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Contradictory findings among scientific studies that address a particular issue may impede the conversion of science to management implementation. A systematic review of peerreviewed studies to generate a single outcome may overcome this problem. The contentious topic of the impact that a megaherbivore such as the savanna elephant have for other species and their environment can benefit from such an approach. After some 68 years, 367 peer-reviewed papers covered the topic and 51 of these papers provided sufficient data to be included in a meta-analysis. We separated the direct impact that elephants had on trees and herbs from the indirect effects on other vertebrates, invertebrates, and soil properties. Elephants have an impact on tree structure and abundance but no overall negative cascading effects for species that share space with them. Primary productivity explained a small amount of variation of elephant impact on vegetation. Elephant numbers (density), study duration, rainfall, tree cover, and the presence of artificial water and fences failed to describe patterns of impact. We conclude that published information do not support the calls made for artificially manipulating elephant numbers to ameliorate elephant impact, and call for the management of space use by elephants to maintain savanna heterogeneity.

Savannas once constituted the range of many species that human encroachment has now reduced to a fraction of their former distribution. Many survive only in protected areas. Poaching reduces the savanna elephant, even where protected, likely to the detriment of savanna ecosystems. While resources go into estimating elephant populations, an ecological benchmark by which to assess counts is lacking. Knowing how many elephants there are and how many poachers kill is important, but on their own, such data lack context. We collated savanna elephant count data from 73 protected areas across the continent estimated to hold ~50% of Africa’s elephants and extracted densities from 18 broadly stable population time series. We modeled these densities using primary productivity, water availability, and an index of poaching as predictors. We then used the model to predict stable densities given current conditions and poaching for all 73 populations. Next, to generate ecological benchmarks, we predicted such densities for a scenario of zero poaching. Where historical data are available, they corroborate or exceed benchmarks. According to recent counts, collectively, the 73 savanna elephant populations are at 75% of the size predicted based on current conditions and poaching levels. However, populations are at <25% of ecological benchmarks given a scenario of zero poaching (~967,000)—a total deficit of ~730,000 elephants. Populations in 30% of the 73 protected areas were <5% of their benchmarks, and the median current density as a percentage of ecological benchmark across protected areas was just 13%. The ecological context provided by these benchmark values, in conjunction with ongoing census projects, allow efficient targeting of conservation efforts.

With the escalating challenges in captive elephant management, the study of elephant reintegration emerges as a pivotal area of research, primarily addressing the enhancement of animal welfare. The term ‘reintegration’ refers to the process of rehabilitating captive elephants to a natural system, allowing them to roam freely without intensive human intervention. There is a relative paucity of research addressing the behavioural adaptations post-reintegration, despite reintegration of over 20 elephants across various fenced reserves in South Africa. Our study centres on two distinct herds of reintegrated African elephants, monitoring their movement patterns in two South African reserves over a 57-month period post-release. The primary goal of the study was to establish whether the flexibility and adaptability of movement behaviour of reintegrated elephants can be considered as one of the indicators of determining the success of such an operation. The second aim of our study was to investigate if the reintegrated elephants demonstrated an adaptability to their environment through their hourly, daily, and seasonal ranging patterns after a period of free roaming that exceeded 4 years. Our findings indicated that reintegrated elephants, much like their wild counterparts (movement based on literature), displayed notable seasonal and diurnal variations in key movement parameters, such as utilisation distribution areas and reserve utilization. These patterns changed over time, reflecting an adaptive shift in movement patterns after several years of free roaming. Notably, the trajectory of changes in movement parameters varied between herds, indicating unique adaptation responses, likely resulting from differences in the reintegration process (familiarity of reserve, season of release, presence of wild elephants). Although our study is constrained by the limited number of reintegrated herds available for analysis, it underscores the potential of captive elephants to successfully adapt to a free-living environment, emphasising the promising implications of reintegration initiatives.

