South East Queensland APRIL 2017 Volume 11 Number 2 Newsletter of the Land for Wildlife Program South East Queensland ISSN 1835-3851
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
South East Queensland APRIL 2017 Volume 11 Number 2 Newsletter of the Land for Wildlife Program South East Queensland ISSN 1835-3851 CONTENTS 1 Colouring the Forest Floor 2 Editorial and Contacts 3 Fungi Profile Amazing Endophytes 4-5 Fauna Profile Queensland Rarest Bird - the Eastern Bristlebird 6 Property Profile Restoring and Rejoicing, Pine Mountain, Ipswich 7 Property Profile Laughing Waters, Sunshine Coast 8-10 Property Profile Tools to encourage a biodiverse Colouring the Forest Floor grassy understorey hese brilliant blue-coloured are important to local ecosystems as they 11 My Little Corner Tmushrooms are always exciting to find. are mycorrhizal and so are the symbiotic Carrying on in my great, great They are usually hiding in deep litter on fungal partners on the roots of many of our grandfather’s footsteps the rainforest floor or on rotting logs. They local plants. They give their plant partners are decomposer fungi so are recycling micronutrients from soil and greater access 12 Weed Profile the nutrients in the leaf litter and logs to soil water. Coral fungi can grow quite Dwarf Papyrus on which they grow. They don’t have a large, to about the size of your hand, and common name so are referred to by their can be found on the forest floor, often in 13 Book Reviews species name, Entoloma hochstetteri, wet eucalypt forests. 14 Property Profile although there is some contention about It is important to remember that fungi this name across Australia. Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital & have different parts – the fruiting bodies Koala Research All Entolomas give pink spore prints and that we see on the ground surface that often a pink blush can be seen on the contain spores and the colony of fine 15 The Cycle of Life gills. Look closely in the photo above. thread-like mycelium that live in logs, leaf Right Conditions for Fruiting Some readers may remember doing spore litter or in plants themselves. Like plants, prints at primary school whereby you left fungi only fruit occasionally, but unlike 16 New Fungi Brochures a mushroom (minus the stalk), gills down, plants, we often don’t know that fungi are Maps for Sale on a white piece of paper, and came back present until they fruit. a day or so later and gently removed it, Advertise your Property The Queensland Mycological Society, with revealing an intricate spoke-like pattern of support from Sunshine Coast Council, for Sale spores that had fallen from the gills. Spore has recently released two high-quality prints are an important technique for brochures on fungi – see review pg 16. identifying fungi as the spore print colour and microscopic spore characteristics like Published by Healthy Land and Water through Article by Sapphire McMullan-Fisher funding from the Australian Government’s size and shape can all be analysed. Queensland Mycological Society National Landcare Programme The other photo shown above is that of a Left image by Wayne Boatwright coral fungus (genus Ramaria). Coral fungi Right image by Paul Vallier Land for Wildlife Officers editorial South East Queensland oes visiting a rainforest improve nurseries to increase genetic diversity Brisbane City Council Done’s mental health? Are rainforest and resilience. All enquiries, 3403 8888 frogs recovering from the devastating Amanda Maggs Fflur Collier It was wonderful to connect with chytrid fungus? And should we be using Cody Hochen Peter Hayes leading science in genetics, ecology and fire to limit rainforest encroachment into Nick Swanson Susan Nolan technology. Genetics is being used in neighbouring eucalypt forests? These Catherine Madden Tony Mlynarik questions and many more were posed by clever ways to determine evolutionary pathways and to also track gene flow the symposium, Rainforests of Subtropical City of Gold Coast between plantations and neighbouring Australia (ROSA) in late March. Attended by Lexie Webster, 5582 8344 wild plants. Technological advances over 200 people including many Land for Saul Hondow, 5582 8022 are being made in acoustic monitoring, Wildlife Officers and members, it was two Scott Sumner, 5582 8896 days of thought-provoking discussion. using radar to quantify tonnes of soil lost through erosion, and using fungi to break Todd Burrows, 5582 9128 The first two questions above would down plastic waste. Fascinating topics! Ipswich City Council probably be answered with a yes. The third Stephani Grove, 3810 7173 question is more complex and ultimately I will finish with a quote from the astute Ian Lowe who stated at ROSA that “It is our depends on what the land manager is Lockyer Valley Regional Council trying to achieve for that bushland area. morale duty to see rainforests as essential, complex ecological systems… that allow Martin Bennett, 5462 0376 Some take-home messages included: us the opportunity to connect with our Logan City Council soul.” I couldn’t agree more. • It is