All scientific data collected by the Australian Antarctic program (AAp) are eventually described in the Catalogue of Australian Antarctic and Subantarctic Metadata (CAASM). CAASM can be used to search through AAp data descriptions, and it also provides links to access publicly available datasets, which can either be immediately downloaded or obtained from the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AADC).
Contemporary survey data from 20 sites on Macquarie Island collected over the 2015/16, 2016/17. 2017/18 field seasons in different habitat types (short grass, tall grass (tussock), Stilbocarpa polaris (Cabbage), herbfield, feldmark). Survey methods include pitfall traps, beating, sweep netting, sticky traps and direct collection from litter samples.
Invertebrate community assemblages. These were community assessments undertaken at historic sites (i.e. previously trapped in 1980s, 1990s and 2000. Sites were relocated to the best of our ability and resurveyed. New sites were established. Data comprise species presence and abundance per site, potentially with additional site information (e.g. environmental conditions).
2017-2018 Update:
These data were collected in 2017/18 to assess vegetation on Macquarie Island following eradication of rabbits and rodents
Sites were random in the landscape or associated with nesting skuas, invertebrate monitoring sites or burrowing petrel colonies.
Surveys were either taken as 10 x 1m2 quadrats at each locations OR 1 x 10m2 circle at a location
All vascular plant species present were recorded, and cover classes assigned
Cover class: 0 (not present), 1 (<5%), 2 (5-25%), 3 (25-50%), 4 (50-75%), 5 (75-100%)
Vegetation height was recorded
Peat depth was recorded to greater than 1.5m
To provide a baseline dataset for invertebrates on Macquarie Island and facilitate the assessment of ecosystem recovery following the eradication of rodents and rabbits from Macquarie Island.
These data are publicly available for download from the provided URL.
This data set conforms to the CCBY Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=AAS_4305_Macquarie_Is_Invertebrate_Surveys_2015-2018 when using these data.