#hunting mallee

[mindblowingscience]

A paper recently published in Zootaxa documents the 48 species of ground-hunting spiders from the family Miturgidae, which can be found across Australia, particularly in arid habitats in open eucalypt forest, brigalow, mallee, heath, and desert. Lead author, Dr. Robert Raven, who worked on the decades-long project during his tenure with Queensland Museum Network, said originally in this group there were only three known species formally described. "The newly described species have a body length of up to 10 millimeters, and are nocturnal and fast-moving spiders," Dr. Raven said. "I was surprised at how many species were described in this paper, I knew there were a lot, but the number was far higher than I predicted."

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[antappreciationanonymous]

The Most Rarest, Ancient Ants and The Quest to Rediscover Them

Australia is home to a wide range of ant species. One that might spring to mind is the Bulldog/Jack jumper ant, genus myrmecia.

(M. gulosa, "Hoppy Joe!")

As you can see, these ants have quite big eyes. This is because bulldog ants are very dependant on vision, something most other ant species have replaced with pheromonal (scent) trails.

But we aren't here to talk about them. We're here to discuss their cooler, shady cousin,

the Dinosaur ant (Nothomyrmecia macrops).

They might look all cute, but they are much more than that.

These ants are possibly the rarest and most primitive of all ant species, and this shows in their behaviour.

Like the Bulldog ant, these ants rely only on their vision as apposed to pheromones. Colonies only range from 50-100 individuals, when most ant species have colonies in the thousands. Furthermore, queens only lay one generation of eggs every year!

Because of this small size, workers can not effectively compete with other species such as Camponotus and Iridomyrmex. Thus, these ants are exclusively nocturnal so they don't have to hunt alongside the diurnal ant species.

Infact, the Dinosaur and Bulldog ant are so similar that the Dinosaur ants genus name, 'Nothomyrmecia', means 'False Bulldog ant'. The species name, 'macrops', means 'big eyes'.

--------------------------------------------------

This species was first discovered in the form of two worker specimens by Amy Ena Crocker and colleagues, supposedly inland from Israelite Bay in Western Australia.

Due to its primitive appearance and unique body shapes, scientists were eager to find more specimens. Many expeditions were set out to locate this ant over the next three decades, all of which failed. One of the more notable expeditions was lead by the late, the great entomologist E. O. Wilson (who literally invented sociobiology!!!)

However, on October 22, 1977, entomologist Robert W. Taylor and colleagues would rediscover a lone worker in Poochera, South Australia. I'll let nullarbor.net take it away:

"Spurred on by rumours that an American scientist was coming to search for the lost ant, Dr. Taylor apparently mounted one last ditch attempt to beat the Americans to the punch. By an incredible stroke of good luck - if it could be called that - Dr Taylor and his group were driving to Western Australia when their vehicle struck mechanical problems at Poochera. As we all know, even the best laid plans can go astray, and Dr. Taylor's expedition was forced to make an unscheduled stop, and camp for the night at Poochera.

"Later that evening Dr. Taylor conducted an impromptu insect survey in the mallee scrub adjacent to camp. There's no doubt the last thing on Dr. Taylor's mind was Nothomyrmecia - after all, the last and only recorded sighting was made 46 years earlier, and even that was fully 1300 kilometres away to the west. Poochera was definitely the last place where Dr. Taylor expected to find Nothomyrmecia - but there it was, one solitary Nothomyrmecia worker ant crawling on a eucalyptus tree trunk.

"The sight was truly astonishing. Dr. Taylor then rushed back to his colleagues and in true Australian style he announced to the world, "The bloody bastard's here! I've got the Notho-bloody- myrmecia!"

I'd like to imagine that's true.

Poochera, which features Nothomyrmecia abundantly in the streets, is perhaps the only town I know of that survives exclusively off of ant tourism.

See you soon.

[gettingitwrite]

Rabid: Minor Characters

Not all of these characters actually appear in the story, but they’re all involved enough in Heather and Casey’s narratives that it’s worth getting to know them.

Rose Johnson (Rosie) Heather’s identical twin sister, Rosie was always the brains to Heather’s brawn. Previously studying to be a lawyer, Rosie did not fare well in a zombie-infested landscape. The same day Heather was bitten, Rosie suffered the same fate, and to Heather it was like losing the best part of her.

