The Green-head Ant Rhytidoponera metallica Summary • In 2005, the Brisbane City Council, through its • Introduced species were a relatively Natural Environment & Sustainability Branch, minor component of the bushland fauna, engaged the services of the Queensland with the exception of the Coastal Brown Ant Museum’s Centre for Biodiversity to undertake Pheidole megacephala. surveys across the City’s conservation reserves to inform planning and management of the • There were major differences in the City’s biodiversity. composition of invertebrate communities across the 10 bushland sites showing that the • Across the City’s reserve network, 10 sites reserve network is important for achieving were selected to represent a range of broad conservation goals. vegetation groups as part of a year-long project to investigate the composition of the • The information collected provides the fi rst invertebrate fauna. signifi cant database of invertebrate fauna for Brisbane City and is an important step forward • The survey targeted specifi c bio-indicator for urban biodiversity conservation. groups: ants, ground beetles, sucking bugs, spiders and land snails and to a lesser extent, • The survey of more sites representing butterfl ies and dragonfl ies. a broader range of ecosystems, and further taxonomic studies, would expand the species • An extraordinary diversity of species inventory and help develop a list of signifi cant were collected. invertebrate species. • There were many species new to science, • A variety of sampling techniques is required rediscoveries of long-lost species and to document the invertebrate fauna. Patterns signifi cant range extensions. of seasonality showed that summer was the most productive sampling period, except for trapdoor spiders. • The results show that there is a diverse and abundant invertebrate fauna to help monitor ecosystem health, investigate impacts of specifi c management practices on biodiversity and identify emerging Small Green-banded Blue threats to our bushlands. Psychonotis caelius 2 The Common Bluetail Ischnura heterosticta Why survey Brisbane’s invertebrates? Brisbane is part of the fastest growing region in Australia: Invertebrates play such diverse and crucial roles in 200,000 people are predicted to move into the area nutrient cycling, energy storage and transfer that over the next 20 years. It is also the most biologically maintaining their populations is critical to sustaining diverse capital city, with a magnifi cent variety of habitat our natural ecosystems. The protection and sustainable types that contain fl ora and fauna of high conservation management of these ecological areas thus ensures the signifi cance. The challenge is to protect the city’s provision essential ecosystem services on which we rich biological assets and the services they deliver all depend: clean air, clean water, recreational and whilst accommodating some urban growth. economic resources. Brisbane City Council (BCC) recognises this challenge Council recognizes the valuable potential of using and is committed to protecting and enhancing the City’s invertebrates as ‘bio-indicators’ for the health of our biodiversity and achieving a vision of a clean green city. natural environments. Yet, the invertebrate fauna of A key commitment is to achieve 40% natural habitat the City’s natural reserves had been unexplored. coverage of the city by 2026. This project focused on selected invertebrate groups to: Since 1991, BCC has spent over $90 million to acquire • survey and identify fauna across a range of habitats and manage approximately 1800 hectares of signifi cant • describe species richness and abundance natural habitat. The recent focus has been to consolidate and connect the reserve network, enhancing its resilience • identify signifi cant species and their locations to key threats such as climate change. • identify important microhabitats for invertebrate BCC has introduced the Natural Assets Local Law to diversity prevent the indiscriminate clearing of vegetation and to • provide data for inclusion in BCC’s Wildlife database control weeds. The Council also encourages community • highlight any management issues that come to light involvement in voluntary conservation agreements on from this initial survey private lands, community partnerships, habitat restoration, • make recommendations for future surveys and and awareness programs. monitoring programs Through a co-operative biodiversity research program, Council undertakes fl ora and fauna surveys with community and industry partners to better understand The introduced European Garden and manage the city’s biodiversity. Faunal surveys, Snail Cantareus aspersus however, have been almost exclusively based on vertebrate animals (eg. mammals, birds, reptiles) despite the fact that the invertebrates (eg. insects, spiders, snails) constitute the bulk of biodiversity (beetles alone comprise about 30% of all animals worldwide). 