Australian Institute for Alpine Studies Symposium
Event Summary
In mid-December the North East Catchment Management Authority attended the Australian Institute for Alpine Studies Symposium to share research related to Mountain Pygmy-possum Recovery in the Victorian Alps.
The symposium was held in Jindabyne, and was opened by Gnublum-John Dixon (Ngario elder) sharing a welcome to country and smoke ceremony using various types of eucalyptus leaves, each releasing a distinct smell and smoke.
The symposium was well attended with presenters and participants arriving from Victoria, NSW, and the ACT, all contributing to a packed agenda of sessions related to:
- Caring for mountain ecosystems
- Mountain plant ecology
- Mountain fauna
- Mountain soils and hydrology
Here, you can see Peter Jacobs representing the World Commission for Protected Areas Mountain Specialist Group sharing his work to protect mountain ecosystems across the globe.
Another highlight was Ken Green presenting some findings from his decades of research related to mastacomys (Broad Toothed Rat).
Mastacomys (Image by Ken Green)
Dierdre Slattery’s keynote address shared a heartfelt commemoration and celebration of the contributions of the late Dr Alec Costin, an ecologist who dedicated over fifty years of his life to observing, researching and advocating for the importance of alpine ecosystems.
After the formal presentations, the Australian Mountain Research Facility was officially launched with a ribbon cutting by Director Adrienne Nicotra. Colourful field monitoring tape was very fittingly chosen to fashion the 'official' ribbon.
The Australian Mountain Research Facility (AMRF) supports collaboration from institutions and researchers to assess the extent and effects of changing climate, water and fire regimes on alpine ecosystem processes. The AMFR has now established a string of Australian Monitoring Observation Network sites across the ACT, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. These sites all record live data-streams that measure a range of environmental variables and are available for anyone who wants to use them.
AMRF Study Site
On day two of the symposium, the participants were out in the field to visit monitoring sites, guided by a range of alpine scientists. One highlight was the snow-gum die back session run by Matthew Brookhouse from Australian National University.
Matthew shared his knowledge of the lifecycle of the wood-boring longicorn beetle (Phoracantha), and detailed the affect they have on snowgums located near Dainer’s gap (Kosciuszko National Park).
Evidence of wood boring by the Longicorn beetle
It wouldn’t be an Alpine Symposium without some snow and ‘alpine conditions'.
They were delivered on the final day...
with snow falling as low as Thredbo village in mid-December.
The symposium provided a great opportunity for researchers and land managers to connect, discuss, and celebrate the latest research and case studies emerging from the alpine science and land management community.
The Mountain Pygmy-possum Recovery in the Victorian Alps is supported by North East Catchment Management Authority, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.
