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Project outline |
In Australia ants have been widely used
as a biological indicator of ecosystem change, including mine site
rehabilitation. Basically, ant parameters can aid in determining the
health and successional progress of an ecosystem. However, little
research has investigated if further stressors or disturbance influence
the validity of using ants as indicators at mine sites.
Specifically, I will be looking at
- the effect of fire and harsh
coastal stressors on ant communities on sand mine rehabilitation on
North Stradbroke Island
- whether ant communities are more
sensitive to grazing on pastures of rehabilitated mine compared to
unmined land in the Bowen Basin; and what implications this may have
for management of rehabilitated land before and after relinquishment
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