Our vision is:

"The protection of tropical rainforests worldwide through sound management, understanding and appreciation through research and education."

To be considered for funding, projects must be compatible with the Foundation?s vision.

To date, the Skyrail Rainforest Foundation has, and continues to support, a number of tropical rainforest research studies and initiatives. Examples of projects funded by the Foundation include, but are not limited to:

• Evolution Of The Rainforest Canopy - Yumiko Baba
• Microbats In The Wet Tropics - Tamara Inkster
• Impact Of Roads - Peter Byrnes
• Rainforest Phenology - Dr Mike Liddell
• Amphibian Population Declines - Robert Puschendorf
• Papua New Guinea Rainforest - Elizabeth Pryde
• Skyrail Rainforest Foundation Cyclone Larry Project

The Skyrail Rainforest Foundation will continue to support tropical rainforest research and education projects on an ongoing basis. For more information, please contact us or visit the Funding section of this website.

Evolution of the rainforest canopy: Yumiko Baba [July 2011]

The Australian Wet Tropics is one of the nation's most species-rich and diverse bioregions. Decades of intensive taxonomic study of the plant life of this region have documented nearly 3000 species of vascular plants of which around 700 are found no-where else other than the Australian Wet Tropics (IUCN1988' WTMA 2003), yet many species remain to be discovered.

Also supported by the Australian Tropical Herbarium (ATH), James Cook University Student (JCU) Yumiko Baba's project - "Systematics, origins and evolution of the rainforest canopy tree genus Elaeocarpus (Elaeocapaceae) in Australasia" , studies the systematics and conservation status of several rare, poorly known and undescribed canopy tree species in the Wet Tropics.

The Australian Tropical Herbarium currently holds specimens representing nearly 200 putative new species from this region that are yet to be formally described and named.Yumiko was a recipient of two years of Skyrail Rainforest Foundation Funding in 2009 and 2010.

Microbats in the Wet Tropics: Tamara Inkster [July 2011]

A 2010 recipient of Skyrail Rainforest Foundation student funding, James Cook University Student (JCU) Tamara Inksters project - "Community assemblage, altitudinal graidents, and climatic requirements of Microbats in the Wet Tropics", will provide much needed data on the distributions of numerous Microbat species and required a great deal of field work which was essential for increasing our knowledge of the Microbat species, including producing an identification guide to the calls of the bats of the Wet Tropics.

Ultrasonic echolocation calls emitted by microbats during foraging and navigation are, in most case, species specific. This allows species identifications to be made based solely on call recordings.To date, our knowledge of calls produced by species inhabiting the Wet Tropics is restricted.

This project formed a larger PhD project investigating the community assemblage, altitudinal gradients and ecological requirements of Microbats in the Tropics and will fill an important gap in our knowledge of distribution of microbat species in the region. Microbats are considered to provide essential information to determine the true impact of climate change on those species which inhabit the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

Tamara's Project is also supported by the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change (CTBCC) and James Cook University (JCU).

Impact of roads: Peter Byrnes [July 2011]

James Cook University (JCU) PhD student Peter Byrnes, a recipient of Skyrail Rainforest Foundation student funding, first received funding for his project - "Impact of roads on medium-sized, ground-dwelling rainforest mammals in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area", in 2007. He was later awarded funding in both 2008 and 2009 and has been the only Skyrail Rainforest Foundation student funded project to receive funding for three consecutive years.

His project is expected to aid in management decisions regarding a wide range of rainforest mammals, both within Australia and globally, on the impact of roads on rainforest mammals.This includes the Musky Rat-kangaroo (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus), Long-nosed Bandicoot (Perameles nasuta), Northern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus) and Giant White-tailed Rat (Uromys caudimaculatus). These species represent a wide spectrum of habitat specialisations and behavioural attributes. The Musky Rat-kangaroo, in particular, is poorly understood. It is ecologically and evolutionarily significant, as a restricted endemic important in the dispersal of many rainforest fruits and as the potential ancestral link between possums and kangaroos.

Road ecology is a newly emerging field of science which examines how roads interact with, and affect the habitats surrounding them. This project was designed to advance both the theoretical and practical knowledge-base of this newly emerging field.

The outcomes will be relevant to a wide range of stakeholders, including government departments, environmental consultants and developers such as; road effects on animal abundance, avoidance and movement; whether roads act as barriers to their movement and dispersal and how this compares to a natural barrier (creek); the impact of traffic noise on their behaviour and movement; and whether roads affect the health of the animal.

Rainforest Phenology: Dr Mike Liddell [September 2008]

The Skyrail Rainforest Foundation is funding a James Cook University project, which is investigating any correlation between climate change and the flowering and fruiting patterns of rainforest plants.

The project aims are to decipher whether fruiting and flowering activity corresponds with seasonal variation in climate at the community level in the lowland rainforest, and determine if plants of varying sexual systems demonstrate different sensitivity to climatic functions.

The research is being conducted in the Barron Gorge National Park, along the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway transect. Researchers are utilising the Skyrail cableway to monitor and record over 7km of rainforest canopy. Photographic records will be collected over a 10-year period and collated with the flowering and fruiting patterns already recorded by Skyrail?s Environment Department since 1995, making this one of Australia?s longest running phenology studies.

