THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT LOF A NE COVE BY LYNNE McLOUGHLIN WITH PLANT SURVEYS BY VAN KLAPHAKE The Natural Environment of Lane Cove ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank those people who have so willingly assisted in assembling materials and information for various parts of this book detailing the natural environment of Lane Cove. In particular, I wish to thank Susan Butler, Lane Cove Council Bushland Management Officer, for her great support and encouragement for the project from its inception as environmental education material, through the production of the Teachers’ Guide, to its present form. Susan also produced all the maps, assisted with illustrative material, co-ordinated the production of the listings for the appendices and acted as editor for both the Teachers’ Guide and this publication. Special thanks are due to Van Klaphake who surveyed, identified and listed the plant species of our bushland reserves, assisted by Sandy Coe. Van also drafted the vegetation maps, contributed to the birds and the animals listings and assisted with the mushrooms listing. Thanks also to Jon Kingston and Simon Pitcher for their painstaking work in preparing the listings for the extensive appendices. Assistance was also much appreciated from Sheila Walkerden, for information and listings on birds, John Diversi, for listings and information on reptiles and Dennis Ormsby, for material on mammals. Lynne McLoughlin February, 1992. Maps: Susan Butler Illustrations: Susan Butler – Geology/soils cross-section Boyden & Partners – Stormwater control Kevin Hardacre – Praying mantis Birds: Firetail, Currawong, Pardalote, Wren Anne Hopkins – Recreation at Fairyland Van Klaphake – Juncus Animals: Gecko, Snake, Frog, Fox Bird food niches Birds: Pelican, Cormorant, Kookaburra. Ibis Toni May -Weeds: Morning Glory, Madeira Vine, Dandelion, Cobblers Peg,Lantana, Broadleafed Privet, BalloonVine, Kikuyu Grass Jocelyn Maughan – Brushtail Possum Daniel McLoughlin – Dumping, bike riding, Bush under Siege Lynne McLoughlin – Environment Web, Flying Fox, Impacts: taking flowers & logs, Tree lopping, feral cat. Plants: Lillypilly, Commelina, Pittosporum, Tradescantia. Weed walkmaps. Ferry Judy Messer – Plants: Casuarina, Eucalypt, Lillypilly, Epacris, Hakea, Banksia, Acacia. Ringtail possum, Tony Moody – Vegetation & wetland zonations NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service – Sugar’ Glider Simon Pitcher, fromWaterBoard - Sewage overflow point Victorian Dept of Conservation & Environment – Mammals: Feathertail Glider, bats, Tawny Frogmouth Water Board – Clean Rivers and Creeks Begin at Home Published by: Lane Cove Municipal Council, Longueville Road, Lane Cove. 2066 February, 1992. Reprinted 2014 ISBN 0 9500855 7 X Copyright © Text: Lynne McLoughlin, 1992 2 Contents CONTENTS 5 1. INTRODUCTION 2. THE BARE ESSENTIALS 2.1 Climate 8 2.2 Topography 8 2.3 Geology and Soils 8 3. THE VALUES OF BUSHLAND 3.1 The General Values of Bushland 11 3.2 State Policy on Bushland 12 3.2 Special Values of Lane Cove Bushland 12 4. VEGETATION COMMUNITIES 4.1 Naming Vegetation Communities 14 4.2 Factors Affecting Vegetation Communities 15 4.3 Wetlands and Swamps 17 4.4 Wet Sclerophyll Forest 18 4.5 Dry Sclerophyll Forest 20 4.6 Heath 21 4.7 Missing Communities 22 4.8 Changing Communities 23 5. THE ANIMALS OF LANE COVE 5.1 Wildlife in the City 25 5.2 The Mammals of Lane Cove 25 5.3 The Reptiles of Lane Cove 28 5.4 The Amphibians of Lane Cove 31 5.5 Fish of the Lane Cove River 31 5.6 Insects and Spiders 32 5.7 Introduced Animals 32 6. THE BIRDS OF LANE COVE 6.1 Birds in the Environment 33 6.2 The Impact of Settlement on Birds 33 6.3 Birds in Lane Cove 36 7. THE ABORIGINES OF LANE COVE 7.1 The Local Tribes 40 7.2 Aboriginal Survival in the Environment of Lane Cove 40 8. EUROPEAN IMPACTS ON LOCAL BUSHLAND 8.1 Early Impacts 43 8.2 Continuing Problems 43 8.3 Repairing the Damage and Reducing the Impacts 47 3 The Natural Environment of Lane Cove 9. WEED INVASION – A SPECIAL PROBLEM 9.1 The Nature and Extent of the Problem 50 9.2 How Weed Invasion Occurs 50 9.3 Keeping Weeds out of the Bush 52 9.4 Restoring the Bush 52 9.5 Bush Regeneration 53 9.6 Identifying Weeds 55 10. THE LANE COVE – AN URBAN RIVER SYSTEM 10.1 Description 59 10.2 How People Have Used the River System 59 10.3 Reducing Adverse Impacts on Waterways 66 REFERENCES Further Reading 72 APPENDICES 1 Native Plants of Lane Cove Municipality 74 2 Native Plants found at Riverview 1881 –1908 86 3 Fungi of Lane Cove Municipality 88 4 Bushland Weeds of Lane Cove Municipality 89 5 Catchment Vegetation Maps 98 6 Animals of Lane Cove 105 7 Birds of Lane Cove 110 115 INDEX 4 Introduction 1. INTRODUCTION Lane Cove is a relatively small municipality of 1,056 hectares on the Lower North Shore (Map 1), almost completely contained within the catchment of the Lane Cove River (the east side of Greenwich drains to Berrys Creek and the Parramatta River). It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Highway, also the eastern edge of the catchment, and on the west and south by the river itself. Mowbray Road serves as the boundary to the north. 