Utilising Citizen Science to monitor Corymbia calophylla (Marri) Canker incidence and severity Alex R. Chapman A, T. Paap B, C. Marbus B, T.I. Burgess B and G.E.StJ. Hardy B A Gaia Resources, PO Box 428, Leederville, 6903, Western Australia B Centre of Excellence for Climate Change Woodland and Forest Health, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, 6150, Western Australia

Introduction Corymbia calophylla is a keystone tree species in SW Western Australia plays a major role as a: food source and habitat tree refugia for vertebrates and invertebrates incl. the endangered Carnaby’s cockatoo key species for apiary & honey production suffering a major decline syndrome: foliar pathogen Quambalaria pitereka & canker fungal pathogen Q. coyrecup

Quambalaria coyrecup

Quambalaria pitereka

Impetus for the Marri Canker Project came from members of the community who were observing decline in their local Marri populations pathologists at Murdoch University were already researching the disease seeking answers and potential treatments a grass-roots driven project, considered one of the main reasons funding was subsequently obtained to start the collaboration community members provided an existing ‘network of enthusiasm’ able to be engaged to collect the large-scale research data required for scientific analysis

Community engagement workshop

Want to know more about the science? APPS 2015 – Tuesday 15:35-15:55 Corymbia calophylla (marri) canker disease incidence at the temporal and landscape level Trudy Paap Centre of Excellence for Climate Change Woodland and Forest Health, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, 6150, Western Australia

Results Since Dec 2013 the app has helped capture: 138 registered users 366 observations 335 trees in 31 sites and over 300 images.

Discussion The development of this innovative app has provided: education and outreach opportunities ongoing engagement with concerned members of the community in both urban and rural regions a large scale data collection approach that would otherwise be a laborious and costly research problem data that will be used by research scientists to understand the decline process and find treatments with the aim of developing sustainable management solutions.

Marri Canker project – lessons learned roles of each partner agency must be clearly defined: project ownership, coordination, training and publicity training helps deliver the best from volunteers in both: project research methods and smart phone app technology development/maintenance of a successful app requires resources: engage with app developers to specify requirements, define functionality ensure adequate support for the app subsequent to its release. The Marri Canker project is now: a model for a new 100 tree treatment trial in the Shire of Mundaring again in conjunction with the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council.

Acknowledgements With thanks to the: Cape to Cape Catchment Group Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council WA State Natural Resource Management Office References Paap T, Burgess TI, McComb JA, Shearer BL, Hardy GESJ (2008). Quambalaria species, including Q. coyrecup sp. nov., implicated in canker and shoot blight diseases causing decline of Corymbia species in the southwest of Western Australia. Mycological Research 112: 57–69.

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