LTERN Data Portal

Initially all patches of remnant native vegetation on areas designated for pine plantation were characterised. Fifty remnants were randomly selected with stratification, such as vegetation type, patch size, established year of surrounding pine trees. Fifty-six remnants on adjacent farms surrounding pine plantations were selected to match those 50 remnants, to make sure that remnants from two groups were as similar as possible. Ten sites in cleared paddocks around the woodland remnants on the grazing properties and 10 sites in areas dominated by newly planted radiate pine trees were established as ‘‘landscape matrix’’ sites. Those sites were established in 1998, but a few sites were scrapped due to non-accessibility or vast invasion of weed. To make up for those abandoned sites, additional sites were established within a few years since the first establishment.

For more details, please refer to Lindenmayer, DB, Cunningham, RB, MacGregor, C, Tribolet, C & Donnelly, CF 2001, ‘A prospective longitudinal study of landscape matrix effects on fauna in woodland remnants: experimental design and baseline data’, Biological Conservation, vol 101 no 2, pp. 157-169.

Arboreal marsupials spotlight surveys are conducted every two years. Each site is spotlit for 20 minutes (roughly 10 minutes up and 10 minutes back). If animals are up on a tree, tree species and animal height (distance from the ground to the animal) are also recorded. Each site is visited once during a survey season. Surveys are not conducted under poor weather conditions. Spotlight surveys commenced in 1999.

Abundance of species detected are recorded along with other information, such as distance along a transect and distance from a transect, height of animal location, tree species where animals are found (where possible) and time when animals are detected.