If you’re interested in hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing or kayaking or other Australian adventure packages in Australia chances are while doing so you’ll see some park rangers hard at work looking after the land. Transect plot monitoring is carried out three times a year to give national park managers a better understanding of wildlife movements and populations. Staff create each plot by sifting soil from the site to produce a metre-wide soft, sandy surface across the road. Daily monitoring is conducted over a four-day period. If you come across a transect plot while walking along any of these management roads, you will notice part of the road is left un-sifted. This is to allow you to pass without disturbing the plots.
The survey revealed a concerning trend that cats and foxes are on the increase, which may have a detrimental impact on native fauna and biodiversity. Recent studies indicate a direct correlation between lower dingo numbers and higher feral cat and fox populations. (Johnson et al. 2006)
