The Level of Diversity in the Floral and Mammal Species in the Wheat-Belt Reserves in Western Australia - Research Proposal Example

Research Report on Environmental Studies- Australia Name Institution Research Report on Environmental Studies- Australia 1. Introduction Governments should show concern for wildlife management and conservation of different plant species to prevent extinction of these faunal and floral species. Animal species are of economic value including attraction of tourists, whereas plants are important for medicinal and aesthetic values among other uses. These plants and animals may be found in their natural habitats. However, the activities of man such as hunting, bush clearing for agricultural activities or settlement pose threats to the natural ecosystems of animals and plant species (Kent, 2000; Brown and Sax, 2004; Foottit & Adler, 2009, p.290). As such, some native species may gradually disappear as the animals move to different habitats while plants just disappear. Australia has experienced the largest extinction of mammal species compared to other continents in the last 200 years (Cardillo & Bromham, 2001, p.1436). In a rejoinder, the Western Australian State Government has shown concern for environmental conservation over the recent decades. At the 18th general assembly for the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Dr Carmen Lawrence, the Premier, noted that the WA government was mandated to ‘to conserve [the country’s] extraordinary native flora and fauna for their intrinsic value and the benefits they bring to the Western Australians, to the nation and to the whole world” (IUCN, 1991, p.125). During the second half of the twentieth century, the government established a series of reserves by clearing farm lands situated in the central wheat-belt. These reserves were established to conserve various native mammal and floral species and have served as good habitats for the native species that would otherwise have disappeared. Now, the government currently wishes to conduct a review to determine the extent to which these small native reserves are effective in conserving the native floral and mammal species. The West Australian State Government has been struggling to have a balance between conservation and development of the natural resources (IUCN, 1991, p.125). There is a concern that significant loss has been recorded in biodiversity in these animal parks over the years, and yet the government has run short of funds that may be channeled to manage the progressive loss of biodiversity. Thus, there is need to understand the distribution of native mammal and floral species in these reserves as well as how the influence that the size or location of these reserves has on such distribution. Besides, given the constraint of limited funds, the government also wishes to understand the opinions of the members of the public on the types of endangered mammal species that they would prefer to be saved through the future wildlife conservation programs. 2. Aims and objectives One of the aims of the project is to determine the level of diversity in the floral and mammal species in the wheat-belt reserves in Western Australia. The government wishes to know the distribution of different native mammal species in relation to the fragmentation and isolation of their habitats. In particular, the project aims at determining if there is an association between the size of the wheat-belt reserves and the number of native mammal species, native plant species, and exotic mammal species in these reserves. There is also an objective of determining if there is an association between the occurrence of native mammal species and plant species in the reserves. Similarly, the project aims at determining the perception of the members of the public on the endangered mammal species that they would prefer for conservation. 3. Methodology 3.1. Methods of data collection This project sought to address various issues and as such, a combination of different methods of data collection was used. There were conservation surveys on the wheat-belt that lasted six months. Twenty three wheat-belt reserves were randomly selected for the survey. This was a representative sample as the reserves included are spread across the state. In these surveys, the number of plant and mammal species that were observed in each reserve was recorded. The mammals were surveyed through different techniques. Small animals such as rats and marsupial mice were surveyed through live trapping in an enclosed and specified grid of one hectare. For larger mammals, a portion of each reserve was sampled using line transects, 3 km in length. The researchers then walked through the enclosed region at dusk to note any evidence of presence of animals such as direct observation of the animal, traces of footprints, or animal faeces. Along these line transects, samples of 10m X 100m botanical plots were also used to determine the plant species that were available in the reserves. Similarly, nocturnal mammals such as possums and numbats were surveyed through nocturnal spotlighting drives and the observed number noted. Now, every research needs to be conducted according to the ethical codes that are established in