Ibisca 2nd Progress Report: April 2008

IBISCA | Queensland Predicting and assessing the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. 2nd progress report | April 2008

Centre for Innovative Conservation Strategies | Griffith University

Contents. Executive Summary...............................................................................................2 Introduction................................................................................................................4 Progress & milestones..........................................................................................6 Future activities.....................................................................................................13 Individual project reports..................................................................................15 Budget.......................................................................................................................30 Project participants.............................................................................................33 Project Advisory Committee. ..........................................................................35 Our supporters......................................................................................................36 Volunteers................................................................................................................37 Acknowledgments. ..............................................................................................38

The IBISCA | Queensland project….

Predicting and assessing the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. IBISCA | Queensland Progress Report - April 2008

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Executive Summar y. Introduction. The IBISCA-Queensland project is a major international collaborative research programme which is surveying biodiversity along an altitudinal gradient in undisturbed rainforest. The project!s goal is to develop tools to predict and assess the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. The project gained substantial financial support under the Queensland Government's National and International Research Alliances Programme. Other funding sources include Griffith University, the Global Canopy Programme, the Queensland Museum, Queensland Herbarium, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, the National Parks Association of Queensland, SEQ Catchments and the Heritage Assessment Branch of the Federal Department of the Environment and Water Resources. Many participating scientists independently obtained support from their national granting bodies.

Changes in project partners and funding. Two of the partner institutions (the Smithsonian Institution and Pro-Natura International) listed in the original proposal have withdrawn from the project. However, the Global Canopy Programme joined the project as the major international partner and provided both financial and technical assistance.

Scientific implications. The changes in partners and funding required revisions of the scientific programme using alternative canopy access techniques. An additional third field survey using rope access techniques to sample the canopy was completed in January 2008. All of the scientific objectives of the project were met despite these changes. The contributions of the Global Canopy Programme were a major factor in the success of this third survey. We also held a Basic Canopy Access Proficiency (BCAP) training course prior to the survey. This contributed to the specialist training of Australian scientists and students, and contribute to further canopy research through capacity building.

Budgetary implications. The changes to the scientific programme added significant unplanned costs to the project that were not part of the original project budget. However, we were able to redirect funds from less critical areas of the project to support the modified scientific programme (details on pages 30-32) and the project will be completed on budget.

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Progress & milestones. The project has completed several major biodiversity field surveys, convened two scientific workshops, hosted an end-user forum, and supported a public seminar series. We have conducted 26 different projects involving 48 scientific participants and 71 volunteers. In addition, there has been student participation in each of the major surveys and the education programme has been developed. The scientific objectives of the project have been, or will be, completed on schedule (details on pages 6-12). The first Milestone Deliverable specified in the Financial Assistance Agreement (the executed Collaborative Agreement) was submitted on time in June 2007. The second deliverable (the first progress report) was submitted on time in November 2007. The third deliverable (this second progress report) was also submitted on time in April 2008.

Project outcomes. Early results have already been presented at the 2007 Ecological Society of Australia conference (November 2007, Perth) and the Invertebrate Biodiversity and Conservation conference (December 2007, Brisbane). The first comprehensive reports of the project!s scientific results will appear in a special edition of the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum in late 2008 or early 2009. The education programme is in the final stages of preparation.

Benefits to Queensland. The IBISCA Queensland project will continue to contribute to Queensland Research and Development Priorities and provide significant benefits to Queensland. These benefits include improved monitoring tools to inform management decisions in a changing climate, the provision of detailed information on which to base predictive models, contributing to the specialist training of Queensland scientists and students, developing educational materials for Queensland schools, and building Queensland!s scientific profile through international collaborations.

Justification for continued support. The scientific programme is running on schedule (pages 6-12) and we have met all of the milestones specified in the Financial Assistance Agreement (page 12). The project has fostered a great deal of international collaboration, with scientists from 13 countries involved in the surveys (pages 33-34). Many new international collaborations in the fields of ecology and biodiversity will emerge as a direct result of the IBISCA Queensland project.

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Introduction. IBISCA-Queensland is a major international collaborative research programme which is surveying biodiversity along an altitudinal gradient in south-east Queensland's Lamington National Park. This transect is contained within a single patch of continuous subtropical rainforest featuring a gradual transition of physical and biological characteristics with altitude. The purpose of this study is to identify which species or groups are responding with greatest sensitivity to the climatic changes currently associated with the different altitudes. This will provide us with a powerful 'predictor set' of ecologically contrasting taxa which can be used for effective monitoring of the impact of climate change on biodiversity. In addition, more detailed studies on ecological processes such as pollination, herbivory and decomposition give understanding of what the consequences of climate change might be on the 'ecosystem services' derived from this biodiversity. The Queensland Government and Griffith University are the main financial supporters of this project. Other grants of cash and in-kind contributions have come from the Global Canopy Programme, the Queensland Museum, Queensland Herbarium, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, the National Parks Association of Queensland, SEQ Catchments and the Heritage Assessment Branch of the Federal Department of the Environment and Water Resources. Many participating scientists independently obtained support from their national granting bodies. The project has also received considerable logistic assistance from O!Reilly!s Rainforest Retreat, Cainbable Mountain Lodge and the Green Mountains Natural History Association. The 20 permanent research plots were established in August 2006 and three major field surveys have now been completed. Details on the progress made towards the overall goals of the project and of the individual sub-projects are provided in the following pages. This document is designed to be a complete report of the project!s progress from July 2006 to April 2007, so there is no need to refer back to earlier reports for additional details. We take this opportunity to thank our supporting organizations for making this research possible. We also thank our participating scientists and dedicated volunteers for ensuring the project!s success.

Roger Kitching Project Director Griffith University.

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Figure 1: A 3D terrain map showing the approximate locations of the 20 research plots at the five altitudes within Lamington National Park.

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Progress & milestones. Preparation. The IBISCA Queensland project took its first major steps in July 2006 when two full-time staff members were appointed - David Putland (Senior Research Assistant) and Heather Christensen (Administrative Assistant). Fieldwork commenced in August 2006 when a team from Griffith University and the Queensland Herbarium established the 20 permanent research plots. The full vegetation surveys and other preparatory work (details on pg 15) were completed in September in time for the first major biodiversity survey in October 2006. The first meeting of the Project!s Advisory Committee was held on August 25, 2006. A second meeting was held at O!Reilly!s Rainforest Retreat during the first survey period on October 29, 2006.

Field survey #1 (October 2006). The project hit full steam in October 2006 when about 40 scientists from 13 countries came together in Lamington National Park for the first major field survey. These scientists were joined at the site by over 50 volunteers and students. Their work included running some of the baseline sampling techniques as well as assisting with the specialist sampling programmes of the visiting scientists. Over 2000 samples containing tens of thousands of individual specimens were collected during the four weeks of the survey. Further details on the status of the individual projects are provided in a later section (starting on pg 15).

Mini field survey (January 2007). A smaller group of scientists from Griffith University and the Queensland Museum returned to the sites in January to conduct a subset of the main baseline survey methods. These core techniques included Malaise traps, pitfalls, flight intercept traps, baited pitfalls, litter samples and mollusc surveys.

