REPORT OF PROGRESS 2004 – 2005 Science Division August 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................3 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................5 FOREST STRUCTURE AND REGENERATION STOCKING .................................................20 FOLIAR AND SOIL NUTRIENTS ..............................................................................................29 SOIL DISTURBANCE .................................................................................................................32 COARSE WOODY DEBRI, SMALL WOOD AND TWIGS, AND LITTER.............................45 MACROFUNGI.............................................................................................................................48 CRYPTOGAMS ............................................................................................................................66 VASCULAR PLANTS..................................................................................................................79 INVERTEBRATES.......................................................................................................................89 BIRDS..........................................................................................................................................133 MAMMALS AND HERPETOFAUNA......................................................................................138 DATA MANAGEMENT AND STORAGE ...............................................................................149 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This document reports the results of FORESTCHECK monitoring in the eastern jarrah forest in Wellington District in 2004-05. Ten monitoring grids were installed in 2004, bringing the total number of FORESTCHECK grids to 37. Previously, grids were established in Donnelly, Wellington and Perth Hills Districts. At the time of writing a further 11 grids have been selected and are in the process of being installed in the Blackwood District and will be monitored in 2005-06. This report, and previous reports, can be viewed on and downloaded from CALM’s Naturebase website at http://www.calm.wa.gov.au/science/science.html . The integrated monitoring system used in the FORESTCHECK program has revealed the complex nature of the jarrah forest environment through the variation in species composition and community structure found in various forest types. Each year large numbers of species have been shown to be specific to particular locations and vegetation complexes within the jarrah forest range. The drier eastern jarrah forest monitored in 2004-05 included many species not found in previous years. Wildfires in late December 2004 and January 2005 resulted in a number of grids being burnt. The Perth Hills external control grid in Occidental block in particular was severely burnt, along with a complete set of treatment grids in Bell forest block in the eastern jarrah in Wellington District. The occurrence of these fires will provide the FORESTCHECK program an opportunity to monitor and compare post-fire recovery on the sites. The FORESTCHECK project continues to collect valuable data and voucher collections for groups of organisms for which we have little knowledge. The invertebrate collection has expanded to include 1271 morphospecies. The list of macrofungi and cryptogams (lichens, mosses and liverworts) includes 482 and 235 species respectively. Many of these species are undescribed and have been collected and recorded for the first time. During the year, all 37 FORESTCHECK grids were assessed to determine the number, size and age of cut stumps, which will permit the effects of past harvesting on forest structure to be quantified. Some interesting points that have emerged from the 2004-05 results are: • Shelterwood and gap release grids were well stocked except for the Stockyard shelterwood, which had poor regeneration • The Wellington East soils appear to have higher concentrations of nutrients than soils in the Donnelly, Perth Hills and Wellington locations • The network of snig tracks on the Stockyard shelterwood was extensive, and the possibility of re-using existing snig tracks to limit further ground disturbance should be investigated • Litter and small wood and twig loads reflected the time since last burn • Unique species of macrofungi were recorded on the burnt grids in Bell forest block • Some species of macrofungi are common throughout the jarrah forest (recorded each year in the different FORESTCHECK locations) but many appear to have a restricted distribution • Species richness of cryptogams was higher on the external control (unlogged) grids 3 • Fewer species of mosses and liverworts were recorded in the drier eastern jarrah forest compared to locations monitored in previous years • The eastern jarrah appears to have a remarkably diverse invertebrate fauna (including 306 morphospecies not recorded previously) • Vascular plant species richness and abundance appeared to be related to time since fire • There were significantly more native mammals trapped in Godfrey forest block, which is fox baited, compared to Stockyard and Bell forest blocks which are unbaited • The wet and cold autumn weather had an adverse effect on the success of small mammal and reptile trapping • Although nocturnal birds were not surveyed, masked owls, southern boobook owls, tawny frogmouths and owlet nightjars were all recorded from opportunistic sightings. Each year, the data collected are entered and stored in a central database. The results in this report represent preliminary observations from basic analyses; however, it is the intention to subject the data collected in the first 5 years to a rigorous, integrated analysis, report and external review. The results will be important in supporting ecologically sustainable forest management in WA. I thank the FORESTCHECK team for their professionalism, enthusiasm and commitment to the project, and Verna Tunsell and Richard Robinson for compiling and editing this report. Dr Neil Burrows Director, Science Division September 2005 4 INTRODUCTION Scope This report has been compiled from chapters prepared by scientists and technical staff involved in the FORESTCHECK monitoring program. It represents a summary of monitoring activities completed in eastern jarrah forest in the Wellington District during the 2004/2005 financial year. FORESTCHECK is an integrated monitoring system that has been developed to provide information to forest managers in the southwest of Western Australia about changes and trends in key elements of forest biodiversity associated with a variety of forest management activities. Although the initial focus of FORESTCHECK will be on timber harvesting and silvicultural treatments in jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest, the protocol lends itself to monitoring other forest ecosystems, fire (prescribed and wildfire), mining, the effects of forest disturbance for utility corridors (e.g. roads, power transmission lines), and the impacts of recreation uses. (Note, however, that the Forest Products Commission will only fund the part of FORESTCHECK that is specific to its activities). FORESTCHECK was developed to meet a range of compliance conditions placed on the Forest Management Plan 1994-2003 through Ministerial Conditions and the Codd Report of 1999 and is included as an operational program in the current Forest Management Plan 2004-20131. Integrated monitoring is a fundamental component of Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management (ESFM), and is necessary for reporting against the Montreal Process criteria and indicators for ESFM. In addition, monitoring forms the basis for adaptive management, which is recognized as an appropriate strategy for managing under conditions of uncertainty and change. The Science Division of the Department of Conservation and Land Management has primary responsibility for the implementation of FORESTCHECK. The development of the program took place over 2 years and included input from scientists and managers within the Department of Conservation and Land Management, and from a number of external scientific agencies. The background to this process is described in the FORESTCHECK Concept Plan, and details of methods are provided in the FORESTCHECK Operations Plan. Annual Progress Reports, the Concept Plan and Operations Plan may be viewed on the Department’s Naturebase website at http://www.calm.wa.gov.au/science/science.html. Sampling strategy Between 1995 and 2004 timber harvesting in jarrah forests was undertaken according to Silvicultural Guideline 1/95, which recognizes 3 silvicultural objectives: (1) Thinning: to promote growth on retained trees. (2) Release of regeneration by gap creation, where existing advance growth is encouraged to develop unimpeded by the removal of competing overstorey. (3) Regeneration establishment by shelterwood, where seedlings are encouraged to establish and develop into the lignotuberous ground coppice stage. This is achieved by reducing the competition from the overstorey, but retaining sufficient overstorey to provide a seed source and maintain other forest values until the ground coppice is developed and capable of responding to release. 1 Conservation Commission of Western Australia (2004). Forest management plan 2004-2013. Conservation Commission of Western Australia. 144pp + maps. 5 Silvicultural guidelines were revised in conjunction