Biodiversity Surveys & Monitoring
Digging pitfall traps
Mornington Sanctuary
Recent changes in the distribution of Government funding for biodiversity conservation in Australia has seen a tendency to move away from an historical focus on long-term research and monitoring projects, to on-ground actions that are community-based and typically of shorter duration. AWC has stepped in to fulfil a role in maintaining a long-term focus on whole-of-ecosystem monitoring at each of its Sanctuaries throughout Australia, maintaining the belief that adaptive and integrated management of pest and native species requires a good understanding of local and specific ecological knowledge. The only means of determining what biodiversity is present in an area, and what changes in abundance and distribution are taking place, is to conduct regular surveys of the flora and fauna present.
AWC is establishing a program of standardised biodiversity surveys for flora (including vegetation associations and declared rare flora) and fauna (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates) at each of their sanctuaries, to provide a detailed baseline inventory of local ecosystems. Regular monitoring will then provide important knowledge of changes that occur, allowing the use of adaptive management to provide on-ground strategies for the conservation of Australia’s threatened fauna. This practical knowledge can then be disseminated to assist other land managers who are involved in similar conservation programs.
An example of this program can be found at the following AWC sanctuary/sanctuaries;