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Field survey #2 (March/April 2007). A full-scale field survey was repeated in March/April 2007. Once again, about 30 scientists from 8 countries joined forces with about 40 volunteers to complete a detailed survey of the invertebrate biodiversity of the region. Over 1300 samples were collected during the 4-week survey. This survey period also incorporated a scientific workshop, end-user!s forum and a seminar series (details below).

Workshop & Forum. On April 3 & 4, 2007, the project convened a Workshop for participating scientists and a public Forum for end-users. At the Workshop, the scientists discussed priorities for maximising the outputs from the project, publishing strategies, and established guidelines for new collaborations. The revised priorities will ensure that we produce the required information in the shortest timeframe possible. A set of priority target taxa were identified in the April workshop and new basic sorting protocols have been designed to 'fasttrack' extraction of these groups from the raw samples. We aim to have substantial multi-taxa, multi-scientist results available for preliminary publication in a special issue of the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum by the end of 2008. The workshop concluded with a special seminar on climate change impacts on the biodiversity of the Wet Tropics by Dr Stephen Williams (James Cook University). The Forum involved the participating scientists, representatives from supporting organizations, management bodies and end-users. The main topics for discussion were developing suitable information packs for managers, the continued development of educational materials, and the production of monitoring tools.

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Seminar series. In partnership with the Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee of the CERRA World Heritage Area (now Gondwana Rainforests of Australia), we presented a public seminar series held at O!Reilly!s Rainforest Retreat in March 2007. The speakers included Frode Ødegaard (Institute of Nature Research, Norway), Bruno Corbara (Université Blaise Pascal, France), Geoff Monteith (Queensland Museum) and Rebecca Morris (University of Oxford).

Sorting work. Extracting and identifying individual specimens from the thousands of samples is an incredibly time-consuming process. Most of this work is being performed by volunteers at Griffith University, but a substantial amount is also being carried out at the Queensland Museum and by participants at other institutions. Sorting of the priority material identified at the scientific workshop has been completed.

Mini field survey (July 2007). A second smaller survey was conducted by scientists from the Queensland Museum in July 2007. Once again, this survey consisted of a subset of the main baseline survey methods to ensure that we have completed some of the core methods in all 4 seasons.

Climbing course. Prior to the canopy survey in January 2008, we provided a training course on tree climbing to full Basic Canopy Access Proficiency certification standard. The trainee climbers were past and present ecology students from Griffith University. This course was conducted by instructors from Canopy Access Limited and supported by the Global Canopy Programme. As a result of this course, six newly-qualified climbers were available to conduct the

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scientific programme during the January survey. The four professional climbers also assisted with the survey following the course. This course will build significant capacity to continue forest canopy research within Australia.

Field survey #3 (January/February 2008). The last major field survey for the IBISCA Queensland project was completed between January 14 and February 4, 2008. This survey focussed on sampling the canopy, and this was achieved using a team of 4 professional and 6 newly-trained tree climbers. We completed canopy projects on leaf sclerophylly, herbivory and pollination, and also completed another round of light trapping, beating and ant collecting. It was a very busy 3-week period. Over 80 trees were climbed resulting in 144 sweep net samples and 576 leaf samples. 3,456 leaves were measured for length, width, thickness and hardness with a total of 20,736 penetrometer readings. 5,760 leaves were photographed and pressed for further measurements. Over 11,000 leaves were processed in the laboratory. In addition, we collected a further 27 light trap samples, 300 beating samples, and hundreds of hours of "flowercam" footage. We would like to make a special mention of the climbers to thank them for the hard work and dedication that made this possible. From Griffith University - Amy Bond, Kate Cranney, Ko Oishi, Jane Ogilvie and Kyran Staunton. From the Global Canopy Programme - Kalsum Yusah, Vicky Tough and Waldo Etherington. From Canopy Access Ltd. - Grant Harris.

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Student participation. Groups of secondary students attended the major survey periods in October 2006 and March 2007. The National Parks Association of Queensland provided funding for three-day visits for 7 students in 2006 and 10 students in 2007. The students were selected based on their results in a biodiversity essay competition. The students were accompanied by three teachers for both visits and were treated to a number of activities involving the project scientists to give them a hands-on experience with biodiversity research. In recognition of this important contribution to science education, the National Parks Association of Queensland was nominated for the Peter Doherty Awards for Excellence in Science and Science Education. Two of the teachers involved in this project, Michele House and Fay Seeto, were also nominated for individual awards. The Governor of Queensland, Quentin Bryce, visited the field site during March 2007. She presented certificates to each of the visiting students and toured the project!s field facilities.

The education programme. Bishop Education Services (Margaret Bishop and Gaby Faull) have developed primary and secondary level educational materials relating to biodiversity assessment and monitoring. With input from project staff, participants and the visiting students, the consultants have prepared a variety of materials (eg. teaching aids, instructional videos) that will form the basis of the Biodiversity in Action educational programme. A website and blog to promote interaction among students and scientists is already active (http://groups.google.com/ group/biodiversity-in-action). It is likely that the education programme will be delivered

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with the assistance of the Toohey Forest Environmental Education Centre, while Conservation Volunteers Australia will provide an effective delivery mechanism for the programme in areas beyond Brisbane.

Vegetation workshop. In November 2007, we hosted a workshop that brought together specialists from Griffith University and the Queensland Herbarium to discuss progress, analyses, collaborations and future directions for vegetation-related projects within the IBISCA Queensland programme. This workshop resulted in a clear framework for future work on the IBISCA vegetation data that will facilitate production of research publications and the establishment of new projects.

Publicity. The IBISCA Queensland project featured in a large number of media items in the first 18 months of operation. These include: • Several ABC radio interviews with Professor Kitching. • ABC TV feature article on Stateline. • Two features on Network Ten!s Totally Wild (filmed in October 2006 and January 2008). • An article in Catalyst Queensland. • Numerous newspaper articles. • A feature article in the Winter 2007 issue of Wildlife Australia magazine. A joint project involving Eegenda Productions and Daryl Sparkes (Media Production, University of Southern Queensland) will produce a short documentary for Channel 7 featuring the IBISCA Queensland project. Filming took place in March 2007 and January 2008.

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Collaborative tools. With such a large number of collaborators from institutions spread across the globe, and with a diverse range of sub-projects on numerous taxa, the success of this project depends on the ability to amalgamate and share data effectively. We have developed a website in the form of a private Google™ Group to facilitate collaboration. This website provides a very efficient mechanism for project staff to broadcast information and electronic resources (data, maps, instructions, handbooks etc.) to all participants, and for the researchers to submit data and reports to be shared among all participants. This self-sustaining collaborative system will become even more important when the project no longer has any permanent staff to maintain information flow from July 2008 onwards.