163 hectares of the total area is zoned as Open Space, of which 74 hectares is classified as bushland (Map 2), as at 1989 (some areas have been added to public open space since). This represents only 7% of the Municipality and less than half of the total open space. Thus it is a very precious resource, fortunately at present augmented by further bushland areas in public or private ownership which are not zoned as open space. Many residents who live on the edge of reserves maintain parts of their property close to the bush in a natural state, increasing total bushland and wildlife habitat. This volume is a direct off-shoot of a previous publication specifically designed for educational use. In 1991, Lane Cove Council, with the assistance of the Department of Planning’s Metropolitan Greenspace Program, produced an Environmental Education Package for Lane Cove schools. This Package was designed to assist teachers, particularly at primary level, interpret the natural environment of their local area. It consisted of a variety of readily available resource materials such as books, posters, leaflets and videos and was accompanied by a specially written Teachers’ Guide . 5 The Natural Environment of Lane Cove The Natural Environment of Lane Cove: A Teachers’ Guide provided background information on each element of the local natural environment, as well as student activities and worksheets on each topic, tree lists and a map for each school site, other plant lists and a bird list. The production of such a comprehensive set of materials for classroom use and provision of these packages to local schools was a pioneering initiative for local government in promoting awareness of the local environment amongst its children. Lane Cove Council has been committed to bushland preservation and protection for over 20 years. Their commitment to this project thus reflects a long history of concern for the natural environment of Lane Cove. Council believed it important that the children of Lane Cove both understand and appreciate their local environment. Whilst the importance of environmental education in schools had been recognised in the 1989 Environmental Education Curriculum document, there was a significant shortage of locally based information and materials for teachers to translate this document into meaningful local experiences for children. The Environmental Education package was designed to meet this need. However, it soon became obvious that the information about Lane Cove’s natural environment contained in the Teachers’ Guide should be more readily available. This present volume represents the information component of the Teachers’ Guide , with the addition of detailed reference listings on the plants, animals, birds and fish of the municipality to further extend its value as an information base for general use. For more detailed information on each area covered, consult the references for each chapter listed before the Appendices. For the existence of such a wealth of collected data specific to the Lane Cove environment we owe a debt of gratitude to people who, over the years, have been so interested in the area as to collect a variety of information allowing us now a wide view of its natural components. We thus appreciate the work of people such as Tom Dixon of St Ignatius College, who encouraged their birdwatchers and compiled years of their data, Van Klaphake who has worked in our bushland for many years acquiring detailed knowledge of its plants and animals, bush regenerators who have lived in Lane Cove observing and caring for our bush, and researchers at Macquarie University and elsewhere who have built up knowledge of the river and its aquatic life. The major gap remaining in our knowledge is that we lack a true picture of the state of our animal populations, particularly our mammals. Thus this is an important area for future study. 6 Introduction 7 The Natural Environment of Lane Cove 2. THE BARE ESSENTIALS This chapter outlines the main features of the non-living, or inorganic, part of the natural environment of Lane Cove which provides the framework for its plants, animals, birds and insects and which has heavily influenced the way they have evolved. 2.1 Climate Sydney is located on the east coast of the continent, in a temperate zone (between the tropics and the colder sub-arctic regions). This means it experiences moderate temperatures year round and moderate year round rainfall from moisture laden winds blowing onshore from the Pacific Ocean. The climate of Lane Cove is similar to that of general metropolitan Sydney. This records an average rainfall of more than 1200mm, the wettest months being January to July, with less rainfall in late winter and spring.