A desperate rescue mission to the only known habitat of the stocky galaxias, in Kosciuszko national park, may be the last hope for the species. Scientists estimate there may have been a couple of thousand stocky galaxias remaining before this summer’s bushfires.
Effective conservation requires rigorous baselines of pristine conditions to assess the impacts of human activities and to valuate the efficacy of management. The study found that top predators and reef-building organisms dominated unpopulated Kingman and Palmyra, while small planktivorous fishes and fleshy algae dominated the populated atolls of Tabuaeran and Kiritimati.