Milestone deliverables. We have reached the milestone dates for the first three deliverables specified in schedule 2 of the Financial Assistance Agreement. Deliverable #1 (executed Collaborative Agreement) was submitted on time in June 2007. Deliverable #2 (the first Progress Report) was submitted on time before the end November 2007. In addition, a preliminary progress report was delivered to the partner organizations well ahead of schedule in July 2007. Deliverable #3 (this progress report) was also submitted on time in April 2008. The scientific objectives described in the original proposal and previous reports have been, or will be, completed on schedule. We have: • completed the three major field surveys (October 2006, March 2007 and January 2008) and two minor surveys (January 2007 and July 2007), • convened two scientific workshops, a forum for end users and a public seminar series, • involved secondary school students in the project, and • generated substantial international collaboration with the participation of scientists from 13 countries.

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Future activities. Ongoing research projects. Some field projects are still in progress and are mostly being conducted by postgraduate research students at Griffith University. The projects currently underway include: • Temporal and geographic variations in pollination systems (Sarah Boulter). • Structure and dynamics of herbivore assemblages along an altitudinal gradient: indicators of climate change? (Darren Bito). • Moth assemblages along a fine-scale altitudinal gradient (Louise Ashton). • Soil fauna along an altitudinal gradient (Sarah Maunsell). • An assessment of decaying timber biomass.

Memoirs of the Queensland Museum Special Edition. We are working closely with the Queensland Museum to produce a special edition of the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. This will be the first comprehensive reporting of the main scientific results of the project. All of the projects participants have been invited to submit papers for this special edition. Submissions are due in August 2008 with a planned publication date of December 2008. We expect that many of the papers will be very general and perhaps present preliminary results, but this will still be an important resource and first step in the detailed analysis of the project data.

More IBISCAs. A fourth IBISCA project is in the works. Following from the existing IBISCA projects in Panama, Vanuatu and Queensland, a new project will be conducted in France in May-June 2008. This highlights the value of the IBISCA concept for biodiversity research and the importance placed on it by researchers internationally. IBISCA Auvergne is being organised by Bruno Corbara (Université Blaise Pascal, France), a key international participant in IBISCA Queensland. IBISCA Auvergne will involve many of the participants from IBISCA Queensland and will further enhance international collaborations. There are also plans to conduct an IBISCA project in Mozambique, Africa, but this is still in the early stages of preparation.

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IBISCA Symposium. There will be an IBISCA Symposium at the 10th International Congress of Ecology to be held in Brisbane, August 2009. This symposium will help to combine the results of the IBISCA Queensland project with the three other IBISCA projects in Panama, Vanuatu and France. This symposium will elevate the status of the IBISCA Queensland project on the World scientific stage.

A permanent research station. One of the discussion topics at the Forum in April was the feasibility of establishing a permanent research station in Lamington National Park. Conducting the IBISCA Queensland project has highlighted the lack of any existing research facilities capable of supporting this kind of research anywhere in Queensland. Forum attendees agreed that a suitably-equipped facility would attract international researchers, be a valuable asset for educational institutions, and would extract enormous long-term benefits from the research plots established by the IBISCA Queensland project. Lamington National Park represents a unique opportunity to establish a world-leading research facility with direct access to World Heritage forests within two hours from several universities and an international airport. There is potential for such a facility to be part of a strategic global network of “Whole Forest Observatories” backed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Canopy Programme (GCP). David Putland is leading the push to develop the research station. O!Reilly!s Rainforest Retreat has agreed to provide land that would be an ideal location for the station. Discussions are continuing with Universities and other research institutions to further develop the proposal.

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Individual project reports. Surveying shift: altitudinal variation and climate change in Australian subtropical rainforest. Melinda Laidlaw, Bill McDonald, John Hunter, Roger Kitching, David Putland. Twenty permanently marked vegetation plots have been established and surveyed between 300m and 1100m in the subtropical rainforest of Lamington National Park. All trees !5cm diameter were numbered and measured for diameter, height and identified to species by the Queensland Herbarium. Other vascular species on each plot were identified and given a cover ranking. All baseline data has been analysed and used as a benchmark against which to formulate a set of testable hypotheses for climate-induced floristic and structural shift. Findings (to be submitted for publication shortly) suggest that the 900m plots will be the most sensitive to climate shift, in particular, the lifting of the cloud-base. Additional studies of community dynamics will commence shortly.

The baseline sampling programme. Roger Kitching, Dave Putland, Christine Lambkin, Geoff Monteith, Kyran Staunton, Sarah Boulter. This trapping programme forms the backbone of the IBISCA Queensland project by performing diverse, consistent and repeatable sampling across all 20 plots in all major survey periods.

The programme consists of the following methods: • Malaise traps: 1 trap per plot over 10 days. • Flight intercept traps: 1 trap per plot over 10 days. • Litter samples: 1 sample from each plot extracted in Tullgren funnels. • Pitfall traps: 1 array of 9 traps in each plot over 9 days. • Light traps: 2 traps (1 on the ground and 1 in the canopy) for 4 nights at each plot. • Bark sprays: 10 trees on each plot. • Canopy knockdowns: 1 knockdown per plot. • Yellow pans: 3 at each plot for 4 days.

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The full suite of methods was used successfully in both October 2006 and March 2007, with one exception. Unfortunately, the canopy knockdown proved to be too dependent on favourable weather conditions and was not completed in 2006; we chose not to repeat it in 2007. A subset of these methods was used in the smaller survey in January 2007 (Malaise, flight intercept, pitfall and litter). This programme was completed by staff and students from Griffith University, the Queensland Museum and numerous volunteers. Some of these methods provide the material for other projects that are described in more detail over the following pages.

Soil characteristics of the IBISCA Queensland plots. Dave Putland, Roger Kitching. Detailed knowledge of the soil characteristics at each plot will also be important in analyzing the variation in vegetation and arthropod diversity. We have collected soil samples from every plot using a standardized sampling protocol. These samples have been subjected to comprehensive analyses, including measures of moisture, micronutrients, organic material and texture. These analyses were conducted by Phosyn Analytical. The data is available to all participants via the project!s Google Group.

Microclimate monitoring. Dave Putland, Roger Kitching. Accurate monitoring of spatial and temporal climatic variation is a vital component of the overall project. We have an automatic weather station at each of the five altitudes and a pair of temperature/humidity data loggers at every plot (one at ground level and one in the canopy). The resulting data has been made available to all project participants via our private Google Group.

Altitudinal zonation of ant species in subtropical rainforest – are ants a good group for detecting climate change induced altitudinal range shifts? Chris Burwell, Akihiro Nakamura, Susan Wright, Bruno Corbara. The ant assemblages across the whole altitudinal range of the IBISCA Queensland survey (300m-1100m) were sampled in October 2006, March 2007 and January 2008. Our sampling methodology incorporated three main

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techniques: leaf litter extracts; bark sprays and timed hand collecting during the day. This protocol targets most of the components of the ant fauna including ground active and arboreal ants, cryptic species foraging within leaf litter and species nesting within rotten logs. In addition, timed hand collecting at night was carried out in at least two plots at each elevation. In January 2008 we also established two new sets of four plots; one set at 700 m elevation along West Canungra Creek (700-CK) and another at 900 m elevation along Tooloona Creek (900CK). This was specifically to investigate what effects being in close proximity to a creek may have on ant assemblages.

in the numbers of species at the 1100m plots. Ant assemblages appear to be strongly influenced by altitude with a progressive change in assemblage structure with increasing altitude. However the ant assemblages found at the 1100 m plots are dramatically different from those at all other elevations. Preliminary results suggest that ants may prove very useful in long term monitoring of the effects of climate change because as many as 40% of the ants recorded from the survey may prove useful bioindicators of a particular elevation or range of elevations.

