Academic News

The impacts of global climate change on individual species will depend on two factors: the degree of change and the resilience of the species to that change.  Knowledge of the distributions and specific habitat requirements of most highland species and how they will be affected by climate change has been identified as a critical gap in knowledge. The specific habitat requirements of Tooth-billed Bowerbirds are inadequately understood and hence it is difficult to predict how this species will be affected by rising temperatures and changing moisture regimes.  Michelle Kirlin, Ryan Reed and Allison Kueck have been successfully collecting data to try and elucidate these threats over the past two weeks.

Epiphytes are plants that grow on other plants. Epiphytes in tropical forests capture moisture and nutrients, provide habitat for invertebrates, vertebrates and other plants and contribute significantly to forest diversity. Further, the presence or absence of epiphytes in the Wet Tropics of Australia is used to classify different forest types. Michaela Swanson, Heidi Webb, Liz Wason, John Bryan, Liz Mack and Rachel Martin have been examining aspects of epiphytes in areas of regrowth and in remnant forests. They have been researching differences in abundance of epiphytes between deciduous and evergreen trees; arthropod diversity and biomass among birds nest ferns and elkhorn ferns as well as factors leading to germination and growth.

Threatened Mabi 5b rainforest fragments provide many benefits to tourists visiting the Wet Tropics region as well as economic benefits to residents. Opportunities for nature walks, wildlife viewing and rainforest education are abundant. Kyle Tilley, Anna Will, Joanna Vance and Mari Ewing have been busy out in the field assessing and collecting information at these rainforest fragments. Data is being collected in-line with previous surveys to expand the existing database of visitor information. Nigel Barton, Ph.D, Center Director

Student Reflections

This past weekend several students organized a trip to Chillagoe.  With help from all the staff we were able to make this an amazing weekend.  Saturday morning we left the center early and after a quick stop for petrol and snacks began our three hour adventure on the most desolate dirt road I have ever driven on.  Students watched as rainforest slowly changed to outback savannah.  Upon reaching Chillagoe, the temperature had risen to about 40 degrees Celsius.  After a short stop at the HUB we were off to explore the surrounding area.  We took a short hike out to Balancing Rock.  The landscape resembled nothing that I had ever seen.  There were rocks protruding here and there with some as sharp as glass due to thousands of years of erosion.  Balancing Rock is a natural phenomenon.  It consists of a rock about the size of two SFS vans resting on one another, connected by something that I could almost wrap my arms around.   I felt that if I pushed hard enough the rock would simply fall over.  After a long photo session we headed down to a small cave for a nice cool lunch. 

It was then off to the smelter, where we took the car tour of the site.   The site had been built almost one hundred years ago.  At its max production stage it supported over 8,000 workers, which is amazing considering that Chillagoe's population today is only 200.  After the smelter we headed down the road to Royal Arch Tour.  The QPWS guide met us at the mouth of the cave, where we were equipped with headlights.  For the next two hours we explored the depths of the caves.  We moved from cavern to cavern, sometimes having to crawl on our hands and knees.  After our cave tour we headed out to Mungana to explore the aboriginal art paintings.  It was here we found more caverns to explore and were introduced to dry rainforest.  The dry rainforest grew on limestone outcroppings and was different than other rainforest we had seen.  Robyn, our forest management intern, gave us a lecture on the rainforest in front of us.  After time for exploration we headed into town to set-up camp and get ready for dinner. 

We booked dinner at the Post Office Hotel.  Dinner was amazing and the local atmosphere provided a fun place to hang out and get to know the locals.  After dinner we headed back to the campsite for a campfire.  After a long day filled full of adventures we headed into our tents or onto our tarps to sleep out under the stars.  The next morning we awoke to an early and hot sunrise.  After a morning swim we broke down camp and joined the staff for breakfast.  After breakfast we loaded up the vans and left for home.  This weekend turned out to be one of my favorite weekends spent in Australia.  Most weekends our free time is spent hanging out at the center.  This student-planned weekend proved to be not only an entertaining experience, but a learning one as well.  Kyle Tilley, University of Redlands

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