Often called Deciduous Beech, it is Australia’s only cold-deciduous woody plant. The wiry tangled growth of its branches give it another common name, Tanglefoot.
A dense shrub. Usually 1 - 3 m tall and wide, with spreading branches. It sometimes grows as a small tree in rainforest. Bark smooth and grey.
Leaves
Arranged alternately along stems, on short stalks. Individual leaves are rounded in outline with lobed margins; distinct grooves follow the leaf veins making the veins prominent on the lower side. Leaves are 10 - 20 mm long, bright to mid-green, paler on the under surface, turning yellow then orange or red in autumn. Leaves are absent during Winter. New leaves unfold from buds in a concertina fashion in spring.
Flowers
Separate male and female flowers, small and inconspicuous, and appear in late summer and early autumn.
Dark slate-grey on its head, back and wings, and pale orange-brown below; its undertail is boldly barred black and white. Its legs and feet are dull yellow and its bill is black. Young birds are duller and browner, with mottled markings, especially on their breast and underparts.
Distinctive feature
A yellow eye-ring which is tinged green in young birds.
We've had a go at answering some of the questions we get regularly from our invaluable ClimateWatchers. Please let us know if we've missed anything or contact us for any further questions or enquires.
App
- Why are photos compulsory?
Upon advice from our science advisory panel and other large-scale citizen science programs, compulsory photos have been introduced to assist the data verification process and to improve the quality of data submitted to the Atlas of Living Australia. Compulsory images has increased the number of records we can validate by 30%, meaning more records can be used for scientific purposes. If uploading sightings via the website, please make sure it is your own photo of that sighting and not one from the internet. - If I’m offline or in a low-reception area, will my observations still be uploaded?
Spots submitted by users are stored locally on your device and can be sent in as soon as the app is back online thanks to the offline features of the app. The maps just appear empty currently, but no data is lost.
Spotting
- I don’t have a GPS or smart phone, how do I record my location?
Take note of your location by writing comments about visible landmarks (streets, residences, shops, etc). When you enter your spot on the website try to find your nearest location to your spot on the map. - How often should I ClimateWatch?
As often as you can (daily, weekly, monthly). Science often relies on precise measurements; and, identifying the exact date when a species moves into an area, washes up on the beach or increases dramatically in abundance is very important for long term data sets like ours. Regular recording also enables you to identify exactly when changes have occurred in your area, just like a personalised log book. Moreover, when trying to understand phenology - the timing of seasonal events - and how these are being influenced by climate change, we want as many regular sightings as possible to get an idea of the start, peak and end of these cycles. - Can I ClimateWatch anywhere?
Yes! There are over 150 species to spot all over Australia. The next time you are out walking your dog, bushwalking, heading to university, or strolling through your favourite park or garden, see if you can spot any ClimateWatch indicator species. If you’re unsure of where to start, try a ClimateWatch trail. These trails have been created with the help of Botanic Gardens, Universities, Scouts, Friends of groups, local Councils, community groups and educators around Australia. - I’m in a group, should everyone submit recordings?
Yes. Multiple entries enable scientists to ensure there is consistency amongst observations and also help to improve our sampling processes. It also helps to observe with others in case you are unsure of a sighting. - What if I’m not 100% sure I have the right species?
If you think you have the right species but are a little unsure, record it and leave a message for our scientists in the ‘comments’ section of the data recording page, write: “SPECIES REQUIRES CHECKING”. Make sure you submit a good quality photo. If you are only 50% or less sure you have the correct species, do not record it but take several photos and send them to the ClimateWatch team on our website for verification. When there is an option to select "unsure" for a particular phenophase or behavious, don't be afraid to select "unsure" as a certain unsure is better than an uncertain submitted sighting. You could also try to practice recording one species at a time, to become familiar with its behaviours and identification, and moving on to monitor more species once you become confident. - What happens to my observations/spots?
Our scientists review the data on a quarterly basis. The validated data is made publicly available on the Atlas of Living Australia and can be downloaded for free. It is also used by researchers and policy makers to help Australia build knowledge and understanding of climate change and how it impacts biological systems so we can better manage and conserve our environment well into the future. - Why are there fewer species being monitored now?
Some ClimateWatch indicator species have been made 'inactive' upon advice from our science advisory panel due to very few sightings or few correct sightings.
A beetle with a shiny black back and head with bright yellow-green markings, and dark brown to black legs.
Distinctive feature
Violin-shaped markings on its back (after which it is named).
Size
About 2 cm
Its genus name Stenocarpus means narrow fruit, referring to its seed pods; and its species name sinuatus means wavy, referring to the edges of the leaves.
Evergreen tree, up to 35 m high, but much smaller when grown in gardens where it reaches a height of only about 10 m with a width of 5 m.
