Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, Cardamom Mountains, Pursat Province, southwest Cambodia. Diagnosis. Lycodon zoosvictoriae sp. nov. is differentiated from all of its congeners by the following unique combination of morphological characters: ratio of TaL/SVL 0.27; temporals 2 + 2; maxillary teeth 9 (5 anterior and 4 posterior); supralabials 8; preoculars 1 L/ 2 R; postoculars 2; Lo-orbit contact absent; Lo-internasal contact absent; infralabials 10; DSR 17 ��� 17 ��� 15; ventral scales 213; subcaudal scale 85; anal plate entire; dorsal surface of head dark brown with pale tan brown on edges and between scales; irregularly scattered dark brown blotches on anterior dorsum, 31 regular dark brown transverse blotches on posterior dorsum and 26 on tail; color of blotches dark brown; body coloration light tan brown; dorsal scale weakly keeled; venter coloration white with dark pigments or spots. Description of holotype. Adult female, SVL 411 mm; tail long, much slender posteriorly, TaL 109.7 mm, ratio of TaL/SVL 0.27 or 27 % of SVL; head elongate, distinct from neck, HL 14 mm, twice as long as wide (HW 7 mm), narrower anteriorly and somewhat truncate at the end of the snout tip, larger posteriorly reaching maximum width at level of posterior parietals, forming a subtrapezoid shape, rather depressed, HD 4.1 mm; IO 3.5 mm, twice smaller than head width; snout elongate, SnL 3.7 mm; rostral shield moderate, sub-convex crescentic shape, leaving a small median groove for the tongue to protrude, invisible from above, 1.9 mm in width, about twice as long as depth, 1 mm; internasals subrectangular, 1 mm in width and 1 mm in depth, forming a narrow suture, 1 mm; prefrontal rather large, subpentagonal, posterior sharper point slightly intruding toward anterior suture between supraoculars and sides of frontal, 1.9 mm in width, same length as depth 1.9 mm, forming a suture 1.5 mm in length; frontal large, triangular, its length from anterior side to posterior sharper point 3.3 mm, longer than its width 2.5 mm, measuring the anterior transverse side of maximum frontal contacting with posterior prefrontals; supraoculars narrow, elongated, subrectangular, 2 mm in length; parietals large, butterfly-like in shape, bordered by supraoculars, frontal, upper postoculars anteriorly, upper anterior and posterior temporals, paraparietal laterally and three nuchal scales posteriorly. Nostrils rather large, located at EN 2 mm, at ND 2.3 mm, valve on upper edge of nostril visible from lateral view; nasals completely divided by nostrils into two scales about equal in size, anterior nasal in contact with rostral anteriorly, internasal dorsally, 1 st SL ventrally, posterior nasal in contact with internasal and prefrontal dorsally, loreal posteriorly, 1 st and 2 nd SL ventrally; loreal large, elongated, subrectangular, in contact with prefrontal dorsally, preoculars posteriorly, so not in contact with orbit, 2 nd & 3 rd SL ventrally, separating from internasal by broad contact between posterior nasal and prefrontal and from orbit by preoculars; preoculars 1 L/ 2 R, one on the left side rather large, vertically elongated, subrectangular, in contact with prefrontal anteriorly, supraocular dorsally, orbit posteriorly, lower preocular fused with upper edge of 3 rd SL, allowing 3 rd SL to broadly enter orbit, 2 preoculars on the right side, upper vertically elongated, subrectangular, lower much smaller, subrectangular, separating 3 rd SL from orbit; orbit moderate, rounded, ED 1.7 mm, almost twice shorter from its distance to the tip of the snout, pupil vertically elliptic; postocular 2 / 2, subrectangular (except the lower one on the right side pentagonal), upper smaller in contact with supraocular dorsally, parietal, anterior temporal posteriorly, lower pentagonal in contact with 5 th& 6 th SL ventrally, both anterior temporal posteriorly; TP 2 + 2, on the left side anterior temporals horizontally elongated, hexagonal, larger and longer than posterior temporals, upper one pentagonal, lower one subrectangular, on the right side upper anterior temporal much longer than lower, in contact with parietal dorsally, paraparietal posteriorly and upper posterior temporal ventrally, lower anterior temporal subrectangular, posterior lower temporal pentagonal, anterior half of its size locating beneath posterior part of anterior temporal, posterior half locating beneath anterior part of paraparietal; paraparietal, large, elongated, irregular shape, locating laterally beneath parietal on the right side, subrectangular on the left side. SL 8 /8, 1st SL in contact with rostral anteriorly, nasal dorsally, 2 nd SL in contact with nasal