7. Monitoring and reporting
7.1 Monitoring Progressive monitoring shall be undertaken by a specialist ecologist to assess the success of translocation and enable the translocation contractor to take corrective actions in a timely manner if/when required. A series of permanent monitoring quadrats will be established within the recipient sites. Quadrats will be located and sized to capture a subset of at least 20 % of each cohort of translocated plants (i.e. those translocated/planted within any six month period) and monitored for a period of five years after planting, with monitoring concluding five years after the final cohort of plants have been planted. The timeframe for the translocation of 2 years as per Silcock et all (2021) was deemed incomplete. In the proceeding guidelines (Australian Pacific Lng 2014) developed for the species it is expressed that 5 years is a more acceptable timeframe to measure success.
Monitoring will occur at the following intervals for each cohort: • Year 1 – Quarterly monitoring
• Years 2 and 3 – Bi-annual monitoring • Years 4 and 5 – Annual monitoring Where possible, monitoring of multiple cohorts will be undertaken at the same time (i.e. same monitoring event). A final monitoring event for all cohorts will be undertaken 10 years after the commencement of the translocation program. The following parameters shall be recorded during each monitoring event: • The date of monitoring • The name of person undertaking monitoring • The number of live, dormant and/or dead translocated plants for each age class • Reproductive output (presence of megasporophylls (females) or pollen cones(male)) • Recruitment • Presence of pollinators • Evidence of insect attack or plant rot • Weed levels (as % cover) at the recipient site • Other disturbances, such as erosion (type, extent) and feral animal activity • Photographs of representative plant condition states
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Mundic Gully TSF Translocation Project - Cycas megacarpa
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