Current Projects
Some of the projects currently underway include....
Bluesfest 2010
In response to a request from Bluesfest organisers and following a government review of biodiversity issues we have been undertaking a comprehensive habitat assessment and koala radio-tracking program on the new Bluesfest site at Tyagarah to the north of Byron Bay. A relatively large koala population occurs in the immediate area of the festival property, individuals of which also use the festival site itself. We have had up to 11 koalas in the radiotracking program over the 3 month lead up to the festival, and we will be monitoring their movements until July 2010, the objective to determine whether or not any adverse impact has occurred.
The Bluesfest koalas have proved to be a very interesting population; all external signs (small head & body size) point to possible inbreeding, something that we are currently investigating further through DNA profiling. The results of this analysis will inform future management actions on the site, aspects of which may actually include the introduction of additional animals to lift the level of genetic vigor. Regardless of the outcome, koalas and their management will need to remain an integral feature of all future Bluesfest events.
Oxley Highway Deviation - koala translocation
In a collaborative project involving the NSWRTA, NSWDECCW and the NSW Koala Preservation Society we successfully captured and removed a number of koalas from forest habitat to be cleared for purposes of constructing the Oxley Highway deviation to the west of Port Macquarie. We are over half way through the program and currently monitoring the movements of the translocated koalas as they settle into their new habitat on National Park estate. Results to date are very encouraging with no adverse reactions to the capture/translocation process and virtually no dispersal from the selected release site.
Vegetation Mapping - Port Macquarie Hastings LGA
We have recently been contracted by Port Macquarie Hastings Council to prepare a vegetation map of the entire LGA. The LGA covers an area of 3,680 square kilometers, and aspects of the project also include modelling of pre-1750 vegetation cover. The availability of near infra-red (NIR) imagery for the LGA will also allow us to explore the potential for development of spectral signatures to further inform the mapping process. Council have specified a high level of precision for the mapping and to assist our own processes we have incorporated an independent peer-review component into the project.
In other news....
Koalas in the southeast forests
We continue our collaboration with the NSWDECCW in the ongoing task of censusing the forests of south-eastern NSW. Results to date are both sobering and reassuring; over 21,000ha have now been surveyed, only 11% of which appears to be occupied by koalas. Hence a management program with an emphasis on population recovery must be enacted. The key population discovered to date - itself no more than 20 - 30 koalas - is located in the Mumbulla State Forest. Unfortunately, common sense has not prevailed; forestry operations are proposed immediately to the west of this population and the necessary survey work required to inform the proposed logging operation has not been undertaken. So much for the recovery process...
2009 World Rally Chamionship (WRC) event in Tweed & Kyogle Shires
A WRC event for which we prepared the ecological assessments was held in September 2009. The event has proved most divisive at the community level and much mis-information has been bandied around regarding environmental impact. We are currently in the process of preparing a special webpage focussed on the event so that the facts and associated events leading up to the rally event will be readily available to anyone who is interested.
Hair Analysis
This is ongoing project work reflecting the technical support role that we provide other consultancies in addition to that arising from our own survey work. Our client base for hair analysis continues to grow, as does our reference collection and knowledge of such things as intra-specific and geographical variation in some of the key characters used to identify individual species. While much of our work is local (i.e. southeast Queensland & northern NSW) we have also analysed material from localities as far afield as WA.
design