Department of Environment and Natural Resources Supplementary Document to Draft Management Plan Lake St Clair Conservation Park 2010 For further information please contact: Department of Environment and Natural Resources Phone Information Line (08) 8204 1910, or see SA White Pages for your local Department of Environment and Natural Resources office. Permissive Licence © State of South Australia through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Apart from fair dealings and other uses permitted by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part of this publication may be reproduced, published, communicated, transmitted, modified or commercialised without the prior written approval of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. 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Reference to any company, product or service in this publication should not be taken as a Departmental endorsement of the company, product or service. © Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Purpose of Supplementary Document .................................................................................. 2 2 Description and Regional Setting ........................................................................................... 2 3 Physical Features ....................................................................................................................... 2 3.1 Geology ................................................................................................................................2 3.2 Hydrology.............................................................................................................................. 3 3.2.1 Groundwater Interactions ............................................................................... 3 4 Ecological Values...................................................................................................................... 3 4.1 Native Vegetation............................................................................................................... 3 4.2 Introduced Vegetation ...................................................................................................... 4 4.3 Regeneration Projects ........................................................................................................ 4 4.3.1 Grazing Exclosures ............................................................................................ 4 4.4 Native Fauna........................................................................................................................ 4 4.4.1 Birds ..................................................................................................................... 5 4.4.2 Mammals............................................................................................................ 5 4.4.3 Reptiles and Amphibians................................................................................. 6 4.4.4 Invertebrates...................................................................................................... 6 5 Infrastructure and Public Utilities ............................................................................................. 6 6 References ................................................................................................................................. 7 APPENDIX A: LOCATION AND FEATURES MAP OF LAKE ST CLAIR CONSERVATION PARK........ 8 APPENDIX B: GROUNDWATER LEVEL RECORDS SURROUNDING LAKE ST CLAIR ....................... 9 APPENDIX C: FLORA SPECIES LIST................................................................................................... 10 APPENDIX D: FAUNA SPECIES LIST .................................................................................................. 12 GLOSSARY JAMBA - Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement CAMBA - China-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement ROKAMBA – Republic of Korea-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement Supplementary Document – Lake St Clair Conservation Park Draft Management Plan – 2010 1 1 PURPOSE OF SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENT This supplementary document complements the management plan for Lake St Clair Conservation Park, providing detailed information on the natural and cultural features of the area. The information provided aims to provide the detail necessary for park managers to implement the strategic directions presented in the management plan. The document is also an information resource for anyone interested in Lake St Clair Conservation Park. 2 DESCRIPTION AND REGIONAL SETTING Lake St Clair Conservation Park is located in the south east of South Australia, approximately 20 kilometres south-east from Robe (Appendix A). The 189 hectare park was proclaimed on 29 June 2006 under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, with access under State mining legislation, to protect the remnant Swamp Antechinus (Antechinus minimus maritimus) habitat of Silky Tea-Tree/Cutting Grass (Leptospermum lanigerum/Gahnia spp.) that fringes the lake. Lake St Clair Conservation Park consists of Sections 95 and 180, and Allotment 12 of Deposited Plan 58109, Hundred of Bray, in the County of Robe. Lake St Clair Conservation Park protects high conservation value vegetation communities including the state endangered Silky Tea-tree (Leptospermum lanigerum) tall shrubland and Dryland Tea-tree (Melaleuca lanceolata)/ Drooping Sheoak (Allocasurina verticillata low woodland), state endangered Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata) low woodland, and the state vulnerable Thatching Grass (Gahnia filum) and Creeping Brookweed (Samolus repens sedgeland). It is considered to be a significant freshwater wetland in the South East Biodiversity Plan. The shoreline of Lake St Clair is fringed with remnant patches of native vegetation consisting of wetland plant communities and heath vegetation with tea-tree low woodland and open mallee woodland areas. This remnant fringing lakeside vegetation on the northern part of Lake St Clair presents the only opportunity to conserve intact native vegetation around the lake, which forms part of a coastal salt lake system. Lake St Clair Conservation Park is an important site for fauna, particularly the state endangered Swamp Antechinus and waterbirds, waders and waterfowl. Importantly, the park is thought to provide valuable habitat for two nationally significant birds: the Hooded Plover (Thinornis rubricollis; SA: V) and the Orange-bellied Parrot (Neophema chrysogaster; AUS: CE; SA: E). Orange-bellied Parrot have been recorded on the lake bed of Lake St Clair but outside of the park. The park was acquired as part of the National Reserve System Program of the Natural Heritage Trust to contribute to a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserves system (CARRS) for Australia. The program aims to make Australia’s conservation reserve system representative of the range of ecosystems that exist on the continent. The acquisition of Lake St Clair Conservation Park increases the representation of a specialised coastal hydrological ecosystem within the Naracoorte Coastal Plain bioregion, an area with a high priority rating under CARRS. 3 PHYSICAL FEATURES 3.1 Geology Lake St Clair Conservation Park falls within the Lake George Environmental Association (Laut et al., 1977), which is characterised by coastal plains and lagoons with small areas of consolidated calcarenite dunes. Calcarenite dunes surround Lake St Clair to the north and south, grading to coastal plains to the east of the lake (Laut et al., 1977). The series of wetlands, known as the South East Coastal Salt Lakes (Morelli and de Jong, 1996; Lands SA, 1991; Jones, 1978), occur between a low coastal dune ridge to the west and a relict Supplementary Document – Lake St Clair Conservation Park Draft Management Plan – 2010 2 coastal dune system to the east (Morelli and de Jong, 1996). The coastal dune ridge to the west separates the lakes from the Southern Ocean. The soils of Lake St Clair are black friable loams on the coastal plains with shallow red sandy loams on the calcarenite dunes (Laut et al., 1977). The soils of lake bed and coastal plains are covered by mud, clay, sand or shellgrit (Lands SA, 1991). 3.2 Hydrology Lake St Clair, a shallow, saline lake below sea level, forms the middle lake in a series of three large coastal salt lakes between Robe and Beachport. The presence of relict oyster beds in Lakes St Clair provides a record of Quaternary sea level change and prior connection of the lake to the Southern Ocean. The lake is now hydrologically closed, receiving inflows from rainfall, natural springs, sea water intrusion and private drains; outflows occur only via evaporation (Lands SA, 1991). The lake has a maximum depth of 1.4 metres, subject to seasonal fluctuations. The lake was formed by the emergence of the Beachport Environmental Association from the sea (Lands SA, 1991). The majority of the reserve occurs on land subject to freshwater inundation. Two drains enter