Habitat Corridors Strategy April 2005 Prepared by Context MAROONDAH HABITAT CORRIDORS STRATEGY Acknowledgements Contributions and assistance from officers of Maroondah City Council are gratefully acknowledged, particularly the Project Steering Committee: Vivienne Fraser Cormac McCarthy Luci Feher Roger Lord Brad Curtis Peter Goegan Sean McNamee A number of local residents and naturalists have shared their fauna records, local knowledge and ideas for the Strategy. Assistance was also provided by officers from adjoining municipalities and from several government agencies. ii MAROONDAH HABITAT CORRIDORS STRATEGY CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii SUMMARY VI 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. HABITAT LINKS AND CORRIDORS: WHAT ARE THEY AND WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT? 2 The importance of habitat connectivity 2 What makes a link or corridor 3 3. POLICY AND MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS 5 International and national levels 5 Victoria 5 Regional strategies 8 Adjoining municipalities 9 City of Maroondah 9 Current vegetation management practices 15 4. CREATING A NETWORK OF HABITAT LINKS IN MAROONDAH 18 Regional context 18 Identification and assessment of habitat links 18 Target species 33 Strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats 41 Corridor management principles 47 5. ACTION PLAN 49 Council resources and activities 49 Habitat links on Council-managed and other public land 51 Habitat links on private land 51 REFERENCES 52 APPENDIX 1. DESCRIPTIONS OF HABITAT LINKS 53 1.1 Dandenong Creek Corridor 55 1.2 Mullum Mullum Creek Corridor 60 1.3 Bungalook Creek Corridor 65 1.4 Wicklow Hills Corridor and selected links 70 1.5 Andersons Creek Headwaters and links 75 1.6 Jumping Creek Headwaters and Mullum and Hochkins links 80 1.7 Ringwood North links 85 1.8 Kilsyth South links 90 1.9 Eastfield Road, Dorset Road and Healesville Freeway 95 iii MAROONDAH HABITAT CORRIDORS STRATEGY 1.10 Brushy Creek & Links 97 1.11 Tarralla Creek 102 1.12 Plymouth Road and Yarra Road and links 106 1.13 Railway lines 109 1.14 Quambee, Ringwood North Reserve links 113 1.15 Mt Dandenong Road and links 115 1.16 Other low priority roads 119 1.17 Other very low priority links 123 APPENDIX 2. FIELD DATA COLLECTION FORM 126 APPENDIX 3. EXAMPLE OF SCORING CONSERVATION PRIORITY 130 APPENDIX 4. MAPS OF HABITAT CONNECTIVITY (MAPS 9 – 15) 133 APPENDIX 5. FLORA AND FAUNA GUARANTEE ACT: LISTED POTENTIALLY THREATENING PROCESSES 141 APPENDIX 6. VOLUNTEER GROUPS IN MAROONDAH INVOLVED IN MANAGEMENT OF RESERVES 143 APPENDIX 7: KEY ROAD NETWORKS FORMING PARTS OF CORRIDORS 144 APPENDIX 8 – POTENTIAL GROUND-DWELLER REFUGES 146 iv MAROONDAH HABITAT CORRIDORS STRATEGY LIST OF MAPS Relative Conservation Priority of Corridors Map 1. Regional context Map 2. Sites of significance Map 3. Combined habitat quality Map 4. Combined arboreal connectivity Map 5. Combined aquatic connectivity Map 6. Combined ground connectivity Map 7. Corridor conservation priority Map 8. Corridor management types Map 9. Arboreal connectivity existing Map 10. Arboreal connectivity potential Map 11. Aquatic connectivity existing Map 12. Aquatic connectivity potential Map 13. Ground connectivity existing Map 14. Ground connectivity potential Map 15. Forest dweller connectivity combined. Map 16. Revised Ecological Vegetation Classes LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Combined habitat quality score 21 Table 2. Vegetation Quality Scores 24 Table 3. Scoring conservation priority of links Table 4 Relative corridor conservation priority scores 30 Table 5 Potential use of components of the habitat network in 39 different groups of animals. LIST OF GRAPHS Graph 1: Combined Habitat Quality Score 24 v MAROONDAH HABITAT CORRIDORS STRATEGY SUMMARY The goal of this Strategy is to plan for a network of habitat links connecting larger areas of remnant vegetation in order to protect and enhance biodiversity within and beyond the City of Maroondah. Habitat loss and fragmentation have been recognised as a key global issue facing the conservation of plant and animal species and communities. The need for ecological linkages is now recognised as a fundamental principle in land use planning and land management for biodiversity conservation in developed landscapes. Links or linkages are not necessarily linear or continuous corridors, but they must enhance connectivity for species, communities and/or ecological processes. Some of the benefits of habitat links, and factors to be taken into account in designing a local network of habitat links, are outlined in Chapter 2. Legislation, policies and strategies at all levels from international to local have relevance to the protection and enhancement of a habitat network. Maroondah has a relatively comprehensive set of strategies, studies and planning controls