NCSSA Tothill Ranges Biological Survey Survey

The Tothill Ranges, is a low range (up to 650m above SL) running 15km south-north, north-east of Marrabel. It contains the largest area of remnant vegetation in the Northern & Yorke NRM Board region that is outside the DEH reserve system. Part of the Northern Mount Lofty Ranges, both the size and position of this remnant sitting in 'a sea' of cleared land ensures the conservation of this area is paramount in the protection of biodiversity of this region. The Tothill Ranges sit on the eastern edge of the Northern Agricultural area, the western edge of the Murray Darling Basin near Hopkins Creek Conservation Park and is less than 80 km south east of the Southern Flinders. It has been listed as both the largest remnant and key area in managing salinity in the Upper River Light Catchment (Upper Light River Salinity Management Plan 2003). The Nature Conservation Society South Australia will be conducting flora and fauna surveys, using standard Biological Survey of SA methodology over 10 days (Sep-Oct 2008), at 16 sites in privately owned land being managed for conservation. This includes setting pitfall traps and Elliott Traps for animals, (All trapping methods are undertaken based on Guidelines for Vertebrate Surveys in South Australia using the Biological Survey of South Australia Methodology (Owens, H.M. 2000). Survey results will be formally published by the Nature Conservation Society of SA. The NCSSA Tothill Ranges Biological Survey Survey is part of the Biological Survey of South Australia Program which is a series of systematic surveys conducted across the state between 1971 and the present with the broad aim of providing a baseline inventory of South Australia's flora and fauna biodiversity.