Bushland Rehabilitation Plans
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Bushland Rehabilitation Plans Mortlock Reserve Middle Harbour Catchment 2001 SECTION 2 REHABILITATION PLAN Mortlock Reserve INTRODUCTION Site History BACKGROUND Reserve Summary 1.0 FLORA Refer to Map 1 -Vegetation Communities 1.1. Creekline Vegetation 1.2 Weed Assessment Refer to Map 2 - Land Management Issues 1.3 Vulnerable and Threatened Species 1.4 Locally Rare Species 2.0 FAUNA 2.1 Terrestrial Vertebrates 2.2 Other native Fauna Groups 2.3 Introduced and Feral Animals 2.4 Vulnerable and Threatened Species 2.5 Locally Rare Species 3.0 BUSHLAND FRAGMENTATION 3.1 Habitat Corridors 4.0 FIRE Refer to Map 2 - Land Management Issues for details of fire history. 5.0 URBAN RUNOFF Refer to Map 2 - Land Management Issues for the location of stormwater channels. 6.0 ABORIGINAL CULTURAL SITES 7.0 EUROPEAN HERITAGE SITES 8.0 RESERVE USERS 8.1 Vandalism and Misuse 9.0 EXISTING PROPERTIES ADJOINING BUSHLAND 9.1 Noxious Weeds 9.2 Encroachment 9.3 Dumping 9.4 Pets 10.0 ACTION PLAN 10.1 Rehabilitation Works Objectives Zone Definition Refer to Map 3 - Rehabi litation Zones MATRIX Refer to Map 4 - Rehabilitation Actions for each individual zone. 10.2 Management Strategies, Plans and other Programs required for a successful rehabilitation process INTRODUCTION Mortlock Reserve is a small reserve located on the eastern foreshore of Tunks Park covering approx. 5 820m2. Brothers Avenue separates Mortlock Reserve from the bushland of Tunks Park. The bushland is also bordered by Vernon Street, the Tunks Park foreshore carpark and the waters of Long Bay. Eucalyptus piperita (Sydney Peppermint) and Angophora costata (Smooth-barked Apple) form the dominant Woodland vegetation association. Other interesting native remnants include Syncarpia glomulifera (Turpentine), Banksia integrifolia (Coastal Banksia), Ficus rubiginosa (Port Jackson Fig), Casuarina glauca (Swamp She- oak) and Acacia fimbriata (Fringed Wattle). The southern end of Mortlock Reserve is highly weed infested. This is the area where the bushland becomes narrower towards the junction of Vernon Street and Brothers Avenue. There is a combination of garden escapees, annual weeds and exotic vines threatening the remnant vegetation in this zone. The Mortlock Reserve Bushcare Group currently works throughout the remainder of the bushland parcel excluding the steep rocky cliff edges adjacent to Long Bay. Recreational opportunities are limited. There are no formal or informal tracks traversing the bushland. This is reflected by the successful regeneration over the years in an area where human use is minimal. Site History Aboriginals frequented the valley and used the creeks as a fresh water source for many thousands of years. Shell middens are represented in the area and perhaps many other signs of Aboriginal life are present but remain undiscovered. The Aboriginal name for this area has been lost along with most of the verbal history of the local indigenous people. The successive generations of Aboriginal people had a deep respect for the area, living in natural harmony with the environment for many thousands of years. The original name for this bushland area was simply Vernon Street bushland. The street was presumably named after Mr. Walter Liberty Vernon, Alderman of St. Leonards and the first North Sydney Council in 1890. Mr. Walter Liberty Vernon designed many sandstone brick houses in the North Sydney area and later went on to become the New South Wales Government Architect. An earlier name for this Street was New Street. In 1999, the bushland was given a formal title and named Mortlock Reserve in an official ceremony. The bushland was named after Mr. Bryce Mortlock, a local architect who designed many houses and buildings in the North Shore area. Bryce is a pioneer bush regenerator who has lived in Vernon Street since 1950 and formed the Vernon St (now Mortlock Reserve) Bushcare Group. But before Council’s ‘Bushcare’ Program ever existed and even before bush regeneration was ‘bush regeneration’, the Mortlock family could be found in bushland across the road from their house pulling up weeds during their weekend and suppressing the rapid growth of Lantana (lantana camara) and exotic vines in the canopy. Thirty years ago a bulldozer arrived in Vernon Street and began to knock down the trees. Mrs. Mortlock and her neighbours attended the scene and halted the Council’s operation to remove the trees and replace them with manicured lawn. The Mortlock Reserve Bushcare Group began in 1995. In 2000, the Group spent a total of 135 hrs regenerating the site. Activities undertaken on the site over the past 5 years include primary, secondary and maintenance weeding; exotic tree injection; ecological management burns (pile burns); and bank stabilisation, mulching and planting degraded bushland edges adjacent to Vernon Street and the drainage line. 1 The Bushland Management Team visited the site for approx. 