A range of teacher professional learning programs will be developed to accompany the Biodiversity of the Western Volcanic Plains online outreach...
Task 1: Survey your site and collect baseline data
Before you begin a native grassland restoration program you need to know which plant and animal species currently occur on the site, and ideally their abundance. This is called baseline data. Then, as different management actions are put into place at the site, you can survey the site again at suitable times to see what changes have occurred. Hopefully the ongoing surveys will show that the management actions chosen have led to more native grassland species and fewer weeds and feral animals being found at the site. Otherwise, you will need to revise your management actions and survey the site again at a future date.
Good planning, time and a budget are needed to protect and restore a natural environment. It is important to collect suitable data over time so that you can see if your management efforts are working, or if you need to adjust them. For example, plant surveys are best done in spring to early summer when there are flowers or seeds present to help with identification. Animal surveys should be conducted during the day and evening at different times of the year using techniques specific for the animals being surveyed. It is important to collect both plant and animal data. Types and abundance of plants present provides information relating to food and shelter sources for animals on the site. By regularly surveying for weeds of high impact and high invasiveness you can plan the most effective weed control actions to take (typical grassland weeds are identified in the Biodiversity of the Western Volcanic Plains Flora and Field Guide).
Targeted surveys are used to check for the presence or absence of rare or threatened species. These surveys need to be conducted in suitable weather conditions at the time of day and time of year when that species is active. The location of target species can be recorded with a GPS unit and compared over time.
Vegetation data can be collected via permanent plant quadrats, transects and photo point sites to compare results over the short, medium and longer term.
Read the information provided for each of the surveys below, and then select the most appropriate survey type to begin your restoration project.
