Processing images from the Gidgealpa camera trap network recently produced an exciting surprise result: the unexpected detection of the nationally and SA state-listed Vulnerable Plains Mouse at two locations across the SEB offset.
 
Nature Foundation has been engaged by Santos since 2019 to establish and provide ongoing management of the 20,172-hectare area of Gidgealpa Station in South Australia's far north-east, fulfilling the company's Significant Environmental Benefit (SEB) offset requirements. Since the project commenced, grazing management has allowed native flora to regenerate. Dune stability has also improved, minimising the effects of erosion, and improving the soil's water-holding capacity, allowing it to act as a resource sink.
 
The Plains Mouse (Pseudomys australis) is a rodent native to arid and semi-arid areas that build shallow, complex burrows dug into cracks in the gibber plain, so-called "cracking clay" habitats. The cracks provide refuge for the native rodents, earning them the nickname "crack rats".
 
Plains Mice populations also exist on our Witchelina Nature Reserve, and South Gap SEB offset, so we are familiar with their habits and the conservation management required to support this threatened species.
 
This discovery of the Plains Mouse's presence at Gidgealpa underscores the importance of the SEB offset for conserving biodiversity in South Australia and the value of camera trap networks as monitoring tools.

Photo by Jack Bilby.