3 Left to right: Boondall Wetlands, Buhot Creek and Bulimba Creek. Study sites Brisbane City encompasses amazingly diverse geologies and landforms that range from alluvial fl oodplains to isolated volcanic mountain-top refugia. Across the broad spectrum of vegetative groups, 10 sites were selected to Boondall represent a range of native vegetation communities. Boombana Gold Creek Chelsea Rd Bulimba Creek Ransome Belmont Hills Buhot Creek Illaweena St Karawatha The location of the 10 study sites in relation to the Brisbane ‘urban footprint’ (© Commonwealth of Australia – ACRES, Geoscience Australia – 2003). Belmont Hills Bushland Reserve Boombana Vegetation Type: Mixed dry eucalypt woodland Vegetation Type: Sub-Tropical Rainforest Belmont Hills Bushland Reserve is located in the urban- Boombana, now part of D’Aguilar Range National Park, dominated middle and lower reaches of the Bulimba lies within Brisbane Forest Park (BFP). BFP is the largest Creek Catchment, in south-east Brisbane. The Belmont protected area adjacent to a capital city in Australia Hills range to 105m and include heath, eucalypt open and features a wide range of landforms and geologies, forest and woodland, remnant dry rainforest and vegetation (including rainforest) and signifi cant fauna. riparian communities. Much of the area has suffered from major disturbance in the past including logging and bushfi res. 4 Left to right: Chelsea Road Bushland Reserve, Gold Creek Reservoir and Karawatha Forest Park. Boondall Wetlands Gold Creek Reservoir Vegetation Type: Melaleuca woodlands Vegetation Type: Mixed dry eucalypt open forest The Boondall Wetlands, located on the edge of Moreton Gold Creek Reservoir is within the Brisbane Forest Park Bay, are Brisbane’s largest wetlands and have international and the D’Aguilar Range National Park, but at a lower signifi cance under the Ramsar convention. They comprise elevation than Boombana. This site has a history of one of four core areas in the 1,700 ha North East Wetlands selective logging, bushfi res and disturbance through which encompass tidal fl ats, mangroves, saltmarshes, reservoir construction. grasslands, Eucalypt and Melaleuca woodlands. Illaweena Street Buhot Creek Vegetation Type: Scribbly Gum dry woodland with grass/ Vegetation Type: Riparian heath understorey Buhot Creek, is one of fi ve core bushland areas with The Illaweena Street site is on sandy soils and dominated high conservation signifi cance within the Brisbane by large Scribbly gums Eucalyptus racemosa, a food Koala Bushlands. There are diverse landforms and tree for yellow-bellied gliders and koalas. It lies within biotic habitats and the remnant vegetation communities the Karawatha Forest Park. have regional signifi cance. Karawatha Forest Park Bulimba Creek Vegetation Type: Mixed dry eucalypt woodland Vegetation Type: Forest Red Gum on river fl ats Karawatha Forest covers 642.5 ha and is geologically Within the Belmont Hills Bushland Reserve, the and biologically important, harbouring a unique Bulimba Creek study site comprised true riparian combination of habitats. Floristically the forest vegetation including Flooded Gums (Eucalyptus grandis) contains remnant communities and of particular and an adjacent low ridge of eucalypt woodland with signifi cance are the Eucalyptus planchoniana and Allocasuarina littoralis. A number of introduced plant E. baileyana associations of the sandstone ridges, and tree species were also present. the heath communities with emergent E. carnea, and the E. seeana dominated communities. Chelsea Road Bushland Reserve Vegetation Type: Coastal ironbark open forest Ransome Bushland Reserve Chelsea Road Bushland Reserve is largely Eucalyptus Vegetation Type: Casuarina glauca ecotone tereticornis woodland with grass understorey in the lower Ransome Bushland Reserve also contributes to the portions giving rise to ironbark woodland on the ridges. natural corridors of the Bayside Parklands. This reserve This reserve is one of a series of natural areas along the comprises lowlands of Melaleuca swamps and an foreshores of Moreton Bay called the Bayside Parklands ecotone of Casuarina glauca that gives rise to stands that include bushland, wetland and tidal ecosystems. of the Carbeen Corymbia tessellaris. 5 Top: The Spiny Ant Polyrhachis ammon; the sucking bug Ethaltomarus terrareginae; the Red and Blue Damsel Xanthagrion erythroneurum. Bottom: The carabid beetle Carenum brisbanense; the Clearwing Swallowtail Cressida cressida; a rare arboreal snail in the Family Camaenidae and the Garden Orb Weaver Eriophora transmarina. The invertebrate groups targeted have been