City of Melville
Heathcote
Strategic Management Plan 2014-2019
FINAL
Executive Summary Heathcote Reserve is located on the Swan River in the suburb of Applecross in the north-east of the City of Melville. The reserve includes 1.07 hectares of bushland, which is highly isolated from other bushland remnants.
Heathcote Reserve is ranked highly amongst the City of Melville’s natural areas, and is recognised as regionally significant (as Bush Forever Site 329). The bushland is regionally significant, as less than 30% of the Karrakatta Central and South vegetation complex remains uncleared.
Of the 27 assets targeted for monitoring and management: • 19 assets were of regional significance • 1 heritage site . Heathcote Hospital • 1 ecological community . Karrakatta Vegetation Complex – Central and South • 11 plant populations present onsite . Acacia cochlearis . Acanthocarpus preissii . Banksia sessilis var. cygnorum . Conostylis candicans . Eucalyptus gomphocephala . Grevillea crithmifolia . Lepidosperma gladiatum . Olearia axillaris . Rhagodia baccata . Scaevola nitida . Templetonia retusa • 3 plant populations extinct onsite . Callitris preissii . Conospermum triplinervium . Melaleuca systena • 2 plant populations possibly extinct onsite . Lepidosperma gracile . Lomandra maritima • 1 bird populations . Smicrornis brevirostris, Weebill
The 67 native plant species represent approximately one sixth of the 434 species recorded in the City of Melville. Of these: • 1 tree (Callitris preissii) is regionally significant and went extinct onsite prior to the 1980s; • 2 shrubs (Conospermum triplinervium and Melaleuca systena) are regionally significant and went extinct onsite after 1998; • 2 herbs (Lepidosperma gracile and Lomandra maritima) are regionally significant, and either went extinct onsite after 1998 or are present in very low abundance and at very high risk of extinction; • 1 tree (Banksia grandis) is not regionally significant, and went extinct onsite after 2001; • 1 tree (Eucalyptus gomphocephala) and 3 shrub (Templetonia retusa, Grevillea crithmifolia and Scaevola nitida) populations are regionally significant, at high risk of extinction onsite, and require targeted action to ensure their persistence onsite; • Other species are at risk of local extinction and a survey is required to determine numbers of plants of individual species.
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The 13 native animal species (1 bat, 1 reptile and 11 birds) confirmed onsite represent one twentieth of the 240 species recorded in the City of Melville. A further 49 species (18 reptiles, 27 birds, 4 invertebrates) have the potential to be locally resident, and 10 bird and 1 bat species could utilise the reserve at times as migrants or vagrants.
Of the 50 threats considered for targeted monitoring and management, the very high impact threats onsite were: • 3 weeds (Bridal Creeper, Perennial Clumping Grasses and Brazilian Pepper) • 1 feral animal (Felis catus, cats); and • climate change (extremely high temperatures and low rainfall).
A discussion is provided on changes in assets and threats between 2001 and 2013, but a comprehensive audit of key performance indicators, and many leading and lagging indicators was not possible as quantitative data collection has not been previously standardised by the City of Melville for bushland management. Between 2001 and 2013: • 11 threats were prevented, unchanged, or decreased; • 1 threats increased; • 25 threats could not be assessed for changes; • 1 asset was enhanced; • 23 assets were maintained; • 2 assets (2 plants) were not maintained and went extinct; and • 57 assets could not be assessed for changes.
It is envisaged that future plans will review the outcomes and effectiveness of management, and for the period 2014-2019, this strategic reserve plan establishes 35 objectives for threats in order to meet the 29 goals set for assets. These are to be implemented through operational reserve plans, guidelines and procedures.
The major priorities for management of the bushland at Heathcote Reserve should be: • preventing the onsite extinction of 11 regionally significant plant populations (with a further 2 populations possibly onsite in very low abundance); • preventing the onsite extinction of all plant populations that are not regionally significant; • where it doesn’t impinge upon the above then consideration should also be given to re-introducing species that have gone extinct; • maintaining public access; and • maintaining river views from the parkland areas above the bushland.
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Recommended Reference
The recommended reference for this document is:
Waters, A (2014) Heathcote Strategic Management Plan 2014-2019, Woodgis Environmental Assessment and Management for the City of Melville, Perth.
Acknowledgements
Woodgis Environmental Assessment and Management would like to acknowledge the contribution of the following personnel from the City of Melville during preparation of the strategic management plan: • Kellie Motteram, Environmental Officer; • Blair Bloomfield, Environmental Maintenance Supervisor; and • Errol Allen, Team Leader - Environmental Maintenance.
Acronyms and Definitions
DBH diameter at breast height DEC (WA) Department of Environment and Conservation DEP (WA) Department of Environmental Protection DPaW (WA) Department of Parks and Wildlife EPBC Act Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act FCT Floristic Community Type ha hectares NAAMP Natural Areas Asset Management Plan WAPC Western Australian Planning Commission
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ...... 2 Recommended Reference ...... 4 Acknowledgements ...... 4 Acronyms and Definitions ...... 4 Table of Contents ...... 5 Figures ...... 6 Tables ...... 7 1 Introduction ...... 8 1.1 Background ...... 8 1.2 Objectives ...... 10 1.3 Scope ...... 10 2 Assets ...... 11 2.1 Overview ...... 11 2.1 Reserve Assets ...... 13 2.1.1 Bush Forever ...... 13 2.1.1 Ecological Linkages ...... 14 2.2 Site Assets ...... 17 2.2.1 Ecological Communities ...... 17 2.2.2 Fauna Habitat ...... 19 2.2.3 Wetlands ...... 20 2.2.4 Heritage ...... 21 2.2.4 Community Interest ...... 22 2.2.5 Reference ...... 23 2.3 Species ...... 25 2.3.1 Native Flora ...... 25 2.3.1 Native Fauna...... 28 3 Threats ...... 30 3.1 Physical Disturbance ...... 31 3.2 Fire ...... 32 3.4 Habitat Loss ...... 34 3.5 Feral Animals ...... 35 3.6 Diseases and Pathogens ...... 37 3.7 Stormwater ...... 37 3.8 Reticulation ...... 37 3.10 Climate Change ...... 38 4 Management ...... 40 4.1 Review of Management 2001-2013 ...... 40 4.1.1 Key Performance Indicators ...... 40 4.1.2 Leading Indicators ...... 41 4.1.3 Lagging Indicators ...... 42 4.2 Management Objectives 2014-2019 ...... 43
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4.2.1 Key Performance Indicators ...... 43 4.2.2 Leading Indicators ...... 47 4.2.3 Lagging Indicators ...... 48 References ...... 49 Appendix 1 Flora Inventory ...... 52 Appendix 2 Fauna Inventory ...... 54 Appendix 3 Weed Distributions ...... 56
Figures Figure 1 Context of Strategic Reserve Plans in relation to other documents ...... 8 Figure 2 Documents used to Maintain/Enhance Assets by Managing Threats...... 9 Figure 3 Location of Heathcote Reserve in the Suburb of Applecross ...... 10 Figure 4 Assessment of Assets in Natural Areas ...... 11 Figure 5 Bush Forever Site 329 – Point Heathcote Foreshore ...... 13 Figure 6 Aerial Photo of Heathcote Reserve 1965 ...... 15 Figure 7 Aerial Photo of Heathcote Reserve 1974 ...... 15 Figure 8 Aerial Photo of Heathcote Reserve 2009 ...... 16 Figure 9 Vegetation Associations ...... 17 Figure 10: Areas of High Native Plant Cover 2013 ...... 18 Figure 11 Habitat Trees in 2013 ...... 19 Figure 12 Heritage Sites...... 21 Figure 13 Community Interest Sites...... 22 Figure 14 Banksia attenuata and Banksia menziesii Distribution 2013 ...... 27 Figure 15 Assessment of Threats in Natural Areas ...... 30 Figure 16 Location of Physical Disturbances ...... 31 Figure 17 Bare Ground 2013 ...... 34 Figure 18 Weed Cover (grasses and herbs) 2013 ...... 34 Figure 19 Installations in and adjacent to bushland ...... 40 Figure 20: Very High Impact Weeds (excluding grasses) ...... 56 Figure 21: Very High Impact Perennial Clumping Grass Weeds ...... 56 Figure 22: High Impact Weeds (shrub/trees & giant grasses) ...... 56 Figure 23: High Impact Weeds (geophytes) ...... 56 Figure 24: High Impact Annual Clumping Grass Weeds ...... 56 Figure 25: High Impact Perennial Running Grass Weeds ...... 56 Figure 26: Medium Impact Perennial Weeds ...... 56 Figure 27: Low Impact Annual Weeds ...... 56
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Tables Table 1 Groups of Assets generally most susceptible to Threats ...... 12 Table 2 Extents of Vegetation Associations ...... 17 Table 3 Ecological Community Sites ...... 18 Table 4 Ecological Community Indices ...... 19 Table 5 Comparison of Density of Very Large Trees with other Reserves ...... 19 Table 6 Fauna Habitat Sites Indices ...... 20 Table 7 Wetland Types ...... 20 Table 8 Indicator Indices ...... 22 Table 9 Community Interest Sites 2013 ...... 22 Table 10 Revegetation Objectives ...... 23 Table 11 Community Interest Site Indices ...... 23 Table 12 Native Trees (Tag Numbers 295-343) ...... 24 Table 13 Reference Site Indices ...... 24 Table 14 Indicator Flora Species ...... 25 Table 15 Mammal Species to be Monitored ...... 28 Table 16 Mammal Habitat Considerations for Revegetation ...... 28 Table 17 Reptile Indices ...... 28 Table 18 Reptile Habitat Considerations for Revegetation at Heathcote ...... 28 Table 19 Bird Indices ...... 29 Table 20 Bird Habitat Considerations for Revegetation at Heathcote ...... 29 Table 21 Physical Disturbance Indices ...... 31 Table 22 Fire Indices ...... 32 Table 23 Number of Weed Species in Each Impact Category ...... 32 Table 24 Weed Presence / Extents 1998 - 2013 ...... 32 Table 25 Number of Plants in 2013 of Selected Weeds ...... 33 Table 26 Extents of Bare Ground and Weed Cover Categories ...... 35 Table 27 Habitat Loss Indices ...... 35 Table 28 Feral Animal Occurrences ...... 35 Table 29 Feral Animal Indices ...... 36 Table 30 Disease and Pathogen Indices ...... 37 Table 31 Reticulation Indices ...... 37 Table 32 Acid Sulfate Soil Indices ...... 37 Table 33 Average Monthly Maximum Temperatures 2004-2013 ...... 38 Table 34 Monthly Rainfall 2004-2013 ...... 38 Table 35 Extreme Weather Events ...... 39 Table 36 Leading Indicators ...... 41 Table 37 Lagging Indicators ...... 42 Table 38 Application of Bushfire Management Guidelines ...... 43 Table 39 Application of Environmental Weed Management Document...... 44 Table 40 Application of Revegetation Management Document ...... 44 Table 41 Application of Management of Feral Animals Document ...... 45 Table 42 Application of Guidelines for Disease and Pathogens ...... 45 Table 43 Application of Friends Group Manual ...... 46 Table 44 Tiered Objectives for Threats and Associated Leading Indicators ...... 47 Table 45 Objectives for Weed Species in Heathcote Reserve...... 47 Table 46 Objectives for all other Threats in Heathcote Reserve ...... 47 Table 47 Tiered Goals for Assets and Associated Lagging Indicators ...... 48 Table 48 Goals for Indicator Species ...... 48 Table 49 Goals for Sites ...... 48 Table 50 Native Flora Inventory ...... 52 Table 51 Weed Inventory ...... 53 Table 52 Mammal Inventory ...... 54 Table 53 Native Reptile and Amphibian Inventory ...... 54 Table 54 Native Bird Inventory ...... 55 Table 55 Native Invertebrate Inventory ...... 55 Table 56 Feral Animal Inventory ...... 55
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1 Introduction 1.1 Background The Heathcote Strategic Management Plan updates the: • Point Heathcote Foreshore Reserve Rehabilitation Plan (Siemon, 2001).
In accordance with the City of Melville’s Natural Areas Asset Management Plan (NAAMP) framework, the Strategic Reserve Plan forms part of the integrated set of documents shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 Context of Strategic Reserve Plans in relation to other documents
The Strategy Reserve Plan is structured with the major headings of assets and threats in accordance with the NAAMP framework, whereby assets are maintained or enhanced by the management of threats (using the strategies and guidelines) as summarised in Figure 2.
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Priorities Threats impacting on Techniques for Protection from Threats assets and therefore for Management of Threats subject to Management
BIODIVERSITY ASSETS THREATS STRATEGIES AND GUIDELINES
tormwater Management Management tormwater Bush Forever Reserves Reserves Forever Bush Sites Community Ecological Sites Wetland Sites Heritage Community Interest Sites Sites Reference Species Flora Native Species Fauna Native Barrier and Path Sign, Guidelines Bushfire Strategy & Strategy Weed Control Guidelines & Strategy Revegetation Guidelines and Strategy Animal Feral Guidelines Pathogen and Diseases Guidelines S Strategy Guidelines Reticulation Guidelines Soils Sulfate Acid Engagement Community X X X X X X Physical Disturbance X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Fire X X X X X X X X X X X X Weeds X X X X X
X X X X Habitat Loss X X X
X X X X Feral Animals X X X
X X X X X X X X Diseases & Pathogens X X X
X X X X X X X Stormwater X X
X Reticulation X
X X X X X X Acid Sulfate Soils X
X X X X X Climate Change X X Figure 2 Documents used to Maintain/Enhance Assets by Managing Threats Red = Strategy intended to Prevent, Eliminate, Contain or Manage impacts from threat Orange = Strategy or Guideline to Manage secondary impacts from threats
Guidelines and procedures were to largely pre-empt strategic reserve plans, to ensure efficiency and consistency in benchmarking and monitoring expected outcomes. The City of Melville has begun to develop the guidelines and procedures required but they do not yet fully apply the framework for ranking/prioritising assets and threats, nor document all management and monitoring techniques.