Jacob Johnson Heather and Rosie’s older brother by seven years. He served overseas in the military, where he was shot and killed three years before the events of the novel. Heather was 17 at the time, and just about to start year 12. Jacob’s death crushed her; he was the person in the world she was closest to, and Heather looked up to him. Jacob was the one who taught Heather to shoot, taking her to the gun range (after literal years of her begging). Him dying was the catalyst for Heather’s downward spiral into apathy and depression.

Maria Johnson Heather, Rosie and Jacob’s mother. She was a stay-at-home mum until the kids’ father left, and since then she worked as a cleaner in various settings. It didn’t pay well, and she’s struggled to make ends meet for the past 20 years, but she did her best to raise her children the best she could on her own. When the apocalypse descended upon the country, her only thought was of getting her girls to safety. She packed them up and began driving to the evacuation points, only to be bitten in the same hunt as Heather and Rosie. When Heather managed to steal a car, her mother—now rabid—ran out on the road in front of her, and was killed. This was when Heather decided that getting attached to anyone else wasn’t worth the risk.

Ruby Mallee My most popular post on this site was about minor characters refusing to get out of the story when you tell them to. That was about Ruby. She’s a raider, and became the de facto leader of their crew when their former leader was bitten. Heather killed Ruby’s brother to stop him from turning, but Ruby’s convinced he never would’ve been bitten if not for Heather. Now she’s out for blood, and she’ll chase Heather across the outback to get it.

Emily Tahnee (Emi) An indigenous Australian, Emily was Casey’s fiancé before this whole fiasco started. They met while studying, Casey medical science and Emily learning to be a surgeon. The last Casey heard, Emily was on her way to find her. That was six months ago, and now Casey wants to know what happened to her fiancé.

Even Less Important Characters (AKA the ones who show up for one scene/chapter then disappear)

These are the characters that feature in specific parts of the story, but don’t have such an impact on Heather and Casey’s overall journey.

Glynn Hawken (The General) A high-ranking army official who runs a research base in the desert of Western Australia. He is interested in the select few who do not turn once bitten, making Heather and her condition of particular interest to him.

Emma Schuyler A member of Ruby’s crew, she is initially very loyal to her friend, following Ruby on her quest to extract revenge. After a while, though, she begins to doubt Ruby’s sanity.

James Derry The former leader of Ruby’s crew. He was bitten and subsequently killed that same night Heather and Casey were supposed to die in a hunt, the day Ruby’s brother died.

[walkingwellington]

 Te Aro Village

Susan Sontag  in On Photography  writes that ‘photography first comes into its own as an extension of the eye of the middle-class flâneur, whose sensibility was so accurately charted by Baudelaire. The photographer is an armed version of the solitary walker reconnoitring, stalking, cruising the urban inferno; the voyeuristic stroller who discovers the city as a landscape of voluptuous extremes. 

Sontag had in mind a tradition of photographers like Eugène Atget, Brassaï, Bill Brandt, who gravitated towards the city’s ‘dark seamy corners, its neglected populations — an unofficial reality behind the façade of bourgeois life’.

An explicit recent example  of the ‘flâneur’ as  stalker  is Sophie Calle’s “Suite Venitienne” (1979), which is  a reworking of the Edgar Allan Poe short story ‘The Man of the Crowd’.   

Calle describes how she observed passers-by for months in Paris until she became fixated upon a man who she refers to only as “Henri B.” By chance she was introduced to him at a party, and from there she followed him to Venice where she photographed and recorded his day-to-day actions secretly for two weeks.  

Street photographers often talk in terms stalking and snapping  their prey, trying to get nearer and nearer to their targets; to capture street life more closely than ever, and to test themselves and their hunting skills. I was hunting my memories. 

Wellington, with its life on the street,  is a natural home for  strolling. In contrast to Adelaide, Wellington  invites people to  daily walk around the city.  

Sony a7R111,  Novoflex adaptor, Leica Summicron 35mm f2.0 ASPH, handheld

Instagram   Tumblr   Mallee Routes     Website    poodlewalks

[malleedesign]

New Post has been published on http://malleedesign.com.au/why-raised-birdbaths-are-better/

Why raised Birdbaths are better!