Foliage morphology and leaf characteristics in selected tree species. Roger Kitching, Melinda Laidlaw.

In addition, ants from the other baseline sampling methods, and other specialised samples as available, will be identified. Preliminary analysis of the Oct. 2006, Mar. 2007 and July 2007 data sets has been undertaken. Preliminary results have already been presented at the Combined 8th Invertebrate Biodiversity and Conservation / Society of Australian Systematic Biologists Conference held in Brisbane in December 2007.

The highest levels of the canopy are environmentally demanding places even in moist rainforests. It has been suggested that these conditions impose selection pressures on trees such that foliage at the highest levels will have xeromorphic characteristics even in these mesic environments. We will test this hypothesis by targeting a randomly chosen set of trees at each of three altitudes. 72 trees were sampled using rope access techniques during the January 2008 survey. A stratified sample of leaves was taken from two levels in the

More than 150 species of ants have been identified from the survey to date. Ant diversity is highest at the lowest elevations and gradually declines with increasing altitude with a dramatic drop

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canopy of each tree (576 samples). From each sample, six leaves were measured and their strength estimated using a penetrometer. Leaves were preserved for further morphological work.

Herbivores and levels of leaf damage in the outer canopy. Roger Kitching, Christine Lambkin. We have very little information on the assemblages of herbivores and the damage they do in the uppermost layers of the canopy in subtropical forest in Australasia. The comparison of herbivory levels at different altitudes will provide hard-to-come-by information of the role of small climatic changes in key forest processes.

Herbivores were sampled at two levels in the canopy using sweep nets. Leaf damage was assessed by collecting four leaf samples at the same two levels at each of 72 trees. 10 leaves from each sample were photographed to allow assessment of leaf area loss as a result of herbivory.

Spiders of IBISCA Queensland. Robert Raven, Barbara Baehr. The aim of this project is to identify all spiders from the baseline survey to species and all adult spiders to species. New species that fit into existing research projects (notably 12 genera within Oonopidae, Cycloctenidae, Pisauridae, Idiopidae, Clubionoidea, Corinnidae, and Tengellidae - including 8 genera and 12 species that are new) are being prepared for description. No papers are submitted yet. In many cases, I currently have only juveniles and to get them identified to named species I need to do all of the Malaise traps which will bring in adults. Some species and families are showing strong altitudinal preferences.

Pitfalls (from Kyran Staunton) from October and January are sorted and databased. All dung pitfalls and flight intercept traps to January have been sorted and databased, as well as 4 of the potential 60 Malaise traps have been sorted and databased. 758 species-site combinations have been registered, which include 173 spider species in 39 families.

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Structure and altitude-related diversity patterns of corticolous tree bark arthropod communities.

with the March 2007 samples (including bark structural data). Acari will go to Dave Walter, and a Coleoptera-Acari paper concerning altitudinal gradients will be done first.

Juergen Schmidl, Torsten Bittner, Belinda Flemming, Dave Walter.

Bark of living trees (without bark damage or dead wood) within the sampling sites were sprayed with insecticide. Samples (collected onto plastic sheets around the trunk base) were sorted to order level (Coleoptera, Pseudoscopiones and Acari were sorted to species or morphospecies level). Data will be analyzed by appropriate statistical tools, and a comparison between Lamington and Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu) data will be made on aspects of diversity and biogeography. In October 2006, we collected 63 barkspray samples - the Coleoptera (1462), Pseudoscorpiones (72), Acari (1829) and Formicidae (281) have already been extracted from the samples. For comparison: In Lamington we found 232 Coleoptera per sprayed tree trunk, in Vanuatu only 45 (and no carabids and latridiids which are dominant groups in Lamington). Coleoptera are already sorted to morphospecies level, giving 229 morphospecies from 43 families. A clear altitudinal gradient can be found in the bark-living beetle communities. More analyses will be done together

Temporal and geographic – the implications for climate change. Sarah Boulter, Roger Kitching, Jacinta Zalucki, Dawn Frame, Laurie Jessop, Bill McDonald. This project looks at the natural variability of pollination systems in subtropical rainforests. In particular, how pollination systems respond to natural changes in climate that are experienced along an altitudinal gradient. This natural experiment provides the basis from which to understand and predict the likely impact of climate change scenarios on pollination systems for selected species of plants. Field studies of flower visitors and reproductive

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success are being made on selected species found on the IBISCA plots using insects traps and observations.

Trapping at the flowers of two species at multiple altitudes has now been completed, yielding some 300 samples of flower visitors. Sorting of these samples is 40% complete and ongoing. In addition comprehensive pollination studies of one species is now complete and a draft manuscript in preparation. During the most recent field exercise, a canopy tree species was added to the dataset. Traps were set at the flowers of 48 trees using a bow to place lines in the canopy. In addition to trapping data, vital visitor behavior data was sought by deploying a video surveillance camera using the newly trained team of tree climbers. Unfortunately, due to the extreme demands on the climbing team across other projects, the camera was only deployed three times, recording 72 hours of footage at three inflorescences. This information helped perfect the use of the camera, but provided limited analysable data.

Flies of IBISCA Queensland. Christine Lambkin, Dan Bickel, Rohan Wilson, Bryan Cantrell, Gunter Theischinger. The proposal is to identify all Tipulidae (Theischinger), Therevidae and Bombyliidae (Lambkin), Dolichopodidae and Empidae (Bickel), and Tachinidae (Cantrell) from the IBISCA project to species or morphospecies. Furthermore, Rohan Wilson will identify all Schizophora from Malaise traps to Family and morphospecies. New species that fit into existing research projects will be prepared for description. A multiauthored paper will be prepared discussing the biodiversity of these groups, across the altitudinal transect.

Baseline Malaise trapping was completed by Lambkin and Starick in October 2006, January and March 2007. As yet Lambkin is the only person to receive samples of sorted

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Diptera. The Diptera from pitfall traps from October have been sorted to Lower Diptera, Lower Brachycera, and Schizophora and databased. Apterous Diptera have also been separated. Lower Brachyceran families have been sorted, and also the schizophoran Family Sphaeroceridae. Some therevids were obtained by a pre-sort of the January Malaise traps, and an undescribed genus and two undescribed species identified. More dipteran material needs to be sort to assess the usefulness of this group for detection of climate change.