Historically management plans have focused on developing flora and fauna inventories to identify reserves of greatest significance within the City of Melville. Under the NAAMP framework, the focus is moving to risk assessment and prioritisation of management objectives within reserves, and it is envisaged that future plans will focus to a greater degree on reviewing the outcomes and effectiveness of management strategies and guidelines.
The NAAMP provides a framework for consistently prioritising assets and threats between reserves, and a format for plans, and that also facilitates community involvement in managing specific reserves: • During the preparation of strategic reserve plans, the community can assist in: • the identification and benchmarking of assets and threats • quantifying objectives for threats and goals for assets (e.g. specific number of very high value plants of a species to be established onsite). • During the life of strategic plans, the community can assist in: • the identification and delineation of additional assets (including revegetation sites) and threats; • the monitoring of assets and threats; and • on-grounds works in the context of specific and measurable goals.
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1.2 Objectives Under the framework of the NAAMP, the objectives of this and all City of Melville Strategic Reserve Plan/s are to: • document: • the extent and/or abundance and condition of assets; • the present and potential level and extent of impacts of threats; • any changes evident in the assets and threats over time; • reserve-specific risk-based management priorities; • management strategies relevant to the specific reserve; and • discuss: • reserve-specific application of strategies and make reserve specific recommendation regarding the implementation of strategies.
1.3 Scope The scope of this Strategic Reserve Plan is the 1.07 hectares of bushland in the 2.97 hectare Heathcote Reserve (Reserve 47152). This reserve is located on the Swan River in the suburb of Applecross, in the north-east of the City of Melville, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3 Location of Heathcote Reserve in the Suburb of Applecross
This reserve was rated highly in terms of its overall value in the NAAMP. Of the four ratings, Heathcote Reserve was in the highest tier.
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2 Assets 2.1 Overview The City of Melville has committed to a strategic goal to ‘contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity for the preservation of our natural flora and fauna’.
The NAAMP documents the regional context for climate, soils, landforms, flora and fauna; and establishes a framework by which biodiversity is: • defined as assets at three scales: • Reserves (usually defined by cadastral boundaries); • Sites (management units such as a vegetation type that may encompass either a part or the entirety of a reserve); or • Species (a group of organisms capable of interbreeding freely with each other but not with members of other species). • prioritised for either maintenance and enhancement (or confirmation if its status onsite is uncertain, or monitoring if a reserve is not critical habitat) in terms of: • Values (assessed with reference to local regional, state, national and international significance) as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4 Assessment of Assets in Natural Areas
To provide foci for management and monitoring, a strategic risk assessment was undertaken in the 2013 NAAMP (Waters A. , 2013) to identify assets with elevated susceptibility to threats.
Assets are used as indices where they are significant and/or vulnerable to loss or degradation without targeted action. Vulnerable assets were determined on the basis of the characteristics summarised in Table 1.
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Table 1 Groups of Assets generally most susceptible to Threats Assets Threats Sites Fauna Species Flora Species Physical Ground dwelling and/or All shrubs, and All sites Disturbance burrowing reptiles herbaceous species Fire Trees and shrubs that All ground dwelling species are killed by fire and All sites (non-burrowing, non-climbing regenerate only from and non-flying species) seed stored on the plant Weeds Ground dwelling and/or All shrubs, and All sites burrowing reptiles herbaceous species Habitat Loss Listed as Threatened or Priority by DPaW Listed as Threatened or Ecological Community Priority by DPaW listed as Threatened or Present in few reserves or Priority by DPaW few individuals in a reserve Present in few reserves
or few individuals in a Present in few reserves Cannot persist in urban or reserve
‘small’ bushland areas
Hollow dependent species Feral Animals Cats and foxes - All species - Rabbits Revegetation sites - - Bees - Hollow dependent species All herbaceous species Diseases & All sites No species Wide range of species Pathogens Stormwater All wetland dependent All wetland dependent All wetlands species species Reticulation Reptiles that are either All shrubs, and All sites ground dwelling and/or herbaceous species burrowing Acid Sulfate Soils All wetland dependent All wetland dependent
species species Climate Change Long-lived shallow rooted All wetland dependent All wetlands and associated with species saturated soils
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2.1 Reserve Assets 2.1.1 Bush Forever Bush Forever Sites are properties listed as containing regionally significant bushland by the Government of Western Australia (2000). Bush Forever is not subject to ongoing revision and therefore the Bush Forever status of reserves is expected to remained unchanged for the foreseeable future. However under the NAAMP, Bush Forever status is considered in terms of: • prioritising management resources between reserves; and • managing sites and species within reserves to ensure reserves continue to meet the Bush Forever criteria for which they were listed.
Point Heathcote Foreshore, Bush Forever Site Number 329, as shown in Figure 5, does not strictly contain the bushland of Heathcote Reserve, but the site description includes values (such as plant species) in the bushland and it is interpreted that the Bush Forever Site includes all of the bushland in Heathcote Reserve.
Figure 5 Bush Forever Site 329 – Point Heathcote Foreshore
Point Heathcote Reserve met the requirements for two (out of a possible seven) criteria.
Bush Forever Volume 2: directory of Bush Forever Sites (Government of Western Australia, 2000), gives some indication of the justifications for Bush Forever Listings but with some degree of interpretation possible. The Bush Forever values of Site 329, for the purposes of the management of sites and species onsite, are: • General criteria for the protection of wetland, steamline and estuarine fringing vegetation and coastal vegetation (Conservation category wetlands areas including fringing vegetation and associated upland vegetation. Coastal vegetation within the accepted coastal management zone) • The Swan-Canning Estuary is listed in the Directory of Important Wetlands • Heathcote is one of the few naturally vegetated areas on the Swan Estuary • The Strategic Reserve Plan Reserve is consistent with these values in managing the site for biodiversity values.
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• Criteria not relevant to determination of regional significance, but which may be applied when evaluating areas having similar values (Attributes which taken alone do not establish regional significance, but which can add to the value of bushland and enhance its contribution to Bush Forever) • Heathcote is an open space of regional significance • The distribution of a series of species associated with the Spearwood dunes is extended inland along the river by their occurrence onsite (including Conospermum triplinervium, Conostylis candicans, Banksia sessilis var. cygnorum, Eucalyptus gomphocephala, Scaevola nitida and Templetonia retusa) • The site is representative of the Karrakatta - Central and South vegetation complex (which has been poorly reserved in the Perth Metropolitan Area) with most of the areas likely to be conserved were to be north of the Perth Metropolitan Area, and likely to become rare (i.e. subject to more than 90% clearing in the long- term) due to identified “development proposals and Urban/Industrial Planning Zones”. • The pre-existing status of Heathcote Reserve as a reserve with some inherent level of protection from clearing would have been a consideration in listing it as a Bush Forever Site. • The Strategic Reserve Plan Reserve is consistent with these values in managing the site for biodiversity values with a specific focus on plant species of the Spearwood dunes.
2.1.1 Ecological Linkages Ecological linkages can increase the effective size of flora populations, and increase available habitat for individual animals, and help maintain genetic diversity for animals and plants by providing connections between groups of animals and plants in isolated bushland remnants.
The management of linkages is outside of the scope of Strategic Reserve Plans and is dealt with through processes such as: • land use planning processes; • the City of Melville’s Green Plan (Alan Tingay and Associates, 1999); • the City of Melville Streetscape Strategy; and • the City of Melville Public Open Space Strategy.
Under the NAAMP, linkages are considered in terms of: • prioritising management resources between reserves, and • determining whether species can persist onsite in the long term.
Heathcote Reserve was included in: • the north-south Regional Greenway 24, ‘Swan River’, by identified by Alan Tingay and Associates (1998). • The Swan-Canning Rivers are a regionally significant contiguous bushland/wetland linkage (Government of Western Australia, 2000).
Whilst the Swan-Canning Rivers are a significant wetland linkage, the Heathcote Reserve bushland has been highly isolated from other terrestrial bushland remnants for approximately 50 years. The last significant reduction in the extent of, and connectivity between, bushland remnants in the vicinity was between 1965 and 1974, as indicated by aerial photography from 1965, 1974 and 2009 (Figure 6, Figure 7 and Figure 8).
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Figure 6 Aerial Photo of Heathcote Reserve 1965
Figure 7 Aerial Photo of Heathcote Reserve 1974
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Figure 8 Aerial Photo of Heathcote Reserve 2009
There is no other native vegetation in a circle extending 2 km out from the centre of Heathcote Reserve. The total of 0.1% native cover in this area has implications for the long term persistence of some flora and fauna species onsite, as discussed in Section 2.3 and Section 4.
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2.2 Site Assets 2.2.1 Ecological Communities The two vegetation types (associations) identified in the Flora Assessment - Estuarine Reserves (Blackwall Reach, Point Walter and Heathcote (Waters A. , 2013) are listed in Table 2.
Table 2 Extents of Vegetation Associations Associations Extent (ha) Templetonia retusa (Cockies Tongues) shrubland 0.08 Eucalyptus gomphocephala (Tuart) woodland 1.00 Total 1.07
The distribution of these vegetation associations are shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9 Vegetation Associations
Assets are prioritised on the basis of their highest level of significance when they are assessed against multiple datasets. The significance of vegetation can be assessed in terms of several classifications: • Vegetation Complexes are a regional classification for the Swan Coastal Plain, Darling Scarp and Darling Plateau mapped by Heddle et al. (1980) on the basis of combinations of plants communities, soils and landforms. Plant communities may occur in more than one soil-landform combination but the relative proportions of plant communities vary between these (Government of Western Australia, 2000). Floristic Community Types (FCTs) are a regional classification for the Swan Coastal Plain and Darling Scarp defined in terms of groups of co-occurring plants by Gibson et al. (1995) and the DEP (1996). Whilst FCTs are distributed in more of a mosaic than vegetation complexes, the classifications are equivalent in dividing the region into a roughly equal number of classes. There are some associations between FCTs and vegetation complexes (i.e. some FCTs tend to occur in particular complexes), but there is no hierarchical relationship between them. No assessment was made in terms of FCTs as none were inferred for Heathcote Reserve by the Government of Western Australia (2000) or Waters (2013). The vegetation at Heathcote has similarities to FCT 24 and 28 but the site is highly degraded and the inferred FCT changes with small adjustments to the dataset (e.g. assumptions regarding whether one or two species were planted) (Waters A. , 2013); and
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• Vegetation Types are a local classification in the City of Melville mapped by Ecoscape (2006) in terms of dominant overstorey species. The general descriptions of vegetation types were applied to vegetation associations to avoid issues with minor discrepancies in interpretation of boundaries.
The ecological communities for which objectives apply in the Heathcote Reserves are listed in Table 4.
Table 3 Ecological Community Sites Floristic Vegetation Association Vegetation Complex Vegetation Types Community Types Karrakatta upland dominated by Templetonia retusa Central and South Eucalyptus species (Cockies Tongues) shrubland Complex
Not Determined Low Significance High Significance Eucalyptus gomphocephala Multiple occurrences Vegetation Complex with (Tuart) woodland in Melville 10-30% uncleared
The areas of high native plant cover (<25% weeds, <25% bare ground and >15 m from very large weed trees) in 2013 is shown in Figure 10, although it should be noted that the cover of annual weeds varies over time and could be expected to be higher in years of high rainfall, and there is relatively high cover of weed shrubs in some areas which is not captured in this index, and weeds such as Brazilian Pepper have the capacity to become very large trees (in which case the native plant cover declines) if not eliminated.
Figure 10: Areas of High Native Plant Cover 2013
Land Monitor data (Furby, Zhu, Wu, & Wallace, 2013), which indicates changes in the density of perennial vegetation, can provide context for examining changes in ecological communities. No assessment was possible of trends in vegetation density as the bushland at Heathcote (which is at most only 35 m wide) is too small for reliable interpretation of vegetation density trends from Land Monitor data (Furby, Zhu, Wu, & Wallace, 2013), as 25 x 25 m pixels captured by satellites in different years would not exactly coincide and every pixel value would be influenced by the proportion of the pixel contained within the bushland. The ecological communities for which objectives apply in Heathcote Reserve are listed in Table 4.
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Table 4 Ecological Community Indices High Native High Native Assets Values Ecological Community Sites Plant Cover Plant Cover 2001-2013 2001 2013 Karrakatta – Central and South High Vegetation Complex Vegetation • Templetonia retusa (Cockies Change Not Complex No Data 85% Tongues) shrubland Assessable with 10-30% • Eucalyptus gomphocephala (Tuart) uncleared woodland
2.2.2 Fauna Habitat Very large trees are important habitat sites for a number of resident and migratory birds and bats: • many birds rely on tree hollows (Birdlife Australia, 2013), • roost sites (in tree hollows and under flaking/rough bark) are a critical habitat requirement for bats (Hosken, 1996). • The size of trees is one of the critical factors in determining the likelihood of hollow formation in trees (Gibbons & Lindenmayer, 2002).