In this post I am going to touch on a contentious topic for some people and as I am completely not wishing to offend anybody there is a little warning to cat lovers and owners out there, basically I think cats are completely inappropriate pets in Australia when it comes to the destruction they cause to our native wildlife… there! that said lets look at some pretty pictures of native birds in a beautiful suburban habitat garden! In the image below you can see a pair of musk lorikeets drinking and bathing in a Mallee Dish raised 500mm off the ground.

If you are like me and have roaming domestic cats coming into your garden during the day and night to hunt and have territorial fights, it is best to raise your birdbath out of the reach of cats. This ensures that they don’t leave their scent in the water and keep the beautiful native birds away. Birds are very sensitive to predators and will shy away from an area of the garden that they feel may be unsafe.

In the image above you can see a domestic cat drinking from a dish at night, you may not be aware of night feline visitors, according to the article below if cat owners kept their cats inside at night it would reduce their killing rate by 50%.

https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2013/03/natural-born-killers-the-problem-with-cats/

The image below was taken in my back garden which at the moment is a building site, but I am still getting bird visitors to my birdbaths that are raised off the ground or hanging from trees. Can you spot the night predator in the background? it is one of 4 different domestic cats that come into my garden …. and naturally makes me furious!

Keeping it in at night can reduce the kills it makes by half. Cats should also wear a collar with a bell, or, even better, a sonar beeper that produces high-pitched tones, which doesn’t bother cats, but alerts birds to their presence. Neutering stops cats procreating and makes them less likely to roam and hunt.

There is also a product called a cat bib which has shown to be quite successful in the reduction of kills a cat can make whist wearing it.

To break up this depressing topic please see a beautiful Satin bower having a drink and his female friend below 🙂

I have seen feral cats in the desert and found them utterly revolting and frightening, I realise that domestic cats are on a different level to feral cats however we all live in this beautiful country together:

the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), which runs private conservation reserves across the nation, released a report in December which estimated the impact of the 5-18 million feral cats on native species such as bilbies and numbats.

Each cat takes 5-30 animals a night, says the AWC, so (using a conservative population estimate of 15 million) they conclude that a minimum of 75 million native animals are killed daily. In a country struggling to conserve its unique fauna, the scale of this figure should not be underestimated.

So if you are trying to create a habitat or bird attracting garden where cats are present it is best to raise water out of reach from cats, plant plenty of dense prickly shrubs for birds to hide in and talk to your neighbourhood cat owners about putting in place some precautions to limit hunting in your neighbourhood. Good Luck!

[kathleenseiber]

Predators, prey and moonlight singing

By Euan Ritchie (Deakin University), Courtney Marneweck (Clemson University) and Grant Linley (Charles Sturt University) 

Humans have long been inspired and transfixed by the Moon, and as we’re discovering, moonlight can also change the behaviour of Australian wildlife.

A collection of recently published research has illuminated how certain behaviours of animals – including potoroos, wallabies and quolls – change with variation in ambient light, phases of the Moon and cloud cover.

One study found small mammals were more active on cloudy nights. Another found variation in moonlight led to differing amounts of species captured in non-lethal traps. And a study on willie wagtails found males just love singing on a full moon.

These findings are interesting from a natural history perspective. But they’ll also help ecologists and conservation scientists better locate and study nocturnal animals, and learn how artificial light pollution is likely changing where animals can live and how they behave.

Moonlit predator-prey games of hide and seek

Most of Australia’s mammals are nocturnal, and some smaller species are thought to use the cover of darkness to avoid the attention of hungry predators. However, there’s much we don’t know about such relationships, especially because it can be difficult to study these interactions in the wild.

Eastern barred bandicoots became more active on darker nights. Simon Gorta

In the relatively diverse mammal community at Mt Rothwell, Victoria, we examined how variation in ambient light affected species’ activity, and how this might influence species interactions. Mt Rothwell is a fenced conservation reserve free of feral cats and foxes, and with minimal light pollution.

Over two years, we surveyed the responses of predator and prey species to different light levels from full, half and new moon phases.

Potential prey species in our study included eastern barred and southern brown bandicoots, long-nosed potoroos, brushtailed rock-wallabies, and brushtail and common ringtail possums. Eastern and spotted-tailed quolls are their potential predators.

Just as we predicted, we found that while there does appear to be relationships between cloud cover, Moon phase and mammal activity, these interactions depend on the sizes and types of mammals involved.