Databasing IBISCA Queensland. Karin Koch, Christine Lambkin. The Queensland Museum will database the locality, sample, specimen, and identification (order, family, species, and morphospecies) information from the IBISCA project. Sample labels will be provided to more easily track the samples. Specimen labels will be prepared for all samples collected from the project, and made available to all participants.

bags stapled to sample sheets by staff and Queensland Museum Honorary Assistants and Volunteers. The information on the completed sample sheets from the October and January Surveys has been entered by Heather Christensen and checked by Karin Koch. Karin has imported all 2089 sample sheets from the October survey and 303 samples from the January survey into the R-base database that was established for the project with sample numbers starting from 20001 to fit into the existing QM database. 2392 specimen labels for all the imported data have been generated by Karin, formatted in MS Word. The October specimen labels are now on the web, in a format accessible to all participants. Also provided on the web in searchable Excel format are all the sample data from the October survey. On the website, we have also provided duplicate sample labels, sorting sheets, and identification labels. Excel identification spreadsheets for morphospecies/species have been prepared for participants to send information on identification to the database.

We at the QM devised a system that required every sample collected having a unique sample number. Before the field survey started in October 2006, 10440 sample sheets were printed. 318000 sample numbers were guillotined, organised, added to ziplock bags and envelopes, and zip-lock bags stapled to sample sheets by staff and Queensland Museum Honorary Assistants (Darryl Robinson, Gail Irwin, Renee Lewry, Tracey Blazely, Anna Marcora, John Purdie, Noel Starick). Before the March 2007 survey, all 544000 archival sample labels were guillotined, organised, added to ziplock bags and envelopes, and zip-lock

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Gall density and herbivory along vertical and altitudinal gradients in a subtropical rainforest: the importance of leaf sclerophylly. Milton Barbosa da Silva Júnior, Sérvio Ribeiro. We are investigating whether increasing sclerophylly in the upper canopy results in suitable habitats for galls using vertical and horizontal transect sampling. We are recording leaf density, herbivore damage and number of galls (live larvae, parasitoids or fungi recorded).

Phylogenetic study of subfamily Ennominae (Lepidoptera : Geometridae) at the tribe level by morphological and molecular approaches. Antoine Leveque. Within the IBISCA Queensland umbrella, it is my objective to collect the greatest diversity of Geometridae species possible. The objective is to gather the specimens which will represent the Australian fauna in the global approach of my work. These samples will be identified and analysed to build the phylogenetic relationships between the different tribes of Ennominae. The specimens are sampled at night using the light sheet method, in both subtropical rainforest (IBISCA plots) and dry forest. About 1900 specimens of Lepidoptera have been collected, including around 1150 Geometridae (60%). About 15% of collected Geometrids have been pinned. The different species have not yet been identified, but in a first estimation about 140 different species of Geometridae have been collected. 17 different sites have been prospected to date, including 11 of IBISCA!s plots (300 D; 700 A, B, C; 900 A, B, C, D; 1100 A, B, D) and 6 other plots (dry forest, O!Reilly!s and near IQ 300 A).

We have studied 16 plots distributed throughout 4 altitudes (300, 700, 900 and 1100 meters), during the 2006 and 2007 surveys. The gall analysis is being conducted in Brazil. The samples from the 300, 1100 and 900m sites, collected in the 2006 survey, have already been analysed.

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The structure of host-parasitoid food webs along elevational and vertical gradients: predicting the effects of climate change. Rebecca Morris, Owen Lewis, Frazer Sinclair. We are studying the diversity and food web structure of cavity nesting Hymenoptera and their associated parasitoids. We will be constructing and comparing replicate quantitative food webs for these species in both understorey and canopy strata at the five altitudinal zones. We collected 600 nests between December 2006 and April 2007, from all five altitudes and from both canopy and understorey within each altitude. Since then we have been successfully rearing insects from these nests. This took longer than expected since the insects over wintered in the nests and did not start emerging until the following spring. Identification of the specimens is now taking place, with the assistance of Chris Burwell at the Queensland Museum, and should be completed in May.

Buprestidae of Lamington National Park. Gianfranco Curletti, Yves Basset, Brian Levey, Svatopluk Bily, Luca Cristiano. During October 2006, I collected 317 samples, capturing 632 herbivorous Coleoptera belonging to 22 families. The first article, a description of a new species of Buprestidae found in Lamington in October (Agrilus ibiscanus n.sp), is already in publication in Lambillionea (Belgian journal). The second will be a checklist of Buprestidae of Lamington National Park. This work is possible thanks to material found in last October and to the material stored in Queensland Museum that I have studied during my work in Lamington. This is waiting for last identifications of the species of a genus that is actually in revision, and for material found by the colleagues Schmidl and Floren.

A third publication will centre on my work with the sticky traps, concerning the altitudinal stratification of xylophagous Coleoptera. Unfortunately, the season in October was not good, and it would be beneficial to repeat sampling in the next good season (dependent on funding).

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Bryophyte survey of IBISCA Queensland plots. Elizabeth Brown. Each of the four plots at 300, 500, 700, 900 and 1100 metres ASL has been surveyed to assess what bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts) are present. Additional collections from the areas immediately adjacent to the plots have also been made, with more extensive surveying of the 1100 m area. Preliminary impressions and assessments of the quadrats suggest that the areas at 3–900 metres are not particularly species rich. All these areas are relatively dry and the species composition is indicative of habitats where drying out is a frequent occurrence (rather than just a feature

of recent weather patterns). A number of taxa, e.g. mosses such as Camptochaete excavata, Braithwaitea sulcata, Thuidiopsis sparsa and liverworts such as Frullania are common elements in virtually every quadrat. The species composition of the 1100 m quadrats is different from the ones at lower altitudes. They have elements in common with moist, cooler habitats of more southern forests. There is little evidence, at this stage, to suggest that

there are local endemics. Previous work by Franks (1998) on the bryophyte flora of Nothofagus in this area recorded 43 species from trunk bases.

Diversity of the Formicidae of the litter along an altitudinal gradient. Bruno Corbara, Jerome Orivel, Maurice Leponce, Yves Roisin, Thibaut Delsinne. The ants of the litter were collected by means of two sampling techniques, Winkler sifting and pitfall traps. In both cases, 49 samples are collected on each surveyed site. The samples are collected on a 70m x 70m square grid which is centered on the plot. A total of 900 samples were collected on the IBISCA plots. Two additional sites in eucalypt forest have been sampled for comparison at the 7oo m level.

The sorting work has only begun in March. It will be conducted in Clermont-Ferrand, in parallel with the Vanuatu material with the help of volunteers and amateurs.

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each plot. Target organisms are be beetles (Coleoptera), true bugs (Heteroptera) and mutilid wasps (Mutilidae, Hymenoptera). The sampling was replicated at three different times of year, in October "06, March !07 and January "08. A total of 16719 beetles were sorted to about 1220 different species belonging to 70 different families. The 685 true bugs belonged to 92 different species. About 120 total mutilid-wasps of 17 species were also included in the data set. Table 1. The number of insect specimens of beetles and true bugs collected by beating in the three sampling periods.

Coleoptera Heteroptera

Faunal composition and community structure of Coleoptera, Heteroptera and Mutilidae (Hymenoptera) at five different altitudes in Lamington National Park.

Oct 2006 4853 213

Mar 2007 5116 308

Jan 2008 6750 164

Total 16719 685

All the material extracted in the field has been mounted, labelled and sorted to morpho-species. All the material will be data-based by May 2008.

