National recovery plan for Twelve Threatened Spider-Orchid Caladenia R. Br. Taxa of Victoria and South Australia 2000 - 2004
James A. Todd
Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Victoria
Flora and Fauna Statewide Programs, March 2000
Action 5: Measure population trends and responses against recovery actions
In line with the theory and practice of adaptive or experimental management (Hopkins and Saunders 1987), the results of recovery actions will need to be assessed against recovery goals to determine whether objectives are being achieved. Recovery criteria have been established to assess the success of recovery actions. A critical part of this process will be the collection of annual censusing data by which longer-term population trends can be predicted and fine-tuning of recovery actions can be made if required.
5.1 Conduct annual censusing
Detailed population data going back several years is available for a few endangered taxa (eg. C. amoena - Beardsell and French, unpubl. data, C. audasii - NRE, unpubl. data, C. hastata - Hill and Pritchard, unpubl. data, C. rosella - Beardsell, Unupub. data) while other endangered and vulnerable taxa have varying degrees of censusing data available. Monitoring transects were established in 1999 for key populations of several taxa including C. formosa, C. tensa, C. versicolor and C. xanthochila. C. lowanensis has been intensively censused over 1998 and 1999 at Kiata as part of a PhD research project and this is likely to continue into 2000 and perhaps beyond (J. Anthony, University of Melbourne, in prep.).
Information collected at all sites includes demographic and life history data recorded on a regular basis to record the timing of life history stages, leaf, stem and flower dimensions, population fecundity and the effect of predation and climatic events. In addition, general habitat information and associated plant species have also been recorded for different populations of various taxa.
The seasonality of flowering times, variation in flowering between years and the observed dormancy of many orchid taxa dictates that longer-term monitoring beyond the life of this recovery plan will be required before population trends for any taxon can be easily determined. It is anticipated that monitoring will need to be conducted by a suitably trained project officer in the first three years of recovery while state department staff and trained volunteers will be encouraged to collect annual censusing data following this. Due to seasonal constraints, some censusing may need to be conducted annually under contract by expert botanists on an as needs basis.
Censusing will be conducted four times a year for most taxa depending on seasonal variations. Leaf emergence will be recorded in early autumn, leaf dimensions measured in late winter and during the flowering period and flower and capsule numbers and dimensions recorded in early and late spring respectively. Comparisons of life history states between years and transitions between states within and between years (Hutchings 1987) will be interpreted from these data.
Funds are required in the first three years of recovery to cover the salary and associated field/travel costs (eg. vehicle hire, travel allowance, pegs, marking tape, permanent-ink marking pens, film, consumables) of a project officer to collect and collate annual censusing data from key populations. Part of the travel costs will be covered by Action 1.1. The project officer will also provide training to state department staff, land management agency staff and volunteers who will be responsible for longer-term censusing. Funds are also sought for years 1-5 of recovery for contracting a botanist to undertake some of the tasks on an as needs basis.
| C. amoena | C. audasii | C. formosa |
C. fragrantissima ssp. orientalis |
C. hastata | C. lowanensis | C. robinsonii | C. rosella | C. tensa | C. thysanochila | C. versicolor | C. xanthochila | |
|
Action 5.1 |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Responsibility |
NRE - PFF/ PP |
NRE - PFF/ NW, PV, BFNC, SFNC |
NRE - PFF/ SW, EH |
NRE - PFF/ PP, PV, FOWH |
NRE - PFF/ SW, PV, COM |
NRE - PFF/ NW, FOKR |
NRE - PFF/ PP, FOBCCR |
NRE - PFF/ PP |
NRE _ PFF/ NW |
NRE - PFF/ PP, FOMERP |
NRE - PFF/ NW, SFNC |
NRE - PFF/ NW, BFNC, COM |
|
Source |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
Total |
|
Total |
$33,360 |
$36,810 |
$36,810 |
$22,850 |
$22,850 |
$152,680 |