arguably more important to protect Peter Copping, 3412 5321 refugia, such as creeks, gullies, mountain Finally, I would like to welcome Martin tops and swamps, than it is to connect Bennett as Land for Wildlife Officer Moreton Bay Regional Council patches of vegetation because Australia’s for the Lockyer Valley. He brings great Ainslie Dyki, 5433 2288 plants and animals generally contract ecological expertise, as well as a thorough Nicole Byrne, 0419 700 213 to refugia rather than move when the understanding of Land for Wildlife given Wendy Heath, 3883 5636 climate changes. his work with other Councils in this role. Welcome Martin. Noosa Council • Some native freshwater crayfish can Kylie Gordon, 5329 6500 live to 30 years of age, usually spending Thanks to all the amazing contributors to their entire life in one burrow system this edition and, as always, I welcome your Redland City Council underneath the rainforest floor. stories for future editions. Maree Manby, 3820 1106 • Lyrebirds and scrub-birds are, Scenic Rim Regional Council evolutionary, the oldest songbirds on Deborah Metters Keith McCosh, 5540 5436 Earth and only occur in the subtropics. Land for Wildlife Regional • It is best to buy the same species of Coordinator Somerset Region plant from many different native plant Healthy Land and Water Darren McPherson, 5424 4000 Sunshine Coast Council Alan Wynn, 5439 6477 Danielle Outram, 5475 7339 Landholder Registrations, Land for Wildlife SEQ - 1/3/2017 Dave Burrows, 5475 7345 Marc Russell, 5475 7345 Registered Working Towards Total Area under Total Area Retained Nick Clancy, 5439 6433 Properties Registration Restoration Stephanie Reif, 5475 7395 3246 877 59,560 ha 6,435 ha Qld Murray-Darling Region Forward all contributions to: Print run - 4745 Toowoomba, Crows Nest and Back copies from 2007 - 2016 western regions The Editor available for download from Qld Murray-Darling Committee, Land for Wildlife Newsletter www.lfwseq.org.au 4637 6228 Healthy Land and Water Back copies from 1998 - 2006 PO Box 13204 available upon request to the Editor. Burnett Mary Region George Street QLD 4003 ISSN 1835-3851 Gympie, Fraser Coast, 07 3177 9100 Land for Wildlife is a voluntary program that North & South Burnett, [email protected] encourages and assists landholders to provide Bundaberg and Baffle Creek habitat for wildlife on their properties. Burnett Mary Regional Group, 4181 2999 Land for Wildlife South East Queensland lfwseq.org.au is a quarterly publication distributed facebook.com/lfwseq free of charge to members of the Land for Wildlife program in South East Queensland. 2 Land for Wildlife South East Queensland April 2017 The fruiting bodies of a large cup fungi profile fungus (Phillipsia subpurpurea) growing on logs. These fungi are endophytes and live most of their life inside plants. Amazing Endophytes When the plant dies, these fungi then need to fruit and reproduce. Photo by SJM McMullan-Fisher. he longer we study ecosystems, production of chemicals that decrease Tthe more we realise there are many palatability of leaves and stems. Up to 20 different organisms living together with intimate • Improved ability to withstand extreme connections. You don’t get much more temperatures and drought. species of endophyte intimate than the relationship between • Increased tolerance to heavy metals. were found in the plants and their symbiotic partners called • Improved salt tolerance in some plants. ‘endophytes’. leaves of one plant, So the community of endophytes found in The name describes where these fungi the humble Wombat the tissues of their host plant, live together live: endo = inside and phyte = plant. We for years with no need to reproduce as they Berry. also have intimate relationships with other are getting everything they need to survive organisms like the microbiome in our stomachs that helps us digest food. (food and water). It is only when their host plant senesces or dies that the endophytes By definition, fungal endophytes are fungi, appear to revert to a decomposer lifestyle which inhabit the leaves, stems, bark and and start recycling their host plant. At roots of plants without causing disease this stage they produce fruit bodies and symptoms. Some of these may be latent undergo sexual reproduction. pathogens but generally the relationship is beneficial to the host plant. Many endophytes are in the phylum Ascomycetes, which often produce fruit Endophytes in grasses have been the most bodies that are shaped like discs or cups. widely researched because of commercial Phillipsia subpurpurea is one of these local /agricultural implications. However, endophytes with large burgundy coloured this article will focus on the non-grass centres and white undersides found on endophytes, though their stories are rotten logs in local rainforests. Fruiting similar and equally amazing. down near the ground allows the spores Endophytes remain hidden from human to be dispersed where there are young sight when we look at ecosystems, as they rainforest plants that the endophytes can are living and working entirely within partner with.