Excrement used to track animals’ return to restored Pilbara mine sites

A group of researchers from Curtin University found that collecting animal scat may be the best way to compare restored mine sites to reference sites in the Pilbara. Lead researcher Dr Mieke van der Heyde said Pilbara favoured itself to scat collection because the climate and barren land made samples easier to collect. “The problem is that monitoring fauna is hard, often requiring teams of experts in remote locations for weeks at a time, making it time-consuming and expensive,” she said. The newer method is less invasive and more cost-effective because anyone can collect the samples. “The aim was to see how we could apply it to mine site restoration. It is a very useful tool to increase how much we can monitor and the information that we can get,” she said. Once the samples are collected they are run through a system that identifies the animal and its diet. Dr van der Heyde also said the collection process favoured bigger herbivores because they produced bigger and more regular samples. Whereas a carnivore’s sample would indicate the other animals it has consumed and are more likely to travel further, making the area data less reliable. The research also indicates it could be used as a baseline survey for mining companies to assess the biodiversity before breaking ground. The research was funded through the Australian Research Council in conjunction with 10 mining companies including Hanson and BHP.