The spotted-tailed quoll, a meat-eating marsupial, hunts smaller prey at night. Shutterstock

Both predators and prey generally increased their activity in darker conditions. Smaller, prey species increased their activity when cloud cover was higher, and predators increased their activity during the half and new moon phases.

This suggests their deadly game of hide and seek might intensify on darker nights. And prey might have to trade off foraging time to reduce their chances of becoming the evening meal.

What happens in the wild?

It’s important to acknowledge that studies in sanctuaries such as Mt Rothwell might not always reflect well what goes on in the wild, including in areas where introduced predators, such as feral cats and red foxes, are found.

Another recent study, this time of small mammals in the wilds of Victoria’s Mallee region, sheds further light on the situation. The authors tested if variation in weather and Moon phase affected the numbers of five small mammal species – Bolam’s mouse, common dunnart, house mouse, southern ningaui, and western pygmy possum – captured in pitfall traps.

Ningauis are less likely to be caught in ecological surveys with increasing moonlight. Kristian Bell

Pitfall traps are long fences small animals can’t climb over or through, so follow along the side until they fall into a bucket dug in the ground. Ecologists typically use these traps to capture and measure animals and then return them to the wild, unharmed.

At more than 260 sites and over more than 50,000 trap nights, they found wind speed, temperature and moonlight influenced which species were caught and in what numbers.

For example, captures of a small native rodent, Bolam’s mouse, and carnivorous marsupial, southern ningaui, decreased with more moonlight, whereas captures of pygmy possums were higher with more moonlight.

Moonlight songbird serenades

Research from last month has shown even species normally active by day may change their behaviour and activity by night.

It’s not uncommon to hear bird song by night, including the quintessentially Aussie warbling of magpies. Using bioacoustic recorders and song detection software, these researchers show the willie wagtail – another of Australia’s most recogisable and loved birds – is also a nighttime singer, particularly during the breeding season.

While characteristically playful by day, male willie wagtails can really turn on a vocal performance by night. Jim Bendon/Flickr

While both male and female wagtails sing by day, it is the males that are most vocal by night. And it seems the males aren’t afraid of a little stage-lighting either, singing more with increasing moonlight, with performances peaking during full moons.

This work provides insight into the importance and potential role of nocturnal song for birds, such as mate attraction or territory defence, and helps us to better understand these behaviours more generally.

Moonlight affects wildlife conservation

These studies, and others, can help inform wildlife conservation, as practically speaking, ecological surveys must consider the relative brightness of nights during which work occurred.

Depending on when and where we venture out to collect information about species, and what methods we use (camera traps, spotlighting, and non-lethal trapping) we might have higher or lower chances of detecting certain species. And this might affect our insights into species and ecosystems, and how we manage them.

Artificial lighting can change the behaviour of wildlife. Kenny Louie

As dark skies become rarer in many places around the world, it also begs a big question. To what extent is all the artificial light pollution in our cities and peri-urban areas affecting wildlife and ecosystems?

Pipistrelle bats, for example, will be roughly half as active around well-lit bridges than unlit bridges. They’ll also keep further away from well-lit bridges, and fly faster when near them.

This means artificial light might reduce the amount and connectivity of habitat available to some bat species in urban areas. This, in turn could affect their populations.

Research is underway around the world, examining the conservation significance of such issues in more detail, but it’s another timely reminder of the profound ways in which we influence the environments we share with other species.

We would like to acknowledge Yvette Pauligk, who contributed to our published work at Mt Rothwell, and that the traditional custodians of this land are the Wathaurong people of the Kulin nation.

Euan Ritchie, Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University; Courtney Marneweck, Postdoctoral Researcher in Carnivore Ecology, Clemson University , and Grant Linley, PhD Candidate, Charles Sturt University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Predators, prey and moonlight singing published first on https://triviaqaweb.weebly.com/

[theupsidedownunderblog-blog]

EMU CAN'T FLY BUT I'M TELLING YOU, HE CAN RUN THE PANTS OF A KANGAROO!

