Guidelines for Monitoring

Monitoring

1. Identify the different landsystems on a property map

2. Identify other sites of protection value including revegetation sites, archaeological sites, high value habitat areas etc.

3. Design a vehicle path to cross these key assets (representative landsystems and assets)

4. Peg the track at 1 Km intervals (visual for night time identification i.e painted white and numbered, reflectors etc)

5. Under a monitoring plan drive this track at given time intervals recording all animal sightings. This will require at a minimum a driver/scribe and one other person to operate the spotlight and call the count (preferably from a high point on the back of a utility etc). There is a need to ensure all safety precautions are undertaken.

6. Spotlight is to be worked in a 180° swath to cover both sides of track out to spotlight capacity distance

7. For each 1 Km interval record all sightings on the Spotlight Transect Sheet and maintain as a record. Record any opportunistic sightings of night birds, native animals, etc.

8. Download this data into the analysis data model (TAFE supplied) to identify trends, management response needs and success of response actions.

9. For data accuracy the activity should be undertaken with as many constants as possible i.e. same driver/scribe, same spotlight and user, same methodology, same vehicle type and speed, same weather and night time conditions and time, etc.