The locations of the very large live native trees (trunk diameter at breast height greater than 50 cm) are shown in Figure 11. There were no very large dead trees onsite. These are also fauna habitat site regardless of whether they were native or not.
Figure 11 Habitat Trees in 2013
The number of very large trees per hectare compares poorly with the other reserves in for which there is data, as listed in Table 5.
Table 5 Comparison of Density of Very Large Trees with other Reserves Heathcote Bullcreek Estuarine North-West Kings Very Large Trees 1 1 1 1 2 Reserve Reserves Reserves Reserves Park Live Native Tree 4 13 18 17 11 Dead Tree 0 0 3 2 4 Total 4 13 21 19 15 1: DBH > 50 cm (strategic reserve management plans) 2: DBH > 45 cm (Beard, 1967).
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The fauna habitat for which objectives apply are listed in Table 6, which reflects that the number of very large trees was not previously benchmarked for the Heathcote Reserve in 2008, and that there was no evidence of significant changes 2001-2013.
Table 6 Fauna Habitat Sites Indices Trees / Hectare Trees / Hectare Assets Values Habitat Sites 2001 2013 2001-2013 Maintained Medium Live Native Tree 4 No Data (assumed Very Large Trees Dead Tree 0 unchanged)
2.2.3 Wetlands Wetlands are defined in Schedule 5 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 as areas ‘of seasonally, intermittently or permanently waterlogged or inundated land, whether natural or otherwise, and includes a lake, swamp, marsh, spring, dampland, tidal flat or estuary’ and wetlands can be categorised in accordance with Table 7.
Table 7 Wetland Types LANDFORM WATER LONGEVITY BASIN CHANNEL FLAT SLOPE HIGHLAND Permanent Inundation Lake River - - - Seasonal Inundation Sumpland Creek Floodplain - - Intermittent Inundation Playa Wadi Barlkarra - - Seasonal Waterlogging Dampland Trough Palusplain Paluslope Palusmont Source: Government of Western Australia (2000)
With the exception of the Swan River foreshore, which is outside the scope of this management plan, Heathcote Reserve contains no wetland sites identified: • in the DPaW’s Geomorphic Wetlands Swan Coastal Plain dataset, based on the mapping of Hill et al. (1996); or • through the presence of wetland dependent species onsite.
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2.2.4 Heritage The heritage sites in Heathcote Reserve are shown in Figure 12.
Figure 12 Heritage Sites
Heathcote Reserve contains no heritage sites listed on the National Heritage List.
The Heathcote Reserve bushland (‘the lower and upper lands of Point Heathcote’) is included in Heathcote Hospital (Point Heathcote Reception Home), Heritage Place No. 3289, on the WA Heritage Register. The significance of the site is not primarily related to the bushland, with the Statement of Significance (Heritage Council, 2014) being that Heathcote Hospital is significant on the following grounds: • Social Value: The choice of the site was made on the basis that its attractive environment would be therapeutic for the patients. • Authenticity: The buildings are intact. • Historic Value: Site named after midshipman Heathcote who was a member of Stirling's exploration party up the Swan River. Considered as possible site for the capital city for the infant colony in 1829.
The bushland contributed to the value of the heritage site in facilitating river views and access to the foreshore, which would have formed part of the ‘attractive environment therapeutic for the patients’.
The Heathcote Reserve bushland is immediately adjacent two sites listed on the WA Aboriginal Sites Register: • Site 18623 (Goolugatup) is a ceremonial/mythological/historical site with additional information listed as ‘ochre, birthplace, meeting place, plant resource, camp, hunting place, named place, natural feature, water source’; and • Site 3536 (Swan River) is a mythological site.
The City of Melville’s Municipal Heritage Inventory includes a large number of parks (including Heathcote and Point Heathcote Lower Lands), as parks & reserves are a prominent feature of Melville compared to other inner-metro-ring local governments.
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The heritage sites for which objectives apply are listed in Table 8.
Table 8 Indicator Indices Assets Site Heritage Sites Extent 2001 Extent 2013 2001-2013 River views Very High No Data Maintained Heathcote Hospital- (metric TBA) Site listed on the WA (assumed Heritage Place No. 3289 Heritage Register 625 m of paths 625 m of paths unchanged)
The extent of uninterrupted and partial river views from the lawns of Heathcote Hospital can be quantified, but consultation will be required to determine the appropriate measure and acceptable thresholds against which it is measured.
2.2.4 Community Interest Recreation and revegetation sites can be a focus for community interest as these are visible manifestations of natural area management, and the public is often directly involved their proposal or implementation. The community interest sites are listed in Table 9 and shown in Figure 13.
Table 9 Community Interest Sites 2013 Community Interest Sites 2013 Extents Plantings 1630 m2
Figure 13 Community Interest Sites
Revegetation sites (plantings) are areas in which plantings have been undertaken and are currently being intensively managed and have not been assessed against completion criteria, at which point they stop being treated as revegetation sites. No plantings/closed tracks in Figure 13 have been assessed against criteria in Table 10.
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Table 10 Revegetation Objectives Revegetation Category Objectives Establishment of individual plants Plants > 5 years old or artificial hollows Hollows used by target species A minimum number of plants or artificial hollows Rehabilitation Plants > 5 years old Reinstating self-sustaining and Gaps between native plants < 1 m x 1 m functional ecosystems based on Weed cover < 25% and bare ground < 25% in any 100 m2 area (in local species, but not aspiring to which a rectangle with a minimum side of 2 m can fit) fully replace all of the original A number of shrubs/trees (the number varying between sites) components of an ecosystem. Diversity criteria generally not set Restoration of vegetation Diversity and density measurements benchmarked against Reinstating the composition, reference site structure, function and dynamics of pre-existing indigenous ecosystems
There were no revegetation sites in the forms of nest boxes or closed tracks in the bushland of Heathcote Reserve.
The community interest sites for which objectives apply are listed in Table 11.
Table 11 Community Interest Site Indices Completion Completion Assets Values Community Interest Sites Criteria Met Criteria Met 2001-2013 1991-2000 2001-2013 Medium Change Not 8 Plantings No data No data Revegetation Sites Assessable
Generally, additional planting areas are explicitly defined in operational plans, rather than strategic reserve plans which indicate broad priorities (within and between ecological communities, and between species) and document the effectiveness of revegetation (changes in weed and native plant cover, and bare ground). This framework facilitates the identification and delineation of additional revegetation sites with community input during the life of the strategic plans, prioritising sites using: • the values of assets (with a focus on ecological communities and native species); • objectives relating to the extent of ecological communities to be enhanced; and • threats identified in the strategic plans.
2.2.5 Reference Reference sites provide opportunities for long-term monitoring and research.
Approximately 45 native and 4 weed with a stem diameter of more than 300 mm diameter trees were individually tagged in 2008 (Royal, 2008) and subjected to an Arboricultural Assessment, with the following information collected: • species; • height; • trunk diameter; • canopy spread; • health condition; • structural condition; and • comments pertinent to the specific tree.
The exact number of trees is unclear because in the figures in the associated Arboricultural Assessment report: • GPS co-ordinates were not documented; • Not all tag numbers were legible; • Not all the bushland was shown; and • It was unclear whether some trees are just inside or just outside the bushland.
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It appears that most of the trees with tags numbers 295-343 are in the bushland, with the breakdown of trees by species in this number range listed in Table 12 (including trees on the boundary with, but likely outside, the bushland).
Table 12 Native Trees (Tag Numbers 295-343) Species Number of Trees Acacia saligna, Orange Wattle 6 Allocasuarina fraseriana, Sheoak 5 Banksia attenuata, Slender Banksia 16 Eucalyptus gomphocephala, Tuart 12 Eucalyptus rudis, Flooded Gum 6 Total 45
The reference sites for which objectives apply are those tagged native trees in the bushland as listed in Table 13.
Table 13 Reference Site Indices Reference Number of Sites Extent of Site Assets Values Sites 2001 2013 2001-2013 One set of permanent Approximately 45 Medium marked trees 0 reference trees Enhanced Local reference tree sites with size and tagged in 2008 condition data
Some tagged trees have died since 2008, but the reference site is not considered lost as long as the death can be confirmed (the reference site is maintained as long as the tag can be relocated up until the tree dies).
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2.3 Species 2.3.1 Native Flora The 67 native plant species recorded in Heathcote Reserve are listed in Table 50 in Appendix 1. This represents approximately one sixth of the 434 species recorded in the 55 natural area reserves in the City of Melville. The plant species for which objectives apply are listed in Table 14.
Table 14 Indicator Flora Species Status Status Assets Values Plants 2001 2013 2001-2013 High No Not 1 species ‘poorly reserved’ and assumption Conospermum triplinervium Observed Change Not ‘significant populations’ (confirmed (extinct) Assessable in Bush Forever area 1998) High Assumed Not 1 species ‘endemic’ and absent Callitris preissii Observed Not ‘significant populations’ (confirmed (extinct) Assessed in Bush Forever area 1872) Acanthocarpus preissii Lepidosperma gladiatum Confirmed Conostylis candicans Present Moderate Banksia sessilis var. cygnorum Numbers Acacia cochlearis Olearia axillaris 11 species Assumed Rhagodia baccata Maintained High Present ‘species associated Grevillea crithmifolia with the Spearwood Eucalyptus gomphocephala Low Confirmed dunes (sands and Scaevola nitida Numbers Present Tamala limestone) the Templetonia retusa occurrence of which is Confirmed extended inland along Present Not the river’ in Bush 2 species Lepidosperma gracile No Observed Forever Change Not Lomandra maritima assumption (possibly Assessable (confirmed extinct) 1998) No Not 1 species assumption Melaleuca systena Observed Not (confirmed (extinct) Maintained 1998) Low Key species in Not 1 species Eucalyptus Banksia grandis Observed Not gomphocephala (extinct) Maintained woodland Low Confirmed Banksia attenuata Key species in Present Eucalyptus gomphocephala Banksia menziesii woodland Low 5 species Xanthorrhoea preissii Numbers Maintained Low Acacia saligna Well-represented in Assumed Allocasuarina fraseriana Melville reserves, but in Present low abundance in Not all Not all 45 species Heathcote Reserve All other species species species Change Not assessed assessed Assessable
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Plants Extinct or Not Confirmed Onsite Conospermum triplinervium appears to have become locally extinct between 1998 and 2001: • It was recorded as present in: • System 6 Part II: Recommendations for Specific Localities (DCE, 1983) along Waylen Bay (the southern/western portion of the Heathcote bushland) • Floristics of System Six Reserves and Bushland Part XVI (Keighery & Keigery, 1998) • It was not recorded as present in: • the Point Heathcote Foreshore Reserve Rehabilitation Plan (Siemon, 2001) • Heathcote Lower Land Flora and Fauna Assessment (GHD, 2008) • Flora Assessment - Estuarine Reserves (Blackwall Reach, Point Walter and Heathcote (Waters A. , 2013)
Melaleuca systena appears to have become locally extinct between 1998 and 2001: • It was recorded as present in: • Floristics of System Six Reserves and Bushland Part XVI (Keighery & Keigery, 1998) • It was not recorded as present in: • the Point Heathcote Foreshore Reserve Rehabilitation Plan (Siemon, 2001) • Heathcote Lower Land Flora and Fauna Assessment (GHD, 2008) • Flora Assessment - Estuarine Reserves (Blackwall Reach, Point Walter and Heathcote (Waters A. , 2013)
Callitris preissii appears to have become locally extinct prior to the 1980s: • It was recorded by: • Charles Fraser, Colonial Botanist of New South Wales, in 1827, as the ‘beautiful dwarf species of Calytris’ at Point Heathcote (Seddon, 1972) and previously common from Point Heathcote to the causeway to the east (Cunningham, 1998). • It was not recorded as present in: • System 6 Part II: Recommendations for Specific Localities (DCE, 1983). • Flora Assessment - Estuarine Reserves (Blackwall Reach, Point Walter and Heathcote (Waters A. , 2013)
Banksia grandis appears to have become locally extinct between 2001 and 2008: • It was recorded as present in: • the Point Heathcote Foreshore Reserve Rehabilitation Plan (Siemon, 2001) • It was not recorded as present in: • Heathcote Lower Land Flora and Fauna Assessment (GHD, 2008) • Arboricultural Assessment - Heathcote Lower Land (Royal, 2008) • Flora Assessment - Estuarine Reserves (Blackwall Reach, Point Walter and Heathcote (Waters A. , 2013) • In the City of Melville there are 36 trees confirmed in bushland reserves: there are no trees in the Eastern Reserves, 1 tree in the Estuarine Reserves, 5 trees in the Bullcreek Reserves, 13 trees in the North-West Reserves, and 17 trees in the South- East Reserves; • This species is at significant risk of local extinction in Kings Park due to its low abundance, where there was an average of 2.11 plants/ha over 267 hectare of bushland, or approximately 560 plants (Crosti, Dixon, Ladd, & Yates, 2007); • The replacement rate is slow as it doesn’t set seed until more than ten years old (George, 1996); and • Seeds are generally deposited within 15 metres of the parent plant (Powell, 2009).
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Plants at Very High Risk of Local Extinction The majority of the native plant species at Heathcote Reserve are at risk of local extinction, with the following noted.
Xanthorrhoea preissii, Grass Trees: • were in low numbers (<5 plants) in Heathcote Reserve in 2013; • they were ‘abundant in sections’ of the Banksia woodland onsite in 2001 (Siemon, 2001); and • this species can live for hundreds of years (Powell, 2009).