anteriorly, loreal dorsally, 3 rd SL on the left side fused with lower preocular, in contact with orbit, on the right side in contact with loreal, lower preocular dorsally, separating from orbit by lower preocular, 4 th& 5 th SL in contact with orbit, 5 th SL in contact with lower postocular dorsally, 6 th SL in contact with lower postocular, anterior temporal dorsally, 7 th SL in contact anterior temporal and posterior temporal anteriorly, 8 th SL in contact posterior temporal; mental moderate, triangular; InL 10 /10, 1st pair in broad contact with each other, anterior chin shield posteriorly, 1���5 th in contact with first chin shield, 5 th InL in contact with both first and second chin shield; 6 th largest in contact with second chin shield centrally and anteriormost gular scale, 7���10 th in contact with gular scales; two rather large chin shields, in broad contact, the first pair larger than the second, both forming a distinct suture of 3 mm, second chin shield bordered posteriorly by five gular scales, first pair of gular scales at central region intruding posterior concave part of second chin shield; first pair of gular scale followed posteriorly by second pair of gular scales, first preventral, second preventral, and first ventral scale (Fig. 3). Dentition. On maxilla: nine maxillary teeth, 1���5 th anterior, increasing in size, the last one the largest fang-like tooth without venom groove, separated posteriorly by a diastema from two enlarged teeth, anterior similar in size to the third anterior teeth, posterior larger, again interspaced by a gap which is smaller than that of the diastema, ending at the two posteriormost teeth similar in size of fourth anterior teeth, locating next to one another; on palatine of lower jaw: five anterior teeth, increasing in size, followed by a diastema, then one large fang-like tooth, again interspaced by a small gap, followed by 11 subsequent teeth similar in size. Body scalation: DSN 17, corresponding at level of 14 th ventral scale; DSM 17, at level of 108 th ventral scale; DSV 15, at level of 206 th ventral scale; VS 213, venter keeled, angulate laterally; SC 85, divided; anal plate single; scales rhomboid, 1���4 th scale row smooth, 4 th scale row indistinctly keeled, 5���8 th and vertebral scale row weakly keeled; scale apical pit absent. Coloration. In life, the specimen possesses a pale tan brown background color on dorsum with darker brown speckles on scales; large irregular dark brown spots or blotches on anterior one third of dorsum, followed by more or less 31 distinct, discontinuous, transverse dark brown blotches on posterior two-thirds of dorsum; the first regular blotches starting at the level of the 95 th ventral scale; similar indistinct dark brown transverse blotches with distinct ���flying bat��� shaped dark brown blotches on three vertebral scales wide between the larger transverse blotches; blotches on the back transversely extending downwards to the edges of ventral scales; 26 dark brown transverse blotches on tail, the third anterior blotch encircling the venter; an indistinct vertebral dark brown stripe, more distinct anteriorly at nuchal region and less distinct posteriorly (washed out in preservative); top and lateral sides of head with dark brown on scales and pale tan brown speckles between scales, a pale tan brown spot on each parietal, posterior parietals less darker brown; transverse dark brown nuchal blotches; eye pale tan brown with dark brown pupil. In preservative, eye creamy gray, pupil milky white; pale tan brown color becomes more creamy white except on top of head; dark brown color becomes lighter dark brown; anterior and posterior ventral and subcaudal surface white with irregular dark pigments, mid-ventral surface reddish-orange with irregular dark pigments (Fig. 4). Natural history. The holotype of Lycodon zoosvictoriae sp. nov. was found at night at 21: 18 hours while it was slowly moving on a 40 cm diameter tree trunk about 2 m above ground during light rain. The encounter occurred on 15 June 2013 in submontane forest where most parts of tree trunks and their branches are covered with mosses (Fig. 5). Hence we carefully assume that L. zoosvictoriae is a nocturnal, arboreal and probably terrestrial species, which as with other species of Lycodon, may feed on small lizards and frogs. Lizards and frogs known to inhabit the area include Hemiphyllodactylus sp., Sphenomorphus indicus, Limnonectes kohchangae, Microhyla heymonsi, Chiromantis samkosensis, Raorchestes cardamonus, R. parvulus, Kurixalus bisacculus and Rhacophorus rhodopus. When threatened, the reptile protected itself aggressively from danger by repeatedly striking (Fig. 6) and shaking its tail like a rattlesnake or by coiling and hiding its head inside the coiled body. Etymology. The specific epithet zoosvictoriae refers to ���Zoos Victoria��� ��� the Zoological Parks and Gardens Board of the southeastern Australian State of Victoria. ���Zoos Victoria��� has funded the Cardamom Mountains Research Group in collaboration with the Cambodian Ministry of Environment and Fauna & Flora International since 2006. Their support has built the capacity of Cambodian researchers and conservationists and greatly improved understanding of Cambodian herpetofauna. For the vernacular name, we propose Zoos Victoria���s Wolf Snake (in English). Comparison. The new species is easily recognized by its unique coloration within the genus Lycodon in combination with distinct morphometric and meristic characters. Detailed comparisons with its congeners occurring in Cambodia and neighboring countries between 19 �� N latitude in the north and the Isthmus of Kra in the south are provided below and in Table 1. First, Lycodon zoosvictoriae sp. nov. can be distinguished from L. cardamomensis Daltry & W��ster, 2002 (characters of the latter are given in parenthesis) from Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia and southeastern Thailand by having TP 2 + 2 (vs. 2 + 3); fewer MT 9: 5 A & 4 P [vs. 11���12 (6���7)A/ 5 P]; fewer DSR 17 ��� 17 ��� 15 (vs. 19 ��� 17 ��� 15); fewer VS 213 (vs. 215���225) and fewer SC 85 (vs. 92���93); dorsal surface of head dark with pale tan brown on scale edges and between scales (vs. purely black); irregularly scattered dark brown blotches on anterior dorsum and 31 relatively regular blotches on posterior body (vs. having 11���13 distinct crossbands on body); 26 blotches on tail (vs. 7 crossbands); color of body blotches dark brown (vs. cream crossbands) and color of body pale tan brown (vs. black); ventral coloration white with scattered dark pigments (vs. white with encroached dark blotches). literature and comparative material. Data were taken from Anderson (1879); Smith (1943); Taylor (1965); Saint Girons (1972); Daltry & W��ster (2002); Pauwels et . (2005); Grismer et al. (2008); Vogel et al. (2009, 2012); Das (2010); Vogel & David (2010); and Zhang et al. (2011). Abbreviations are defined in the methods and materials and additional abbreviations are: maxillary teeth (MT), anterior=A, posterior=P; preocular (PreOc), present= 1 or 2, absent=0, left (L) or right (R); postocular (PoC); loreal (Lo), present= 1, absent=0; lo-internasal in contact= 1, lo-internasal not in contact=0; lo-orbit in contact= 1, lo-orbit not in contact=0; anal plate (AP): single= 1, divided= 2; number of blotches or bands, absent= ���; nuchal band, absent= ���; rare or exceptional characters are given in parenthesis. Characters L. zoosvictoriae L. capucinus L. cardamomensis L. davidi L. fasciatus sp. nov. SVL 411 258���684 436���709 308 358���717 Dorsal surface of head Dark brown Dark Black Olive-brown Dark o of transverse blotches or 31 Reticulate 11���13 84 19���49 bands on body o of transverse blotches or 26 ��� 7 38 7 ���21 crossbands on tail Color of blotches or Dark brown Mixed reticulate Whitish Pale tan brown Whitish grey crossbands Color of body Light tan brown Mixed brownish grey Black Brownish black Blackish Dorsal scales Weakly keeled Weakly keeled Weakly keeled Weekly keeled Weakly keeled Venter coloration White with dark pigments Dirty white White withencroached White with dark blotches White with dark transverse dark blotches blotches ������continued on the next page Venter coloration Cream, speckled White Cream to beige- Cream White Grayish posteriorly brown Lycodon zoosvictoriae sp. nov. differs from L. capucinus (Boie, 1827) which widely occurs in Southeast Asia by having TP 2 + 2 (vs. 2 + 3); SL 8 (vs. 9���10); greater number of SC 85 (vs. 59���74); dorsal surface of head dark brown with pale tan brown on scale edges and between scales (vs. purely dark); irregularly scattered dark brown blotches on anterior dorsum and 31 blotches on posterior body (vs. reticulate with pale lines); 26 blotches on tail (vs. absent); color of body blotches dark brown (vs. mixed reticulate); color of body pale tan brown (vs. mixed brownish-grey); ventral coloration white with dark pigments (vs. dirty white). Morphologically, the new species is separated from L. davidi Vogel, Nguyen, Kingsada & Ziegler, 2012 from Laos by having fewer MT 9 [5 A & 4 P][vs. 11 (6 A & 5 P)]; fewer VS 213 (vs. 224); fewer SC 85 (vs. 99); dorsal surface of head dark brown with light tan brown on scale edges and between scales (vs. olive-brown); irregularly scattered dark brown blotches on anterior part and 31 