Leaves
Dark glossy green and paler underneath, they can be oval-shaped, lobed or have wavy edges. They are usually 15 – 25 cm long (but can be up to 45 cm long) and 2 – 5 cm wide, and are generally smaller on exposed branches. There is one distinct vein running down the centre of each leaf.
Flowers
Bright red with a yellow tip, and 2.5 – 4 cm long. They cluster in a wheel-like arrangement at the end of a stalk. The cluster can be up to 10 cm in diameter and consists of 6 - 20 flowers.
The Earthwatch team have been busy delivering new ClimateWatch monitoring trails across Australia in 2019, including the first sub-alpine ClimateWatch trail at Mount Buffalo National Park in Victoria.
Mt Buffalo has high vegetation biodiversity. It's sensitive, sub-alpine grassland and woodland plant communities are at high risk from the impacts of climate change and pest species.
An adult male has a bright orange breast and throat, with white on its lower belly and under its tail. The upperparts are dark slate grey and there is a clear white stripe on its folded wing. It has a black beak and dark brown legs. A female is mostly grey-brown with a pale buff strip on its wing. Its outermost tail feather is mostly white. A young bird looks like an adult female, but its back has buff streaks and its belly is pale with brown streaks.
Size
12 - 14 cm
A grey-brown to orange-brown body, which blends well with tree bark. The frill around its neck is more brightly coloured, ranging from yellow to black, mixed with orange and red. Males have a black belly.
Its frill usually lies folded around its shoulders and neck, but as it is connected to its mouth muscles, when its jaw opens wide (such as in alarm), the frill lifts up around its head. Its body is relatively short with a long neck and tail.
Size
70 – 95 cm long (from its snout to the end of its tail) two-thirds of which is its tail. Males are bigger than females. Its frill is 20 – 25 cm in diameter.
Its genus name Epicris means upon (epi) and a summit (acris), referring to the altitude where some species occur; and its species name longiflora means long (longus) and flower (florus), referring to the long, narrow flowers.
An upright to spreading evergreen shrub, typically straggly with branches arching towards the ground, 0.5 – 2 m high.
Leaves
With pointed tip and wide base, they are often described as heart-shaped. Each leaf is 5 – 17 mm long, 3 – 6.6 mm wide, and has slightly serrated margins. It is thin, flat, and sometimes has a rough upper surface.
Flowers
Long and tubular, some have pink-red tubes and white lobes (tips), others are all white. They are 5 – 6 mm in diameter and 12 – 27 mm long, with the lobes being 2.4 – 4.4 mm long. They grow in rows along the branches and are upright at first and then hang down as they reach maturity.
Grey-brown to bronze, with a dark stripe running along each side of its body from its nostril, across its eye to its tail, getting wider from its front legs. Its body pales below the stripe to a cream belly.
This species has a lighter body with a less obvious stripe running along its sides than the Southern Garden Skink.
Size
8 - 10 cm (nose to end of tail).
Grey-brown to bronze, with a dark stripe running along each side of its body from its nostril, across its eye to its tail, getting wider from its front legs. Its body pales below the stripe to a cream belly.
This species has a ‘heavier’ looking body and a more obvious stripe running along its sides, compared to the Northern Garden Skink.
Size
8 - 10 cm (nose to end of tail).
The female’s abdomen can be variable but is typically brown to yellow with short silvery-white hairs. The legs are usually black with bright yellow patches on the underside of the many leg joints. Its palps (small leg-like structures on either side of its fangs) are distinctly red.
It makes golden webs, after which it is named.
Size
Females are 4 – 4.5 cm long but the tiny males are only 5 – 6 mm long (body length). The Females can have a legspan of up to 15 cm!
Barnacles are small invertebrates that live inside hard circular or pyramid-like structures made from calcium-carbonate. They are distinguished by their size: they are taller than they are round and have similar shape to a volcano. They can be found singularly or in a group.
Giant rock barnacles are the largest type of barnacle and are comprised of six large plates that are white to light green in colour, and have top to bottom (transverse) grooves on them. They have a distinctive bright blue body (mantle) inside.
Barnacle larva are free swimming and live in the plankton layer and when they are old enough they return to the rocky shores where they find a spot and cement their heads to the rock and then grow their shell around their body.
Size
30 - 60 mm height and 25 - 30 mm diameter.
Come and explore the Glen Iris Wetlands trail and discover our local plants and animals. Experience the sights, smells, and sounds of the natural environment on a walk around the Glen Iris Wetlands and discover our new signage, featuring frog and bird sounds plus our interactive stormwater display.