Banksia attenuata, Slender Banksia and Banksia menziesii, Firewood Banksia: • were in low numbers in Heathcote Reserve in 2013 with the 40 Banksia menziesii and 7 Banksia attenuata trees shown in Figure 14; • are both susceptible to dieback; • both species resprout after fire but the replacement rate is relatively slow with Banksia menziesii setting seeds 6 to 10 years old after germination and Banksia attenuata not setting seed until it is more than ten years old (George, 1996). • have both declined in Kings Park over a 60 year period due to post dispersal seed predation and seasonal deaths (Crosti, Dixon, Ladd, & Yates, 2007); and • Are both in lower densities in long isolated small urban bushland remnants (within 30 km of the Perth CBD on Bassendean or Spearwood soils), with high fire frequencies and declining water tables possibly amongst the contributing factors (Ramalho, 2012).
Figure 14 Banksia attenuata and Banksia menziesii Distribution 2013
The following are at high risk of local extinction without targeted management, and individual plants need to be mapped to ensure they are not eliminated during revegetation or weed control: • Acacia saligna (approximately 6 trees with trunk > 30 cm in 2008); • Allocasuarina fraseriana (approximately 5 trees with trunk > 30 cm in 2008); • Templetonia retusa (estimated < 50 plants in 2013); • Eucalyptus gomphocephala (approximately 12 trees with trunk > 30 cm in 2008); • Xanthorrhoea preissii (<5 plants in 2013): • Grevillea crithmifolia (2 plants in 2013); • Scaevola nitida (2 plants in 2013); • Lepidosperma gracile (not observed in 2013); and • Lomandra maritima (not observed in 2013). Heathcote Strategic Reserve Plan page 27
2.3.1 Native Fauna The native fauna recorded in Heathcote Reserve are listed in Appendix 2. There are 73 native mammals expected to occur in Heathcote Reserve, of which 13 were confirmed (Bamford Consulting Ecologists, 2013). The 13 confirmed native vertebrate animal species represents one twentieth of the 240 species recorded in the 55 natural area reserves in the City of Melville.
Mammals One native mammal, Chalinolobus gouldii, Gould’s Wattled Bat, was confirmed in Heathcote Reserve, in 2013 (Bamford Consulting Ecologists, 2013). There are no mammal indices for Heathcote Reserve. The bat listed in Table 15 is to be monitored, but not to be used as an indicator as the persistence onsite of suitable feeding and breeding habitat, rather than individual bats, is the focus of management.
Table 15 Mammal Species to be Monitored Last Values Mammals Status Confirmed Low Resident – Chalinolobus gouldii Bushland dependent species recorded in Large Home Range 2013 Gould’s Wattled Bat more than 2 Melville reserves Breeding Onsite
Chalinolobus gouldii, Gould’s Wattled Bat, is expected to be only partially dependent upon Heathcote Reserve as it has a has a large home range and can regularly forage 5 to 10 km from roosts (Churchill, 2008). They feed on insects caught whilst flying between 1 and 20 metres off the ground (Strahan, 1998), along gaps in vegetation and just below tree canopies (Churchill, 2008). Gould’s Wattled Bats, have a strong preference for roosting in large live trees (although they will also utilise dead trees and buildings where preferred habitat is not available) (Webala, 2010). The habitat to be considered in revegetation are listed in Table 16.
Table 16 Mammal Habitat Considerations for Revegetation Mammals Habitat Requirements Diet Chalinolobus gouldii Very large live trees (for roosting hollows) Invertebrates Gould’s Wattled Bat Vegetation 1 – 20 m high (for foraging)
Reptiles and Amphibians There are 19 native reptiles and amphibians expected to occur in Heathcote Reserve, of which 1 was confirmed onsite in 2013 (Bamford Consulting Ecologists, 2013). All 19 species are listed in Table 53 in Appendix 2, with the 1 indicator species listed in Table 17.
Table 17 Reptile Indices Status Status Assets Species Values Reptiles 2001 2013 2001-2013 Low Ctenotus australis 1 species Assumed Confirmed Bushland dependent species recorded Western Limestone Maintained Present Present in more than 2 Melville reserves Ctenotus (no change)
Ctenotus australis, Western Limestone Ctenotus, conceals itself in sandy burrows at base of shrubs and feeds on invertebrates (Bush, Maryan, Browne-Cooper, & Robinson, 2000).
The persistence onsite of all reptile populations onsite is the focus of management and monitoring as all are sedentary resident species. The critical habitats for indicator reptiles are summarised in Table 18.
Table 18 Reptile Habitat Considerations for Revegetation at Heathcote Scientific Name Common Name Habitat Requirements Diet Ctenotus australis Western Limestone Ctenotus Sandy ground and shrubs Invertebrates Source: Bush, Maryan, Browne-Cooper, & Robinson (2000).
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Birds There are 48 native bushland birds expected to occur in Heathcote Reserve, of which 11 were confirmed onsite in 2013 (Bamford Consulting Ecologists, 2013). All 48 species are listed in Appendix 2 with the 2 indicator species are listed in Table 19.
Table 19 Bird Indices Status Status Assets Values Birds 2001 2013 2001-2013 High 1 species Listed by WAPC as habitat specialist Smicrornis brevirostris Maintained with reduced populations on Swan Weebill (no Coastal Plain Assumed Confirmed change) Present Present 1 species Low Hirundo nigricans Maintained Bushland dependent species recorded Tree Martin (no in more than 2 Melville reserves change)
Hirundo nigricans, the Tree Martin is sensitive to urbanisation. Tree Martins require tree hollows for breeding, but there is uncertainty whether Tree Martins are onsite year-round, although they were present onsite during their breeding seasons (August to December) in 2013: • Heathcote Reserve (approximately 1 ha) is below the threshold bushland sizes of 9.8 ha in which it was recorded out of 121 remnants in the Perth Metropolitan Area; and • these birds partially migrate from the Perth metropolitan area (Van Delft, 1997).
The Tree Martin is a granivore, so the dominant overstorey in Heathcote Reserve of Eucalypts and Banksia provide its food source in the reserve.
Whilst listed as a habitat specialist in Bush Forever (Government of Western Australia, 2000) Smicrornis brevirostris, the Weebill, is relatively common in bushland in the Perth metropolitan Area (Van Delft, 1997) and requires trees rather than bushland and builds nests in foliage of Eucalyptus and Acacia trees and shrubs (Johnstone & Storr, 2004) There is uncertainty whether Weebils are onsite year-round. There are no indications of seasonal migration, but there is differing opinions as to whether they are sedentary or nomadic (Van Delft, 1997).
The critical habitats for birds to be considered in revegetation are summarised in Table 20.
Table 20 Bird Habitat Considerations for Revegetation at Heathcote Habitat Requirements Diet
Bird
Breeds Onsite Breeds Only Trees Hollows Bushland Seed/ Vegetative Material Invertebrates Vertebrates
Hirundo nigricans, Tree Martin ? X X X Smicrornis brevirostris, Weebill ? X X
Invertebrates There are 4 regionally significant invertebrates with a potential to occur in Heathcote Reserve, none of which were confirmed onsite in 2013 (Bamford Consulting Ecologists, 2013). All 4 species are listed in Appendix 2, but with none confirmed onsite none are indicator species.
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3 Threats 3.1 Overview The NAAMP identified the ten most significant threats to natural areas in the City of Melville and details the impacts they can have. These threats (with the exception of stormwater and reticulation, which are specific to small bushland remnants in an urban environment) align with the major biodiversity threatening processes identified in the comprehensive technical review ‘Biodiversity values and threatening processes of the Gnangara groundwater system - Report for the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy and the Department of Environment and Conservation’ (Wilson & Valentine, 2009).
The significance of threats can be assessed in a similar manner to that used for assets as indicated in Figure 15.
Figure 15 Assessment of Threats in Natural Areas
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3.1 Physical Disturbance No significant disturbance was documented between 2001 to 2013, but there were small areas of disturbance due to earthworks above the slopes supporting the bushland, and the installation of 15 metre water pipe shown in Figure 16.
Figure 16 Location of Physical Disturbances
The limited data on physical disturbances in Heathcote Reserve is documented in Table 21.
Table 21 Physical Disturbance Indices Physical Disturbances Disturbances Impacts Threats Disturbance 1991-2000 2001-2013 High Potential to substantially change ecosystem Clearing for utilities 15 m2 structure, composition or function Trampling 0 m2 Medium 3 Change Not Potential to moderately Rubbish Dumping No Data 3 m / month Assessable change ecosystem Tree Poisoning, structure, composition or Illegal Clearing, function 0 Firewood Collection Medium No data Potentially costly Vandalism (but graffiti remediation hotspot)
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3.2 Fire An individual fire may not necessarily be a threat to the biodiversity, as the flora and fauna of the region has evolved in the context of, adapted to, and in part depends upon, fire. However modified fire regimes (characterised in terms of intensity, frequency, season and scale), especially in the context of external factors such as habitat fragmentation and climate change can lead to the decline and/or local extinction of species. The two fire scenarios that were identified in the NAAMP as potential triggers for local extinctions of vulnerable species were: • Large Fires (a fire burning more than one third of a reserve); and • Repeat Fires (fires burning the same portions of a reserve within eight years).
No occurrence of these fire scenarios could be identified on aerial photographs between 2001 and 2013. Small fires have occurred in the bushland but there was no evidence of any large fires.
Table 22 reflects that there was no evidence of large or repeat fires from 2001-2013 (although the data is not comprehensive).
Table 22 Fire Indices Extent of Fires Extent of Fires Impacts Fires Threats 1991-2000 2001-2013 High Large Potential for local extinctions of 0 ha fires ground dwelling species Change High No data Not Assessable Potential for local extinctions of trees Repeat 0 ha and shrubs that regenerate only from fires seed stored on the plant
3.3 Weeds The 88 weed species recorded in Heathcote Reserve are listed in Appendix 1 and an indication of the distribution of selected weeds is provided in Appendix 3. Most weeds were rated as High Impact, as shown in Table 23, and this resulted from 39 of the species being shrubs or trees.
Table 23 Number of Weed Species in Each Impact Category Impact category Number of Species Very High 7 High 55 Medium 6 Low 20 Total 88
Weed distributions were mapped in Heathcote Reserve in 2005 and 2013. However methods for surveying weeds were not standardised by the City of Melville until the review of the Natural Areas Asset Management Plan (Waters A. , 2013) and there are limitations in quantifying changes over time as surveys: • targeted similar but not identical groups of weeds (and due to this no comments are made below about potential changes in the very broad categories of “all other perennial weeds” and “all other annual weeds”); and • defined groups of weeds differently (e.g. the category of annual grasses in 2005 included more species than annual clumping grasses in 2013).
The extents of weeds from 2005 and 2013 in the Bullcreek Reserves (based on presence at 9 reference points in a grid with 30 metre spacing - with each point representing approximately 11% of the total of the bushland) are listed in Table 24, with distributions mapped in Appendix 3.
Table 24 Weed Presence / Extents 1998 - 2013
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Threats Impact Weed 1998 2001 2005 2008 2013 2001-2013 Lantana Paterson’s Curse Arum Lily Blackberry 8 weeds One Leaf Cape Tulip Prevented Asparagus Fern Golden Dodder Madeira Vine Very 1 weed High Perennial Clumping Grasses X 100% X 11% Contained (decrease) 1 weed Not Brazilian Pepper X X 22% X 33% Contained (increase) Bridal Creeper X X 11% 3 weeds Tamarisk X Not Soldiers X X Assessable Annual Clumping Grasses X 100% X 100% 2 weeds Contained Clumping Geophytes X X 11% X 11% (no change) High Perennial Running Grasses X X 33% 3 weeds Giant Grasses X X X 11% Not Trees and Shrubs X X X X 77% Assessable 1 weed Medium All other perennial weeds X X X X 11% Not Assessable 1 weed Low All other annual weeds X X X X 100% Not Assessable
Weeds that are in relatively low abundance and could be targeted for eradication are listed in Table 25.
Table 25 Number of Plants in 2013 of Selected Weeds Impact Species Numbers Very Brazilian Pepper 52 plants High Bridal Creeper 7 plants Shrubs and Trees 55 plants High Giant Grasses 1 clump Total 115
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3.4 Habitat Loss Habitat loss can be managed and monitored: • between reserves (which is outside of the scope of this plan), and • within reserves (in terms of the extent, quality or continuity of bushland areas).
Figure 17 and Figure 18 show the percentage of bare ground and weed condition across the reserve in 2013.
Figure 17 Bare Ground 2013
Figure 18 Weed Cover (grasses and herbs) 2013
The percentages of the reserve in each category of bare ground, and weed cover, are summarised in Table 26.
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Table 26 Extents of Bare Ground and Weed Cover Categories Weed Cover Category Bare Ground (all grasses and herbs) 0% 85% 0% 1-5% 15% 22% 6-25% 0% 56% 26-100% 0% 22%
The habitat loss indices are listed in Table 27.
Table 27 Habitat Loss Indices % of % of Habitat Impact Reserve Reserve Threat Loss 2001 2013 Medium Process of moderate ecosystem function Weed Cover modification 0% > 25% • Reduced natural regeneration Change Not • Increased fire or erosion risk No Data Assessable Low Process of low ecosystem function modification Bare Ground 22% • Reduced natural regeneration > 25% • Increased fire or erosion risk
3.5 Feral Animals Documenting feral animal occurrences was not previously standardised by the City of Melville, and no data had previously been captured for Heathcote Reserve. Table 28 reflects data from 2013 (Bamford Consulting Ecologists, 2013), along with associated assumptions based on habitat.
