Western Power employees help protect threatened spider
Release Date: 18 September 2008
Western Power recently participated in Spider Blitz, a program delivered by WWF with the support of the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC), to encourage community involvement in the conservation of threatened trapdoor spiders in the Avon River Basin.
Participants were shown how to identify different species of trapdoor spiders and their habitats. Volunteers also participated in a surveying exercise to determine the numbers of both shield-backed and tree-stem trapdoor spiders in Tamma Parkland in Merredin.
The project was carried out on Friday 29 August 2008 in Merredin.
Western Power Environmental Operations Manager John Morrell said that the 10 volunteers from Western Power were excited to be part of this worthwhile exercise.
“Spider Blitz gave our staff the opportunity to have some hands-on experience in protecting a threatened species in Western Australia.”
The surveying exercise saw the team of volunteers hunting for spider burrows to provide an indication of spider numbers in Tamma Parkland. It is hoped that the spider burrows found in this survey will form part of a long-term monitoring program which measures the spiders’ ability to cope with disturbance and human impact to their habitat.
“We were split up into three teams with each team accountable for four 50 metre transects. Once we started hunting for spider burrows we were surprised by how many we were able to identify in such a small area,” said John.
At the end of the exercise the participants were thrilled to learn they had counted more than 120 burrows in the Parkland.
All burrows found during Spider Blitz were positioned by GPS, measured to help determine age and sex and labelled as having a male or female occupant. This important information will be utilised by WWF and the DEC in their conservation efforts of trapdoor spiders throughout the Wheatbelt.
Western Power has a history of protecting the threatened tree-stem trapdoor spider with a new powerline recently being realigned and moved away from the spiders’ habitat in the Wheatbelt town of Korrelocking.
“Western Power is proud to be working with our community to ensure threatened species are protected for future generations,” said Mr Morrell.
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