Mount Lawson State Park

Mount Lawson State Park

A proposal for a full fauna survey

Natasha Kaminski 11455441

Introduction and Aims

This proposal presents methodology for a full fauna survey to be carried out within the Mount Lawson State Park. Although the Management Plan (1998) stipulates that a faunal survey is to be undertaken, no comprehensive survey has been taken place within the State Park. This survey will be able to implement survey techniques for each faunal group as well as identifying the effectiveness of each method. The results of this survey will give a baseline for future studies. Additionally it will highlight any wildlife management issues that need to be addressed.

It is a critical component of wildlife management to have the ability to monitor individuals within an environment (Vine et al, 2009). With this being a key consideration the main aims of the survey are:

 To provide a comprehensive list of fauna found within Mt Lawson State Park

 To identify and monitor any endangered or threatened species

 To identify any relationships between Ecological Vegetation Communities (EVC's) and fauna

 To provide information about the distribution and abundance of the fauna species found

within the State Park

 To gain insight into the effectiveness of various surveying techniques

Part A outlines a proposal of a survey design to be undertaken within Mt Lawson State Park. A combination of different sampling techniques will be undertaken including Elliott traps, both ground and arboreal, pitfall lines, soil plots, camera traps, harp traps, Anabat detectors as well as opportunistic searches.

Part B of this report contains the results from a preliminary study of Mt Lawson State Park. The results from the survey have influenced the sampling methods adopted for the comprehensive survey.

PART A:

Site Description

The full fauna survey will be conducted within the boundaries of Mount Lawson State Park. Mt Lawson State Park is located approximately 70 km east of Albury - Wodonga, in North East Victoria. Mt Lawson State Park is managed under the National Parks Act, with Parks Victoria responsible for the State Park.

Mt Lawson State Park covers an area of 13,150 ha. The terrain is rugged with the elevation of ridges and plateaus ranging between 240 - 610 m with the highest point being Mount Lawson summit at 1,041m. The site contains approximately 278 native plant species (Parks Victoria, unknown). Vegetation