In early January our Science and Knowledge Program Manager, Dr Paul van Ruth, visited Bullock Bridge Nature Reserve in South Australia’s southeast to inspect the reserve and its biodiversity monitoring sites. He was greeted by a koala upon entering the reserve, encountered several kangaroos during his travels, and observed five Mallee Fowl and one Mallee Fowl mound.

We commenced a long-term biodiversity monitoring program in early October, with data routinely collected at ten sites across the reserve on native bird species, mammals, reptiles, vegetation, and invasive species*. As part of Paul’s visit, he deployed audio song meters at two sites, as part of the federally funded Innovative Biodiversity Monitoring project Nature Foundation are undertaking in collaboration with UNSW.

Audio monitoring can gather data on a broader range of species (including birds, mammals, frogs and insects) than most non-traditional methods. This Innovative Biodiversity Monitoring project aims to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of processing and analysing audio biodiversity data by developing a streamlined data workflow process for large-scale monitoring programs in remote Australia. The outcome will be a fully operational audio data-processing workflow that will lead to demonstrable improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of the processing and analysis of audio monitoring data.

Nature Foundation is contributing to the project by deploying acoustic data loggers at three of our nature reserves—Witchelina, Hiltaba and Bullock Bridge. The on-ground survey data collected during audio logger deployments will be instrumental in calibrating and validating audio monitoring data.

Read more about this baseline biodiversity monitoring here.

*This project is supported by the Limestone Coast Landscape Board’s Grassroots Grants program, and is funded by the regional landscape levy.