the country. This survey involved trapping and handling live mammals. The Animal Welfare Act (2002) of Western Australia provides legislation that protects animals that are involved in any research. In addition to this provision the learning and research institution also have established codes of practices while handling animals in research (The University of Notre Dame, Australia, 2011). It is essential to evaluate the harm that the research may pose to the animals against the value that can be achieved from the research. As such, there was need to obtain ethics approval. The approval (UNE number ET-LH 010) was applied for, and obtained, before the conservation survey on the small mammals began. Other than the surveys on plant and mammals in the reserve, there was also administration of questionnaire surveys to selected residents who stay near the reserves. It is a requirement in the country that for any program that is likely to have significant environmental impacts, the members of the public need to be consulted (IUCN, 1991, p.125). The questionnaire sought not only to understand the public perception on native mammal conservation but also to determine the factors that influence such perceptions. In particular, the questionnaire sought to establish if such perceptions were influenced by appearance of the mammals. The survey involved 40 residents randomly selected from the residents around the reserves. The residents were contacted via telephone to obtain their informed consent to participate in the survey before the actual survey began. Just like the above case, researches that involve human subjects need to be conducted in a manner that protects these participants to avoid any possible dangers to the participants or researcher following the research procedures (Australian Catholic University, 2013). Ethical considerations were again necessary and an approval (UNE Number ET-IS 011) was obtained before the questionnaires were administered to the study participants. In the questionnaire, the respondents were issued with a list of eight endangered mammal species with their pictures for easy identification. They were required to rank these mammals in order of the priority that they could give in regard to conservation of these mammals. The ranks ranged from 1, which implies highest conservation priority, to 8, denoting the least conservation priority. 3.2. Data analysis and presentation Different sets of statistical data analysis and presentation were applied to achieve the objective of the project. Firstly, the findings from the ground survey for mammals and plants were presented in tabular form for the 23 reserves. Descriptive statistics such as means and percentages was then applied to describe the distribution of the mammal and floral species in the reserves. The different observations made per category (plants and mammals) were presented through pie charts. The arithmetic mean is rather inappropriate in this case in showing the central tendency. Thus, the median number of different species was also calculated as a measure of the average number of species in the reserves. Now, Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation, r, was used to determine if there is any relationship between various variables such as the size of the reserves and the number of native mammal species, the size of the reserves and the richness of native plant species, or the number of plant species and the number of native mammal species. Ms Excel was used in the correlation analysis and calculation of medians. Further, t-distribution test statistic was applied to test the significance of the different correlation coefficients obtained, i.e. testing whether the coefficient differs significantly from the zero value (Quee, 1999, p.323). The t statistics were just obtained through manual calculation using the formula: t= r √ {(N-2)/ (1-r2)} (STATISTICS (REG) - M109, n.d; Quee, 1999, p.323) where N is the number of cases (reserves) and r, the correlation coefficient One-tailed t-test was applied in testing the null hypothesis t= 0 against the alternative hypothesis that t>0, at significance level of 0.05, and degrees of freedom 21 (23-2). The null hypothesis would be rejected when the computed t-statistic is larger than the tabulated value. The responses on the public perception had been provided in a somewhat semantic differential scale (Quee, 1999, p.191). The set of data has been presented in a tabular form indicating the number of residents (frequencies) who gave a particular rank to a given mammal species. Many researchers have today accepted that semantic scale provides interval data allowing for calculation of means for the data (Quee, 1999, p.192). Thus, for analysis, the ranks given to each mammal species has been taken as a score for that species. In order to establish the order of preference for the mammals, the total score and subsequently, an average score for each mammal is calculated whereby the frequencies are weighted according to the ranks. A high score will indicate that the human residents prefer or consider the mammal species to be important for conservation. For instance, if a species is ranked 1, that has a score of 8, rank 3 scores 6, while a rank of 7 scores 2. To obtain the total scores for a given species, the frequencies are weighted through multiplication by the rank scores and then summed up. As such the scores for Numbat will be given as follows: Mean Score= {(0*8)+(0*7)+(0*6)+(11*5)+(19*4)+(10*3)+(0*2)+(0*1)}/40= 4.025 The mean score for each species indicates the order of priority given by the public. 