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Category Archives: Ecosystems
Post-fire Recovery – QPWS Monitoring Program
Field assessment of the impact of the K’gari wildfire on ecological values, particularly vegetation communities, was undertaken from 31 January to 12 February by the Department of Environment and Science ecologists, local Rangers, and Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation staff.
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Celebrating Fifty Years of Ramsar Wetlands
World Wetlands Day is celebrated every year on 2 February – the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands in the city of Ramsar (Iran) in 1971. 2021 marks an incredible fifty years since the signing of the convention.
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K’gari (Fraser Island) – the fire and the aftermath
On 14 October, campers in the Ngkala Rocks vicinity left an unextinguished campfire at their campsite in the North of the Island. A raging South Easter was blowing. The coals reignited, fanned by the wind, and the fire spread into the adjacent vegetation. That was the start of the calamity.
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In it for the long term – the Sandy Cape Lighthouse Weeding Program
Lighthouse keepers manned Sandy Cape Lighthouse between 1870 and 1997. Like many lighthouses in remote locations, supplies came in, but nothing left the site, with rubbish dumped ‘over the hill.’ With only tank water, hardy plants were introduced by keepers. Many of these survived and escaped, spreading out over 1Km radius.
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Community, Culture, Collaboration and Conversations
Reporting on the 8th Biennial K’gari (Fraser Island) Conference
(more…)Saving Great Sandy Strait
Great Sandy Strait is already listed as a Ramsar Wetland of International Significance, but along with Cooloola, it is has been nominated for inclusion on Australia’s National Heritage list as well as the World Heritage Tentative List. Great Sandy Strait and its natural integrity are vitally important to Fraser Island. There is now a groundswell of public concern over the future of Great Sandy Strait if the proposed Colton coal mine proceeds, as it currently has approval to do. (more…)
Fraser Island to be BioBlitzed by Scientists
Led by FIDO, a huge Fraser Island (K’Gari) BioBlitz from 28 November to 4 December will bring together experts from many areas of biology to carry out a stocktake of the natural resources of the World Heritage island.
Based at the Dilli Village Fraser Island Research and Learning Centre, the BioBlitz is being well supported by the University of the Sunshine Coast, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and FINIA.
The study area extends from the ocean beach to Lake Birrabeen, covering all six dune systems and encompassing most ecosystem types from heathlands, tall forests, swamps, fens and perched dune lakes except for the estuarine environments. It is hoped to achieve more by maintaining a tight and intense focus on this particular study area rather than an island wide hunt.
The study area is very accessible with a number of tracks through it that will allow scientists to easily access representative places of interest.
New Research Alert!
Several papers were published recently (2016) that may be of interest to FINIA readers including a review of coastal dunefield evolution in SEQ, Ground Penetrating Radar observations in the Great Sandy National Park (including Moon Point),patterns of phylogenetic diversity in subtropical rainforests, and the diet and body condition of Fraser Island dingoes. Details and links are provided below. (more…)
A BioBlitz for Fraser Island
A BioBlitz on Fraser Island (K’gari) has moved a few steps closer to reality with FIDO setting the proposed dates for the Blitz as 28 November – 4 December 2016. However, before FIDO can launch the promotion for the BioBlitz, which is supported by FINIA, the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, supplementary funding is required to engage a coordinator to liaise with scientists and other participants and retrieve the vital data collected. At this stage, FIDO is only issuing advance warning to alert people to the proposed BioBlitz event: Beach to Boomanjin and Birrabeen.
Details of Beach to Boomanjin and Birrabeen
Fraser Island (K’Gari) is inscribed on the World Heritage list because of its biological, geomorphological and aesthetic values; however, much more biological research is needed to know the extent of K’gari’s natural resources, with a BioBlitz of a discrete part of Fraser Island standing to add greatly to the ecological understanding of this site.
The BioBlitz, which is to be based at Dilli Village, aims to bring together teams of entomologists, botanists, ornithologists, zoologists, herpetologists and other specialist groups (fishes, fungi, etc.) to scour the study area. Each team will develop its own program and modus operandi. It is expected that the team leader will be responsible for compiling a report of the team’s findings to add to the existing data banks being built at USC.
FIDO is seeking to appoint a coordinator before this project can proceed. The coordinator will recruit specialist scientists from a range of disciplines to study the defined research area, which covers a diversity of habitats, to develop an inventory of the natural resources and species within that area. FIDO will also recruit volunteers as necessary to assist scientists and specialists logistically.
The study area includes samples of all six dune systems, including Dune System 4 east of Lake Birrabeen and Dune Systems 5 and 6 in the vicinity of the Boomanjin airstrip. In addition, the area includes three large perched dune lakes, two creeks and a number of old swamps, as well as various forest types. It will be a broad transect of a wide range of ecotypes, from the beach through the foredunes and the freshwater aquatic environments of Govi and Gerrawea Creeks. It will also enable comparison between mined and unmined areas in both the foredune and hind dune areas. It will include the large peat swamp, with its flarks and fens, never before studied in detail.
The proposed study area will include a diverse range of ecotypes, including all 6 dune system types
Dilli Village has accommodation for up to 60 people, as well as a large camping area and 24-hour 240V power, which may be needed for some equipment. It also has a large meeting area. There will be opportunities at Dilli Village each night for the various teams to compare notes and share observations of their field work.
John Sinclair (AO), FIDO
K’Gari’s Six Dune Systems
In this FIDO Backgrounder, rhyme describes the nexus between K’Gari’s soil formation and vegetation types.
Dune System One/ The soil has just begun/ With A and B little or none/ And the ecosystem is underdone.
Dune System Two/ B’s got a darker hue/ Eucalypts are now in view/ But soil development has much to do.
Dune System Three/ Has many a Blackbutt tree/ Richer horizon B and nutrients the key/ The forest resulting is grand to see.
Dune System Four/ Gets the highest score/ B horizon is further below the floor/ It supports rainforests and much more.
Dune System Five/ The ecosystems losing its drive/ Tall trees shrink just to stay alive/ Roots can’t reach the B, though they strive.
Dune System Six/ The ecosystem is in a fix/ Tall trees have turned into Mallee sticks/ Reaching deeper nutrients defies all tricks.
John Sinclair (AO), FIDO
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