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Autumn 2010 Issue of Bush Heritage News

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Autumn 2010 Issue of Bush Heritage News www.bushheritage.org.au In this issue » A new acquisition in the west » Bird monitoring at Charles Darwin Reserve Bush Heritage News » Behind the scenes on a guided tour » A new Indigenous Protected Autumn 2010 Area in the north Wildlife-rich jewel saved from the bulldozers Charlotte Francis tells of Bush Heritage’s new Above: The malleefowl nest found at Monjebup acquisition in the west. North. PHOTOS: JIRI LOchman. hen Gondwana Link Coordinator aim of Gondwana Link is to conserve, Heritage’s existing Monjebup Reserve W Keith Bradby first visited Monjebup restore and reconnect a 1000 km to the south and Corackerup Public North in south-west Western Australia, pathway of native vegetation stretching Nature Reserve to the north. ‘With this there was a bulldozer sitting in the middle from the far south-west of Western final acquisition all these bits, together of a block of bushland. ‘A few hundred Australia to the edge of the Nullarbor. with properties held by other Gondwana Link groups, bolt together to create a hectares of valuable sand heath had The acquisition of Monjebup North large rectangle of healthy bush,’ says already been cleared,’ says Keith. ‘Luckily Reserve marks the successful Keith Bradby. the bulldozer had broken down, which completion of several years of planning prevented further clearing taking place.’ and negotiations. The property is prized Working with the former owner in Now, thanks to the generosity of our not only for its high conservation values, a gradual phase-out of the current partner The Nature Conservancy and but also for its location in the heart lease, Bush Heritage plans to restore an anonymous donor, Bush Heritage of the Fitz-Stirling region (the area the reserve’s 435 ha of cleared has acquired this wildlife-rich property between the Stirling Range and the farmland over the next three years and will be able to secure its rare and Fitzgerald National Parks). Comprising by revegetating with a mix of locally sourced native seed. threatened plants and animals for 1107 ha in total, the reserve is made up of 435 ha of cleared farmland and 672 the future. Monjebup North reserve Monjebup North Reserve represents a ha of bushland. is the sixth property in the visionary significant milestone in Bush Heritage’s Gondwana Link project in Western The reserve provides an essential overall goals of restoring ecological Australia. A multi-partner initiative, the ecological link between Bush integrity in the Fitz-Stirling region. 1 Bush Heritage News Left: Mallee woodland. PHOTO: MARIE LOchman. Right: Monjebup North is part of the visionary Gondwana Link project, which Kalgoorlie aims to reconnect fragmented patches of bush in south-west Western Australia. Perth Below, top to bottom: MaMoort (Eucalyptus platypus). PHOTO: MARIE Margaret LOchman. Yate swamp undergrowth. River Albany Bushy yate (Eucalyptus lehmannii ). Gondwana Link PHOTOS: JIRI LOchman. 0300 600 Kilometres Monjebup North Perth Reserve ‘One of the best ways to prepare the other partners such as Greening landscape to withstand the impacts of Australia and neighbouring landowners, climate change is to re-link isolated the management of Monjebup North We would like to acknowledge The Nature patches of bush and replant the cleared will be integrated with that of the Conservancy and The Nature Conservancy’s areas with native vegetation,’ explains other Bush Heritage and partner David Thomas Challenge for their generous support of this work. Bush Heritage Ecologist Angela properties. The initial focus will be on Sanders. Threatened species that will updating the fire management plan benefit from habitat restoration work and controlling foxes, cats and rabbits. include Carnaby’s black cockatoo, Another priority will be to reduce the the western whipbird and the spread of phytophthora, a dieback tammar wallaby. disease that poses a serious threat to So far over 8800 ha of land have been heath communities (such as banksia, brought into conservation management dryandra, grevillea and hakea) that are and approximately 1500 ha have been a vital food source for native fauna successfully revegetated in the Fitz- and invertebrates. Stirling area. At nearby Chereninup Creek Monitoring sites will be set up within the Reserve, for example, mallee-feeding birds target conservation areas across the such as the purple-gaped honeyeater and reserve to measure the effectiveness of the southern scrub robin are returning, land management activities. ‘We will be along with increased numbers of honey looking at changes in vegetation, bird and possums and pygmy possums. other animal populations,’ explains Angela The on-ground management activities Sanders. ‘For example, we will gauge at Monjebup North will focus on the the success of the feral animal control six conservation targets identified program by monitoring populations of in Gondwana Link’s Fitz-Stirling black-gloved and tammar wallabies.’ region management plan. Five of these occur on the property: creek Initial surveys of parts of the reserve systems; proteaceous-rich (heath have revealed some rare finds, type) communities; mallet and moort including an endangered orchid, a woodlands; yate trees; and tammar eucalypt found only within a 12 km and black-gloved wallabies. Survey radius, a malleefowl nest on a low and monitoring work along Monjebup cliff line, and a black-gloved wallaby. North Creek will look at the health of ‘It’s amazing that we’ve discovered the creek lines and establish whether so many wildlife species and plant freshwater communities – the sixth communities in such a limited time’ conservation target – occur here. says Angela Sanders. ‘We plan to Bush Heritage’s Gondwana Link undertake more detailed survey work Landscape Manager Simon Smale in the future and it augurs well for explains how, in collaboration with exciting discoveries.’ ■ 2 Autumn 2010 Left to right: Salt lake, Charles Darwin Reserve. A cluster of Major Mitchell cockatoos. Regent parrot. PHOTOS: Dale FUller. The beating of wings on Charles Darwin Reserve Ecological Outcomes Monitoring additional species per site) and a 45 per while conditions may have deteriorated, Coordinator, Jim Radford, looks cent increase in total abundance per site the reserve still contained some of the back over the first four years from 2005 to 2006 and 2007. However, best feeding areas in the region and was a refuge for birds during stressful of bird monitoring on Charles both indicators had receded back to 2005 levels by 2008. This pattern was times. This demonstrates the importance Darwin Reserve to reveal some observed for most groups of birds except of considering ecological changes on interesting trends. nectar-feeding birds, which remained our reserves within a broader landscape he unique location of Charles Darwin high in 2008. context because species will move around the landscape in response to TReserve, at the junction of two major Interpreting these patterns is challenging. botanical provinces, is responsible for the variations in resource availability. What The initial increases (2005 to 2007) extraordinary diversity of plants found there. happens on our reserves will be a product may be a result of removing stock and This diversity of plants and landscapes of our management but also of what’s controlling feral animals (especially goats), means that it also supports an abundance happening elsewhere in the region. leading to increased plant growth and of birdlife. More than 100 bird species have availability of food resources such as The future been recorded so far. Several of these are insects, nectar, seeds and fruit. However, Understanding ecological systems and threatened – such as the iconic malleefowl this appears to be only part of the story their response to management takes and Major Mitchell cockatoo – and many and does not explain the dip in 2008. time and patience. The variation in the others are of conservation concern, including bird data shows the importance of Rainfall is a key influence on wildlife, and the Australian bustard, regent parrot, rufous annual monitoring and taking a long-term treecreeper and white-browed babbler. there is often a lag between good rainfall perspective so as not to become overly and increases in bird populations. Rainfall pessimistic or optimistic about year-to- Bush Heritage purchased the reserve at Charles Darwin Reserve was about year changes in particular species. Real in 2003 and we have been monitoring average between 2004 and 2006, well change may take decades to become bird populations each spring since 2005, below average in 2007 and slightly above apparent. After four years of monitoring, as part of our long-term Ecological average in 2008. The increases detected we are starting to build a picture of the Outcomes Monitoring (EOM) program. between 2005 and 2007 were probably ‘background’ variation due to rainfall and There are now more than 80 permanent a result of our changed land management wider landscape factors, against which monitoring sites that are representative regimes. However, the decline in many longer-term change can be compared. of the underlying variation in geology, bird groups in 2008 may be a legacy of As we continue to collect data, we will soil type and topography. This monitoring the very dry conditions in 2007, when be able to examine the influence of effort, conducted with the help of Bush breeding success would have been very fire history, grazing management, feral Heritage supporters and volunteers, low and some species may have sought herbivore control and other management provides powerful indicators of ecosystem better conditions elsewhere. interventions on the bird community, and health and is starting to pay dividends: integrate the results of monitoring into the Why didn’t the nectar-feeding birds also several interesting trends are emerging management review process on Charles decrease in 2008? Many nectar-feeding that will inform future management. Darwin Reserve. ■ birds are highly mobile nomads that Trends in species richness and abundance traverse the landscape in search of the Bush Heritage’s Ecological Outcomes Monitoring program is generously supported by the We detected a 25 per cent increase best feeding patches.
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