Baseline Ecological Monitoring
N4C has been conducting Baseline Ecological Monitoring at a number of sites in the catchment. The goal of this work is to be able to track long-term changes in the catchment, to gauge the effect of our work and the effects of development or other events. It's one of many citizen science projects going on around the country: projects that collect useful data by getting members of the public involved in finding out about nature in their local area.
Current methodologies
N4C uses our own version of "Rapid Appraisal of Riparian Condition" (RARC) to assess riparian vegetation. This method was presented by BCC's creek catchment program as part of Waterway Health Assessment training. N4C then adapted RARC for our catchment with the help of two Griffith Uni community interns and a member who is an Ecologist. RARC is a different method of collecting data than our previous methodology, but it is better because it relies more on measurements and less on estimation or expert knowledge.
We are hoping that different catchment groups might use the same methodology, enabling comparisons between catchments. The information gathered can also be stored in a central location. Have a look at the field sheet and detailed methodology guide to learn more about it.
Current activities
Our current methodology, a version of Rapid Appraisal of Riparian Condition, assesses various Ecological Values and types of Disturbance and allocates scores to each. This is detailed in our methodology and field sheet.
Current activities
N4C conducts irregular bird walks around our catchment - keep an eye on our Facebook page or on your member emails for details of them.
Bird sightings are best uploaded to eBird, where they can be combined with those of other birders including both amateurs and experts. You can click on Explore on the site to see what birds have been recorded at locations around the world - including our Ecological Monitoring sites. eBird can even make seasonal bar charts of sightings, allowing you to check what birds are most likely in any month of the year. To upload your own sightings, just join up to eBird - it's free.
If there is expertise and interest we may at times monitor indicators other than vegetation, birds and water quality.
Approximately twice a year, N4C conducts water quality monitoring at various sites throughout the catchment. This data can then be used to make inferences regarding the ecological health of these waterways. Once calibrated at QUU laboratories, a Horiba multi-probe is used to measure temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, oxidation potential and turbidity of the water. These chemical conditions are vital to maintaining life support systems and dramatic fluctuations can foreshadow environmental degradation. Results are then stored on the SEQ Community Water Quality Database which was initiated by Healthy Land and Water, and developed by EnviroComs.