80 hrs during 2000. Activities undertaken included bank stabilization and mulching steep gradients; spraying annual weeds along the perimeter of the bushland; and maintenance weeding throughout the Bushcare site. BACKGROUND Reserve Summary Bushland Council Zoning 5821m2 Area of Reserve Level of Degradation: - <10% 2835m2 10-30% 313m2 31-60% 584m2 >60% 945.5m Length of Boundaries 1 No. of Properties Adjoining Bushland N/A Length of walking track 1.0 FLORA Refer to Map 1 -Vegetation Communities for location details. Mortlock Reserve bushland consists of a remnant vegetation community, which is part of the Sydney Sandstone Complex – Sydney Sandstone Gully Forest (10ag) as indicated by Benson and Howell, 1994. The vegetation is symbolic of the North Shore and consists of: 1. Angophora costata (Smooth-barked Apple) and Eucalyptus piperita (Sydney Peppermint) Woodland community with a midstorey dominated by Casuarina glauca (Swamp She-oak), Banksia integrifolia (Coastal Banksia), Glochidion ferdinandi (Cheese Tree) and Pittosporum undulatum (Sweet Pittosporum) and an understorey dominated by Lomandra longifolia (Mat Rush). For further information see: Appendix 4 – Table 1: Classification of vegetation communities. Section 3 – Native plant species list for Mortlock Reserve. 1.1 Creekline Vegetation The stormwater channel was converted to a concrete drainage line early in the 1990’s. The original vegetation adjacent to the stormwater drainage line has, in the past, been highly disturbed. The Mortlock Reserve Bushcare Group are working towards rehabilitating this edge by removing herbaceous weeds and planting native species. 2 1.2 Weed Assessment Refer to Map 2 - Land Management Issues for the location of Weed Zones. Weed species are present in the various locations due to many factors. Morning Glory (Ipomoea indica) and Balloon Vine (Cardiospermum grandiflorum) remain a threat to the canopy areas. Fishbone Fern (Nephrolepsis cordifolia), Crofton Weed (Ageratina adenophora), Asparagus fern (Protoasparagus aethiopicus), Paddys Lucerne (Sida rhombifolia) and Cassia (Senna pendula) are present in the southern end of the Reserve. Milk Thistle (Sonchus oleraceus), Ehrharta (Ehrharta erecta), Summer Grass (Digitaria sanguinalis), Cobblers pegs (Bidens pilosa) and Fleabane (Conyza sp.) are commonly found along the edges of the roadway. Weed species adjacent to roadways and residential areas are present due to many factors that contribute increased moisture and nutrients to the bushland edge. These include: - ‘Hard surface’ runoff from impervious surfaces e.g. Roads; - Stormwater entering the bushland; - Imported fill soil and major disturbance to the original soil structure when the road was formed; - Dumping of garden clippings into the bush has also enabled many ornamental species to spread throughout the bushland in the past. Along the perimeter of the bushland adjacent to the road the original soil profile has been disturbed and the native seed bank (found in the topsoil) has been buried or lost. The native seed bank takes many years to develop and mature. Major soil disturbance makes unassisted native plant regeneration almost impossible. Due to this factor, to assist regeneration, sections of the bushland may have to be planted with local indigenous species. The placement and selection of plants will reflect their natural occurrence in the existing bushland ecosystem. For further information see: Appendix 4 – Table 2: Weed assessment details. Section 4 – Weed species list for North Sydney. 1.3 Vulnerable and Threatened Species There are no known vulnerable or threatened species in the bushland of Mortlock Reserve as listed in the Threatened Species Conservation Act, 1995. 1.4 Locally Rare Species Locally rare species include Pultanaea flexilis in this Woodland vegetation community. Species that are low in population numbers include Acacia fimbriata (Fringed Wattle), Hakea gibbosa (Rock Hakea) and Banksia spinulosa (Hair-pin Banksia). For further information see: Appendix 4 – Table 3: Regional significance of Locally Rare Species. 3 2.0 FAUNA 2.1 Terrestrial Vertebrates There are relatively few fauna species within the Reserve. There is evidence of Ring-tail Possums (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) and the Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) who frequent the area on nightly foraging trips. Blue-tongued Lizards (Tiliqua scincoides) and Green-tree Snakes (Dendrelaphis punctulata) have also been sighted in the bushland area. Common bird species can be found in Mortlock Reserve including the Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala), the Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina), the Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen),