REPORT OF PROGRESS 2005-06 Science Division October 2006 Forest structure, soils, litter and coarse woody debris Reptiles Fungi Invertebrates Lichens Mammals Birds Flora Produced by the Department of Environment and Conservation, Kensington, Western Australia, November 2006. Copyright: © Department of Environment and Conservation 2006 Compiled and Editored by: Richard Robinson and Verna Tunsell Science Division Department of Environment and Conservation Manjimup Western Australia This report highlights preliminary results, determined by basic analysis and observation, for the year 2005-06. This and previous FORESTCHECK Annual Reports should not be quoted or used as final results for the FORESTCHECK program. A 5-year analysis based on comprehensive statistical methods and detailing final results and management implications will be published in the future. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..............................................................................................................4 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................6 FOREST STRUCTURE AND REGENERATION STOCKING..................................................20 FOLIAR AND SOIL NUTRIENTS...............................................................................................28 SOIL DISTURBANCE..................................................................................................................31 COARSE WOODY DEBRIS, SMALL WOOD AND TWIGS, AND LITTER...........................50 MACROFUNGI.............................................................................................................................53 CRYPTOGAMS.............................................................................................................................71 VASCULAR PLANTS ..................................................................................................................83 INVERTEBRATES .......................................................................................................................95 BIRDS..........................................................................................................................................145 FORESTCHECK MAMMALS AND HERPETOFAUNA.........................................................150 DATA MANAGEMENT AND STORAGE................................................................................164 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This document reports the results of FORESTCHECK monitoring on eleven grids on the Blackwood Plateau in the Blackwood District in 2005-06. There are now 48 FORESTCHECK monitoring grids established throughout the jarrah forest in Donnelly, Wellington, Perth Hills and Blackwood Districts. This report, and previous reports, can be viewed on and downloaded from DEC’s Naturebase website at http://www.naturebase.net/content/view/2388/482 All grids on the Blackwood Plateau are located within the Kingia vegetation complex, which is typified by an open forest of jarrah (E. marginata ssp. marginata), marri (Corymbia calophylla), sheoak (Allocasuarina fraseriana), bull banksia (Banksia grandis) and woody pear (Xylomelum occidentale) on lateritic uplands in perhumid and humid zones. The external control grids are situated in uncut forest located either in crown reserve, conservation park or national park. However, in two of the grids there is evidence to suggest that a small number of trees were selectively removed sometime in the past. The remaining grids are in forest that was harvested during the period of 1995 to 2002 and are established in stands with comparable management histories. In addition to the general silvicultural treatments of shelterwood and gap release, grids were also established in forest that was selectively cut. Selective cutting is a silvicultural practice that involves the removal of individual trees in stands where the proportion of sawlogs is low, and in the past has been widely practiced on the Blackwood Plateau. The results in this report represent observations and preliminary findings from basic analyses. However, some interesting points which have emerged from the 2005-06 results, and from comparisons with data from other FORESTCHECK locations are: • Jarrah contributed more than 40% of eucalypt regeneration and established trees on all Blackwood Plateau grids. • Grids cut to gap release and shelterwood met the 65% stocking standard, but selectively cut areas with a high level of retained overwood were not as well stocked. • Blackwood Plateau soils have lower concentrations of N, P (available and total) and K (extractable) than measured in the previous 4 years of sampling. • On all FORESTCHECK grids so far monitored for soil bulk density (11 grids), timber harvesting increased bulk density of the surface soils across the harvested area by 18% on average. • Caprock substantially reduced visual evidence of soil disturbance on several sites and several sandy sites showed little evidence of soil disturbance. • Litter loads generally reflected the time since last burn. • The volume of coarse woody debris was variable within and between the treatments. • A total of 556 species of macrofungi have so far been recorded by FORESTCHECK. • The majority of macrofungi recorded in the Blackwood Plateau grids fruited on soil. • Cryptogam species richness was highest in the external controls. • The most common lichens were crustose-types and the most common substrates utilised in all treatments were rocks and decaying logs. • The Blackwood Plateau sites have the highest vascular plant species richness of all FORESTCHECK locations monitored so far, with 22% more species. • Harvesting treatments on the Blackwood Plateau grids appeared not to have had a significant impact on vascular plant species richness and abundance, however in the shelterwood treatment, plant abundance in the shrub layer was low compared to other treatments. • Adverse spring weather resulted in the spring invertebrate light trap capture being less diverse than the autumn capture (the reverse of other localities). • Blackwood Plateau had the highest invertebrate species diversity of all FORESTCHECK locations monitored so far, with 1,489 morphospecies recorded. • The number of birds per hectare was similar in each treatment, with an overall density of 8.9 birds per hectare. • Barking owls (Ninox connivens) have not been recorded at any of the FORESTCHECK locations. 4 • The dominant mammal recorded was the brushtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis) (49% and 90% of captures in spring and autumn respectively). • A woylie (Bettongia penicillata) captured at Butler block was about 15 km from where the species was reintroduced in 1980. • Feral cats were recorded on 5 of the 8 sandpad transects, and cats, dogs, foxes, pigs and rabbits were all recorded on Keene Rd. After five years of monitoring FORESTCHECK has gathered data on about 2,890 species of plants, animals (vertebrate and invertebrate), fungi and cryptogams (Fig. 1). 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 Number of species 500 0 Total Moss Birds flora Lichens Reptiles Vascular Mammals Liverworts Macrofungi Amphibians Invertebrates Figure 1. The number of species recorded for each element of the biota monitored by FORESTCHECK from 2002- 2006. Invertebrates account for about 50% of the total species diversity. Many species of invertebrates, fungi and cryptogams are new to science or are new records for WA. Monitoring on the Blackwood Plateau in 2005-06 marked the fifth year of FORESTCHECK monitoring. When the program was initiated in 2002, it was agreed that a major analysis and write-up would be undertaken every five years. In view of this, monitoring will be suspended for 2006-07 and emphasis will be placed on the 5-year analysis and write-up. The results will be important in supporting ecologically sustainable forest management in WA. Monitoring will continue in 2007-08. A general trend to emerge from each year of monitoring was that timber harvesting and the various silvicultural treatments did not affect species richness and abundance, but species composition recorded in each treatment and at different locations within the jarrah forest differed. The extent and importance of this difference will be explored in the major analysis in 2006-07. The commitment and professionalism of the FORESTCHECK team is to be commended and I look forward to examining the results of the 5-year analysis in 2007. Dr Neil Burrows Director Science Division October 2006 5 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 jarrah forest on the Blackwood Plateau in the Blackwood District during the 2005- 06 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 intention is to extend the scale of monitoring over time to include 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