Contrary to the song 'Old Man Emu' by John Williamson, the flightless Emu can't run the pants off a kangaroo.  But they can sure give one a run for their money! John Robert Williamson AM (born 1 November 1945 in Kerang, Victoria) is an Australian country music and folk music singer-songwriter. Williamson has released over forty albums, ten videos, five DVDs, and two lyric books. His top 10 albums on the ARIA Charts are Mallee Boy (1986), Boomerang Cafe (1988), Warragul (No. 1, 1989), Pipe Dream (1997), The Way It Is (1999), True Blue Two (compilation, 2003) and Hillbilly Road (2008). On Australia Day (26 January) 1992 Williamson was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) with the citation: "for service to Australian country music and in stimulating awareness of conservation issues". He has received twenty-six Golden Guitar trophies at the Country Music Awards of Australia, he has won three ARIA Music Awards for Best Country Album and, in 2010, was inducted into the related Hall of Fame. Williamson has also featured in a number of television series as well as This is Your Life. Many of his albums have gone gold and platinum and continue to do so. He has sold more than 4,000,000 albums in Australia alone. In 1970 Williamson's first song, "Old Man Emu", went to No. 3 and was given a gold certification. Anyway, after all that, this blog isn't really about John Williamson - as talented as he is - but rather about one of Australia's more unique animals - the Emu... About the Emu The Emu is a bird that towers over you and can out-run you, yet can’t get off the ground. Loping across the countryside with a body looking more like an overgrown sheepdog, perched on top of massive reptilian legs, an Emu is certainly an amazing sight.

An amused Emu Emus are only found in Australia. They live in most habitats across Australia but are most commonly found in areas of savanna woodland and sclerophyll forest (a type of vegetation that has hard leaves and short distances between leaves along the stems) . They are very rarely found in rainforests or very arid areas. Emus were once found in Tasmania, but were exterminated soon after Europeans arrived. Two dwarf species of emus that lived on Kangaroo Island and King Island also became extinct. Even though emus are sometimes farmed for their meat, oil and leather their population is not considered to be endangered or vulnerable. Although humans have impacted on some areas of  their habitat they have been able to move into other areas due to agricultural development and water provided for livestock letting them live in areas that would once have been to dry for them. Social Life of an Emu Emus typically stay together in pairs or family groups consisting of the male and his offspring, but may form into large flocks when they are travelling to a food source. Emus can travel large distances to reach good feeding areas, sometimes even hundreds of kilometres. In Western Australia emus move following a seasonal pattern, going north in the summer and south in the winter.

Emus sleep during the night but do not sleep continously for the whole night, they can wake up several times during the night to either feed or go to the toilet. Emus sit down to sleep and it seems that this is also helpful to camouflage them as they look like a small hill when sleeping.  They sleep for about 7 hours each day. Emus are quite vocal birds and their vocalizations include a loud booming noise which is created by an inflatable neck sac that has a thin wall and is around 30 centimeters (12 inches) long. They also make grunting sounds and a deep-throated drumming sound. These sounds are usually used during courtship and the breeding season and can be heard up to 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away. They can also make a very loud hissing sound which is effective for scaring off dingoes.

They are human fearless birds and have been known to approach small groups of humans and help themselves to any food on offer. Interesting Emu Facts: The Emu is the second largest bird in the world. Emus can't fly. They only have small wings which provide stability during running. An Emu, along with a kangaroo, appear on the Australian Coat of Arms.

Australian Coat of Arms depicitng an emu and a kangaroo They are hunted for their meat, fat and feathers. Emus are very large birds. Females are slightly larger than males. They reach between  1.5 - 2 meters (5 and 6.5 feet) in height and can weigh up to 60 kilograms (130 pounds). They have a long neck, sharp beak and small ears. Their bodies are covered with light-brown feathers. Each feather has a double shaft. An Emu has two eyelids. One eyelid is used for blinking, while other prevents dust and sand to enter the eyes. The Emu has three toes on each foot. Their legs are strong and built for running and are also used for kicking predators when faced with danger.

The three toes of an emu are useful for kicking predators. Emus are omnivores (eating both plants and animals). They like to eat caterpillars, large insects, small lizards, rodents, flowers, seed, buds and shoots. An Emu swallows small rocks and pebbles to facilitate grinding of food and accelerate digestion. When it is running the Emu's stride can be about 2.7 metres (9 feet) long.

A running Emu has a stride of about 2.7 metres (9 feet) They requires water on a daily basis. During cold weather, they recycle air in the nasal passages for creating the moisture that can be used to sustain them. Unlike water, an emu can survive long periods without food. It stores fat that is used as a source of energy when the food is scarce. Emus are usually solitary animals, but they sometimes travel in pairs. They can, however, gather in large flocks when travelling for food.

