BDBSA Project Metadata Detail

Survey/Project Number: 802          Total No. of Sites: 0
Survey/Project Name: Ngarkat CP Long-term Surveys by David Paton
Abstract: The project is a long-term bird monitoring study conducted in Ngarkat Conservation Park. The initial work on honeybees began in 1989 to assess the impacts of commercial loads of bees on Banksia Ornata heath systems. The study involved measuring the floral resource abundance and seed production particularly in Banksia Ornata, bird and insect abundances, and honeybee activity with distance from sites where honeybees had been added and comparing these to control sites where honeybees had not been added. After completion of the honey bee study in 1994, the monitoring continued each winter to document recovery trajectories of birds, small mammals and key plant species. Since January 2002, monitoring also commenced in summer and has been repeated annually in December. Since 2006, the data collected has been more complex, including behavioural activity of birds and the substrates (e.g. foliage, branch, air) and plant species being used.
 
Start Date: 01/01/1989      End Date: 01/01/2015
Survey Type: Vegetation and Fauna
   
Study Area Description: Ngarkat Conservation Park
Objectives
         Vegetation: *** No vegetation survey objectives recorded
         Fauna: To assess bird responses to honeybee presence two 1.5km long transects were established radiating out from a central point, close (~ 50m) to where an apiary had been placed (or could have been placed). Since honeybee activity (densities) decrease with distance from their hives the 1.5km long transects were broken into 100m sections and the birds present, and the birds present 50m either side of the transect line were recorded for each 100m section while slowly walking along the line. In the initial years the focus was on assessing honeyeater abundances and although all species were recorded the specific identities were not always determined during the initial years. When the worked commenced in 1990 18 sites were established in areas likely to be used by beekeepers where there were extensive Banksia ornata, and in areas of Ngarkat lacking previous commercial use by beekeepers. The reason for the sites being 3km apart is that preliminary work (1989) showed that during winter honeybees foraged out to at most 1.5 km from an apiary, and placing sites 3km apart meant that each site was independent as far as honeybees were concerned. The monitoring of birds along transects is repeated, essentially a replicate census that commences a few minutes after the first one is conducted in the opposite direction. In the initial years (1990s) there were also some surveys that were conducted in spring and autumn. See Paton (1995), Paton (1996) and Paton (1997) for more detailed descriptions of methods used. References Paton, D.C. (1996). Overview of feral and managed honeybees in Australia: distribution, abundance, extent of interactions with native biota, evidence of impacts and future research. ANCA, Canberra. Paton, D.C. (1997). Honeybees Apis mellifera and the disruption of plant-pollinator systems in Australia. Victorian Naturalist 114: 23-29. Paton, D.C. (1995) Impacts of honeybees on the flora and fauna of Ngarkat Conservation Park. SASTA Journal 95: 3-11.
Methodology
         Vegetation: *** No vegetation methodology recorded
         Fauna: *** No vertebrate methodology recorded

Data Distribution Rules: Public Dataset
Project Basis: Fauna : Unclassified - pending reassessment.
Information Authority: Department for Environment and Heritage (BDBSA:Murraylands)
University of Adelaide