Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve is a biodiversity hot-spot. In our small but significant 55Ha, 220 different species of vertebrate wildlife can be found. Everyone loves and sees the pademelons, but what other creatures who call the rainforest home, and how do we keep a track of their populations?
For 13+ years, these fauna have been the subject of a long-term monitoring project focused on terrestrial and arboreal mammals, microbats, birds and reptiles. Repeating surveys, means that ecologists can interpret patterns and changes over time.
In this public talk, Dr Scott Burnett will discuss the research methods - including acoustic and ultrasonic recording, camera-trapping, spotlighting, mark-recapture and new techniques being trialled for small mammals and skinks. He will share a profile of the fauna community of the Reserve and initial comparisons in the data.
Bookings essential, $5.50 per person. Register here.
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Dr Scott is a Sunshine Coast-based wildlife ecologist with 35 years experience with fauna throughout Queensland and in South and South-East Asia. During this time, he has worked for the Queensland Threatened Species Unit, within academia, and as a freelance wildlife consultant. Scott's passion is for small mammals and microbats, and he has lead survey and monitoring activities which target these and other fauna groups in the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve since 2007. When Scott isn't surveying the fauna at Mary Cairncross, he can be found undertaking fauna and flora surveys at other sites across Queensland, writing research papers, or tending to his orchid house.
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Featured image: Antechinus sp. courtesy of Rod Edmonds
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This event is part of the Cairncross Conversations series: environmental, informative and on-point learning experiences for the community, held at Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve's Rainforest Discovery Centre.