Biorich plantations – mimicking nature to integrate conservation & production
  • Home
  • Background
  • ImLal site images
  • Site design
    • 21st century drop slab hut >
      • Launch of the 21C drop slab hut
  • Monitoring and student visits
    • Bird surveys at ImLal
    • Plot growth and mortality
  • Biorich blog
  • Publications
    • Rationale behind the 21C drop slab hut
    • Biorich design principles and silviculture paper - Lismore AFG 2014
    • Analogue forestry paper - Gympie AFG 2012
    • Book by Stephen Murphy - Recreating the Country
    • Land restoration film - Rediscovering the Country
    • Field Day 2011
  • Contact us
PictureGrant Palmer (on left) leading autumn bird survey in 2024.
Bird survey monitoring has taken place for 14 years. Bird species richness and abundance  act as indicators of whether or not biodiversity is increasing as a result of the biorich plantation.  Ornithologists  Grant Palmer and Tanya Loos have led over 50 surveys on a seasonal basis, following a transect developed in association with BirdLife Australia. Birds have been observed foraging among the plantation species since June 2013, with a record number of 46 species observed in the spring survey of 2020.

Student visits –  Melbourne University's Forest Systems course and Federation University' Landscape Restoration and Mine Rehabilitation course continue to visit the biorich site annually. Both comment on its uniqueness as plantation model that puts habitat creation front and centre, rather than pursuing human-centred economic objectives. Federation University students monitored plant growth and mortality  for a number of years.

  • Visit the Bird surveys and Plot Monitoring pages to find out more about techniques applied and why monitoring is important as a benchmark for measuring success (or failure) and enabling adaptation.

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