4. Results and findings There is a considerable variation in the sizes of the reserves with the largest (Bendering) and the smallest (North Yoting) covering 5119ha and 34ha respectively. There was a corresponding variation in the different species of plants and mammals observed in the reserves. Bendering had the largest number of mammal species (22), the largest number of exotic mammal species (6) and the largest number of plant species (288). There was a tie between Bendering and Buntine at 16 for the total number of native mammal species. North Bungalla, North Yoting, Yoting Town, and Bungaling had the least native mammal species (1), North Yoting and Yoting Town had the least number of mammal species (2), while Yoting Town had the least number of plant species (24). The median number of mammal species, native mammal species, and plant species were 6, 3, and 89 respectively. Fig.1. The number of mammal species in the wheat-belt reserves Fig.2. Distribution of native mammal species in the reserves Fig.3. Plant species richness in the different reserves The number of native mammal species was found to be highly associated with the size of the wheat-belt reserves with a Pearson’s correlation coefficient, r1, of 0.9419. A relatively similar value was obtained for the relationship between the total number mammal species and the size of the wheat-belt with r2= 0.9455. The coefficient of correlation between the occurrence of native mammal species and plant species was r3=0.9323 while that between the number of exotic species and the size of the wheat-belt reserves was r4=0.8686. Now, for a one-tailed t-test, the tabulated value of t at 21 degrees of freedom and α= 0.05 is 1.271. For the first coefficient of correlation, r1, the calculated t-statistic is 12.8458, for r2 the computed t-statistic is 13.3044, for r3 the statistic is 11.9728 while the statistic corresponding to r4 is 8.0081. All the computed statistics are far larger than the tabulated t value. Similarly, the total as well as mean scores for each of the mammal species as obtained from the survey of the residents are presented in the table below. Mammal species Total score Average score Numbat 161 4.025 False water rat 59 1.475 Greater Bilby 307 7.675 Greater stick-nest rat 61 1.525 Northern hairy-nosed wombat 212 5.3 Leadbeater’s possum 291 7.275 Bridled nail-tailed wallaby 140 3.5 Eastern Barred Bandicoot 209 5.225 Table 1: The scores for different mammal species following the residents’ survey 5. Discussion of the findings From a quick review of the data provided, it will be observed that large wheat-belt reserves tend to have more plant and animal species than the small reserves. Simple correlation analysis provides deeper insight. The measure of correlation between number of native mammal species and the size of wheat-belt reserves was high 0.9419 indicating a strong positive association. Subsequent t-test on this measure of association further ascertains its significance. It is then evident that the larger the size of a wheat-belt reserve, the more the number of native mammal species that will be found in that reserve. The measure of correlation between plant species richness and the size of wheat-belt reserve is also high at 0.9455 indicating high positive correlation. The t-test showed that is significantly different from the zero value. It then implies that larger reserve areas will have more plant species. Similarly, the measure of correlation between the number of native mammal species and the plant species richness is 0.9323, which also indicates high positive correlation. The statistic obtained is significantly different from the zero value that means no association. The number of exotic mammals is obtained from the difference of the mammal species provided and the number of native mammal species. Just like the above cases, a relatively high measure of association (0.8686) has been observed between the number of exotic mammal species and the size of reserves. Large reserves will have more exotic mammal species than smaller reserves. The geographical distribution of the reserves has little or no influence on their richness in plant and mammal species in the reserves. For instance, East Yuna to the far northwest is large and has a relatively high number of native mammal species (12), total number of mammal species (15), and the number of plant species (164). Similar figures are observed for other large reserves as one moves southwards such as Buntine (in the north), Billyacutting, Durokoppin, Bendering, West Bendering (in the central region) or Tarin Rock and Dongolocking (to south). On the other hand, the small reserves, more specifically North Bungalla, North Yoting, Yoting Town, and Bungaling, have relatively low number of native mammal, exotic mammal and plant species. These reserves mainly have one or two native mammal species with the highest