Credit
We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
The project was jointly funded through the Caring for our Country Program and the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPAC). The Attorney Generals Department, the Crazy Ant Scientific Advisory Panel (CASAP), La Trobe University and Cocos Shire Council contributed to the project.
Purpose
Pulu Keeling National Park (PKNP), an isolated coral atoll of 175ha, is part of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia's most remote island territory lying approximately 2900 kilometres northwest of Perth in the Indian Ocean. In order to monitor changes in the distributions of native and non-native species across the island, map the distribution of invasive weeds for future management, and to facilitate the detection of any major ecological changes, National Parks staff conduct an Island-wide Survey (IWS) to map the distribution of several flora and fauna species. The inaugural survey took place in November 2009, and a second survey followed in March 2012. This submission documents only the Waypoint Survey component of the IWS.
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Survey Design: 132 waypoints have been randomly positioned on the IWS transit lines across the island. At each waypoint a 50m transect is placed either east or west from the waypoint (randomly assigned). The yellow crazy ant count method implemented in the Christmas Island IWS is then undertaken at these waypoints. Waypoints on the repeat transit lines are also repeat surveyed.
Waypoint Survey counts: A 50m straight line transect is established randomly in either an east or west orientation at each waypoint. When establishing the transects: • Navigate to the waypoint and lay out the tape measure in the pre-determined direction. • Ant counts begin at 0m. There should be 11 survey points per transect (every 5m from 0-50m). At each survey point, ant cards are used to estimate ant activity per 30s: • Carefully sweep loose material from a small patch of ground with your foot at every flagged survey point (every 5m). • Place the ant card on the cleared ground and wait 15 seconds (timed with a stop watch/Gym Boss) to let any disturbance die down. • Count the number of ants that enter the quadrat that the YCAs first appear in for the next 30 seconds (the maximum count is 100). • Make a note in the comments if your count occurs near a nest, if it is raining or the ground is wet such that the count is not indicative of actual densities (e.g. 5m = nest). Ant counts should be conducted on sunny days when possible to ensure normal ant activity. It is important to record conditions that might influence the count. If it is damp or starts raining or the count is next to a nest, the counts may not be indicative of the real densities.
Drift Description: Due to inclement weather and time constraints in 2012 only 56 randomly selected waypoints were surveyed. There was also only time to survey 4 of the waypoints a second time. Ideally, successive surveys should be conducted at the same time of year to enable such comparisons. Unfortunately, the survey in 2009 was conducted at the end of an extended dry period at the end of November, while the survey in 2012 was conducted in March (due to logistic constraints), which was one of the wettest months of the year. This difference is likely to have a strong effect on the behaviour, growth and detectability of most of the species we were surveying for; YCAs are less active in the wet, crabs are more active, nesting seabirds would change in distribution and abundance and the weeds are likely to be more visible and vigorous after prolonged rain.
Waypoint survey - other observations: At each waypoint surveyors also assess: level of YCA tree traffic; presence of any scale insects; and presence of coral berry.
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