Passport to Recovery:

Using citizen science to monitor post-bushfire spread of Phytophthora cinnamomi (Pc) on Kangaroo Island

01 / 06

Phytophthora cinnamomi (Pc) is a water mould that enters the roots of plants, preventing the plant from taking up nutrients. It is thought to be transported from place to place on muddy tyres and dirty boots that have been in contact with rural properties and bushland areas.

Grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) are readily and visibly affected by Pc and are therefore a good indicator of soil infection with the pathogen. Die-off from Pc infection is distinctive.

Grass trees are an important part of temperate forest ecosystems as they provide habitat and protection from extreme weather for native wildlife.

The summer of 2019-20 saw unprecedented bushfire events across Australia. Kangaroo Island was seriously impacted, with almost half of the island burnt (DEW 2020).

It is unclear if Phytophthora cinnamomi (Pc) was able to survive the intense heat from these bushfires.

Passport to Recovery is a citizen science program aimed at getting visitors and locals involved in the post bushfire monitoring of Kangaroo Island.

The Passport to Recovery Dirty Boots project, collects data on the health of grass trees on the island and monitors the spread or die off of Pc.

Below is a map of Dirty Boots samples from citizen scientists in the Passport to Recovery program.

Red indicates samples that have been tested in the lab and are positive for Pc. Green indicates samples that have been tested in the lab and are negative for Pc. Blue indicates samples still being processed by the lab team.

Dirty Boots - sample locations

Samples from our wonderful citizen scientists being analysed in the lab!

Below is a map of grass tree health rankings from citizen scientists in the Passport to Recovery program.

Colours indicate the health of the grass tree observed according to the scale below

Colour scale for grass tree health ranking

Dirty Boots - grass tree health rankings

During and after the bushfire there was rehabilitation and rebuilding efforts that involved the movement of large quantities of soil. There was concerns that this would spread Pc across the island. These early citizen science results show that there might be less impact of Pc than was anticipated, particularly in the heavily burnt areas.

Keep checking back in on the map for more updates on KI Pc spread from our dedicated citizen scientists!