Table 28 Feral Animal Occurrences Status Threat Impact Feral Animal 2013 Felis catus Assumed Feral Cats present Very High Vulpes vulpes Key Threatening Process under the EPBC Act 1999 Foxes Oryctolagus cuniculus Absent Rabbits Apis mellifera Feral Honeybee Dacelo novaeguineae Laughing Kookaburra Trichoglossus haematodus High Rainbow Lorikeet Impact mainly associated with competition with native birds Streptopelia senegalensis for hollows and food (impact level variable) Laughing Dove Streptopelia chinensis Assumed Spotted Dove present Columba livia Rock Dove Low Impact mainly associated with seed predation – competing Mus musculus with granivores and reducing seedling establishment (will House Mice vary significantly as populations fluctuate)
It is expected that Felis catus, cats, frequent Heathcote Reserve. Domestic cats in suburban Canberra catch an average of 10 prey animals per year (with 6% of cats catching five times this) (Grayson & Calver, 2004); and male feral cats may occupy a home range of 10 square kilometres, or larger if food is scarce (DEWHA , 2008).
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There is no evidence (scats, dens etc) of Vulpes vulpes, foxes, being present in Heathcote Reserve and they are assumed to be currently absent. Due to its small size the Heathcote Reserve could not sustain foxes, although the reserves could potentially form part of the home range, which in urban areas can be in the order of 30 hectares (Lapidge, Braysher, & Sarre, 2013).
Rabbits appeared to be absent from Heathcote Reserve in 2013 as signs of scats or diggings would have expected to have been observed in this small reserve, if rabbits were present.
Apis mellifera, feral honeybees, did not have any beehives in Heathcote Reserve in 2013.
The five introduced birds assumed present in Heathcote Reserve could compete for food and the limited hollows available.
No Mus musculus, House Mice, were caught in Heathcote Reserve but it is assumed that mice are onsite, although their numbers may be low. House Mice are common in urban bushland remnants in Perth, and were caught every one of twenty two remnants sampled by the Western Australian Museum in the mid-1990s (How, Harvey, Dell, & Waldock, 1996). House Mice, preferentially eat cereals and seeds (LRM, 2013) but these opportunistic feeders will eat a variety of foods (Clarke, et al., 2000). The type and magnitude of impacts from mice would vary with numbers, which can fluctuate significantly. In Heathcote Reserve their impacts are likely to be mainly associated with consumption of native seed, competing with granivores and reducing seedling establishment. Predation of banksia seeds may be limiting recruitment in Kings Park (Crosti, Dixon, Ladd, & Yates, 2007) and mice may significantly impact on seedling establishment in burnt bushland. They become more abundant in native habitats after fire to take advantage of the significant post-fire seed fall (Clarke, et al., 2000).
The indices for feral animals are only for those species for which some control is practical and effective. The indices are listed in Table 29, with an occurrence defined as specific sightings of dens, warrens, hives or animals (and as control of feral animals is to be initiated within 10 working days from date of observation – the resighting of a den, warren, hive or animal is recorded as an additional occurrence at 10 working day intervals until the elimination of the occurrence).
Table 29 Feral Animal Indices Occurrences Occurrences Impact Feral Animal Threat 1991 - 2000 2001 - 2013 Very High Oryctolagus cuniculus, Rabbit Key Threatening Vulpes vulpes, Fox Process under the EPBC Act 1999 Felis catus, Feral Cat Change Not No Data No Data High Assessable Competition with native birds for hollows and Apis mellifera, Honeybee food (impact level variable)
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3.6 Diseases and Pathogens Phytophthora cinnamomi, dieback, has not been assessed in Heathcote, and is not used as an indicator as the reserve has been identified as ‘unprotectable’ on the basis of lack of susceptible species and soils antagonistic to the syndrome (Glevan Consulting, 2010).
Armillaria luteobubalina, Honey Fungus was not assessed in Heathcote Reserve but there were also no records of patches of dead plants and it is assumed they were absent (or in very low abundance). The diseases and pathogens for which objectives apply are listed in Table 30.
Table 30 Disease and Pathogen Indices Extent Extent Impact Diseases and Pathogens Threat 2001 2013 Medium Native species capable of Change Armillaria luteobubalina moderate modification of No Data 0 ha Not Honey Fungus structure and composition of Assessable flora by killing multiple species
3.7 Stormwater No stormwater is diverted into bushland in Heathcote Reserve.
3.8 Reticulation There is reticulated lawn adjacent to bushland in Heathcote Reserve, but there have been no ongoing instances of additional water being applied to the bushland. The indices for reticulation are listed in Table 31, with an occurrence defined as specific sightings of excessive drift or leaking (and this is to be rectified within 5 working days from date of observation – the resighting of overspray or leakage is recorded as an additional occurrence at 5 working day intervals until the elimination of the occurrence).
Table 31 Reticulation Indices Occurrences Occurrences Impact Water Sources Threat 1991 - 2000 2001 - 2013 Low Overspray / leakages Change Not Alteration of Surface Water No Data No Data from reticulation Assessable Flows
3.9 Acid Sulfate Soils Acid Sulfate Soil reactions can potentially occur where: • excavations are dug below the minimum level of the watertable; and/or • groundwater extraction results in oxidation of soils previously permanently saturated by lowering the minimum level of the watertable.
Whilst no historic records are available for excavations and groundwater extraction, there is no evidence of any acid sulphate soil reactions ever occurring in the Heathcote Reserve. No excavations or groundwater extraction has occurred in the Heathcote Reserve since 2004, as reflected in Table 32.
Table 32 Acid Sulfate Soil Indices Potential Initiation Occurrences Occurrences Impact Threat of ASS Reactions 1994 - 2003 2004 - 2013 Excavations below the minimum level of 0 Very High Prevented the watertable An occurrence of could result (assumed Groundwater in the reserve being listed as a No Data none extraction resulting contaminated site under the occurred and in lowering of 0 Contaminated Sites Act 2003 no change) minimum level watertable
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3.10 Climate Change The regional climate is becoming hotter and drier (McHugh & Bourke, 2008): • the annual rainfall in south-west WA has declined by about 10% since the mid-1970s (Hope & Foster, 2005); and • the mean annual temperatures across Western Australia have increased since 1910 by approximately 0.8ºC, with the strongest trend observed since the 1950s (Indian Ocean Climate Initiative, 2009).
The average monthly maximum temperatures and rainfall for nearby Perth Airport in the last 10 years are shown in Table 33 and Table 34.
Table 33 Average Monthly Maximum Temperatures 2004-2013 Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual 2004 32.4 32.9 30 27.4 21.8 20 18.2 17.9 20.7 23.6 26.2 31.3 25.2 2005 32 31.4 31.2 25.2 23.6 18.2 18.8 18.8 19.5 21.1 25.6 24.7 24.2 2006 29.9 32.2 30.9 23.8 22.9 20.3 19.1 20.6 20.9 24.7 28.1 31.5 25.4 2007 30.4 31.4 30.9 25.7 21.2 19.9 19.7 19.3 20.4 23.2 29 28.4 25 2008 33.8 32.7 30 24.3 22.7 19.7 17.9 19.4 20.5 24.1 23.9 28.6 24.8 2009 33.6 32.5 29.5 28.1 24.3 19.1 18 19.1 18.7 24.2 27.4 32 25.5 2010 35 33.1 31.1 25.7 22.2 19.3 18.3 19.5 22.1 25.1 30.3 30.5 26 2011 33.7 34.9 32.8 27.9 23.6 19.7 18.4 20.2 20.5 24.4 26.1 30.6 26.1 2012 33.4 31.3 31.6 26.4 23 19.3 19.2 20 21.4 24.9 null 31.4 null 2013 32.3 34.6 null null null null null null null null null null null 1944- 2010 31.7 31.9 29.7 25.5 21.8 18.9 17.9 18.5 20.1 22.6 25.8 28.9 24.4 Mean
Table 34 Monthly Rainfall 2004-2013 Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total 2004 0 9.2 0.4 6 118 110 101.6 149.6 29.2 41 41 3.2 609.2 2005 1 2.8 52.8 20.8 153.2 250.2 63.4 119.2 84.8 50.6 15.4 5.8 820 2006 28.2 24 5.8 32.4 43.6 27.8 80.2 124.6 65.6 24.4 19.2 3.8 479.6 2007 20.2 2.8 5.4 70.6 68.6 53.4 193.4 113 97.2 46.6 5.2 16.2 692.6 2008 0 39.6 16.2 135 59.8 170 213.6 19 66.8 33.8 69 5.4 828.2 2009 12.6 5.4 6 6.8 49.6 131.4 145.4 129 93.2 4 32.4 0 615.8 2010 0 0 43.2 23.2 88.6 47.2 144.6 60 27.8 25.2 7.6 16 483.4 2011 43.2 0.4 0 26.2 58.6 143.2 164.6 127.8 102.4 63.4 38.6 67.4 835.8 2012 27.4 19 0 53.2 39.8 134.4 30.6 117.8 103.8 13.8 84.8 24.8 649.4 2013 8.2 1 60.2 7.8 112.2 23 119.2 160.6 172.4 32.4 6.2 1 704.2 1944- 2013 9.7 14.4 16.3 40.9 99.4 160.1 156.8 117.9 73.7 44.1 26.60 11.3 772.2 Mean
Six of the eleven years from 2004 to 2013 inclusive, were extreme in the lack of rain and/or high temperatures: • one year (2006) with the lowest rainfall on record; • the lowest rainfall recorded for the month of August (2008); and • one year (2011) with the highest annual average maximum temperature on record; • the hottest mean maximum temperatures recorded for the months of March (2011), July (2007), August (2006), November (2010).
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The weather during the period 2003-2013 was hotter and drier than both the long term average and the preceding 10 years, as indicated in Table 35.
Table 35 Extreme Weather Events Number of Number of Impact Extreme Weather Events Years Years (1994-2003) (2004-2013) Total Annual rainfall ‘very much below average’ 1 3 Very High (lowest 10% of records) Key Threatening Process Annual mean maximum temperatures under the EPBC Act 1999 ‘very much above average’ 4 4 (highest 10% of records)
No objectives apply to climate change as extreme weather events as the threat can only be addressed indirectly through management of impacts to assets.
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4 Management 4.1 Review of Management 2001-2013 4.1.1 Key Performance Indicators Key performance indicators measure the degree to which operational reserve plans are implemented. These indicate whether systems are being applied and whether resources are adequate.
An audit was not undertaken for the implementation of the recommendations in the Point Heathcote Foreshore Reserve Rehabilitation Plan (Siemon, 2001). Most of the 21 activities identified in the budget were not readily auditable as they were generic, ambiguous and/or did not specify precise outcomes and some of the capital works items were outside the bushland (e.g. fencing along the boundary with the parkland areas, and revegetation of the foreshore).
On-ground works were undertaken including weed control, plantings and feral animal control but most were not fully documented.
The locations of installations, not documented elsewhere in this plan and regardless of whether they predated or were in accordance to the Point Heathcote Foreshore Reserve Rehabilitation Plan (Siemon, 2001), are shown in Figure 19.
Figure 19 Installations in and adjacent to bushland
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4.1.2 Leading Indicators Leading indicators, trends in threats, indicate (for the life of a reserve management plan): • whether guidelines and procedures are being effective in meeting objectives of preventing, eliminating, containing and managing impacts from threats; and • provide a feedback mechanism as to whether guidelines and procedures need to be modified.
Trends in threats are categorised in Table 36, with many trends not assessable because the previous management plans preceded the standardisation of quantitative data collection.
Table 36 Leading Indicators Prevented Eliminated Contained Not Total Impacts (never (no longer (no change or Contained Not Assessable Threat present) present) decrease) (increase) Indices 3 Weeds Very 8 Weeds 1 Weed 1 Weed 3 Feral Animals 18 High 2 Acid Sulphate Soil 1 Disturbance 2 Fires High 2 Weeds 9 3 Weeds 1 Feral Animal 4 Disturbances 1 Weed Medium 7 1 Habitat Loss 1 Pathogen 1 Weed Low 1 Habitat Loss 3 1 Reticulation Total Threat 8 3 1 25 37 Indices
It is not appropriate to retrospectively assess whether elimination or containment was appropriate for threats, and the following is noted: • The one weed that appeared to get worse, Brazilian Pepper, which was only recorded at one additional reference point.
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4.1.3 Lagging Indicators Lagging indicators, trends in assets, indicate whether strategic goals of maintaining and enhancing assets are being met.
Trends in assets are categorised in Table 37, with many trends not assessable because the previous management plans preceded the standardisation of quantitative data collection. Trends apply only for the life of a reserve management plan and therefore trends were not assessable for assets that have been lost and it was unclear whether they were still present at the time of the last reserve management plan in 2004 (e.g. the Conospermum triplinervium).
Table 37 Lagging Indicators Total Values Enhanced Maintained Not Maintained Not Assessable Assets Very 2 Heritage Sites 1 Flora Species 3 High 11 Flora Species 1 Ecological Community Site High 1 Flora Species 16 1 Fauna Species 2 Flora Species 1 Reference Medium 2 Habitat Sites 8 Community Interest Sites 10 Site 5 Flora Species Low 1 Flora Species 45 Flora Species 53 2 Fauna Species Total 1 23 2 57 82 Assets
It is not appropriate to retrospectively assess whether the enhancement or maintenance of assets was appropriate for assets, and the following is noted: • The 4 of the 6 plant species not confirmed in Heathcote Reserve in 2013 are locally extinct, with the other 2 either extinct or in extremely low abundance; • The majority of the native plant species at Heathcote Reserve are at risk of local extinction and so all species should be used as indices and confirmed onsite, and only removed onsite if they are confirmed to be in relatively high numbers.