having three species. This then disputes the effectiveness of small reserves in conservation of native faunal and floral species. The government should strive to consolidate these isolated small reserves into larger reserves, which may favor the existence of a variety of species. It is rather uneconomical to establish a reserve that only has one native mammal species, considering that these reserves were established after clearing wheat-belts. In as much as there is need to focus on the conservation of these native faunal and floral species, the economic impacts of such programs also need to be evaluated. Moreover, other considerations have also to be made such as the sizes of the endangered mammals. Some research findings have indicated that the mammals that are endangered fall in the critical weight bracket of 35g-5000g (Cardillo & Bromham, 2001, p.1436) so that very small mammals and large ones are less prone to extinction. Factors such as predation and adaptation of the mammals to get their prey are also important for consideration. Numbat, for instance, faced extinction partly because it feeds entirely on termites yet it is not strong enough to break into termite mounds (Bourke, 2005, p.40). They also had threats from predators such as cats and foxes. Thus, the presence of such predators also has to be considered in the established reserves. The calculated total and average score for each of the eight mammal species as provided by the resident survey is a measure of the public’s evaluation of these animals. From the results shown in Table.1, it can be observed that the highest score is 7.675 for Greater Bilby. Thus Greater Bilby is generally given the first priority for conservation by the human residents. The government then needs to emphasize on the conservation of this species. The second placed mammal species is Leadbeater’s possum with a score of 7.275 whereas the third ranked species was Eastern Barred Bandicoot with a score of 5.225. The lowest ranked mammal species was False water rat with a score of 1.475. The government should not strive and spend much resource in preventing the extinction of this species. 6. Conclusion Conservation of the natural resources including the native plant and animal species has to remain a central focus for the state government owing to the intrinsic value of these resources. Such initiatives are not only beneficial to the people of Western Australia but also to the entire world population. Nonetheless, the economic impacts of the intervention programs used towards conservation of resources have to be considered in order to ascertain that the programs are beneficial. The small wheat-belt reserves in Western Australia generally have very low distribution of plant and mammal species, yet these reserves were established to prevent extinction of the native species. The reserves are then ineffective towards achieving such objectives. Rather than the small isolated reserves, it is advisable to consolidate them into but fewer larger reserves that may harbor more plant and mammal species. References Foottit, R., & Adler, P.2009. Insect Biodiversity: Science and Society. West Sussex: Wiley and Blackwell Publishing Ltd Animal Welfare Act, 2002. Information for ECU Staff and Students. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CFwQFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecu.edu.au%2FGPPS%2Fethics%2Fassets%2FAnimal_Welfare_Act_Info_3.pdf&ei=hwujUeCPHeXB0gWZroHQCQ&usg=AFQjCNHKBVKSJoL9kLWsqu4rhlqkj20Mjg&sig2=eA05_5E1N1LWKSO5_leiDA&bvm=bv.47008514,d.d2k&cad=rja Australian Catholic University, 2013. Support for researchers: Human Research Ethics Committee. Retrieved from http://www.acu.edu.au/research/support_for_researchers/research_ethics Bourke, J. 2005. Endangered Species of Australia. Ready-Ed Publications Brown, J and Sax, D. 2004. An Essay on Some Topics Concerning Invasive Species. Austral Ecology, 29, 530-536 Cardillo, M & Bromham, L. 2001. Body size and risk of extinction in Australian mammals. Conservation Biology, 15(5), 1435-1440. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. 1991. Proceedings: 18th session of the General Assembly of IUCN- The World Conservation Union, Perth-Australia; 28 November – 5 December 1990. Kent, M. 2000. Advanced Biology. Oxford: Oxford University Press Quee, W.T. 1999. Marketing research. 3rd ed. Woburn: Reed Educational and Professional Publishing Ltd. STATISTICS (REG) - M109. n.d. An overview of Correlation: Correlation Coefficient. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CFcQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmath.mercyhurst.edu%2F~griff%2Fcourses%2Fm109%2FLectures%2Fsect9.1.pdf&ei=z22iUYHlI8yp0AXNl4HYCg&usg=AFQjCNER0bmqgW1d6WzcmCaXHahRH50svw&sig2=R7wx9CaT1cVfDTJFzIDpDA&bvm=bv.47008514,d.d2k&cad=rja The University of Notre Dame, Australia, 2011. Policy: Ethics approval for research involving animals. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDsQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nd.edu.au%2Fdownloads%2Fresearch%2Fpolicy_ethics_approval_for_research_involving_animals_06may_2_.pdf&ei=ntWiUYjHDMOo0QX3goCQBQ&usg=AFQjCNEMSvYfdzpOo06hRSyXPKdqhPOiRA&sig2=F8nxc5k96KJyXGS8Xkvldg&bvm=bv.47008514,d.d2k&cad=rja Read More