MTSRF

Project 4.9.5

Monitoring recovery of biodiversity in revegetated rainforest sites

Project Leader: Assoc Prof Carla Catterall, GU

This MTSRF-funded project has sought to quantify and improve the success of rainforest revegetation projects in terms of both biodiversity recovery and carbon biosequestration, and many of its findings and products have already been adopted by practitioners in the Wet Tropics and further afield. This year, these researchers have delivered the third instalment of their very well-received Monitoring Revegetation Projects in Rainforest Landscapes toolkit - the bird survey module. As with previous modules, researchers have produced a relatively simple and time-efficient yet robust monitoring protocol that generates useful quantitative data and requires minimal specialist knowledge, and is appropriate for monitoring by community groups. The method permits comparison of bird species composition (as a proxy for general biodiversity recovery) between revegetated and reference sites. Although the toolkit survey methods have been designed specifically for monitoring the progress of revegetation projects, these protocols can also be used by non-specialists to assess the condition of remnant rainforest patches, and monitor changes over time.

Publications

Report Series No. 46 - Kanowski, J., Catterall, C. P., Freebody, K., Freeman, A. N. D. and Harrison, D. A. (2010) Monitoring Revegetation Projects in Rainforest Landscapes. Toolkit Version 3