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4.2 Management Objectives 2014-2019 4.2.1 Key Performance Indicators Under the NAAMP, key performance indicators are measures of the degree of implementation of operational reserve plans. Operational reserve plans are internal City of Melville documents that include work schedules for individual reserves based on guidelines and strategies (that establish default management practices).
The City of Melville is at the initial stages of developing and implementing guidelines and strategies. A comprehensive review of these documents is beyond the scope of this reserve management plan but: • most need further clarification to facilitate the auditing of their implementation; and • aspects of the guidelines should be specifically reviewed where recommendations for their application below are not directly associated with specifications in the guidelines.
Sign, Path and Barrier Guidelines The City has yet to develop formal guidelines for sign, paths and barriers specific to natural areas, but there are more general guidelines for Council land.
Recommendations for managing signs, paths and barriers in Heathcote Reserve in the absence of Sign, Path and Barrier Guidelines are to: 1. inspect all signs, paths and barriers for safety in Heathcote Reserve every 5 weeks (given high accessibility to public compared to other City of Melville reserves, small size of reserve and would coincide with current cycles of reserve inspections); 2. develop a register of inspections (as completing these at the specified frequency is to be a key performance indicator).
Bushfire Strategy The City developed Bushfire Management Guidelines in 2013. Its application to Heathcote Reserve is summarised in Table 38.
Table 38 Application of Bushfire Management Guidelines Guideline Content Recommendations for Onsite Management a. Applies to Heathcote Reserve in requiring no change to current access, which is adequate given: • pedestrian paths provide adequate access for firefighting in very small reserves • from the perimeter of the bushland a standard Section 3.1 does not list Heathcote 50 metre firefighting hose (without an Reserve as having or requiring 1. extension) can reach 100% of the bushland; internal firebreaks that can be utilised • pedestrian paths already provide by firefighting vehicles demarcations for containing fires within bushland areas; • likely rapid detection and response to fires due to the proximity to residences and businesses • all buildings > 20 metres from bushland a. Do not apply as a general rule as dead woody material is of ecological value. Hazard reduction (if required) for dead native plant material consists of, Section 4.3.3 refers to hazard in order of preference: reduction in form of “removal of dead 2. • cutting material down to ground level branches offering no biological input • removal or mulching where large amount of that may pose a potential fire threat” material exist (but retaining onsite as much coarse woody debris greater than 10 cm diameter for habitat value as practical) a. Do not apply as reference should instead be made Section 4.5.2 and 7.4 provide to Revegetation Management document for 3. specifications for environmental specifications for when and how to revegetate, restoration post fire rather than use inconsistent specifications
Weed Control Strategy & Guidelines
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The City developed an Environmental Weed Management document in 2012. This currently only addresses how to control weeds and the associated contractual details. Its application to Heathcote Reserve is summarised in Table 39.
Table 39 Application of Environmental Weed Management Document Guideline Content Recommendations for Onsite Management 1. Control measures specified a. Apply control measures for weeds as per guidelines No overall prioritisation for weed control but specified in 2013 NAAMP a. Apply framework in revised NAAMP to prioritise 1. update and applied in this works as done in Table 45 management plan No framework for developing weed objectives but specified in 2013 a. Apply framework in revised NAAMP to prioritise 2. NAAMP update and applied in this works as done in Table 45 management plan 3. Does not address potential a. Conduct audit of plantings to determine whether any management of native plants plantings are to be removed on the basis that they introduced to reserves are species not naturally occurring onsite that could comprise ecological integrity by: • behaving like weeds, displacing/compromising existing species; • establishing in such low numbers that are not likely to form long-term viable populations; • compromising opportunities to consolidate populations of species at risk of local extinctions in Heathcote Reserve
Revegetation Strategy & Guidelines The City developed a Revegetation Management document in 2012. Its application to Heathcote Reserve is summarised in Table 40.
Table 40 Application of Revegetation Management Document Guideline Content Recommendations for Onsite Management Generic discussion of revegetation 1. a. Apply as appropriate techniques a. Preference to be given to species with regionally significant populations onsite and/or at risk of local extinction b. Any additional species to be restricted those known to naturally occur in the Karrakatta Central and South No specifications/restrictions on/for Complex (although this may be varied in the future in 2. species used revegetation in reserves response to managing impacts of climate change and of higher overall significance disease) c. Fauna habitat requirements to be included in prioritisation of plant species used in revegetation, as per Table 16, d. Table 18 and Table 20 No requirement to consider limitations a. Reserve ‘Unprotectable’ as not susceptible – no need 3. such as Phytophthora cinnamomi in to consider reserve-specific dieback risk assessment species selection for revegetation Section 5.5 provides generic a. Use Table 10 as basis for expressing revegetation discussion of completion criteria. No 4. completion criteria, applying the requirements of definitive of revegetation completion rehabilitation for revegetation criteria, but specified in 2013 NAAMP Section 4.1.1 defines provenance but provides no guidance as to how to apply concept. No specification of risk-based framework for maintenance of genetic provenance recognising: • narrow, local and regional a. Source material from as close as possible and from 5. provenance classes; the Karrakatta Central and South Complex • potential for provenance concerns b. Document source of planting and seeding material being overridden by objectives for rehabilitation and maintenance of ecological processes when propagules cannot be obtained from with provenance range Heathcote Strategic Reserve Plan page 44
Guideline Content Recommendations for Onsite Management • information limitations Feral Animal Strategy and Guidelines The City developed a Management of Feral Animals in 2011. Its application to Heathcote Reserve is summarised in Table 41.
Table 41 Application of Management of Feral Animals Document Guideline Content Recommendations for Onsite Management 1. Control measures specified a. Apply as appropriate 2. No specifications for time to respond a. Control of foxes, rabbits and bees to be initiated to observations of feral animals within 10 working days from date of observation
Diseases and Pathogen Guidelines The City developed a Guidelines to the Management of Disease and Pathogens in 2011. Its application to Heathcote Reserve are summarised in Table 42.
Table 42 Application of Guidelines for Disease and Pathogens Guideline Content Recommendations for Onsite Management a. Continue to apply hygiene standards as per 1. Hygiene protocols specified guidelines 2. No specification of frequency of a. Reserve ‘Unprotectable’ as not susceptible – do not Phytophthora cinnamomi surveys survey for Phytophthora cinnamomi. 3. No specification of frequency of a. Reserve ‘Unprotectable’ as not susceptible – do not Phosphite applications apply Phosphite a. Commence assessments and repeat every 5 years No specifications for Armillaria (aligning with strategic reserve management plan 4. luteobubalina, Honey Fungus, review) monitoring or management b. Prevent importation of any soil that may contain Armillaria luteobubalina No specifications for Uromycladium a. Commence assessments and repeat every 5 years 5. tepperianum, Wattle Rust, monitoring (aligning with strategic reserve management plan or management review)
Stormwater Management Strategy The Stormwater Management Strategy (City of Melville, 1997) is not pertinent to Heathcote Reserve as no stormwater is diverted into natural areas in these reserves. The recommendation for managing stormwater in Heathcote Reserve is to: 1. continue to not divert any stormwater into natural areas in Heathcote Reserve.
Reticulation Guidelines The City has yet to develop formal guidelines for assessing and managing reticulation adjacent to bushland. The recommendation for managing reticulation in the Heathcote Reserve in the absence of guidelines is to: 1. rectify drift and leaks from irrigation of lawn within 5 working days of being noted.
Acid Sulfate Soils Guidelines The City has yet to develop formal guidelines for assessing and managing acid sulphate soils but there are no triggers for this threat in Heathcote Reserve as no excavations or groundwater extraction are proposed onsite.
The recommendation for managing acid sulphate soils in Heathcote Reserve in the absence of Acid Soil Guidelines is to: 1. undertake a risk assessment specifically addressing acid sulphate soils prior to any excavations or groundwater extraction onsite.
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Community Engagement Strategy The City currently manages interactions with the community groups in accordance with its Stakeholder Engagement Policy (Policy Number CP-002) and People Places Participation - A Community Plan for the City of Melville 2007-2017 (City of Melville, 2007). The Community Engagement Strategy is to expand upon Friends Group Manual (City of Melville, 2008). The application of the Friends Group Manual to Heathcote Reserve is summarised in Table 43.
Table 43 Application of Friends Group Manual Guideline Content Recommendations for Onsite Management 1. No framework to capture anecdotal a. Document anecdotal information from the public information (e.g. species records) 2. No framework to encourage research a. Engage with stakeholders such as universities to or capture research results capture data and use the reserves for research
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4.2.2 Leading Indicators Leading indicators are associated with changes in the density / abundance / extent / occurrences of threats. The levels of acceptable changes are determined in the framework established in the NAAMP as summarised in Table 44 and applied in Table 45 and Table 46.
Table 44 Tiered Objectives for Threats and Associated Leading Indicators Objective Leading Indicator Applicable When • Prevent introduction to or occurrence of • Threat absent from reserve Prevent • Unplanned Introduction Possible • reduce rate of density / abundance / extent • Large discrepancy between current and potential impact (Eventual complete removal but short term may only • Potential impact high Eliminate reduction of numbers or prevention of seed set • Elimination feasible onsite) • Stop, restrict, or reduce rate of spread or frequency • Moderate discrepancy between current and potential impact Contain of occurrence • Potential but not current impact high • Elimination not feasible • Limit negative impacts on assets • Small discrepancy between current and potential impact Manage • Threat “naturalised” or near maximum extent • No information on density/abundance/extent • Not Applicable • Threat absent from reserve None • Only Planned Introduction Possible
Table 45 Objectives for Weed Species in Heathcote Reserve Objective Impact Weed Species / Group 2013 Extent Lantana Tamarisk Paterson’s Curse Arum Lily Blackberry Prevent Very High 0% Not Present Onsite One Leaf Cape Tulip Asparagus Fern Golden Dodder Madeira Vine Soldiers Bridal Creeper 11% 7 small plants Very High Brazilian Pepper 33% 52 trees - Long-term elimination as slope stabilisation required as removed Eliminate Clumping Geophytes 11% 1 small clump Giant Grasses 11% 2 small adjacent clumps – one on foreshore outside bushland, one inland of path High Trees and Shrubs 77% 55 plants - Long-term elimination as slope stabilisation required as removed Contain High Perennial Running Grasses 33% Elimination not feasible in short to medium term Very High Perennial Clumping Grasses 11% High Annual Clumping Grasses 100% Focus in terms of asset protection – revegetation sites and around plants in very low Manage Medium All other perennial weeds 11% numbers Low All other annual weeds 100%
Table 46 Objectives for all other Threats in Heathcote Reserve Objective Impact Threat Comments Acid Sulfate Soil Should not occur as no excavation or groundwater extraction proposed Very Ferals (Foxes) Absent - occasional incursion may occur but remove before population permanently establishes High Ferals (Rabbits) Absent - occasional incursion may occur but remove before population permanently establishes Prevent Prevent fires that burn more than one third of bushland, in consultation with Department of Fire and Emergency Fires (large) High Services Ferals (Bees) Absent - occasional incursion may occur but remove before population permanently establishes Diseases and Pathogens Assumed absent - never recorded in Heathcote Reserve Medium (Honey Fungus) Apply appropriate hygiene standards for onground works to prevent introduction Eliminate NA None No threats in this category Very Habitat Loss Limit fragmentation of bushland (e.g. by paths) within reserves High Contain High Fire (repeat) Limit fires burning same portion of bushland, in consultation with Department of Fire and Emergency Services Public access adequately limited through use provision of paths and use of soft barriers (such as plantings) Medium Physical Disturbance and hard barriers (such as fences) Likely ongoing presence of cats - cannot prevent, eliminate or contain Manage indirectly through revegetation - increase vegetation cover to aid small vertebrates evade predation Ferals (Cats) Vegetation characteristics may be more important to persistence of some native species than cat restrictions around urban bushland (Lilith, Calver, & Garkaklis, 2010) Global-scale threat - cannot prevent, eliminate or contain by reserve scale actions. Very Manage through: High • revegetation if mass plant deaths occur or are likely. Climate Change • prioritisation of removal of high water use weeds (especially trees and shrubs) Manage • maintenance of soil moisture through maintenance of canopy and thick leaf litter • limit other factors that could interact cumulatively with climate change to result in permanent change (e.g. repeat fires) Regional-scale threat - cannot prevent, eliminate or contain by reserve scale actions. High Ferals (Birds) Use bird and bat boxes that limit use by ferals Likely ongoing presence due to adjacent urban areas - cannot prevent, eliminate or contain Ferals (Mice) Low Manage indirectly through revegetation to offset seed predation Reticulation Manage through maintenance and operation of reticulation to avoid drift or leaks into bushland Very Diseases and Pathogens No objective as reserve soils conditions unsuitable for pathogen None High (Dieback) Low Stormwater No objective as can only be introduced due to overriding policy decision by City of Melville
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4.2.3 Lagging Indicators Leading indicators are associated with changes in the density / abundance / extent / occurrences of assets. The levels of acceptable change are determined in the framework established in the NAAMP as summarised in Table 47 and applied in Table 48 and Table 49.
