West Australia's Outback - discovering diversity

Discovering diversity in the Western Australia Outback 

Animals of the Outback by Rachel Maitland

I have been fortunate enough to be the Earthwatch Team Leader on a number of projects in Australia – from koalas in central Queensland, to microbats in Melbourne, Victoria, and a couple of Scientist for a Day teams in Sydney, namely bandicoots and Rakali. I thoroughly enjoy each and every one of these expeditions, not only for the wonderful science I’m contributing to, but also for getting to meet such diverse and enthusiastic volunteers along the way, all whom share the same passion for wanting to do something more for our environment. 

Earlier this year, I was asked to lead Earthwatch’s Animals of the Outback project in April. I immediately knew my answer…yes! Getting the opportunity to experience a very different part of Australia and participating in a different area of research to my studies (marine science!); I knew I would find it a very rewarding experience. Also, I was excited to join a team with a mix of volunteers – this team was composed of 5 teachers from Victoria who were participating in Earthwatch’s Teachlive program, 3 volunteers from America, each of whom had been on at least a dozen Earthwatch expeditions before, and a Future Leaders recipient, a budding environmental engineering student from New South Wales. So needless to say, I was very excited about going on this project!

Animals of the Outback is based at Charles Darwin Reserve (CDR), 355 kilometres north-east of Perth. After meeting at Perth airport on Day 1, the 4-car convoy made their way to the CDR. Slowly but surely, the terrain flattened out the further we drove from Perth and we left the hustle and bustle of the city behind. The landscape at CDR is so different to anything I’ve experienced, mainly low lying scrub and trees, a few areas of gum trees, and the start of the orange soil you see in the desert regions. One thing that stood out is that it is so dry! 

The project is assessing the effectiveness of feral management plans and developing a better understanding of predators and their relationships to prey. On the first day, the 9 volunteers, 3 project staff from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, and one staff member from Bush Heritage Australia, who manage CDR, and myself, divided into 3 teams to set up the trap lines (containing both pitfall and funnel traps along them) to commence the week of fauna surveys.

 

In total there were 16 sites, each consisting of 2 trap lines, with each line having 6 pitfall traps and 3 funnel traps….a lot of traps in total! Each morning thereafter, we’d divide into 3 teams and check the traps. The diversity of species we caught was amazing, especially for what I thought seemed like such an arid landscape. In summary, we caught a variety of skinks, geckoes, dragons, dunnarts, mice and frogs (especially after a couple of nights of rain!). We’d measure and weigh each individual we’d caught, before releasing it.   

I also recorded some observations for Earthwatch’s ClimateWatch program while at CDR! On most nights, except the cooler evenings, I heard the distinctive metallic ‘ting ting’ call of the White-striped Bat not long after dusk. By simply entering these ‘presence’ observations into the ClimateWatch website, the data is helping scientists determine the impact of changes in climate on plants and animals, like the White-striped Bat. This bat is restricted to areas where the mean monthly minimum (night-time) temperature does not exceed 20°C, so increases in night-time temperature will reduce the foraging period available for these bats. So I was delighted to know that not only was I assisting with the Animals of the Outback research, but also the broader research initiative ClimateWatch during my time at CDR!

The 10 days of Animals of the Outback were amazing and very inspiring. The teachers were so enthusiastic to share their experiences with their students, Declan (the Future Leaders recipient) was very dedicated and grateful for the opportunity, and the 3 volunteers from America were an inspiration in themselves – all over 70 years of age and still so active, passionate and grateful for being able to contribute. And lastly, the Earthwatch Scientists from ECU and Bush Heritage Australia were fantastic, so willing to share their research and work, and an inspiration in themselves. I should also mention the chef, Pete from Earthwatch’s Melbourne office, who did a superb job at keeping everyone full with delicious meals!

 

Thank you to everyone for a wonderful experience in outback WA!



Species List