V PROCEEDINGS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF NSW O PROCEEDINGS L . 1 VOLUME 138 3 of the 8 D E C CCEDER A E E S M LINNEAN O THE F O R B LINNEAN N G T E E E T SOCIETY S R N I OF NEW SOUTH WALES 2 M V 0 D I 1 SOCIETY C X C C L X 6 of NEW SOUTH WALES P R CONTENTS O VOLUME 138 C Volume 138 E E Papers published in 2016, compiled 31 December 2015 D I Published at http://escholarship.library.usyd.edu.au/journals/index.php/LIN N G (date individual papers were published online at eScholarship) S O Volume 138 F Compiled 31 December 2016 T H E TABLE OF CONTENTS L I 01 Lunney, D., Wells, A. and Miller, I. (2015). An ecological history of the Koala Phascolarctos cinereus in Coffs N Harbour and its environs, on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, c1861-2000. N E A 49 King, R.J. (2016). Julian Tenison Woods: natural historian. N S O 57 Fulton, G.R. (2016). New information about the holotype, in the Macleay Museum, of the Allied Rock-Wallaby C Petrogale assimilis Ramsay, 1877 (Marsupialia, Macropodidae). I E T 59 Fulton, G.R. (2016), Bramble Cay Melomys Melomys rubicola Thomas 1924: specimens in the Macleay Museum. Y O F 61 Timms, B.V. (2016). A study on the pools of a granitic mountain top at Moonbi, New South Wales. N . S . 69 Mo, M. (2016). The beach stone-curlew (Esacus magnisrostris) in the Sydney Basin and South East Corner W bioregions of New South Wales. NATURAL HISTORY IN ALL ITS BRANCHES THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES ISSN 1839-7263 B E Founded 1874 & N R E F E A Incorporated 1884 D C N T U O The society exists to promote the cultivation and O R F study of the science of natural history in all branches. The Society awards research grants each year in the fields of Life Sciences (the Joyce Vickery fund) and Earth Sciences (the Betty Mayne fund), offers W 1 I annually a Linnean Macleay Fellowship for research, L 9 L 8 and publishes the Proceedings. It holds field 1 I A - M excursions and scientific meetings including the 0 2 M 8 biennial Sir William Macleay Memorial Lecture AC 1 LE AY delivered by a person eminent in some branch of natural science. Membership enquiries should be addressed in the first instance to the Secretary. Candidates for election to the Society must be recommended by two members. The present annual membership fee is $45 per annum. Papers are published at http://escholarship.library.usyd.edu.au/journals/index.php/LIN and access is free of charge. All papers published in a calendar year comprise a volume. Annual volumes are available to any institution on CD free of charge. Please notify the Secretary to receive one. “Print on demand” hardcopies are available from eScholarship. Back issues from Volume 1 are available free of charge at www.biodiversitylibrary.org/title/6525. OFFICERS and COUNCIL 2016 President: M. Cotton Vice-presidents: R.J. King, M. Gray, D. Keith Treasurer: I.G. Percival Secretary: J-C. Herremans Council: J.P. Barkas, H. Bates, M. Cotton, E. Gorrod, M.R. Gray, J-C. Herremans, D. Keith, R.J. King, H.A. Martin, D.R. Murray, P.J. Myerscough, I.G. Percival, J. Pickett, H.M. Smith, B. Welch and K.L. Wilson Editor: M.L. Augee Assistant Editor: B. Welch Auditors: Phil Williams Carbonara The postal address of the Society is P.O. Box 82, Kingsford, N.S.W. 2032, Australia. The Linnean Society of New South Wales publishes in its proceedings original papers and review Telephone and Fax +61 2 9662 6196. article dealing with biological and earth sciences. Intending authors should contact the Secretary Email: [email protected] ( PO Box 82, Kingsford, N.S.W. 2032, Australia ) for instructions for the preparation of manuscripts Home page: www.linneansocietynsw.org.au/ and procedures for submission. Instructions to authors are also available on the society’s web page (http://linneansocietynsw.org.au/). Linnean Society of New South Wales Manuscripts not prepared in accordance with the society’s instructions will not be considered. Cover motif: Tenison Woods, President of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 1879-1881. PROCEEDINGS of the LINNEAN SOCIETY of NEW SOUTH WALES For information about the Linnean Society of New South Wales. its publications and activities, see the Society’s homepage www.linneansocietynsw.org.au VOLUME 138 December 2016 An Ecological History of the Koala Phascolarctos cinereus in Coffs Harbour and its Environs, on the Mid-north Coast of New South Wales, c1861-2000 DANIEL LUNNEY1, ANTARES WELLS2 AND INDRIE MILLER2 1Offi ce of Environment and Heritage NSW, PO Box 1967, Hurstville NSW 2220, and School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006 ([email protected]) 2Offi ce of Environment and Heritage NSW, PO Box 1967, Hurstville NSW 2220 Published on 8 January 2016 at http://escholarship.library.usyd.edu.au/journals/index.php/LIN Lunney, D., Wells, A. and Miller, I. (2016). An ecological history of the Koala Phascolarctos cinereus in Coffs Harbour and its environs, on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, c1861-2000. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 138, 1-48. This paper focuses on changes to the Koala population of the Coffs Harbour Local Government Area, on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, from European settlement to 2000. The primary method used was media analysis, complemented by local histories, reports and annual reviews of fur/skin brokers, historical photographs, and oral histories. Cedar-cutters worked their way up the Orara River in the 1870s, paving the way for selection, and the fi rst wave of European settlers arrived in the early 1880s. Much of the initial development arose from logging. The trade in marsupial skins and furs did not constitute a signifi cant threat to the Koala population of Coffs Harbour in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The extent of the vegetation clearing by the early 1900s is apparent in photographs. Consistent with the probable presence of Koalas in the Coffs Harbour town centre in the early 1900s, available evidence for the period 1920-1950s strongly suggests that Koalas remained present in the town centre and surrounding area. Large-scale development began in the early 1960s. Comparing aerial photographs allows us to discern the speed of change from a largely rural landscape in 1964 to one that is predominantly urbanised by 2009. The 1999 Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management for Coffs Harbour City Council, drawing on the 1990 Community Survey of Koalas in Coffs Harbour, detailed specifi c examples of habitat fragmentation through development. Local media coverage offered a wealth of information on the persistence, and rapid eradication, of Koala habitat over the 1970s-2000, in addition to the level of community interest in the issue. Taken collectively, the evidence allows us to draw two main conclusions: that the Koala population of Coffs Harbour was widespread but never abundant, and that habitat loss has been relentless since European settlement. The transformation of a rural-forest to a largely urban landscape, particularly in the south-east of the Local Government Area, over the past four decades is the most recent stage in the incremental loss of habitat since European settlement. Consequently, the conclusion can be drawn that the Koala population had been reduced from its pre-European size by 2000. Concurrent research on the Coffs Harbour Koala population showed that it declined during the 1980s, but was relatively stable and endured over the period 1990-2011. These fi ndings point to the necessity of employing historical analysis to interpret change in Koala populations in Coffs Harbour to complement current assessments of population status. Manuscript received 24 October 2014, accepted for publication 21 October 2015. Keywords: Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, The Coffs Harbour Advocate, ecological history, fur trade, Koala, Orara, Phascolarctos cinereus, media analysis, native bear, timber industry, vegetation clearing. a series of papers that aims to track the population INTRODUCTION in order to interpret its current ecological status. The fi rst comprehensive, Shire-wide Koala Plan This paper aims to develop an ecological history of Management in NSW was prepared for Coffs of the Koala Phascolarctos cinereus in Coffs Harbour Harbour City Council in 1999 (Lunney et al. 1999a, on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, focusing 2000, 2002) and adopted in State Parliament in primarily on changes to its population profi le since 2000. In evaluating this Plan, we considered it European settlement in the region. It forms part of essential to analyse not only the recent profi le of KOALAS IN COFFS HARBOUR the Koala population, but also the pattern of long- Looking at population trends over long time periods term change. In order to fully understand the long- provides a deeper understanding of possible drivers term trend as well as to interpret the current status of population change, thereby allowing better future of the Coffs Harbour Koala population, we must management of the remaining population. adopt both an ecological and an historical approach that goes beyond three Koala generations, which is 20 years (Australian Government Department METHODOLOGICAL NOTES of the Environment 2011). The historical enquiry undertaken in this paper provides the context within Ecological history is a rapidly growing fi eld which ecological interpretations of the long-term attracting considerable international attention. changes in and current status of the Koala population Drawing on existing fi elds such as environmental of Coffs Harbour can be viewed.