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There are increasing pressures within the higher education sector to incorporate digital pedagogies into teaching and learning, a trend amplified by recent extensive recourse to online delivery within the sector. This trend carries with it both opportunities and challenges in effectively fostering those graduate competences that a converging consensus identifies as essential for sustainability education to nurture. The challenge for educators is to design programs capable of fostering a range of competences fit for wicked sustainability problems. The principal objective of this paper is to review the literature regarding the competences that would adequately equip graduates of sustainability coursework programs with substantial online delivery components for a professional environment of uncertainty, complexity, and wicked problems. From the review of scholarship focused on competences for online experiential learning, sustainability education and wicked problems solving, we assemble a set of precepts to guide the design of effective learning outcomes, settings and pedagogies for an approach to sustainability education that better prepares students for such a challenging environment. While the precepts apply to sustainability education generally, we argue that they provide particular guidance for educators concerned with e-learning. We also present educational, social and technological enablers to underpin design, development and delivery processes.

Vegetation changes in saltmarsh habitat can influence fish assemblages and abundance. In Tasmania, Australia, mid‐latitude succulent saltmarsh communities have been invaded by the introduced tall grass, Spartina anglica. Eradication efforts have been ongoing since the 1990s with purported benefits for fish access to intertidal foraging grounds, but a lack of knowledge of the impact of S. anglica on fish limits understanding of the benefits and effectiveness of native habitat restoration. Here, we investigate whether fish assemblages in native saltmarshes and non‐native S. anglica grassland differ in species diversity, fish abundance, and size class distribution. We used buoyant pop nets to sample fishes in Sarcocornia quinqueflora herbland and S. anglica grassland swards at three sampling stations in northwest Tasmania. Very few individuals and low species diversity were recorded in both vegetation types at the sampling station with the most well‐established S. anglica infestation. Elsewhere, richness and diversity were higher in S. quinqueflora herbland. Overall fish abundance was higher in S. quinqueflora than in S. anglica, with a very strong effect at one sampling station. Fewer small individuals of the numerically dominant Atherinosoma microstoma were recorded in S. anglica, potentially indicating impaired nursery function. Our results provide important insights for S. anglica control, as we are the first to demonstrate a relationship between S. anglica presence and fish characteristics in southern Australian saltmarsh. These results indicate that S. anglica control is valuable for fish conservation. An extension of our research to document the effects of S. anglica removal on fishes is desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is wide recognition, championed by the Ramsar Convention, of the need to increase the public appreciation of wetlands and their conservation by providing meaningful experiences for visitors to Ramsar sites. In a case study of an Australian Ramsar site on the 50th anniversary of the treaty, we investigate the public's awareness of this internationally significant wetland and their understanding of wetland biota and ecosystem services. To inform future communication, education, participation and awareness (CEPA), we also investigate public preferences for particular wetland-related knowledge, on-site activities, facilities and communication media. Less than half of the 326 survey respondents expressed some familiarity with wetlands. Notably, they were not aware of the existence of the Ramsar site, despite having driven past and being within close proximity to the wetland at the time of surveying. Non-extractive and non-commodified recreational activities such as trail walking and photography were preferred over extractive uses such as fishing and duck hunting and activities such as boat cruises and guided tours. There was a high demand for on-site facilities such as walking tracks and viewing platforms and for communication through web-based sources. Visitation to further the goals of Ramsar CEPA could be encouraged through the resourcing of locally appropriate infrastructure, promotion of activities and better communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of which species are native, based on their biogeographic origin, is central to many policies and programmes. Yet definitions are contested and the meanings of 'nativeness' are often complex and confusing for many people. For example, a plant that would be considered 'native' in Australia might have a native bioregion that is thousands of kilometres from a given garden planting. The idea of nativeness is culturally constructed and connotes different meanings in different contexts. As conservation research and practice increasingly incorporate human values and behaviours, operationalising the social dimensions of abstract ecological concepts such as nativeness is needed to generate a more holistic evidence base and improve the management of native and non‐native species.We used a sequential mixed‐methods systematic review approach to review and synthesise literature on people's (including general publics, gardeners, conservationists) perceptions of nativeness of species and landscapes. A meta‐synthesis of qualitative research identified six dimensions that underlie people's perceptions in relation to nativeness: Belonging (a sense that there is a right or wrong place for a species to exist); human influence (the role of humans in moving species outside of their historic ranges); functional compatibility (a species' alignment with the local environment and ecology); amenity (desirable and useful features provided by a species); negative impacts (risk and manageability of detrimental impacts caused by a species); and identity (species forming part of one's place‐based identity).A systematic review of the quantitative urban literature found that most research on perceptions of native and non‐native species and landscapes did not operationalise nativeness in a multidimensional way, focusing predominantly on the 'Negative impacts' dimension. This may often be inadequate for meaningfully capturing people's views.Our results also highlight the need to strengthen interdisciplinarity between natural and social sciences, and for better integration of social science theories to improve the interpretability and transferability of research findings.We provide recommendations for future research that operationalises nativeness using a broader range of meanings that will inform a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the human dimensions of conservation issues, especially within the contested and briskly evolving terrain of urban greening. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]