31 – The national malleefowl monitoring effort^391navigate to mounds, efficiently record data and take photographs of mounds, and
provides control of observer inputs and results in standardised outputs. The
smartphones are then returned to the coordinator who uploads the data and
photographs to a national database for vetting.
Descriptive data are also collected on the occurrence of other animal prints
and scats at mounds and provide some information on trends in species of
particular interest, such as foxes, goats and kangaroos. More recently, permanent
solar-powered camera traps have been used at some sites to provide more robust
indices of the abundance of a range of species. These have been designed to
minimise field effort and are downloaded by volunteers while they are in the field
monitoring mounds. The large number of ensuing photos is also processed by
citizen scientists, often the same people who monitor the mounds, and the results
tabulated for analyses.
The National Malleefowl Monitoring Database
Data availability and reporting are critical to the success of the malleefowl
monitoring program. The online National Malleefowl Monitoring Database
(NMMD) is the central repository of mound monitoring data, and is custom
designed to facilitate a range of data management and reporting requirements.
Data are typically uploaded to the NMMD within days of its collection and records
are automatically screened for irregularities that may indicate errors; irregular
records are inspected, together with current and past mound photos, by
experienced personnel. The NMMD also notifies data collectors of major changes
to their records, thereby respecting their important role as well as providing an
opportunity for them to learn where they may be making mistakes, thus helping to
maintain high standards.
Apart from processing data, the NMMD is also designed to report on both the
effectiveness of the monitoring effort (i.e. number of mounds monitored compared
with the intended target) and trends in malleefowl breeding abundance to a variety
of stakeholders, including data collectors, NRM and state authorities, and analysts.
In particular, data collectors are able to access the NMMD online and annotate
their uploaded data, view reports and photos, and download a range of documents
and maps pertaining to the monitoring effort.
Adaptive management of malleefowl
The malleefowl monitoring program is currently being expanded to include an
‘adaptive management’ (AM) experiment. AM is an approach to managing
ecological systems that aims to achieve management outcomes while
simultaneously resolving key uncertainties that undermine effective management
(Walters 1986). It is often referred to as learning while doing. Under AM, learning
can be achieved in two ways: (1) passively, where learning is reactive to the