Emus can gather in huge flocks when looking for food. An Emu is a fast running animal. It can reach nearly 50 kilometers (30 miles) per hour. An Emu can travel thousands of kilometers each year. Emus are excellent swimmers. They can easily cross a river while looking for food and new feeding areas.

Emus are excellent swimmers. Emus mate during summer and lay eggs during the cooler months. A female lays between 8 and 10 eggs. Since the eggs are large, female lays one egg every 2 to 3 days. Emu eggs are dark green in color, have thick shell and weight around .45 kilograms (1 pound). The male sits on eggs during an 8 weeks incubation period. During that time, the male does not eat but uses stored fats as a source of energy.

This picture gives you an idea of how large an emu egg is. Emu chicks are active as soon as they hatch. Their body is covered with stripes of brown and creamy-colored soft feathers that provide camouflage. After three months, their plumage starts to look like the feathers of adult animals.

Emu chicks showing their brown and gold stripes. Emus are the only birds with gastrocnemius muscles (the same as human calf muscles) in the back of the lower legs. The lifespan of the emu is between 10-20 years in the wild and up to 35 years in captivity. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williamson_(singer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu https://www.billabongsanctuary.com.au/emu/ http://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/emu_facts/239/ https://animalcorner.co.uk/animals/emu/ http://theanimalfacts.com/birds/emu/ Read the full article

[deakin-environment]

Even on the Australian vegetation field program @mattclancy_wildlifephotography manages to do some frogging. ・・・ Mallee Spadefoot (Neobatrachus pictus) photographed earlier this week whilst on a fieldwork trip in the Little Desert with #deakinenviro Also known as the Painted Trilling Frog, these stout burrowers emerge from underground after decent rainfall (usually at least 10mm from my experience) to hunt, and if rainfall is sufficient enough to provide ephemeral pools and flood areas, explosive breeding events may occur. The call sounds like that of a cane toad, an eerie drawn-out purr or trilling. ___ ___ ___ http://ift.tt/2idZLni

[halfmoon-karawatha]

Secrets of Brisbane’s Suburbs: K

Brian Williams, Courier Mail, October 31, 2013

KARAWATHA

ONE of the so-called lungs of the city. A primary part of a green belt of bushland that stretches from the Redlands, west through Karawatha to Greenbank, White Rock and Flinders Peak near Ipswich, then to Wyaralong Dam near Boonah.

If there is one place around Brisbane where people are enormously proud of their bushland, it must be Karawatha.

The southside suburb is perhaps better known as Karawatha Forest than as Karawatha the suburb.

The Natural Resources Department says Karawatha is thought to be from an Aboriginal word meaning place of pine trees, although the language and dialect were not recorded.

It was a popular hunting and camping area for Murris, featuring a lagoon system known as Half Moon Lagoons.

Europeans quickly identified the rich area, using it as a permanent source of water.

Timbergetters arrived about the mid-1850s and a measure of the quality of its timber is that they were still felling trees into the late 1950s.

The Karawatha Forest Protection Society says Karawatha was heavily exploited during World War II.

A quarry, which removed part of the rocky outcrop known as Alice's Rocks, was dug in the late 1960s, destroying a system of caves.

The society says urbanisation arrived in the 1950s and 1960s, swallowing up much of the farmland. It was not until the 1990s that much of the area was protected.

The Environment Department has since brought in a statutory planning program that determines future land uses in the Flinders Karawatha Corridor.

The corridor is the largest remaining continuous stretch of open eucalypt bushland in southeast Queensland.

It extends from Karawatha Forest and the southern suburbs to Flinders Peak, on to the southside of Ipswich and to Wyaralong Dam between Boonah and Beaudesert.

It's about 60km long and contributes to the long-term health of residents by providing clean air, water, farming and biodiversity.

There are 324 species of plants in Karawatha State Forest. Among rare stringybarks and plunkett mallee, there are grey kangaroos, red-necked wallabies, swamp rats, marsupial mice such as the common dunnart and common planigale and 11 species of insectivorous bats.

It also has koalas and squirrel gliders while platypus have been seen in Scrubby Creek and the lagoons.