North Head Sanctuary Foundation is working with Government agencies towards the establishment of Car-rang-gel Sanctuary on North Head at the gateway of Sydney Harbour - a flagship for Australia's environmental resolve and a celebration of our natural and cultural heritage.

Car-rang-gel Sanctuary on North Head, Sydney

Panoramic view of North Head, Sydney

Research concerning North Head

Contents

  1. Research after fire
  2. An evaluation of two management options
  3. Impacts of fire, thinning and herbivory on species diversity in Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub
  4. Progress with restoration and management of Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub on North Head, Sydney
  5. The effect of predation by rabbits on regenerating Eastern Suburbs Banksia scrub
  6. Comparing ground and UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) surveys after fire in an urban bushland
  7. Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub: Is fire the key to restoration? — Journal article by Geoff and Judy Lambert
  8. Fire severity: Does it affect coastal heathland restoration?
  9. Surveys of echidnas sighted on North Head

1. Research after fire

View research
Authors: Drs Judy Lambert, Geoff Lambert
Seminar titled "Using Fire as a Restoration Tool" held on Tuesday 4th March 2014 at North Head

Presentations were from Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, Fire and Rescue New South Wales, and Willoughby City Council, with a tour of the restoration work within Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub (ESBS). The discussion involved 55 participants.

Thinned area where tea tree plants were removed
This area was not burned but was "thinned" by removing tea tree plants.
Area before fire
This is an area before a fire went through.
Monitoring regeneration after fire
After the fire regeneration was monitored and compared with thinned areas.

2. An evaluation of two management options to restore species diversity of Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub at North Head, Sydney

View research
Authors: Judy Lambert, Geoff Lambert, Belinda Pellow
Published March 2015 in Cunninghamia: A journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia

3. Impacts of fire, thinning and herbivory on species diversity in Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub

View research
Authors: Judy Lambert, Geoff Lambert, Belinda Pellow
Published March 2015 in Cunninghamia: A journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia

4. Progress with restoration and management of Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub on North Head, Sydney

View research
Authors: Judy Lambert, Geoff Lambert
Published May 2015 in Ecological Management & Restoration Vol 16 No 2 May 2015

How has management of Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub vegetation on North Head progressed over the last 6 years and what insights can be gained from recent treatments?

5. The effect of predation by rabbits on regenerating Eastern Suburbs Banksia scrub

View research
Authors: Judy Lambert, Geoff Lambert
An evaluation based on establishing fenced areas to compare with unfenced areas for bushland recovering from fire.

Fenced area compared with unfenced
Fenced area compared with unfenced
Rabbits
Rabbits

6. Surveys to evaluate the impacts of fire — comparing ground surveys with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle surveys

View research
Authors: Geoff Lambert, Judy Lambert, Jeremy Randle
Paper presented to the Ecological Society in Brisbane in November 2018

This paper examined the questions of:

  • Can ESBS be restored by fire?
  • Can we compare Ground-based quadrat surveys of 1% of the site with Aerial Surveys of the same area?
  • Can we extrapolate to the entire site from the survey of 1%?

The conclusions were that:

  • Plant species were identifiable from drone imagery by inspection & possibly by training the image analysis software.
  • Plant numbers are harder to measure but coverage should be measurable with software.
  • Quadrats seem to have captured a representative mix of species.
  • We can extrapolate from this to the whole site.
Drone Survey 2018
Drone Survey 2018
Flight lines of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Flight lines of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

7. Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub: Is fire the key to restoration? — Journal article by Geoff and Judy Lambert

View research
Authors: Geoff. Lambert, Judy. Lambert

2019 update to 2015 Ecological Management & Restoration paper (see 4. above).
Repeat surveys conducted in 2015 and 2017 and a new pre- and post-burn study on a site on which larger exclosures were used, indicate that the 2012 burn area had not fully recovered and may need ongoing management over time.

8. Fire Severity: Does it affect coastal heathland restoration?

View research
View presentation slides
Authors: J. Lambert, G. Lambert and K. Hammel
Presentation given during the May 19-20, 2021, Nature Conservation Council online Bushfire Conference

9. Survey of echidnas on North Head

Echidna
Echidna

Survey conducted in 2013 to estimate echidna populations and distribution on North Head

In 2013, we estimated the number of echidnas we have at North Head to be at least 18 adults (quite a high number for an area of just under 300ha). Using photo survey mapping of echidna sightings, we assessed where they were living as they searched for food or a mate.

A repeat of this citizen science project in 2022-2023 indicates that the number of adult echidnas had increased to 34. Beginning in September, visitors to North Head were encouraged (through our newsletter, a brochure distributed through 'Bandicoot Heaven, the Trust's Visitor desk, an article in the Trust's newsletter and distribution to all North Head land managers, and by word of mouth) to let us know of any echidna sightings and record them on camera.

Whilst we are not actively monitoring at present, you can lodge your photos, together with the date and location details, by emailing twswombat505@gmail.com