Migration is an important, but threatened ecological process. Conserving migration requires the maintenance of functional connectivity across sufficiently large areas. Therefore, we need to know if, where and why species migrate. Elephants are highly mobile and can travel long distances but we do not know if they migrate. Here, we analysed the movement trajectories of 139 savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) within eight clusters of protected areas across southern Africa to determine if elephants migrate, and if so, where, how and why they migrate. Only 25 of these elephants migrated. Elephants are a facultative partially migratory species, where only some individuals in a population migrate opportunistically, and not every year. Elephants migrated between distinct seasonal ranges corresponding to southern Africa’s dry and wet seasons. The timing of wet season migrations was associated with the onset of rainfall and the subsequent greening up of forage. Conversely, the duration, distance, and the timing of dry season migrations varied idiosyncratically. The drivers of elephant migration are likely a complex interaction between individual traits, density, and the distribution and availability of resources. Despite most migrations crossing administrative boundaries, conservation networks provided functional space for elephants to migrate.

To improve the efficacy of protected areas in conserving ecological processes, initiatives such as the megaparks for metapopulations strive to increase connectivity between small and often isolated protected areas. Increasing connectivity between protected areas may mediate the apparent impact of elephants on vegetation and promote regional population stability through the spatial structuring of their populations. This relies on asynchronous population dynamics between interconnected subpopulations separated by distance. It is likely that the spatial responses of elephants to environmental variation drive this asynchrony. Therefore, developing a thorough knowledge of the spatial responses of elephants to their environment can inform management decisions to conserve suitable habitat, and promote population persistence through the maintenance of ecological processes.Most of what we know about the spatial responses of elephants is from studies that focused on explaining their spatial distribution or re-distribution in space, and studies that aimed to identify factors that determine resources use and selection. Recently, technological and analytical advances have marked a shift to studies that aim to assess the behavioural responses of animals to their environment by considering how individuals change their movement. Therefore, my approach in this thesis was to evaluate the environmental determinants of the movement patterns of elephants in the Kruger National Park. To do this, I used hourly location time series datasets acquired from 26-collared elephant cows distributed across Kruger.In chapter 3, I modelled the movement behaviour of the elephants using dynamic Brownian bridge movement modelling. I then evaluated how well different environmental factors explain changes in their movement behaviour using a mixed modelling approach at multiple temporal scales. Distance from water, primary productivity, vegetation structure, and temperature could explain changes in the movement behaviour of the elephants. The factors that could best explain changes in their movement behaviour varied between seasons and among temporal scales. Therefore, elephants adjusted their movement scale-dependently in response to their environment.Management interventions could induce artificial patterns of elephant movement, potentially uncoupling them from the processes that result in asynchrony in the dynamics of local populations. Therefore, the influence and consequences of management interventions such as the provisioning of water remain controversial. In chapter 4, I examined how the provisioning of water influences the movement patterns and the resulting spatial distribution of elephants. When elephants used artificial waterholes, they used areas more than double the distance away from natural water sources in comparison to when they used natural water sources. This increased the total area used by elephants by more than one third. The resulting change in the distribution of elephants may accentuate their impact on vegetation and have demographic consequences.Elephants respond to the distribution and availability of resources, and rather than returning to the artificial manipulation of numbers to relieve symptoms, I argue that management should continue to base their decisions on ecological principals. Many questions remain, and my hopes are that this research contributes to what we know about elephants and how best to manage them, or rather, how best to manage their responses to our interferences.

Salary packaging is the process of using the concessional taxation treatment afforded to certain benefits under the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) Assessment Act to structure an employees total remuneration in a way that generates maximum value to an employee at no additional cost to an employer. The advantages of salary packaging can sometimes be outweighed by the administration and compliance costs. To fully consider the impact of FBI, analyze the following four benefits types: 1. FBT exempt benefits, 2. concessionally taxed benefits, 3. otherwise-deductible benefits, and 4. fully taxable benefits. In most cases an employer will enjoy a saving in payroll tax and workers compensation and, if properly administered, will result in no significant increases in costs or use of existing resources. .

