In July, the University of Queensland Ecological Society worked with Dr Gabrielle Lebbink to complete a Bioblitz-style biological survey of her and her sister’s Land for Wildlife property in the Gympie region. The survey aimed to document the many species of wildlife that call the property home. This collaboration was highly successful, with exciting discoveries and a fun weekend away for our members.
All observations made were recorded using publicly available citizen science programs. Specifically, an iNaturalist project and an eBird trip report, which can now be used to create an ongoing list of species that can be found at Gabrielle’s property.
Over the three days, we utilised field monitoring techniques such as morning birdwatching surveys, freshwater dam surveys, nocturnal spotlighting walks and camera trapping which resulted in us being able to record over 128 species and over 200 observations on the iNaturalist project. On eBird we recorded 56 species which even included the sighting of a Barking Owl!
The usage of camera traps allowed for some notable observations including multiple detections of Koalas across the property, an echidna and confirmation of the presence of feral foxes.
Surprisingly, many invertebrates were found despite the winter cold snap at the time. Of the 128 species reported in the iNaturalist project, 83 were either arachnids or insects. This included the documentation of an understudied assassin bug species, Ploiaria armstrongi. Our recording of this species now constitutes the only public report of it on the Atlas of Living Australia database since its discovery in 1965.
An undescribed species of jumping spider in the genus Ananeon was also found, having only previously been known from a specimen found in the NT.
By surveying the dams for fish and freshwater invertebrates, we concluded that the water is in relatively good health due to the large diversity of aquatic life. This included many species of mayflies, water scorpions, predaceous diving beetles and multiple fish species. Importantly, one dam was seemingly entirely free of invasive fish species.
Another focus of our time on the property was learning about the invasive grasses and their impacts on biodiversity. Dr Gabrielle Lebbink was kind enough to give us an impromptu lecture, and we all worked to help clear the weeds.
This fruitful collaboration allowed undergraduate students to gain experience engaging with landowners and practise real-world employable skills while contributing to citizen science. The UQ Ecological Society is excited to return to Gabrielle’s land in summer to hopefully expand the list of species that call her property home.
Article by UQ Ecological Society (uqecosoc@gmail.com)
To see more species that were found, visit the iNaturalist Project: EcoSoc Wolvi Winter Camp. Invertebrate photos by Hiroya Kidoguchi