BugWise volunteer, Colin Fitzsimons taking the BugWise webtest. Photo: J Gollan © J Gollan.
What is important about Bow Wow Creek Gorge?
Colin and Pamela Fitzsimons-owners/land managers at Bow Wow Creek Gorge (Mulbring), occupy some of the most well preserved and privately owned vegetation communities in the Hunter Valley. Bow Wow Creek gorge is of scientific significance being the type locality for five to six Permian fossil species. The gorge is 50m-70m deep for a distance of 1.6km, with reaches of nearly vertical walls, with the floor carrying dense rainforest type vegetation. Read more about the Bow Wow Creek Gorge here: http://www.aussieheritage.com.au/listings/nsw/Mulbring/BowWowCreekGorge/3055
How is the Web2Spider guide being used at Bow Wow Creek?
There has been some native replanting on some sections of the property so documenting the effects of this intervention is important for evaluation purposes. Colin, Pamela and the BugWise team also thought that there would be enormous benefit for future monitoring efforts simply by documenting natural spatial and temporal patterns of web abundance and richness in rainforest and bushland remnants. However, heavy rainfall hampered survey efforts in remnants, and for safety reasons, surveys in remnants was abandoned. The project was modified to assess whether replanting a grassland with native species increased web abundance and diversity. Colin, Pamela and their friend Irene Richardson, joined the BugWise Outreach program in November and collected data in planted and unplanted areas within the Bow Wow Creek gorge area.
Results and Discussion
Surveys were conducted over two days (29 November, 2007 and March 28, 2008). A total of 114 webs were surveyed with equal numbers found in planted and unplanted areas. Seventeen different web types were found and a greater number of web types were found in unplanted sites than planted ones (13 and 12, respectively). Four web types (W5, W23, W26, W30) were unique to unplanted sites. Four web types were unique to planted sites (W4, W16, W18, W21).
Plots of mean web abundance and richness showed no real differences between the planted and unplanted sites (See figures below). While this result was unexpected, the fact that around 25% of the numbers of web types in each plot were unique to that type of plot suggested that there may have been important differences in terms of the actual species. In other words, composition of web-builders appears to respond to changes associated with tree planting, and not necessarily abundance and richness.
Amazing Bow Wow Creek
Posted by: Mark (not verified)
I am interested in the Bow Wow creek site. I would like to visit and talk to the owners because it sounds like an amazing property. Do you have contact numbers/ email for these people so that I might be able to organise a visit and talk to them about their monitoring?Date: February 26th, 2008
Time: 15.42:38
Post new comment