The aim of the present paper was to move water through a reservoir network in such a way as to meet consumer demands and level constraints, minimise the cost of electricity, and minimise the loss of chlorine. This was to be achieved by choosing the switching intervals of reservoir inlet pumps and valves, at the same time complying with the allowed minimum interval size of each device. Switching combinations that threatened to exceed constraints were rejected heuristically. Flows were balanced by linear programming (LP). The genetic algorithm gave confidence in the near-optimality of its solutions, through the well-defined Pareto fronts between the competing objectives. The method was applied to a 16-reservoir water distribution system in Durban, South Africa. Comparison with an equivalent 'dead-band' control showed a 30% improvement in a weighted objective.

From Jul 1, 2006 the top marginal tax rate will not apply until an employee's gross income exceeds $125,000. There are also rumors the government may lower the highest marginal tax rate, which will have a significant impact on many employees currently salary packaging benefits. Salary packaging (salary sacrificing) works by reducing the cash salary paid to an employee in lieu of other items of equivalent value to maximize an employee's take-home benefit. The most commonly packaged benefit is a car, and many are provided to employees by way of a novated lease. Fringe benefits tax-exempt benefits represent the most tax-effective benefits for salary packaging. In today's current workplace it is becoming increasingly important to attract and retain the highest caliber employee for each role in an organization. Given the options on offer in the current market it is becoming more of a requirement for employers to offer the most competitive package.

COACH Mike Mulvey is looking for Queensland Sting star Kate McShea, pictured, to break her scoring duck against third-placed Adelaide in the national women's league match at QEII tomorrow (5pm). Midfielder McShea, a 2000 Olympian and Young Matildas captain, was Queensland's highest scorer in their title-winning season last year. Mulvey believes the key to McShea forcing her way back into the national team, which will be named next month for the Olympic Oceania qualifying tournament, was scoring more goals. Mulvey said top-of-the-ladder Queensland needed to beat Adelaide and main rivals NSW next weekend in Canberra to secure hosting the December 20 final at the new home ground. He said a goal-scoring McShea was vital to Queensland's successful title defence. AUSTRALIAN 50m freestyle star Ashley Callus will know at the end of January whether he has overcome illness and has the endurance to be at his peak for next year's Athens Olympic Games. Callus, pictured, has been floored by a mystery virus that contributed to him swimming just one race at this year's Barcelona world championships. His coach David Urquhart said while he was happy with Callus's progress, he would not know until he swims competitively over three or four meets whether Callus has returned to near peak condition. As a result, Urquhart has decided to send Callus to the NSW titles in January at the end of a campaign that includes next week's Qantas Skins (Sydney), Telstra World Cup (Melbourne) and the Queensland titles in early January.

IT will be the unscripted national league preliminary final when Melbourne Phoenix hosts Adelaide Thunderbirds tonight. The Sharelle McMahon-led Phoenix seemed major semi-final certainties after dominating the regular season with only one narrow loss to Sydney Swifts, who upset Melbourne last weekend. Tonight is tipped to be the swansong for Adelaide veterans captain Kathryn Harby-Williams, Jacqui Delaney, pictured, and Rebecca Sanders, following the Thunderbirds' four-point and 16-point losses to Melbourne this year. But the experienced Adelaide team will want to farewell the brilliant trio in style. In the Dairy Farmers State League preliminary final on Sunday, Brisbane-East Pumas meet Brisbane-West Lions. AUSTRALIAN teenager Casey Stoner is giving himself twice-daily pain-killing injections in a bid to ride in this weekend's Portuguese motorcycle grand prix. The 17-year-old is racing against time to overcome a broken wrist and collarbone he suffered in a fall three weeks ago. Stoner, pictured, who is the youngest Australian to have scored a podium finish in GP racing, had surgery in Italy on his left wrist soon after breaking it during qualifying at Brno in the Czech Republic. He has rated himself an 85 per cent chance of being cleared to race in Sunday's 125cc GP at Estoril on the outskirts of Lisbon. \"The doctors said the operation went perfectly and my scaphoid is now stapled back into place,\" Stoner said. \"I've been doing a lot of physio to build up my strength and movement.\"