blotches on posterior part of body (vs. 84 crossbands on body); 26 blotches on tail (vs. 38 crossbands on tail); color of body blotches dark brown (vs. pale tan brown); color of body pale tan brown (vs. brownish black); ventral coloration white with dark pigments (vs. white with dark blotches). In having a ratio of TaL/SVL 0.27, TP 2 + 2, SL 8, loreal present and not in contact with internasals, InL 10, DSR 17 ��� 17 ��� 15, VS 213, SC 85, and dorsal scale weakly keeled, L. zoosvictoriae sp. nov. mostly resembles L. fasciatus (Anderson, 1879) from Southwest China, India, Myanmar, northern Thailand, northern Laos and Vietnam, although its coloration pattern is completely different. The new species distinctly differs from L. fasciatus by having its loreal not in contact with orbit (vs. Lo-orbit in contact); dorsal surface of head dark brown with pale tan brown on scale edges and between scales (vs. purely dark brown); color of body blotches dark brown (vs. whitish-grey crossbands); color of body pale tan brown (vs. blackish-brown), venter coloration white with dark pigments (vs. white with dark transverse blotches, see Vogel & David 2010). The new species differs from L. futsingensis (Pope, 1928) recorded from Southeast China and North to Central Vietnam by having fewer MT 9 [5 A & 4 P] [vs. 12���15 (7���8 A & 5���7 P)]; a distinctly higher TaL/SVL of 0.27 (vs. 0.2���0.23); 26 blotches on tail (vs. 9���18 crossbands); color of body blotches dark brown (vs. brownish-speckled white); color of body pale tan brown (vs. dark brown); dorsal scales weakly keeled (vs. smooth). Lycodon zoosvictoriae sp. nov. is distinguished from L. laoensis G��nther, 1864 which occurs in India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, West Malaysia and China by having TP 2 + 2 (vs. 2 + 3); SL 8 (vs. 9���10); higher VS 213 (vs. 163���192); higher SC 85 (vs. 60���76); dorsal surface of head dark brown with pale tan brown on scale edges and between scales (vs. purely dark); higher number of blotches 26 (vs. 11���23); color of body blotches dark brown (vs. yellowish-white crossbands); color of body pale tan brown (vs. black); dorsal scales weakly keeled (vs. smooth); ventral coloration white with dark pigments (vs. white). Lycodon zoosvictoriae sp. nov. can easily be distinguished from L. paucifasciatus (Rendahl, 1943) from Central Vietnam by its lower number of dorsal scales at the neck 17 (vs. 19); only weakly keeled dorsal scales (vs. distinctly keeled); its proportionally longer tail, TaL/SVL 0.27 (vs. 0.20); having 2 posterior temporals (vs. 3); fewer MT 9 (vs. 11���12); more blotches on body 31 (vs. 14���25) and tail 26 (vs. 8���11); color of body blotches dark brown (vs. mottled cream) and color of body pale tan brown (vs. blackish brown). Since L. ruhstrati (Fischer, 1886) is a polytypic species with its nominotypic subspecies restricted to Taiwan, we confine our comparison to L. ruhstrati abditus (Vogel et al. 2009) from which Lycodon zoosvictoriae sp. nov. can be differentiated by its weakly keeled dorsal scales (vs. distinctly keeled); its proportionally shorter tail, TaL/SVL 0.27 (vs. 0.21���0.24); fewer MT 9 (vs. 11���13); slightly lower number of subcaudals 85 (vs. 90���103); more blotches on tail 26 (vs. 11���23); color of body blotches dark brown (vs. whitish) and color of body pale tan brown (vs. blackish brown). The new species differs from Lycodon septentrionalis (G��nther, 1875) which occurs from India through Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam to China by having a longer tail, TaL/SVL 0.27 (vs. 0.19���0.25); loreal not in contact with orbit (vs. Lo-orbit in contact); irregularly scattered dark brown blotches on anterior part and 31 blotches on posterior part of body (vs. 23���35 crossbands on body); 26 blotches on tail (vs. 11���17); color of body blotches dark brown (vs. white bands) and color of body pale tan brown (vs. black); ventral coloration white with dark pigments (vs. white). Lastly, Lycodon zoosvictoriae sp. nov. is distinguished from Lycodon subcinctus Boie, 1827 which occurs from Brunei, West Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Philippines, China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand to Cambodia by having TP 2 + 2 (vs. 1 + 2); preoculars 1 L/ 2 R (vs. preocular absent); loreal not in contact with orbit (vs. Lo-orbit in contact); InL 10 (vs. 8���9); dorsal surface of head dark brown with pale tan brown on scale edges and between scales (vs. largely white); irregularly scattered dark brown blotches on anterior body and 31 on posterior body (vs. 9���15 crossbands on body); color of body blotches dark brown (vs. whitish); color of body pale tan brown (vs. black); ventral color patt, Published as part of Neang, Thy, Hartmann, Timo, Hun, Seiha, Souter, Nicholas J. & Furey, Neil M., 2014, A new species of wolf snake (Colubridae: Lycodon Fitzinger, 1826) from Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, Cardamom Mountains, southwest Cambodia in Zootaxa 3814 (1), DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3814.