Foundation funding has been used to assist with the set-up costs for this project, including the purchase of necessary technical equipment such as a digital camera, tripod and accessories crucial to collecting the best quality data.

Funding for the operational expenses of this project has been provided by the MTRSF.

Amphibian Population Declines: Robert Puschendorf [September 2008]

Each year the Skyrail Rainforest Foundation makes funding available to students conducting and participating in relevant PhD and masters research projects. James Cook University (JCU) PhD student Robert Puschendorf, was one of the first students to be awarded this funding in 2007, with another grant given in 2008.

SRF funding supported Robert?s research "Mechanisms of resistance to chytridiomycosis in recovered and recolonised amphibian populations" and led to the rediscovery of a frog species not seen for 17 years and thought to be extinct.

Robert was working in conjunction with JCU's Amphibian Disease Ecology Group, and Professor Ross Alford, when the Armoured Mist Frog (Litoria lorica) was found on the Carbine Tablelands, in Tropical North Queensland, Australia.

It had been feared the Armoured Mist Frog was lost in the devastating outbreaks of amphibian chytrid fungus, which started in the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area 20 years ago and was thought to have caused the extinction of all known high elevation populations of seven frog species in the Wet Tropics between the late 1980s and early 1990's.

The identification of this species was confirmed by Dr. Conrad Hoskin of the Australian National University.

This project was also supported by the Federal Department of Environment, Heritage, Water, and the Arts, Australian Geographic and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.

Papua New Guinea Rainforest: Elizabeth Pryde [September 2008]

James Cook University (JCU) PhD student Elizabeth Pryde has also been provided funding by the Foundation for the past two years.

Funding for her project: "Does a native timber plantation in Papua New Guinea, and its surrounding rainforest matrix, provide sustainable habitat for local avifauna?" is also supported by JCU, Australian and Pacific Science Foundation (APSF) and the Oregon Zoo Foundation (Future for Wildlife Conservation).

This research forms part of an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) scholarship, which is awarded to students of exceptional research potential undertaking a Higher Degree by Research (HDR).

The project, which is the first to be funded by the Foundation outside of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area, in Tropical North Queensland, Australia, aims to:

• Assess the occurrence of forest-interior and generalist bird species in primary and secondary (logged-over) rainforest, native timber (E.deglupta) plantations and buffer zones, at a timber operation and its surrounding landscape in East New Britian.
• Determine how species assemblages differ with respect to different habitat indexes.
• Assess the extent to which each habitat type is utilised by different bird species. (e.g. breeding and foraging).
• Communicate the results to the local landowners and discuss the impacts of native timber plantations and logging on wildlife and vegetation.
• Use this data to prescribe preliminary guidelines for native timber plantation certification Papua New Guinea, with an emphasis on preserving many rare, endemic rainforest species on New Britain Island.

The project is expected to yield highly original results which will feed into current CSIRO work on biodiversity monitoring and planning in Papua New Guinea, and is expected to produce several high quality publications.

Skyrail Rainforest Foundation Cyclone Larry Project [April 2008]

In October 2006, the Skyrail Rainforest Foundation announced a $50,000 commitment towards funding several research initiatives, to be collectively known as the Skyrail Rainforest Foundation Cyclone Larry Project.

The Skyrail Rainforest Foundation funding for this project, helped to support ten (10) studies, with a specific focus on the impacts on flora and fauna, ecosystem recovery, revegetation, and ongoing management programs for Australia's Tropical Rainforests, following the impacts and effects of Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry.

The 10 studies were:

• Lowland Bird Communities in continuous and fragmented rainforest; impacts and recovery following Cyclone Larry.
• Assessment of cyclonic damage and (tree) community response using long term forest plots.
• Impacts of Cyclone Larry on reforested sites and forest fragments.
• Impacts of Cyclone Larry on Aboreal folivores (leaf-eating possums and tree-kangaroos).
• Trophic (nutritional / food chain) impact of a severe tropical cyclone on an endangered ecosystem [focusing on the Mabi forests on the Atherton Tablelands and the Green Ringtail Possum (Pseudochirops archeri)].
• Wet Tropics scale re-distribution of a threatened species in response to a major habitat disturbance: landscape ecology of the Spectacled Flying Fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) after Cyclone Larry.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of river and wetland rehabilitation works in relation to impacts of Tropical Cyclone Larry.
• Satellite remote sensing assessment of rainforest vegetation damage from Cyclone Larry and vegetation recovery monitoring.
• Impacts of Cyclone Larry on rainforest insects.
• An assessment of the impact of Cyclone Larry on the tourism industry with particular reference to the landscape.

Research works were primarily undertaken by the Tropical Landscapes Joint Venture (TLJV), which is an alliance between the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and James Cook University (JCU).

In addition to the Skyrail Rainforest Foundation and TLJV, several other organisations were involved in the research and support of these projects. These organisations include the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility (MTSRF) and Far North Queensland Natural Resource Management Ltd.

The Skyrail Rainforest Foundation Cyclone Larry Project represents the first stage in long-term strategic research, which provides scientific input to government and industry with respect to immediate and long-term community development and natural resource management issues.