Table 47 Tiered Goals for Assets and Associated Lagging Indicators Goal Lagging Indicator Applicable When Enhance Increase in either Asset can be enhanced and • extent • occurs in only one reserve and/or • density • at risk of local extinction and/or • numbers or • minimal cost (e.g. incorporated in revegetation program) and/or • occurrences • reduces operational costs (e.g. reduces requirements for on-going for threat management) Maintain No decrease in either Asset can be maintained and • extent • Asset occurs in a number of reserves and/or • density • Not a risk of local extinction and/or • numbers or • occurs in only one reserve but insufficient knowledge/resources to enhance • occurrences Confirm Decrease in: Asset significant and • number of assets for which • historic but no recent records in reserve and/or their presence is uncertain • potentially to be in reserve based on habitat and/or proximity of other records Monitor No indices for management Assets that cannot be maintained by actions within City of Melville boundaries or for which no quantifiable indices effectiveness exist and: • for which reserves are not critical component of habitat (e.g. highly mobile/wide roaming and/or infrequent/irregular visitors to the City of Melville) • there is a risk of local extinction from processes that cannot be mitigated by the City of Melville (e.g. climate change, some pathogens)
Table 48 Goals for Indicator Species No. of Goal Priority Asset A Comments Reserves Recently extinct onsite – Reintroduce a minimum of 100 plants. 1 plant remaining in City Conospermum triplinervium 1 of Melville Reserves. Easy to cultivate but material must be appropriate as there are different forms of the species Long extinct onsite – Reintroduce a minimum of 5 plants. Reintroduction would be for Callitris preissii 1 historic value rather than biodiversity. Low numbers onsite - Increase to a minimum of 50 plants (including adjacent parkland Eucalyptus gomphocephala 4 area). Impact on views to be considered in placement. Grevillea crithmifolia 2 High Low numbers onsite - Increase to a minimum of 100 plants of each species. Mainly Scaevola nitida 2 around limestone cliffs and outcrop Enhance Templetonia retusa 3 Acacia cochlearis 3 Acanthocarpus preissii 4 Olearia axillaris 2 Moderate numbers onsite - Increase to a minimum of 200 plants of each species. Rhagodia baccata 2 Conostylis candicans 17 Melaleuca systena 4 Recently extinct onsite - Reintroduce with a minimum of 100 plants. Banksia attenuata 38 Low numbers onsite - Increase to a minimum of 100 plants of each species. Impact on Low Banksia menziesii 39 views to be considered in placement. Xanthorrhoea preissii 38 Low numbers onsite - Increase to a minimum of 20 plants. Banksia sessilis var. cygnorum 4 Moderate numbers onsite - expected to persist onsite if standard threat management Medium Maintain Lepidosperma gladiatum 4 procedures and guidelines are effective and implemented. Species Reptile that is expected to persist onsite if standard threat management procedures and Low Ctenotus australis 2 guidelines are effective and implemented. Lepidosperma gracile 1 Possibly extinct onsite - Increase to a minimum of 200 plants of each species. Lomandra maritima 2 Confirm Low Additional 45 native species should be confirmed every 5 years given risk of extinctions All native plants not above NA and small reserve High Smicrornis brevirostris 5 Migratory bird species: maintain habitat in form of existing overstorey trees Bird present but breeding onsite not confirmed. If breeding then the objective is to Monitor Hirundo nigricans 12 maintain population (which will require maintaining tree hollows for breeding onsite), Low otherwise maintain feeding habitat. Chalinolobus gouldii 3 Bat with large home range: maintain habitat in form of 4 very large trees A: City of Melville reserves including Heathcote Reserve
Table 49 Goals for Sites Goal Priority Asset Comments Increase vegetation with very high native plant cover from 85% to >100% (15% of bushland = approximately 0.16 ha or 40 m x 40 m). Initial priorities: • revegetation site immediately below lawn area and • Templetonia retusa (Cockies Tongues) shrubland as a number of significant species largely restricted to this vegetation association.
Restrict plantings to species listed for individual vegetation associations in Table 50 with High Ecological Communities - vegetation complex preference given to species listed in Table 14.
Enhance Detailed mapping of plant species onsite is required to alleviate the potential for conflicts between goals given: • a number of plant species are to be enhanced within a very small reserve; • a number of plant species are represented by one or two plants and are at risk of local extinction through inadvertent disturbance during revegetation; • intensive plantings required on steep slopes to maintain stability Revegetate 1,630 m2 to the standard of ‘Rehabilitation’ in Table 10.
Medium Revegetation Sites – existing plantings Restrict plantings to species listed for individual vegetation associations in Table 50 with preference given to species listed in Table 14. High Heritage Site – river views Assets that are expected to persist onsite if standard threat management procedures and Maintain Recreation Sites – open tracks Medium guidelines are effective and implemented. Habitat Sites - very large trees Document GPS co-ordinates of all tagged trees in bushland, confirming which of the approximately 45 trees are in the bushland. Update data for tagged trees as some are Confirm Medium Reference Sites – Tagged Trees now dead and will compliment mapping of native plants to assist in planning the enhancement of plant species and ecological community. Monitor NA None No assets in this category
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Gibbons, P., & Lindenmayer, D. (2002). Tree Hollows and Wildlife Conservation in Australia. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing. Gibson, N., Keighery, B., Keighery, G., Burbridge, A., & Lyons, M. (1995). A Floristic Survey of the Southern Swan Coastal Plain. Perth: Unpublished report for the Australian Heritage Commission. Glevan Consulting. (2010). Assessment of Reserves vested with the City of Melville for vegetation protectable from the Dieback disease. Mandurah: unpublished report for City of Melville. Government of Western Australia. (2000). Bush Forever. Volume 2: Directory of Bush Forever Sites. Perth: Western Australian Planning Commission. Grayson, J., & Calver, M. (2004). Regulation of domestic cat ownership to protect urban wildlife: a justification based on the precautionary principle. In D. Lunney, & S. Burgin, Urban Wildlife: more than meets the eye (pp. 169-178). Sydney: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales. Heddle, E., Loneragan, O., & Havel, J. (1980). Vegetation complexes of the Darling system, Western Australia. In: Atlas of natural resources: Darling system, Western Australia. Perth: Department of Conservation and Environment. Heritage Council. (2014, April 02). Heathcote Hospital. Retrieved from Heriatge Council of WA - Places Database: http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Places/AggregateDetails?placeNameCont ains=heathcote&streetNameContains=&IsCurrentlyStateRegistered=False&SearchToke n=084658d2-1e89-4c6c-a835-5d63161c5f35 Hill, A., Semeniuk, C., Semeniuk, V., & Del Marco, A. (1996). Wetlands of the Swan Coastal Plain Volume 2B: Wetland Mapping, Classification and Evaluation, Wetland Atlas. Perth: Water and Rivers Commission and Department of Environmental Protection. Hope, P., & Foster, I. (2005). How our rainfall has changed - The south-west, Climate Note 5/05. Perth: Indian Ocean Initiative, Government of Western Australia. Hosken, D. (1996, September). Roost selection by the lesser long-eared bat, Nyctophilus geoffroyi, and the greater long-eared bat, N. major (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Banksia woodlands. . Journal of the Royal society of Western Australia, 79(3), 211-216. How, R., Harvey, M., Dell, J., & Waldock, J. (1996). Ground Fauna of Urban Bushland Remnants in Perth. Perth: Western Australian Museum. Indian Ocean Climate Initiative. (2009). How WA’s Climate Has Changed. Perth: Government of Western Australia, Bureau of Meterology, CSIRO. Johnstone, R., & Storr, G. (2004). Handbook of Western Australia Birds, Volume II. Perth: WA Museum. Keighery, G., & Keigery, B. (1998). Floristics of System Six Reserves and Bushland Part XVI . Perth: unpublished report CALM and EPA. Lapidge, K., Braysher, M., & Sarre, S. (2013, September 19). feral.org.au. Retrieved from Fox FAQs: http://www.feral.org.au/pest-species/faq/fox-faqs/ Lilith, M., Calver, M., & Garkaklis, M. (2010). Do cat restrictions lead to increased species diversity or abundance of small and medium-sized mammals in remnant urban bushland? Pacific Conservation Biology, 16, 162-172.
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LRM. (2013, September 19). House Mouse. Retrieved from Northern Territory Department of Land Resource Management: http://www.lrm.nt.gov.au/feral/mouse#.UjvJBhC0zms McHugh, S., & Bourke, S. (2008). Management Area Review of Shallow Groundwater Systems on Gnangara and Jandakot mounds. Perth: Department of Water. Powell, R. (2009). Leaf and Branch - Trees and Tall Shrubs of Perth. Perth: DEC. Ramalho, C. (2012). Effects of urbanisation on remnant woodlands - PhD Thesis. Perth: The University of Western Australia. Royal, J. (2008). Arboricultural Assessment - Heathcote Lower Land. Perth: unpublished report by ArborLogic for GHD. Seddon, G. (1972). Sense of Place. Perth : UWA Press. Siemon, N. (2001). Point Heathcote Foreshore Reserve Rehabilitation Plan . Perth: unpublished report for the City of Melville by NSA. Strahan, R. (1998). The Mammals of Australia. Melbourne: New Holland Publishers. Van Delft, R. (1997). Birding Sites Around Perth (2nd Edition ed.). Perth: Birds Australia - Western Australian Group. Waters, A. (2013). Flora Assessment - Estuarine Reserves (Blackwall Reach, Point Walter and Heathcote). Perth: unpublished report for the City of Melville. Waters, A. (2013). Natural Areas Asset Management Plan. report by Woodgis Environmental Assessment and Management for the City of Melville, Western Australia. Waters, A. (2014). Flora And Vegetation Surveys City of Melville Bullcreek Reserves (Bateman, Bull Creek, Reg Bourke, Richard Lewis, And Un-Named Parks). Perth: unpublished report for the City of Melville. Webala, P. (2010). Bat community structure and habitat use across logging regimes in jarrah eucalypt forests of south-western Australia - PhD Thesis. Perth: Murdoch University. Wilson, B., & Valentine, L. (. (2009). Biodiversity values and threatening processes of the Gnangara groundwater system - Report for the Gnangara Sustainability Strategy and the Department of Environment and Conservation. Perth: Gnangara Sustainability Strategy Taskforce - Department of Water.
