Urban areas are altered from natural landscapes in several ways that can impact wildlife. Birds are widespread in urban areas, and it is well documented that there are phenotypic differences between urban and non‐urban conspecifics. However, little is known about which characteristics of the urban environment are driving differences. We used 9 years of data from nest boxes spread across 20 sites along a 40‐km urban–non‐urban g...

Biodiversity conservation in northern Australia is characterised by high endemism, data deficiency, and high Indigenous land tenure and population. The Northern Australia Conservation Genomics Forum brought together experts to explore current genetic research with particular emphasis on integration of genomics within conservation practices. We discuss the regional biodiversity of northern Australia, highlighting the unique bio...

Offspring of older breeders frequently show reduced longevity, which has been linked to shorter offspring telomere length. It is currently unknown whether such telomere reduction persists beyond a single generation, as would be the case if germline transmission is involved. In a within‐grandmother, multi‐generational study using zebra finches, we show that the shorter telomeres observed in F1 offspring of older mothers are sti...

Urbanisation is a globally occurring phenomenon and is predicted to continue increasing rapidly. Urban ecosystems present novel environments and challenges which species must acclimate or adapt to. These novel challenges alter existing or create new selection pressures on behaviours which provide an opportunity to investigate eco-evolutionary responses to contemporary environmental change. We used 7 years of breeding data from...

Ex situ conservation efforts such as those of zoos, botanical gardens, and seed banks will form a vital complement to in situ conservation actions over the coming decades. It is therefore necessary to pay the same attention to the biological diversity represented in ex situ conservation facilities as is often paid to protected‐area networks. Building the phylogenetic diversity of ex situ collections will strengthen our capacit...

Historically, slow decomposition rates have resulted in the accumulation of large amounts of carbon in northern peatlands. Both climate warming and vegetation change can alter rates of decomposition, and hence affect rates of atmospheric CO 2 exchange, with consequences for climate change feedbacks. Although warming and vegetation change are happening concurrently, little is known about their relative and interactive effects o...

Sex allocation studies seek to ascertain whether mothers manipulate offspring sex ratio prior to ovulation. To do so, DNA for molecular sexing should be collected as soon after conception as possible, but instead neonates are usually sampled. Here, we aim to identify and quantify some of the problems associated with using molecular techniques to identify the sex of newly laid avian eggs. From both fertilized and unfertilized c...

Sex identification is a problem in research and conservation. It can often be solved using a DNA test but this is only an option if a sex‐specific marker is available. Such markers can be identified using the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique. This is usually a taxonomic method, as it produces a DNA fingerprint of 50–100 PCR bands. However, if male and female AFLP products are compared, sex‐specific marke...

Birds are difficult to sex. Nestlings rarely show sex‐linked morphology and we estimate that adult females appear identical to males in over 50% of the world's bird species. This problem can hinder both evolutionary studies and human‐assisted breeding of birds. DNA‐based sex identification provides a solution. We describe a test based on two conserved CHD (chromo‐helicase‐DNA‐binding) genes that are located on the avian sex ch...