Mites in leaf domatia. Frode Ødegaard. This programme includes regular beating of vegetation structures in all 20 sites along the altitudinal range. One sample is obtained by beating of all reachable vegetation structures using a beating sheet (1 x 1 m) along a 10 m long transect in association with the plots (Fig. 1). A total of 10 parallel samples (10 transects) are collected in

David Walter, Heather Proctor. Domatia are leaf structures produced by many species of plants. They are frequently inhabited by small arthropods, especially mites (Arachnida: Acari). Previous vegetation surveys showed that there was no single species of domatia-bearing plant that was found at all altitudes. We looked instead at two species, native gardenia (Atractocarpus benthamianus, Rubiaceae) and steelwood/corduroy (Sarcopteryx stipata, Sapindaceae) that together span most of the altitudes. Gardenia has hairy-pit domatia, and steelwood igloo domatia. We plucked 1 terminal or near terminal leaf from up to 10 individual plants per plot for a

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maximum of 40 leaves per species per altitude. Leaves were taken to the lab and the mites either picked out and preserved (Oct 2006 sampling) or entire domatia excised and preserved (March/April sampling).

Muellederia, Neilstigmaeus, Cunaxidae, Micreremaeus, and Tuparazetes. Taxa in bold include undescribed species, approximately 12 species in total. The 1100 m sites differed most obviously from the 900!s in having a much higher % of Tydeidae and lower % of Oribatulidae. Gardenia and steelwood mites from March/April 2007 are yet to be identified. We expect these samples to hold a further 5-10 species (3-6 being undescribed). We will then examine evidence for altitudinal variation in mite abundance and species richness, and also follow up on preliminary observations that mites appear to subdivide habitat both among and between leaves (e.g. some leaves or individual domatia appear to contain only oribatulids, and others only tydeids).

Assemblages of predatory arthropods along an altitudinal gradient in subtropical rainforest. In October 2006, only gardenia was sampled and only at the two altitudes at which it was present (1100 m and 900 m). In March/April 2007, gardenia was resampled at those altitudes, and steelwood at 1100, 900, 700 and 500 m. The maximum of 10 plants/plot was realized for gardenia at almost all plots, but steelwood proved to be rare at the 1100 plots and fewer than 40 leaves were collected for this altitude. Mites from the 80 gardenia leaves collected in October 2006 sampling have been counted and identified to family or genus. There were 829 mites from 11 taxa: (from most to least common) Tydeidae, Oribatulidae, Scapheremaeus, Winterschmidtiidae, Phytoseiidae, Agistemus, Fungitarsonemus, Oudemansicheyla, Phylleremus, Eriophyidae, Nasobates,

Kyran Staunton, Roger Kitching, Christy Fellows, Geoff Monteith, Chris Burwell, Robert Raven. The variability within a predatory guild along a subtropical rainforest altitudinal gradient was examined. Pitfall traps were set within sites, at least 400 m apart to survey epigaeic ants, beetles and spiders. Ants, predatory beetles and spiders were combined to represent a predatory guild. Patterns displayed by this guild along the gradient were compared to those of a non-predatory beetle dataset. The predatory guild was also divided into ant, predatory beetle and spider assemblages and subsequent trends were investigated.

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Sixty pitfall samples in total. Both guilds consisted of a total of 7234 individuals from 72 families were sorted to species or morphospecies. The predatory guild consisted of a total of 4261 individuals derived from Formicidae, Coleoptera and Araneae. The Formicidae consisted of 1567 individuals and 64 species, the predatory Coleoptera consisted of 1722 individuals and 110 species and the spiders were composed of 972 individuals from 106 different species.

gradient. These findings suggested a low level of surrogacy between predatory taxa due to individual responses to environmental changes along an altitudinal gradient. This project was Kyran Staunton!s honours thesis (submitted). Papers based on the results of the October and February surveys are in preparation.

Dung beetle assemblages along an altitudinal gradient in Lamington National Park. Geoff Monteith, Rosa Menéndez.

Both predatory and non-predatory guilds displayed high levels of compositional change along the altitudinal gradient. The greatest amount of which was seen at high altitude locations. Restricted distributional range or endemism was consistent along the gradient within both guilds. Peaks of species richness were seen at 900m for both the predatory and non-predatory guilds. Climatic variability was suggested to largely influence the trends exhibited by both guilds along the gradient. Ants were highly sensitive to climatic changes and decreased in biological diversity with increasing elevation. Predatory beetles displayed a high level of compositional change along the gradient and peaked in species richness at high altitude. Spiders displayed large distributional ranges and were very tolerant of environmental changes along the

This project investigates changes in dung beetle communities (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) along the IBISCA altitudinal transect, in order to asses the sensitivity of different species to changes in temperature and to identify potential bio-indicator species for climate change. Dung beetles are an important component of global biodiversity and are good indicators of both environmental and habitat changes. Thus, they provide a powerful combination of advantages for investigating the potential effect of climate change on biodiversity. Our sampling protocol consists of the use of four baited pitfall traps and one unbaited flight intercept trap (FIT) in each of the 20 IBISCA sampling plots. During each sampling phase (four in total covering all season: October 2006, January 2007, March 2007, December 2007) the baited pitfalls were exposed for two 5-day periods each, being baited with macropod dung for one period and rotting mushroom for the other. Flight intercept traps, which capture randomly flying beetles, were exposed

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for a continuous 10-day period during each phase. Results are available for four sampling phases and all 640 bulk trap samples have been sorted. These samples yielded to 11,005 specimens belonging to a total of 33 native dung beetle species; all of them exclusives to the rainforest. Species richness at the different altitudes ranges from a high of 22 species at the 300m level to a low of 9 species at the 1100m level. Richness at the intermediate elevations was almost uniform (17 spp. at 500m; 16 spp. at 700m; 18 spp. at 900m). The sampling protocol has been extremely successful in collecting all potential species present at each altitude, more than 85% of all species potentially present have been detected (Table 2). Table 2. Estimated number of species (Chao-1), total number of species collected, and percentage of species collected at each altitude using 128 baited pitfall traps and 16 FITs per altitude.

Altitude (m) 300 500 700 900 1100

Chao-1 species richness 25.0 18.5 16.0 18.0 9.0

Total species richness 22 17 16 18 9

% species richness detected 88 92 100 100 100

Examination of individual species distributions along the altitudinal transect showed a highly stratified fauna, and that no single species occurs at all elevations. The lowest zone (300m) has not only the most diverse fauna (22 species), but also 41% of species which occur there do not occur any higher than 500m. The highest zone (1100m) has a small fauna of 9 species but 78% of those are restricted to high elevations extending downwards only as far as the 900m. CCA analysis also confirms that the composition of species at each sampling plot was closely related to

altitude. These results suggest that species altitudinal distributions are probably constrained by climatic conditions, and they are likely to be affected by global warming. Data analysis is in progress and results will be presented at the International Congress of Entomology in Durban, South Africa (July 2008). We have published a short article for the Entomological Society of Queensland INC News Bulletin (Vol 35, 4, June 2007). We are also planning to submit our first publication to a Peer-reviewed journal before the end of the year, in addiction to the article for the Special Edition of the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum.