Monitor species selected by GCRBG Friends. There is potential to reach outside the gates and engage a wider community with other species commonly grown on the Gold Coast, but not held in the Gardens Plant Collection.
Keep an eye out for Friends Guided Walks on this ClimateWatch trail.
Bushy or straggly shrub, branchlets more or less angled at extremities, smooth or hairy. Bark is smooth, grey to brown. Commonly grows to 2.5 m high.
Leaves
Has phyllodes (flattened leaf stalks) that are rounded, usually asymmetric 0.4 – 1.5 cm long and 2 – 8 mm wide, hairy or smooth. Leaf midrib (large midline vein) is obscure or absent, lateral veins also absent.
Flowers
Bright yellow ball-shaped inflorescences (clusters flowers arranged on a stem) that form in patterns of 5. Flowers appear in late winter and spring and into early summer (July to November).
The male has dark brown forewings (front wings) with pale grey scales, and bronzy-brown hindwings with dark brown patches. The undersides of both wings are pale grey and black. The female has bright orange hindwings with black spots near the edge, while its forewings are similar to the male’s but more grey than brown. The underside of all its wings is white with small black spots near the edge. Both sexes have green eyes.
Distinctive feature
Its antennae are clubbed, with a knob at the end.
Size
Male wingspan 3.4 cm, female wingspan 3.1 cm.
The species name pycnantha from the Greek (pyknos) meaning dense, and (anthos) meaning a flower, refers to the dense clusters of flowers.
Small shrub or tree. Usually 3 - 8 m high.
Leaves
Has phyllodes (flattened leaf stalks) that are pinnate (arranged opposite each other on either side of the stem) and sickle-shaped 9 - 15 cm long and 1 - 3.5 cm wide; branchlets on leaves are hairy, sometimes covered in white powdery granules.
Flowers
Bright golden and sometimes lemon-yellow ball-shaped inflorescences (clusters flowers arranged on a stem). Flowers appear in late winter and spring and into early summer (July to November).
The adult male has a bright-yellow underbody, olive-green back and wings, and a black head with a bright-yellow collar. Its throat is white, with a broad black band which separates it from the yellow breast. Its beak and legs are black. The adult female has grey upperparts with a pale olive tinge, and is pale grey below with a pale yellowish tinge. Its beak is dark brown and its legs are grey-brown. Both sexes have a red-brown eye. Juvenile birds are rufous above and below, and as they mature, gradually resemble a female, though they retain some rufous feathers in their wings.
Rising abruptly from the surrounding Western Plains, the Grampians (Gariwerd) is a series of rugged sandstone mountain ranges and forests rich in plants and animals, some of which are found nowhere else.
A reference to its yellow resin, Xanthorrhoea literally means "yellow flow" in Ancient Greek. Grass-tree is a misnomer. Its not a grass, nor a tree.They are actually distantly related to lilies.
Perennial flowering plant. Trunk resembles a tree above ground or exists under the earth’s surface. Trunk is woody and made up of tiny packed leaves.
Leaves
Clustered in a terminal crown, 30 - 140 cm long, rhombic (kite-shaped) to wedge-shaped in cross-section, tapering at the ends.
Flowers
Borne as flower clusters on a cylindrical and spike-like woody axis.
In the bush the flowers could reveal directions, since flowers on the warmer, sunnier side (usually north) of the spike often open before the flowers on the cooler side facing away from the sun.
Medium sized shorebird with a straight, slender bill and a heavily streaked head and neck. Non breeding plumage in Australia; pale to chestnut head, neck and upper breast. White underparts.
In breeding plumage they have a black band across the chest, and black, white and reddish speckles on the upperparts (Great Knots breed in Siberia).
Size
A medium-sized shorebird
Chelonia mydas
Other names: Green Sea Turtle, Green Turtle, Tortue verte, Grinfala totel, Uga Vanua
Gren Totel are found in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of the world, including in Vanuatu. Their smooth shells are dark brown, grey or olive with lighter yellow to white undersides. Hatchlings are very dark in colour with white edges on their bodies and flippers. Once mature, they forage in shallow coastal waters, mainly eating seagrass and algae. Every 2-5 years they return to the beach where they hatched to nest.
Distinctive features
Gren Totel are the largest of the hard-shelled sea turtles, though their head is comparatively small. Their shells are smooth. Distinctive features are their serrated beak on the lower jaws and two large scales located between the eyes.
Size
These turtles are often over 1 m long and weigh up to 230 kg.
Part of the ClimateWatch in Parks initiative with Parks Victoria, this trail at the Gresswell Forest Nature Conservation Reserve is near a fantastic piece of remnant bushland in Watsonia. Contribute to citizen science while experiencing an urban wildlife refuge in Melbourne's north-east, home to a wide variety of native flora and fauna
