Between 2013 and 2015, I was lucky enough to embark on an ecological odyssey to the UK. With backing from a Victorian Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, I set off for the University of York and spent a happy two years learning at the knee of Prof. Chris Thomas. Through daily chats with Chris, and the other great folk that called York’s J2 lab home, I gathered a sense of the incredible biodiversity data sets that UK ecologists have at their disposal. The British populace, I soon realised, are just as fanatical about collecting biodiversity data as they are about train spotting, building model aeroplanes and tracking down obscure antiques. From immense observational data sets, to comprehensive, statistically-rigorous monitoring programs, the Brits produce masses of species occurrence and abundance data every year. I was hugely impressed; not just with the British fervor for good, solid data, but the end products too – great ecological science and perhaps an unrivaled capacity to monitor the country’s biodiversity.

Returning to Australia, I had a new found sense of the importance of maintaining records of the species I see in my travels. Specifically, time-stamped occurrence data, the sorts of which are vital to producing species distribution maps and models, and which, in the long-term, can provide insights into population declines, range shifts or even invasions. I’ve been diligently keeping these records ever since, with annual uploads to the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas and the Atlas of Living Australia.

So, what of 2016? In all, I managed 126 records of 53 species, with observations from the tropical forests of North Queensland, through southern Queensland, New South Wales and into the hills and plains of Victoria. I met numerous new species, including Scrub Python, Jungle Carpet Python, New England Tree Frog, Striped Burrowing Frog, Golden Crowned Snake, Cascade Tree Frog, Sudell’s Frog, Rugose Toadlet and Red-eyed Tree Frog. The full species list can be found in the table that follows, with further details here. I also had the opportunity to photograph many of the species I encountered this year, having finally managed to save enough pennies for a decent digital camera. I’ll leave off with a few of the images I captured (you can head over to my Flickr page if you would like to see more).

Species list:

Images:

Cascade Tree Frog (Litoria pearsoniana), Springbrook QLD

Eastern Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis), Redesdale VIC

Gippsland Water Dragon (Intellagama lesueurii howittii), Mallacoota VIC

Scrub Python (Morelia kinghorni), Tully QLD

Red-eyed Tree Frog (Litoria chloris), Mt Warning NSW

Lesueur’s Velvet Gecko (Amalosia lesueurii), Retreat NSW