Patterns in moth assemblages along an altitudinal gradient in sub-tropical rainforest. Roger Kitching, Antoine Leveque, Sarah Maunsell, Louise Ashton. The Lepidoptera are one of the few Orders of insects which are nearly universally herbivorous. This intermediate trophic position suggests that they will be, potentially, excellent surrogates of general forest health. The vast majority of Lepidoptera are night-flying moths that are readily sampled using light sources to which they are attracted.

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We used Pennsylvania-style light traps to target all of those families conventionally designated as 'macromoths' plus the Pyralidae and any other species of greater than 1 cm forewing length. This is the same target set which we have used in widespread studies elsewhere in Australia, Asia and central America. We sampled all 20 sites during the October and March surveys. At each site, light traps were run for three days at ground and canopy level. This amounted to a total of 120 trap-nights in each survey period. In January 2008, we conducted a similar trapping programme along a finer-scale altitudinal gradient. Traps were processed in the field and representative series of every species encountered were spread and labelled in situ. All residues of non-target material from the light traps were preserved and will be analysed in due course.

To date (April 2008), data on 2176 individual moths of 541 different species have been entered in the database. This represents about 80% of the October sample. A small number of October samples remains to be sorted. Work on the March samples is ongoing and data entry is expected to be complete within about six weeks. Data should be available for analysis by about October 2007. Separate funding from the Department of Environment and Water Resources in Canberra has allowed fast-tracking of the samples of Geometridae, Sphingidae and Saturniidae. Of the approximately 150 species of Geometridae in our sample, we have identified 70 to species. These represented 1274 individuals from our samples. Two species of saturniid (21 individuals) and 9 species of sphingid (20 individuals) were also identified. We have sent tissue samples from the 81 identified species to Guelph in Canada to undergo molecular barcoding as part of the Barcode of Life Consortium Project. It is premature to propose altitudinal patterns at this stage. However, it is clear that whatever else may emerge there is a clear 'cloud-forest' component within the fauna associated with the Nothofagus-dominated forests at 1100m altitude. There is a clear, distinctive, assemblage of high elevation moths dominated by about 12 species such as Larophylla animeta (Geometridae: Ennominae). These will undoubtedly emerge as being of conservation concern. Louise Ashton!s honours project will target this transition by conducting a survey along a finer-scale altitudinal gradient (50m altitude intervals) between 700 and 1100m.

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Budget. The project has a total cash income from research grants totalling $611,361 with in-kind contributions totalling $708,800. Details on the state of the budget can be found on the following pages.

Changes in project partners and funding. The Smithsonian Institution has withdrawn from the project but, as their contribution was in-kind only, it has no impact on the project!s cash budget. ProNatura International has also withdrawn from the project, removing their contributions of $150,000 (cash) and $50,000 (in-kind). The Global Canopy Programme has joined the project as our major international partner with an additional cash contribution of just over $32,000 in addition to their original in-kind contribution of $8,000. A new Funding Agreement between Griffith University and the Global Canopy Programme has been prepared.

Budgetary implications of change in project partners. The change of project partners has had no negative impact on the scientific outcomes of the project. Pro-Natura International!s cash contributions were committed to supporting the canopy glider and were not required in the glider!s absence. We were able to save an additional $40,000 that was committed to support glider-related activities. We were also able to redirect funds that were earmarked for other activities to support the altered research programme. The most significant savings were made in the areas of accommodation and international airfares thanks to the contributions of individual participants. The revised scientific programme with an additional field survey and new canopy access techniques added significant costs that were not described in the original budget estimates. However, with the savings described above and the additional cash contribution from the Global Canopy Programme, we have been able to deliver the project on budget. An itemised account of the expenditure will be included in a separate report from Griffith University!s Office of Finance and Business Services.

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IBISCA Queensland Income Source

Cash

Smart State Innovation Projects Fund Griffith University Pro-Natura Queensland Museum Queensland Herbarium SEQ Catchments Smithsonian Institute Global Canopy Programme Dept. of Environment and Water Resources

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

TOTAL

$ 611,361.00

In-kind

355,809.00 180,052.00 150,000.00 25,000.00 10,000.00 32,500.00 8,000.00

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

552,800.00 50,000.00 83,000.00 45,000.00 20,000.00 93,184.00 8,000.00 -

$ 708,800.00

Total $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

355,809.00 732,852.00 200,000.00 108,000.00 45,000.00 30,000.00 93,184.00 8,000.00 8,000.00

$ 1,287,661.00

IBISCA Queensland Balance Source

Amount

Total Cash income Total Cash Expenditure (Actual and Committed)

$ $

611,361.00 (579,602.00)

BALANCE

$

31,759.00

Justification for continued funding under the NIRAP scheme. Despite the change in project partners, the project has maintained international cash contributions exceeding 25% of the total cash budget as required under the Financial Assistance Agreement. The Global Canopy Programme is now our major international partner with a cash contribution of $32,500. In addition, many of our international participants have made significant cash contributions to the project. These participants are not members of partner organisations listed in the Funding Agreement, but are heavily involved in the project and have covered their own costs of participation (to varying degrees). All of these scientists have made significant in-kind contributions (approx. $73,000) and most have also contributed in cash terms (approx $93,000). These are costs explicitly related to participation in the IBISCA Queensland project. The combined total of cash contributions from international sources ($126,000) comfortably exceeds the required amount (approx. $89,000). The individual contributions are summarised in the following table.

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IBISCA Queensland International Participant Contributions Cash #

Participant

Affiliation

Country

Accom.

R. Morris F. Sinclair R. Menéndez F. Ødegaard M. Leponce B. Corbara G. Curletti T. Delsinne V. Novotny J. Orivel Y. Roisin A. Floren H. Proctor J. Schmidl D. Bito

Uni. Oxford Uni. Oxford Uni. Lancaster Inst. Nature Research R. Belgian Inst. of Nat. Sc. Uni. Blaise Pascal Mus. Civ. di Storia Nat. R. Belgian Inst. of Nat. Sc. Cz. Acad. Sc. Cent. Nat. Rech. Sci. Uni. Libre de Bruxelles Uni. Würzburg Uni. Alberta Uni. Erlangen-Nürnberg N.G. Binatang Res. Cent.

GB GB GB Norway Belgium France Italy Belgium Czech R. France Belgium Germany Canada Germany PNG

$ 10,641 $ 3,000 $ 3,500 $ 5,200 $ 2,100 $ 3,100 $ 2,600 $ 2,200 $ 700 $ 2,100 $ 1,900 $ 2,400 $ $ $ -

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

8,738 4,000 4,000 4,000 1,898 4,000 2,000 2,000 1,210 2,000 2,000 2,000 464 2,000 1,210

$ 11,091 $ $ $ $ 800 $ $ $ $ $ $ 71 $ $ $ 759 $ -

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

$ 39,441

$ 41,520

$ 12,721

$ 73,467

TOTALS

Travel *

In-kind Other

~

Salary ^ 7,476 6,230 9,256 8,834 5,518 4,628 3,916 1,250 3,738 7,774 4,272 3,363 6,012 1,200

# Accommodation cost based on standard charge of A$100 / day (food and accommodation). * Travel cost based on estimated average of A$2000 per international return flight, transfers, in-transit accommodation etc., or actual costs where available. ~ Other: local wages & equipment purchased explicitly for the I BISCA project and that will be remain in Australia at the completion of the project. ^ Salary calculations based on equivalent time for Research Fellow Grade 2 (RF2.1 - A$65,242 pa), or actual salary where available. Note: We have not received detailed costings from all of the participants listed, and have relied on estimates in some cases. These are probably conservative estimates of actual costs.

