FORESTCHECK plans and progress reports

Report of Progress 2009–2010

The first round of monitoring all 48 FORESTCHECK grids was completed in 2006. The second round of monitoring commenced in 2008 and this report covers the second session of monitoring at the eight Perth Hills monitoring grids located in the northern jarrah forest between Dwellingup and Mundaring. These grids were initially established in 2003 and monitored in 2003–04.

All the monitoring grids in the Perth Hills district are located in State forest in Dwellingup 1 & 2 and Yarragil 1 & 2 vegetation complexes in the jarrah north-west ecosystem. Harvested sites were matched to 1988/89, 1995 & 1997 harvest activities. The range of time since the last fire was six months to 35 years Five grids had been burnt since the initial monitoring in 2003-04; four in the prescribed burn program and one by a severe bushfire in January 2005.

Knowledge regarding jarrah forest biodiversity and ecology continues to increase as the second round of FORESTCHECK monitoring proceeds. While the results presented here are from a preliminary analysis, highlights from the 2009-10 results and observations from comparisons with data from the same grids in 2003-04 include:

• Basal area increased by 0.25–0.75 m² ha^-1 year^-1 on all harvested grids, but loss of large trees due to fire resulted in a reduction of basal area on two external reference grids between 2004 and 2010.
• Data collected from FORESTCHECK grids are an important source of objective information that could be used to inform discussion on matters such as the effects of a drying climate on tree health, regeneration and stand growth.
• Coarse woody debris (CWD) loads on all grids were generally high, ranging from a mean of 140 tonnes ha^-1 on grids in recently harvested treatments to 77 tonnes ha^-1 on grids that have never been harvested.
• CWD volume increased with both the intensity of harvest and the number of times the stand has been harvested. Historical and recent harvesting increase the volume of smaller diameter CWD in the low to moderate decay classes (classes 2 to 5).
• Grids in Perth Hills have the lowest macrofungal diversity recorded in the four forest ecosystems sampled by the the FORESTCHECK project.
• Macrofungal species assemblages were considerably different in 2010 compared to 2004. Species richness and abundance was particularly low on gap release grids in 2009—likely a combination of recent fire and low rainfall.
• Monitoring a list of potential indicator species may be a viable alternative for assessing the impacts of forest management on cryptogam communities.
• The number of invertebrate morphospecies recorded in FORESTCHECK continues to increase. In 2009–10, 73% of species recorded were not captured in the previous 2003–04 sample.
• Increased numbers of striated pardalote, western gerygone, scarlet robin and broadtailed (inland) thornbill since 2003–04 reflect changes in the structure of understory vegetation associated with time since disturbance. Increased numbers of honeyeaters in general is associated with the flowering cycle of plants.
• Amphibians have not been captured in large numbers because trapping in both 2003–04 and 2009–10 has not coincided with seasonal rains.
• Brush-tailed possums appear to be well established in both external reference and shelterwood treatments but were still absent from gap release treatments in 2009–10. Other mammals detected by trapping included mardo, chuditch, dunnart, pygmy possum and bandicoot.
• Changes associated with time since treatment resulted in an overall lower species richness and abundance of understory plants in 2009 compared to 2003—this is especially evident in the gap release treatment.

The FORESTCHECK team is to be commended for their commitment to the project. In 2010–11, the second round of monitoring will be conducted in grids which were established in 2004 in the eastern jarrah forest in the Wellington district and initially monitored in 2004–05.

Read the full  Report of Progress 2009–2010 (PDF 3.6 MB)