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Appendix 1 Flora Inventory
Table 50 Native Flora Inventory Vegetation Association Year Recorded Onsite Keighery & NSA, AborLogic, Foreshore Cliffs Slopes Family Species Keighery, 1998 2001 2008 Acanthocarpus preissii 1 1 1 1 1 ASPARAGACEAE Lomandra maritima 1 1 1 Olearia axillaris 1 1 ASTERACEAE Waitzia species 1 1 Allocasuarina fraseriana 1 1 1 CASUARINACEAE Allocasuarina humilis 1 1 1 1 1 Casuarina obesa 1 1 1 CHENOPODIACEAE Rhagodia baccata subsp. dioica 1 1 COLCHICACEAE Burchardia congesta 1 1 CUPRESSACEAE Callitris preissii 1 1 Cyperus gymnocaulos 1 1 1 Ficinia nodosa 1 1 1 1 Lepidosperma aff. scabrum 1 1 CYPERACEAE Lepidosperma gladiatum 1 1 1 1 1 Lepidosperma gracile 1 1 Lepidosperma tuberculatum 1 1 Mesomelaena pseudostygia 1 1 1 1 ERICACEAE Leucopogon parviflorus 1 1 Acacia cochlearis 1 1 1 Acacia cyclops 1 1 1 1 1 Acacia rostellifera 1 1 1 1 1 Acacia saligna 1 1 1 Gompholobium tomentosum 1 1 FABACEAE Hardenbergia comptoniana 1 1 1 1 1 Jacksonia furcellata 1 1 1 1 Jacksonia sternbergiana 1 1 1 1 Kennedia prostrata 1 1 Templetonia retusa 1 1 1 1 Lechenaultia floribunda 1 1 1 GOODENIACEAE Scaevola canescens 1 1 Scaevola nitida 1 1 1 1 1 Conostylis candicans subsp. candicans 1 1 1 1 1 HAEMODORACEAE Conostylis setigera 1 1 1 1 1 Corynotheca micrantha 1 1 1 1 HEMEROCALLIDACEAE Dianella revoluta var. divaricata 1 1 1 1 JUNCACEAE Juncus kraussii 1 1 1 1 LAURACEAE Cassytha racemosa 1 1 LORANTHACEAE Amyema linophylla 1 1 Agonis flexuosa 1 1 Callistemon phoeniceus 1 1 Calothamnus quadrifidus 1 1 1 Corymbia calophylla 1 1 Eremaea pauciflora 1 1 Eucalyptus gomphocephala 1 1 1 1 1 MYRTACEAE Eucalyptus marginata subsp. marginata 1 1 Hypocalymma angustifolium 1 1 1 Hypocalymma robustum 1 1 Kunzea glabrescens 1 1 1 Melaleuca cuticularis 1 1 Melaleuca rhaphiophylla 1 1 Melaleuca systena 1 1 PHYLLANTHACEAE Phyllanthus calycinus 1 1 1 POACEAE Sporobolus virginicus 1 1 Adenanthos cygnorum subsp. cygnorum 1 1 1 1 Banksia attenuata 1 1 1 1 Banksia grandis 1 1 Banksia lindleyana var. lindleyana 1 1 1 1 Banksia menziesii 1 1 1 1 Banksia sessilis var. cygnorum 1 1 1 1 1 PROTEACEAE Conospermum triplinervium 1 1 Grevillea crithmifolia 1 1 Hakea lissocarpha 1 1 Hakea prostrata 1 1 1 1 1 Hakea varia 1 1 Petrophile macrostachya 1 1 XANTHORRHOEACEAE Xanthorrhoea preissii 1 1 1 ZAMIACEAE Macrozamia riedlei 1 1 1 1
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Table 51 Weed Inventory
Impact Weed Group / Species FAMILY Species Common Name Keighery & Keighery, 1998 NSA, 2001 Ecoscape, 2005 Abor Logic, 2008 Waters, 2013 Bridal Creeper ASPARAGACEAE Asparagus asparagoides Bridal Creeper 1 1 Lantana VERBENACEAE Lantana camara Lantana 1 Perennial Clumping POACEAE Ehrharta calycina Perennial Veld Grass 1 1 Very Grasses POACEAE Eragrostis curvula African Love Grass 1 1 High Soldiers ASPARAGACEAE Lachenalia reflexa Soldiers 1 Brazilian Pepper ANACARDIACEAE Schinus terebinthifolius Brazilian Pepper 1 1 1 1 Athel Tree TAMARICACEAE Tamarix aphylla Athel Tree 1 POACEAE Avena barbata Bearded Oat 1 Annual Clumping POACEAE Avena fatua Wild Oat 1 Grasses POACEAE Bromus diandrus Great Brome 1 1 POACEAE Lagurus ovatus Hares Tail Grass 1 COLCHICACEAE Baeometra uniflora 1 IRIDACEAE Chasmanthe floribunda African Corn-flag 1 1 IRIDACEAE Ferraria crispa Black Flag 1 1 1 IRIDACEAE Freesia alba x leichtlinii Freesia 1 1 Clumping Geophytes IRIDACEAE Gladiolus caryophyllaceus Wild Gladiolus 1 IRIDACEAE Gladiolus undulatus Wild Gladiolus 1 IRIDACEAE Romulea rosea Guildford Grass 1 OXALIDACEAE Oxalis pes-caprae Soursob 1 1 Giant Grasses POACEAE Arundo donax Giant Reed or Bamboo 1 1 1 POACEAE Cynodon dactylon Couch 1 1 Perennial Running POACEAE Pennisetum clandestinum Kikuyu 1 Grasses POACEAE Stenotaphrum secundatum Buffalo Grass 1 1 ALTINGIACEAE Liquidambar styraciflua American Sweetgum 1 APOCYNACEAE Nerium oleander Oleander 1 ARECACEAE Phoenix dactylifera Date Palm 1 ARECACEAE Washingtonia robusta Washington Palm 1 ASPARAGACEAE Dracaena draco Dragon Tree 1 CUPRESSACEAE Cupressus sempervirens Pencil Pine 1 ERIACEAE Arbutus unedo Strawberry Tree 1 FABACEAE Acacia podalyriifolia Queensland Silver Wattle 1 FABACEAE Acacia pycnantha Golden Wattle 1 FABACEAE Erythrina x sykesi Indian Coral Tree 1 FABACEAE Robinia pseudoacacia Honey Locust 1 FAGACEAE Quercus robur English Oak 1 High MALVACEAE Hibiscus sp. Hibiscus 1 MELIACEAE Melia azedarach White Cedar 1 MORACEAE Morus alba Mulberry 1 MYRTACEAE Chamelaucium uncinatum Geraldton Wax 1 1 1 MYRTACEAE Corymbia citriodora Lemon Scented Gum 1 MYRTACEAE Corymbia ficifolia Red Flowering Gum 1 MYRTACEAE Corymbia maculata Spotted Gum 1 MYRTACEAE Eucalyptus botryoides Bangalay 1 Shrubs and Trees MYRTACEAE Eucalyptus camaldulensis River Gum 1 MYRTACEAE Eucalyptus cladocalyx Sugar Gum 1 MYRTACEAE Eucalyptus erythrocorys Illyarrie 1 MYRTACEAE Eucalyptus grandis Rose Gum 1 MYRTACEAE Eucalyptus lansdowneana Port Lincoln Gum 1 MYRTACEAE Eucalyptus leucoxylon Sth. Aust. Blue Gum 1 MYRTACEAE Eucalyptus robusta Swamp Mahogany 1 MYRTACEAE Leptospermum laevigatum Victorian Tea Tree 1 1 MYRTACEAE Lophostemon confertus Queensland Box Tree 1 MYRTACEAE Melaleuca quinquenervia Broad-leaved Paperbark 1 MYRTACEAE Syzygium smithii Lillypilly 1 PAPAVERACEAE Romneya coulteri Californian Tree Poppy 1 PINACEAE Pinus pinaster Pinaster Pine 1 PINACEAE Pinus pinea Stone Pine 1 PITTOSPORACEAE Pittosporum sp. Pittosporum 1 PLATANACEAE Platanus x hispanica London Plane Tree 1 ROSACEAE Malus sp. Crabapple 1 THEACEAE Camellia sp. Camellia 1 VERBENACEAE Citharexylum spinosum Fiddlewood 1 AIZOACEAE Carpobrotus edulis Hottentot Fig 1 1 1 ASPARAGACEAE Agave americana Century Plant 1 ASPHODELACEAE Trachyandra divaricata Onion Weed 1 1 1 1 Medium Other Perennial Weeds ASTERACEAE Argyranthemum frutescens Marguerite Daisy 1 GERANIACEAE Pelargonium capitatum Rose Pelargonium 1 1 POLYGONACEAE Rumex crispus Curled Dock 1 POACEAE Briza maxima Blowfly Grass 1 1 1 POACEAE Briza minor Shivery Grass 1 1 ASPHODELACEAE Asphodelus fistulosus Wild Onion 1 1 ASTERACEAE Arctotheca calendula Cape Weed 1 ASTERACEAE Conyza bonariensis Flaxleaf Fleabane 1 1 ASTERACEAE Hypochaeris glabra Flat Weed 1 ASTERACEAE Lactuca serriola Prickly Lettuce 1 1 ASTERACEAE Sonchus asper Common Sowthistle 1 1 ASTERACEAE Sonchus oleraceus Common Sowthistle 1 ASTERACEAE Ursinia anthemoides Ursinia 1 1 1 Low Annual Weeds BRASSICACEAE Raphanus raphanistrum Wild Radish 1 1 1 EUPHORBIACEAE Euphorbia peplus Petty Spurge 1 EUPHORBIACEAE Euphorbia terracina Geraldton Carnation Weed 1 1 FABACEAE Lotus angustissimus Narrowleaf Trefoil 1 FABACEAE Lupinus angustifolius Narrowleaf Lupin 1 1 FABACEAE Lupinus cosentinii Sandplain Lupin 1 1 1 FABACEAE Melilotus indicus Indian Sweet-clover 1 FABACEAE Trifolium campestre Hop Clover 1 FABACEAE Vicia sativa subsp. nigra Common Vetch 1 SOLANACEAE Solanum nigrum Blackberry Nightshade 1
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Appendix 2 Fauna Inventory
Codes for Fauna Inventories
“At risk” categories (for species of particular sensitivity to impacting processes in urban landscapes): X = listed as “at risk” by the City of Melville # = additionally identified as “at risk” by Bamford Consulting Ecologists in surveying reserves for City of Melville 2013.
Conservation status categories: CS 1 = listed under legislation CS2 = listed as Priority by DPaW.
Resident/Migarant/Vagrant categories: R = Resident Mb. = Regular breeding migrant Mnb = Regular non-breeding migrant Vis = Visitor Vag = Vagrant E = locally extinct
Table 52 Mammal Inventory At risk Resident/ Confirmed Conservation Group Scientific Name Common Name category in Migrant/ Heathcote Status City Vagrant 2013 Mastiff bats Tadarida australis White-striped Bat Mb
Vesper bats Chalinolobus gouldii Gould’s Wattled Bat X R Yes
Table 53 Native Reptile and Amphibian Inventory At risk Resident/ Confirmed Conservation Group Scientific Name Common Name category in Migrant/ Heathcote Status City Vagrant 2013 Tree Frogs Litoria moorei Motorbike Frog R
Strophurus spinigerus Southern Spiny-tailed Gecko # R Geckoes Christinus marmoratus Marbled Gecko R
Legless Lizards Aprasia repens Sand-Plain Worm-Lizard X R
Cryptoblepharus buchanani Fence Skink R
Ctenotus fallens West Coast Ctenotus # R
Ctenotus australis Western Limestone Ctenotus # R Yes
Egernia kingii King’s Skink # R
Hemiergis quadrilineata Two-toed Earless Skink R
Lerista elegans West Coast Four-toed Lerista R Skink Lizards Lerista lineata Perth Lined Lerista X CS2 R
Lerista praepedita Worm Lerista R
Menetia greyii Dwarf Skink R
Morethia lineoocellata West Coast Morethia R
Morethia obscura Dusky Morethia R
Tiliqua rugosa Bobtail # R
Blind Snakes Ramphotyphlops australis X R
Pseudonaja affinis Dugite # R Front-Fanged Snakes Simoselaps bertholdi Jan’s Bandy-Bandy # R
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Table 54 Native Bird Inventory At risk Resident/ Confirmed Conservation Group Scientific Name Common Name category in Migrant/ Heathcote Status City Vagrant 2013 Tadorna tadornoides Australian Shelduck R
Chenonetta jubata Australian Wood Duck R Ducks and Swans Anas gracilis Grey Teal R
Anas superciliosa Pacific Black Duck X R
Frogmouths Podargus strigoides Tawny Frogmouth # R
Herons and Egrets Nycticorax caledonicus Nankeen Night Heron X R
Pandion cristatus Eastern Osprey CS1 R
Haliaeetus leucogaster White-bellied Sea-Eagle CS1 Vag
Kites, Hawks and Eagles Haliastur sphenurus Whistling Kite R
Accipiter fasciatus Brown Goshawk R
Accipiter cirrhocephalus Collared Sparrowhawk R
Falco cenchroides Nankeen Kestrel R
Falco berigora Brown Falcon Vag Falcons Falco longipennis Australian Hobby R
Falco peregrinus Peregrine Falcon CS1 R
Calyptorhynchus latirostris Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo X CS1 M
Cockatoos Cacatua roseicapilla Galah R Yes
Cacatua sanguinea Little Corella X R Yes
Glossopsitta porphyrocephala Purple-crowned Lorikeet Vis
Lorikeets and Parrots Barnardius zonarius Australian Ringneck X R
Purpureicephalus spurius Red-capped Parrot X R
Hawk-Owls Ninox novaeseelandiae Southern Boobook Owl R
Barn Owls Tyto alba Barn Owl Vis
Forest Kingfishers Todiramphus sanctus Sacred Kingfisher X Mb
Bee-Eaters Merops ornatus Rainbow Bee-eater X CS1 Mb
Smicrornis brevirostris Weebill X R Yes Thornbills and Allies Gerygone fusca Western Gerygone R
Pardalotus punctatus Spotted Pardalote Mb Pardalotes Pardalotus striatus Striated Pardalote X R
Lichenostomus virescens Singing Honeyeater R Yes
Anthochaera lunullata Western Wattlebird X R
Honeyeaters Anthochaera carunculata Red Wattlebird R Yes
Lichmera indistincta Brown Honeyeater R Yes
Phylidonyris novaehollandiae New Holland Honeyeater X R
Cuckoo-Shrikes Coracina novaehollandiae Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike R
Cuckoo-Shrikes Lalage sueurii White-winged Triller Mb
Woodswallows Cracticus torquatus Grey Butcherbird R Yes
Woodswallows Gymnorhina tibicen Australian Magpie R Yes
Rhipidura fuliginosa Grey Fantail # R Fantails, Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys Willie Wagtail R
Ravens and Crows Corvus coronoides Australian Raven R Yes
Flycatchers Grallina cyanoleuca Magpie-lark R
White-Eyes Zosterops lateralis Silvereye R
Cheramoeca leucosternus White-backed Swallow Mb
Swallows Hirundo neoxena Welcome Swallow R Yes
Hirundo nigricans Tree Martin X R Yes
Flower-Peckers Dicaeum hirundinaceum Mistletoebird R
Pipits and True Wagtails Anthus novaeseelandiae Australasian (Richard's) Pipit R
Table 55 Native Invertebrate Inventory Resident/ Confirmed At risk category Conservation Group Scientific Name Common Name Migrant/ Heathcote in City Status Vagrant 2013 Moth Synemon gratiosa Graceful Sunmoth # CS2 R
Leioproctus douglasiellus Native bee # CS1 R
Bee Neopasiphae simplicior Native bee # CS1 R
Leioproctus contrarius Native bee # CS2 R
Table 56 Feral Animal Inventory
Group Scientific Name Common Name Confirmed Heathcote 2013 Columba livia Rock Dove
Streptopelia chinensis Spotted Turtle-Dove Yes Birds Streptopelia senegalensis Laughing Turtle-Dove Yes Trichoglossus haematodus Rainbow Lorikeet Yes Dacelo novaeguineae Laughing Kookaburra
Mus musculus House Mouse
Rattus norvegicus Brown Rat
Rattus rattus Black Rat Mammals Oryctolagus cuniculus Rabbit
Vulpes vulpes European Red Fox
Felis catus Feral Cat
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Appendix 3 Weed Distributions
Figure 20: Very High Impact Weeds (excluding grasses) Figure 23: High Impact Weeds (geophytes) Figure 26: Medium Impact Perennial Weeds
Figure 21: Very High Impact Perennial Clumping Grass Weeds Figure 24: High Impact Annual Clumping Grass Weeds Figure 27: Low Impact Annual Weeds
Figure 22: High Impact Weeds (shrub/trees & giant grasses) Figure 25: High Impact Perennial Running Grass Weeds
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