in place that support the protection and enhancement of habitat network, however some opportunities to strengthen this framework have been identified through this process. Work practices and vegetation management regimes on both public and private land are major determinants of the condition and quality of habitat links. These have been reviewed during fieldwork for this Strategy. The identification and assessment of a network of habitat links for Maroondah involved: • Selection of an initial set of links from maps, air photos and reports. • Field inspection of approximately 150 corridor sections to collect data on vegetation type and quality, other habitat quality, significant species, connectivity for arboreal, ground-dwelling and aquatic fauna, threatening processes, and opportunities for enhancement of links. • Compilation of sighting records for a number of ‘indicator species’ that would benefit from habitat links. • Development and application of a methodology to evaluate the relative conservation priority of links from a biological perspective, resulting in a ranked list (Table 1) shown on the map below. • Data entry and mapping using a Geographic Information System. Seventeen Key Corridors or grouped links are listed below and are indicated on the following map. They are comprised of 67 links of which 26 have high – very high conservation priority and 41 have medium - low conservation priority: 1. Dandenong Creek Corridor 2. Mullum Mullum Creek Corridor 3. Bungalook Creek Corridor 4. Wicklow Hills Corridor and selected links 5. Andersons Creek Headwaters and links 6. Jumping Creek Headwaters and Mullum and Hochkins links 7. Ringwood North Links 8. Kilsyth South Links vi MAROONDAH HABITAT CORRIDORS STRATEGY 9. Eastfield Road, Dorset Road and Healesville Freeway 10. Brushy Creek and Links 11. Taralla Creek 12. Plymouth Road and Yarra Road and links 13. Railway Lines 14. Quambee and Ringwood North Reserve Links 15. Mt Dandenong Road and links 16. Other low priority roads 17. Other very low priority links Their full names can be found in Appendix 1 The conservation priority scores indicate biological significance, and are assessed on the basis of scale, uniqueness and habitat quality of the linkage, significance of nodes linked, and range of species benefited. The higher scoring corridors are most deserving of resources and effort for protection and enhancement of habitat and habitat connectivity. The corridor/links with highest conservation priority scores are: Jumping Creek to Kardinia Cres Lower Mullum Mullum Creek Jumping Ck to Narr Mein Reserve north Dandenong Creek Quambee Reserve - Andersons Creek Jumping Creek to Hochkins Ridge Bungalook Creek - Dandenong Creek via Eastwood Golf Tereddan Drive Mullum Mullum - Jumping Cks Wicklow Hills Corridor north Bungalook Creek lower Mullum - Jumping Creek via Berrywood Walk Bungalook Creek upstream of Canterbury Rd Candlebark Walk. Four ecological types of links have been distinguished: creek corridor, dryland corridor, ground level link and canopy link. A range of native species of fauna are likely to make use of these habitat links in Maroondah, including mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, fish and invertebrates. Various strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats relating to the development of a habitat network have been identified. A set of corridor management principles is also provided. Chapter 5 outlines an action plan for the protection and enhancement of existing potential habitat links and corridors. Recommendations are made for Council resources and activities, corridors on Council-managed and other public land and corridors on private land. More site-specific action recommendations are provided in the descriptions of corridor/links (App 1) vii MAROONDAH HABITAT CORRIDORS STRATEGY viii MAROONDAH HABITAT CORRIDORS STRATEGY 1. INTRODUCTION The City of Maroondah, on the eastern edge of metropolitan Melbourne, retains a number of sites of biological significance, and its community values highly the existing coverage of canopy vegetation through the municipality. However, urban pressures present a threat to the ongoing viability and existence of Maroondah’s indigenous biodiversity. Past studies within Maroondah and elsewhere have found that a site’s viability and biodiversity is greatly aided by good connectivity with other habitat. Vegetation corridors or habitat links are one critical means of protecting and increasing habitat and biodiversity, particularly for fauna, within Maroondah and beyond. This Strategy has the following goal and objectives: Goal: To plan for a network of habitat links connecting larger areas of remnant vegetation in order to protect and enhance biodiversity within and beyond the City of Maroondah. Objectives: • To identify, assess and describe existing and potential local and regional habitat