Urban Ecological Study

The Urban Ecological Study is based on a study undertaken by Queensland Museum. The Brisbane City Council (BCC), through its Environment & Parks Branch, engaged the services of the Queensland Museum's Centre for Biodiversity to undertake a comprehensive Terrestrial Invertebrate Status Review (TISR) in the Brisbane city.

The focus of this study was on assessing:

• biodiversity
• rare species
• key ecological processes.

Ten sites representing a range of ecosystems from across the BCC conservation reserve network were selected as part of a year-long project to determine the composition of the invertebrate fauna of the Brisbane City environs.

The TISR surveyed the distribution of invertebrates in Brisbane City specifically targeting groups renowned for their use as bio-indicators.

These comprised

• Ants
• Ground beetles
• Sucking bugs
• Spiders
• Land snails
• Butterflies
• Dragonflies
• Damselflies

Students are able to access real data collected by scientists as they make judgements on the integrity and value of three of the urban sites studied during the TISR.