Identifying remote survey material via the web – combining traditional invertebrate collecting methods with modern biodiversity informatics tools.
I’ve joined a camel trek run by Australian Desert Expeditions with Beth Mantle (CSIRO) to survey the invertebrate fauna of remote red dune country on the Ethabuka reserve in south-western Queensland, owned by Bush Heritage.
Although we will use the usual collecting methods such as pitfall trapping, malaise nets, light trapping, beating, sweeping, litter sifting and hand collection, Beth and I are using a satellite modem to blog our daily activities and upload images of noteworthy specimens in order to seek assistance to help identify specimens as we post them to the web.
Follow our journey via the Atlas of Living Australia blog, and my Museum colleague, Lynda Kelly, will also be helping me post our progress.
Watch this space!