Jacob Sife discusses how Ku-ring-gai Council aims to continually improve management of biodiversity in their Local Government Area, by developing a monitoring methodology focusing on the impacts of ecological burning on fauna. Presentation from Nature Conservation Council of NSW 2017 Bushfire Conference - Fire, Fauna & Ferals: from backyards to bush.

1. ‘If we burn it will they come? ’
A presentation by Jacob Sife, Natural Areas Officer, Ku-
ring-gai Council
Jsife@kmc.nsw.gov.au

2. Ku-ring-gai manages significant bushland,
EEC’s and CEEC’s, threatened and
significant flora and fauna.
• Adjoins 3 National Parks
• 3 Major Catchments
• Very High Annual Rainfall (1100mm)
• Varied Typography
• Varied Vegetation Communities
• High Biodiversity

3. Different sizes, species, connectivity,
communities and pressures.
-Fragmentation
-Invasive predators/competitors/weeds
-Urban encroachment.

4. Increasingly using
fire to regenerate,
restore and
enhance the
structure and
complexity of our
bushland
communities.

5. Burning has been conducted from a vegetation-
centric perspective and a “if we burn it they will
come” philosophy towards fauna.
Vegetation and habitat characteristics used as a
surrogate for fauna diversity and health…….
Flora
Fauna Image Chris Charles

6. Fauna Questions
• What happens to animal biodiversity
during burns?
• Are there management measures that
could improve the outcome for fauna?
• How do animal populations recover post
fire and how long does recovery take?
• What species benefit and what species
may be negatively impacted?

7. Sheldon Forest and Rofe Park
• Survey stratified to accommodate different
vegetation types and fire histories
• Small mammals, Microbats, Birds, Reptiles,
Frogs, Subset of invertebrate taxa (butterflies,
arboreal ants and web-building spiders)

9. • 9 ant genera
• 3 species of Butterfly
• 5 frogs
• 4 reptiles
• 38 birds
• 11 microbats
• 5 native mammals and 4 introduced
We didn’t find much difference across the site.

10. Some of the burns are only a small site within a
large bushland area
• Ku-ring-gai Flying fox reserve
• Sydney Sandstone Gully
Forest
• Burns in 2015 and proposed
for 2018
• Small component of reserve
• But significant for GHFF
• flying-fox/direct impacts and
roost habitat management

11. • Sydney sand stone, some
shale influence up the top
• Historical record of EPP
• Excellent habitat
• Received a burn 2013
• Fragmented – no
connectivity
• Cats, dog walkers
• No EPP recorded in survey
2015/16/17

12. Burns in small, remnant patches
• Maddison Reserve
• Historical record of green tree
snake
• Evidence of Long Nosed
bandicoots.
• Urban pressures.
• Are we restoring bushland at
the expense of fauna havens
in urban areas.

13. Monitoring….
• Using eBird and other data sources to show
changes through time
• Engaging with the scouts and using the
Australian Museums ‘Web2Spider’
• Using AnaBats and cameras
• Installation/monitoring of adjacent nest boxes

14. Thank you
A presentation by Jacob Sife, Natural Areas Officer, Ku-
ring-gai Council
Jsife@kmc.nsw.gov.au