The project has also fulfilled its obligations in terms of international collaboration. Some of the international institutions participating in the project include: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Oxford University of Oxford (UK), University of Lancaster (UK), the Natural History Museum (UK), the Université Blaise Pascal (Clermond-Ferrand, France), University of Montpellier (France), Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique (France), Museo Civico di Storia Naturale (Italy), Institute of Nature Research (Norway), the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), Federal University of Ouro Preto (Brazil), Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany), University of Victoria (Canada), University of Alberta (Canada), the Binatang Research Centre (PNG), University of South Bohemia (Czech Republic).

The first three Milestone Deliverables have been completed as required and the scientific programme is progressing on schedule (please refer to the section “Progress and milestones” on pages 6-12 for further details).

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Project participants. Barbara Baehr Queensland Museum Justin Bartlett Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Milton Barbosa da Silva Jr Federal University of Ouro Preto (Brazil) Dan Bickel Australian Museum Darren Bito Griffith University Torsten Bittner University of Erlangen-Nuernberg (Germany) Sarah Boulter Griffith University Elizabeth Brown Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Chris Burwell Queensland Museum Terry Carless Queensland Museum Heather Christensen Griffith University Bruno Corbara Université Blaise Pascal (ClermondFerrand, France)

Geoff Dyne Department of Environment and Heritage Nigel Fechner Queensland Herbarium Andreas Floren University of Wuerzburg (Germany) Dawn Frame University of Montpellier (France) John Hunter NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Roger Kitching Griffith University Karin Koch Queensland Museum Melinda Laidlaw Queensland Herbarium Chris Lambkin Queensland Museum Maurice Leponce Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (Belgium) Antoine Leveque Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle (MNHN, France) Rosa Menéndez University of Lancaster (GB)

Gianfranco Curletti Museo Civico di Storia Naturale (Italy)

Bill McDonald Queensland Herbarium

Thibaut Delsinne Royal Belgium Institute of Natural Sciences & Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)

Kay Montgomery SEQ Catchments

Dick Drew Griffith University

Adela Gonzalez Megias Universidad de Granada (Spain)

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Geoff Monteith Queensland Museum

Yves Roisin Universite Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)

Rebecca Morris University of Oxford (GB)

Juergen Schmidl University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany)

Laurence Mound Hon. Research Fellow, CSIRO Entomology Vojtech Novotny Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Frode Ødegaard Institute of Nature Research (Norway) Jerome Orivel Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Toulouse, France) David Putland Griffith University

John Stanisic Queensland Museum Kyran Staunton Griffith University Geoff Thompson Queensland Museum Desley Tree Department of Primary Industries Dave Walter University of Alberta (Canada)

Heather Proctor University of Alberta (Canada)

Shaun Winterton The University of Queensland & Queensland Dept. Primary Industries & Fisheries

Robert Raven Queensland Museum

Susan Wright Queensland Museum

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Project Advisory Committee. Peter Blondell Premier!s Department Cathie Duffy Masters National Parks Association of Queensland

Darryl Jones Centre for Innovative Conservation Strategies, Griffith University Roger Kitching Griffith University

Nigel Fechner Queensland Mycological Society

Kay Montgomery SEQ Catchments

Ian Galloway Queensland Museum

John Neldner Queensland Environmental Protection Agency

Gordon Guymer Queensland Herbarium

Shane O!Reilly O!Reilly!s Rainforest Retreat

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Our supporters. Queensland Government : Smart State Innovation Projects Fund. http://www.smartstate.qld.gov.au/

Griffith University. http://www.griffith.edu.au/

Queensland Museum. http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/

Queensland Herbarium. http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/nature_conservation/plants/queensland_herbarium

Queensland Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/

SEQ Catchments. http://www.seqcatchments.com.au/

National Parks Association of Queensland. http://www.npaq.org.au/

Global Canopy Programme. http://www.globalcanopy.org/

Department of Environment and Water Resources. http://www.environment.gov.au/

O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat. http://www.oreillys.com.au/home/

Cainbable Mountain Lodge. http://www.cainbable.com/

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Volunteers. The IBISCA Queensland project was made possible through the dedication and hard work of our tireless volunteers. Many thanks to….

Louise Ashton Johanna Baehr Sean Barry Kyle Barton John Bristow Jake Bryant Pam Cambridge Andrew Cameron Cecilia Chavana-Bryant Isabel Cheyne Chris Christensen Beverley Clarkson Barbara Clifford Nicholas Cooper Kate Cranney Jana Crooks Stefan Curtis Lorrie Davis Adrienne Dougal Gretchen Evans John Findlay Helen Findlay Ian Flinders Sue Flinders Eileen Forster Anne Gill John Gill John Gray Barry Grey George Haddock Petrus Heyligers Nick Hoffman John Holt John Hunter Sally Jenyns David Jones

David Leach Elliot Leach Sarah Lejeane Sarah Lyngcoln Steve Lyngcoln Anna Marcora Graham Marriott Sarah Maunsell Clyde Mitchell Kay Montgomery Gregory Neill Roslynne O'Connell Ko Oishi Ronald Owen Lynn Pernatin Sam Putland Trevor Putland Ruth Read Judith Robertson-Brice Mary Anne Ryan Jennifer Sanger Clare Silcock Frazer Sinclair Noel Starick Brett Taylor Linda Thomas David Thomas Anne Tracey Jankees van der Have Hiroaki Wada David Wilson Denise Wilson Patricia Wolff Ingrid Wolke Dean Wright

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Acknowledgments. This report was prepared by David Putland, Senior Research Assistant, IBISCA Queensland (April 23, 2007). I!d like to thank a number of people for specific contributions: Heather Christensen (Administration Assistant, IBISCA Queensland), Roger Kitching (Griffith University), Sarah Boulter (Griffith University), Melinda Laidlaw (Queensland Herbarium), Rosemary Niehus (Queensland Herbarium), Jake Bryant (photography), Christine Lambkin (Queensland Museum) and all of the participants that provided individual project reports. All photographs by Jake Bryant unless otherwise noted. Cover photographs by David Putland, Torsten Bittner, Jake Bryant and Jane Ogilvie. The IBISCA Queensland graphic was designed by Danielle Cavanagh.

IBISCA | Queensland Centre for Innovative Conservation Strategies The Griffith School of Environment Griffith University Nathan QLD 4111 Australia P: 61-7-3735-7962 M: 0439 668 094 F: 61-7-3735-5014 E: [email protected] W: www.griffith.edu.au/ibisca/

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