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/230239, {"references":["Daltry, J. C. & Wuster, W. (2002) A new species of wolf snake (Serpentes: Colubridae: Lycodon) from the Cardamom Mountains, southwestern Cambodia. Herpetologica, 58 (4), 498 - 504. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.1655 / 0018 - 0831 (2002) 058 [0498: ansows] 2.0. co; 2","Anderson, J. (1879) Anatomical and Zoological Researches: Comprising an Account of the Zoological Results of the Two Expeditions to Western Yunnan in 1866 and 1875; and a Monograph of the Two Cetacean Genera Platanista and Orcella. Vol. 1. & 2. Bernard Quaritch, London, i-xxv + 984 pp + [1] & pls. 1 - 84.","Smith, M. A. (1943) The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, including the whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III. - Serpentes. Taylor and Francis, London, xii + 583 pp.","Taylor, E. H. (1965) The serpents of Thailand and adjacent waters. University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 45, 609 - 1096.","Saint Girons, H. (1972) Les serpents du Cambodge. Memoires du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Nouvelle Serie (A, Zoologie), 74, 1 - 170.","Grismer, L. L., Neang, T., Chav, T. & Grismer, J. L. (2008) Checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of the Cardamom region of Southwestern Cambodia. Cambodian Journal of Natural History, 2008 (1), 12 - 28.","Vogel, G., David, P., Pauwels, O. S. G., Sumontha, M, Norval, G., Hendrix, R., Vu, N. T. & Ziegler, T. (2009) A revision of Lycodon ruhstrati (Fischer 1886) auctorum (Squamata Colubridae), with the description of a new species from Thailand and a new subspecies from the Asian mainland. Tropical Zoology, 22, 131 - 182.","Vogel, G., Nguyen, Q. T., Kingsada, P. & Ziegler, T. (2012) A new species of the genus Lycodon Boie, 1826 from Laos (Squamata: Colubridae). North-western Journal of Zoology, 8 (2), 344 - 352.","Das, I. (2010) A field guide to the Reptiles of South-east Asia. New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd, London-Cape Town-Sydney- Auckland, 376 pp.","Vogel, G. & David, P. (2010) A new species of the genus Lycodon (Boie, 1826) from Yunnan Province, China (Serpentes: Colubridae). Bonn zoological Bulletin, 57 (2), 289 - 296.","Zhang, J., Jiang, K., Vogel, G. & Rao, D. (2011) A new species of the genus Lycodon (Squamata: Colubridae) from Sichuan province, China. Zootaxa, 2982, 59 - 68."]}

In October 2013 the Royal Society of South Australia held a symposium on the topic of climate change. This reprised the Society's previous symposium on the topic 20 years previously and provided a forum for reflection on the changes to climate change science that have occurred since 1993. A number of presentations were given, spanning three topic areas: (i) climate change science and adaptation, (ii) impacts on soils and water, and (iii) impacts on urban ecology and human health. In contrast to the 1993 symposium which was largely predictive of future impacts, the 2013 speakers focussed on current and future mitigation and adaptation strategies. The complex interplay between biophysical and social systems and the need to understand this to enable adaptation and response to climate change were also highlighted. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The Commonwealth Water Act 2007 requires the preparation of a basin plan which guides the management of the Murray-Darling Basin's water resources.A scientific review of the draft basin plan during its public review period by senior elected follows of the Royal Society of South Australia found that the plan: was deficient in explaining the relative merits of how the environmentally sustainable level of take was calculated; did not adequately detail the extent to which system constraints limited the volume of water that could be returned to the environment;used an inappropriate risk assessment methodology in determining the level of ground water extraction; and lacked sufficient scientific rigour in its monitoring and adaptive management sections. We concluded that unless substantial changes were made to address these points it is unlikely that the final Basin Plan would provide a sound basis for the successful management of the Murray-Darling basin's water resources.