Song of the Cricket enhances biodiversity through modular floating islands designed as portable breeding stations for targeted rehabilitation sites. By improving food, water, and nesting conditions, these islands support small, isolated populations of key species, particularly crickets, which help catalyse food webs. Focusing on lower trophic levels, the islands create temporary habitats to promote reproduction and breeding across multiple lifecycles while reducing predation and disease.
Song of the Cricket focuses on the endangered Zeuneriana marmorata (Adriatic Marbled Bush-Cricket), rediscovered in 1992. It will build on translocations in 2021 that showed population growth by demonstrating low-cost, durable floating islands where mating cricket pairs can breed and create starter populations that can be redistributed into viable habitats across Venice Lagoon. It also includes mesocosms designed as experiments to explore how habitat edges and planting conditions impact survival and growth, informed by research on Australian grasshoppers.
Participants
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA Alexander J. Felson, New York, USA, 1971. Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Miriama Young, New Zealand, 1975. Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Theresa Jones, Melbourne, Australia, 1975. Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Will Carter (Yiradyuri / Ngunnawal), Narrandera, Australia, 1983. Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Alice Kesminas, Melbourne, Australia, 1979. Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Jagannath Aryal, Syangja, Nepal, 1972. Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Michael Kearney, Melbourne, Australia, 1975. Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Ary Hoffmann, The Hague, The Netherlands, 1964. Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia.
FONDAZIONE MUSEO CIVICO DI ROVERETO AND IC PARISE DI ARZIGNANO ROVERETO AND ARZIGNANON, ITALY Filippo Maria Buzzetti, Arzignano, Italy, 1974. Lives in Arzignano, and works in Rovereto, Italy.
ESAPOLIS GRANDE MUSEO VIVENTE DEGLI INSETTI PADUA, ITALY Enzo Moretto, San Martino di Lupari, Italy, 1958. Lives and works in Padua, Italy.
Authorial Collaborators
Michael-Shawn Fletcher, Schools of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and Geology, Paleoecology, and Indigenous Environmental Histories and Futures, University of Melbourne; Axel Hochkirch, Musée National d’histoire naturelle Luxembourg, Trier University, IUCN SSC Invertebrate Conservation Sub-Committee & IUCN SSC Grasshopper SG
Technical Collaborators
ARUP Melbourne; Ecopolitan Design; Biomatrix Water; Aflex Technology (NZ) Ltd; Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration (CSDILA), Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Melbourne; Alessandro Liuti (Aenima design); Mattia Mercatali (Aenima design); Fab Lab, Machine Workshop and Maker Spaces, Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne; WET Systems; Chris Malcolmson, Reliable Plumbing Services; Jim Morton, Parks and City Greening Branch, City of Melbourne
Team
UEDLAB and Ecopolitan Design, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne: Vittorio Lovato (Project manager), Gina Dahl (Architect), Harrison Baxter Project (Landscape designer), Sofia Colabella (Design advisor), Maria Bulmaga (Events development), Zhehao Wang (Post-graduate student); Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne: Natalie King (Curatorial advisor), Monica Lim (Sound Technologist); Michael- Shawn Fletcher, Schools of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and Geology, Paleoecology, and Indigenous Environmental Histories and Futures, University of Melbourne; Axel Hochkirch, Musée National d’histoire naturelle Luxembourg, Trier University, IUCN SSC Invertebrate Conservation Sub-Committee & IUCN SSC Grasshopper SG; School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne: Margaret Mayfield (Ecological advisor); ARUP, Melbourne Office: Sophie Gleeson (Acoustic consultant), Ross Dennis (Ecologist), Alexander McKenzie (Ecologist), Tim Hunt (Lighting Consultant), Maria Graterol (Lighting Consultant); School of Computing and Information Systems, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Melbourne; Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration, University of Melbourne: Benny Chen and Maz Ghasemi Tootkaboni (Geomatics); The New Institute Centre for Environmental Humanities (NICHE): Francesca Tarocco and Cristina Baldacci (Local project development); Department of Agronomy Food Natural Resources Animals Environment (DAFNAE), Università Degli Studi Di Padova: Luca Mazzon (Research advisor); Edmund Mach Foundation: Paolo Fontana (Local advisor)
Thanks
Melbourne Biodiversity Institute; Parco del Mincio; Oasi Valle Averto; Kheprica APS; Butterfly Arc; Province of Padova; Università degli studi di Padova – DAFNAE; Fondazione Edmund Mach; World Biodiversity Association; Zoom Torino; Parco Natura Viva
Supporters
Jan Schapper; Julie Willis, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne; Yencken Trust, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne; Richard Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Faculty of Fine Arts & Music, University of Melbourne; Mark Cassidy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), University of Melbourne; Abbas Rajabifard, CSDILA, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Melbourne; Brendan Wintle, Melbourne Biodiversity Institute, University of Melbourne; Biomatrix Water; Fab Lab, Machine Workshop and Maker Spaces, Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne
