Threatened Fauna in Box-Ironbark
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Threatened hollow-dependent fauna in Box-Ironbark forests of Victoria Bendigo Forest Management Area prepared by J.S.A Alexander for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Victoria Forests Service Technical Reports 97–3 December 1997 Copyright Department of Natural Resources and Environment 1997 Published by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment PO Box 500, East Melbourne Victoria 3002, Australia http:// www.nre.vic.gov.au This publication is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright owner. National Library of Australia – Cataloguing- in -Publication entry: Alexander J.S.A. (Jerrold Stephen Aubrey) Threatened hollow-dependent fauna in Box-Ironbark forests of Victoria: Bendigo Forest Management Area. Bibliography. ISSN 1324-7778 ISBN 0 7306 6201 2 1. Habitat (Ecology) – Victoria – Bendigo Region. 2. Wildlife conservation – Victoria – Bendigo Region. 3. Clearing of land – Environmental aspects – Victoria – Bendigo Region. I. Victoria. Dept. of Natural Resources and Environment. II. Title. (Series : Forests Service technical report ; 97-3). 333.954216099454 General Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. ii CONTENTS 1 BACKGROUND AND PROJECT BRIEF ...................................................... 1 2 METHODS AND REPORT OUTLINE........................................................... 2 3 SURVEY RESULTS ..................................................................................... 4 3.1 Spotlighting................................................................................4 3.2 Owl survey.................................................................................5 3.3 Hair-tube survey ........................................................................5 4 SPECIES ACCOUNTS ................................................................................. 7 4.1 Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua) ....................................................7 4.1.1 Distribution and historical context....................................7 4.1.2 Habitat requirements.......................................................8 4.1.3 Previous research ...........................................................9 4.1.4 Current surveys...............................................................9 4.1.5 Potential threatening processes and factors affecting population viability ..........................................10 4.1.6 Action statement...........................................................11 4.1.7 Representation within conservation reserves in the Bendigo FMA.......................................................11 4.2 Barking Owl (Ninox connivens)................................................12 4.2.1 Distribution and historical context..................................12 4.2.2 Habitat requirements.....................................................13 4.2.3 Previous research .........................................................13 4.2.4 Current surveys.............................................................13 4.2.5 Potential threatening processes and factors affecting population viability ..........................................14 4.2.6 Representation within conservation reserves in the Bendigo FMA.......................................................14 4.3 Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa)....................16 4.3.1 Distribution and historical context..................................16 4.3.2 Habitat requirements.....................................................17 4.3.3 Previous research .........................................................18 4.3.4 Current surveys.............................................................18 4.3.5 Potential threatening processes and factors affecting population viability ..........................................18 4.3.6 Action statement...........................................................19 4.3.7 Representation within conservation reserves in the Bendigo FMA.......................................................19 4.4 Squirrel Glider (Petaurus norfolcensis )...................................20 4.4.1 Distribution and historical context..................................20 4.4.2 Habitat requirements.....................................................21 4.4.3 Previous research .........................................................21 4.4.4 Current surveys.............................................................22 4.4.5 Potential threatening processes and factors affecting population viability ..........................................22 4.4.6 Representation within conservation reserves in the Bendigo FMA.......................................................23 iii 4.5 Tree Goanna (Varanus varius) ............................................... 24 4.5.1 Distribution and historical context................................. 25 4.5.2 Habitat requirements .................................................... 25 4.5.3 Previous research ........................................................ 25 4.5.4 Current surveys ............................................................ 25 4.5.5 Potential threatening processes and factors affecting population viability ......................................... 26 4.5.6 Representation within conservation reserves in the Bendigo FMA...................................................... 26 5 CONCLUDING REMARKS .........................................................................27 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................26 REFERENCES .................................................................................................27 APPENDIX Species synopsis for the Bendigo FMA ........................................31 FIGURES 1: The distribution of the Powerful Owl in Victoria .....................................................7 2: The proportion of site locality records relative to land tenure categories for the Powerful Owl from the Bendigo FMA .....................................11 3: The distribution of the Barking Owl in Victoria.....................................................12 4: The proportion of site locality records relative to land tenure categories for the Barking Owl from the Bendigo FMA .......................................15 5: The distribution of the Brush-tailed Phascogale in Victoria .................................16 6: The proportion of site locality records for the Brush-tailed Phascogale from the Bendigo FMA ....................................................................19 7: The distribution of the Squirrel Glider in Victoria .................................................20 8: The proportion of site locality records relative to land tenure categories for the Squirrel Glider from the Bendigo FMA ...................................23 9: The distribution of the Tree Goanna in Victoria ...................................................24 10: The proportion of site locality records relative to land tenure categories for the Tree Goanna from the Bendigo FMA .....................................26 TABLES 1: The number of individuals recorded by the Box-Ironbark Fauna Studies Group during spotlighting of the EVC sites...............................................4 2: The number of responses recorded by the Box-Ironbark Fauna Studies Group during the owl census of EVC sites ...............................................5 3: The total number of hair tubes from which each species was recorded by the Box-Ironbark Fauna Studies Group at the EVC sites .....................6 MAPS (All maps are located in the back pocket) 1: Powerful Owl distribution Bendigo - FMA 2: Barking Owl distribution Bendigo - FMA 3 Brush-tailed Phascogale distribution Bendigo - FMA 4: Squirrel Glider distribution Bendigo - FMA 5: Tree Goanna distribution Bendigo - FMA iv Threatened hollow dependent fauna in Box-Ironbark forests of Victoria 1 1 BACKGROUND AND PROJECT BRIEF The loss of hollow-bearing trees from native hardwood forests in Victoria has been listed recently as a potentially threatening process under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988). An Action Statement is currently being drafted which describes the appropriate management strategies needed to mitigate the loss of hollow-bearing trees from the landscape (Garnett and Loyn, in prep.). Natural tree hollows are a vital habitat component for many species of wildlife that inhabit Box-ironbark forests (Soderquist et al. 1994). Today, only 25% of the original Box- ironbark forest-cover remains in Victoria (Duncan, in prep.). Because of past land-use practices, no extensive areas of mature Box-ironbark now exist in Victoria (Traill 1991). Past clearing practices, the resultant loss of topsoil, change to nutrient levels, alteration of hydrological regimes and fragmentation of habitats, further alienates wildlife populations leaving them highly susceptible to local extinction. The habitat value of the Box-Ironbark forests is under further threat