Our Biodiversity team has been out on Bruny Island carrying out baseline flora and fauna surveys on Murrayfield, in the north of the island. Working with project partners the South East Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation, as part of our Biodiverse Bruny project, we’re collecting data across areas that will be part of cultural burning activities later in the season, when the conditions are right. Cultural burning helps revitalise native grasslands, supports local wildlife habitats, and strengthens soil health, improving overall landscape health.
These surveys are also an opportunity for our Biodiversity Team to get familiar with a suite of monitoring protocols that have been rolled out for our RDP-funded projects. These Ecological Monitoring System Australian (EMSA) protocols have been developed for field researchers to accurately measure environmental change and will help us collect robust data to reflect the changes that happen after burning occurs.
Survey sites were selected based on an assessment of fuel loads and the recruitment levels of White Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis) in important threatened species habitat. Data collected from across two, one-hectare plots included recording what plant species are present (floristics), the amount of plant cover, tree diameter measurements (basal survey) and taking sample specimens of every plant species in the survey area. The team also established photopoints (a defined point for taking photos over time) and set up camera traps to monitor for changes to quoll, cat and deer activity following a burn. These surveys will be repeated next year.