As part of the pre-rodent monitoring, I have been working with OEH staff to monitor the flora by putting transacts in various forest types and record all plants and seedlings along the transects. For these February surveys we were camping on the Mount Gower summit for 3 nights. As the walk up to the summit is about 4 hours each way, this time up there allowed us to put transects all across the summit. It is known that the density of rats on the summit is highest, so this is where we might see the biggest change in plants once the rats are removed. Certainly previous studies have shown that the endemic Little Mountain palm Lepidorrachis mooreana is severely impacted by rats eating the seeds. The weather was good, and I took the drone for some aerial photography too.
