Table Of Content

Contributions Fauna monitoring in eastern metropolitan parks Robin Drury FaunaSurveyGroup,FieldNaturalistsClubofVictoria,POBox13,BlackburnVictoria3130 Abstract The Fauna SurveyGroup ofthe Field Naturalists Club ofVictoria currently is undertaking awide ranging faunasurveyinthreeparklandcomplexeseastofMelbourne,inconjunctionwithParksVictoriaandinterested volunteers.Themainsurveytechniquesareremotecameras,hairtubes,spotlights,harptraps,artificialhabitat (tilesandtin)andsoundrecorders. ParksVictoria,MelbourneWaterandtheKnoxEnvironmentSocietyhave provided financial support. Boral Industries haveprovidedrooftiles. Fauna monitoring is a necessarypart ofenvironmentalmanagementandisoften notwellfunded.This project providesanopportunity to gainan understandingofthebest methodsformonitoringimportant species; howmembers ofthe community can bestbeinvolved;andhowtheprogrammightbestbesupportedinthelongerterm.(TheVictorianNaturalist131 (1)2014,28-30) Keywords:fauna monitoring,communityengagement, urbanparks Introduction The Field Naturalists Club ofVictoria (FNCV) The study surveys for mammals, including isalong-establishedvolunteergroup interested bats, as well as birds, reptiles and frogs. The in understanding the natural world. The club main survey techniques involve the use of has nine special interest groups, with seven remote cameras, harp trapping, hair tubing, covering the specific areas of botany, fauna spotlighting, visual and audio bird surveys, survey,fungi,geology, marineresearch, micro- audio frog surveys and the establishment and scopyandterrestrialinvertebrates,andanother monitoring ofartificial habitat (rooftiles and two, the DayGroupand theJuniors, which are tin) for reptiles, amphibians and small mam- moregeneric in activity'. mals. Supplementary techniques such as Ana- TheFaunaSurveyrGroupholdsaresearchper- Bat™andSongmeter™will beconsidered. Fox mit under the Wildlife Act 1975 and National scats will be collected andanalysed to identify ParksAct 1975. This permitallows thegroup to prey items, nest-boxes will be checked where applyarangeofsurveytechniquestodetermine available, and kangaroo counts will take place thepresenceofvertebratefauna.Since1972,over at Churchill National Park. Not all focus areas 700 surveys, many in areas managed by Parks willbesubjecttoalltechniques. Victoria,havebeenconductedbythegroup. Planning for the project commenced in Sep- Aftercarryingout aremotecamerasurveyin tember2012,withgrantapplicationstogovern- BalukWiliam, Belgrave South, inAugust2012, ment and local donors. Funding has been re- the group was approached by Parks Victoria ceived from Knox Environment Society, Parks to participate in a project comprising a much Victoria and Melbourne Water. In addition, larger survey involving a number ofparks to BoralIndustrieshavesupplied rooftilesforthe theeastandsouth-eastofMelbourne. reptilesurveys. Theaimsoftheprojectare: The first survey work took place in March • Todevelopavertebratefaunalist 2013. • Toinvolve thecommunity • To assess the success of survey techniques Surveyarea used The threeparklands contain atotal of17parks • To assess the success of the project, with a andnatureconservation reserves. viewto involving the communityin ongoing The Dandenong Valley Parkland, which fol- monitoringprojects. lows the Dandenong Creek, includes the area The survey covers 45 focus areas (areas of from Jells Park in the south to Koomba in the land selected for research) and is within three northandalsoincludesWattlePark. parkland complexes: Berwick,DandenongVal- The Berwick Parkland includes Churchill and leyandSandbelt. Lysterfield Parks and the Police Paddocks and 28 TheVictorianNaturalist Contributions parksontheCardiniaCreekandattheCardinia gies and actions forall the stakeholders. Being Reservoir. It also includes Baluk Wiliam, Selby urbanparks,thereisachallengeinmeetingthe andCritchleyParkerJuniorReserves. multiple demands from recreational users as The Sandbelt Parkland includes Braeside and wellasprovidingforanyconservationvalues. Karkarook Parks. Theplanshaveidentified theneedtoestablish Thetotalareaexceeds4500ha. a baseline ofthe biodiversity in each park to Theparkshavehadavariedhistoryandown- betterdevelopappropriateconservation strate- ership. Previous uses include water storage, giesandtomonitorsystematicallyanyapparent drainage, farming and agriculture, quarrying, biotic change as these improvement strategies timber harvesting, power line easement and areimplemented. waste water treatment (Parks Victoria 2002, MMBW CommunityInvolvement 2006,2009; 2007). Becauseofthis,thevegetationhasundergone Bell etal (2008) pointed outthe needforama- teur naturalists tobeinvolved in the collection significant change since pre-European times. dataforbiodiversitymonitoring,becauseofthe Nevertheless, there are pockets of Ecological increasingneedand thelackofprofessionalre- Vegetation Classes (EVCs) considered to be sources tocopewiththedemand. threatened both within the Gippsland Plains Thisproposalhasprovidedtheopportunityto bioregion and statewide, including Heathy Woodland, Swampy Riparian Woodland, bringtogethervolunteerandcorporateresourc- Swamp Scrub and Riparian Forest. Despite, or es through the involvement ofParks Victoria, FNCV, MelbourneWater (Frogwatch), Birdlife perhaps becauseof, thechanges, theparks still Melbourne and the local friends, landcare and play host to a variety of fauna. The manage- otherenvironmental groups, suchas the Knox ment plans (Parks Victoria 2002, 2006, 2009; MMBW2007) identifyarangeoffauna. Com- EnCvoimrmounnmeinttySoecniegtayg.ement commenced with mon species such as Eastern Grey Kangaroo information sessions at each ofthe three park- Macropus giganteus Black Wallaby Wallabia bicolor, Common Bryushtail Possum Trichosu- lands, thus providingan overviewoftheproject rus vulpecula. Common Ringtail Possum Pseu- for interested parties. The project has been di- docheirus peregrinus and Common Wombat vided into the areas involvingcamerasand hair tubes,spotlightingandbattrapping,frogsurvey- Vombatusursinusareregularlyseen. ThePow- erful Owl Ninoxstrenua, the Australian Gray- ing, birdw'atching and reptile surveying. Email ling Prototroctes maraena and DwarfGalaxias listshavebeendevelopedtocontactparticipants aboutactivitiestotheextentoftheirinterest. Galaxiaspusilla allofnationalsignificance,can also be found he,re. rIhe parks provide ahome Opportunities havebeen provided topartici- pateasfollows: to birds, such as Lewin’s Rail Railuspectoralis, listedundertheTheFloraandFaunaGuarantee ••TAnhaelydseipsloyomfenctamoefrcaameirmaasgeasn,dhwahiircthubehs.ave Aaclbta1,9li8s8te(dFuFnGdeArct)t,heanJdAMthBeAG/reCaAtMEgBrAetmAirgdreaa- dbiesetnribuuptliooandaenddoanctceossD.ropbox for ease of torybird agreementswithJapanandChina. • Participation in spodighting and bat Land management has been, and continues trapping. tobe,theresponsibilityofdifferentparties.The • Participation in aural surveys for frogs, principal players are Parks Victoria, Depart- supported by a Melbourne Water training ment of Environment and Primary Industry, session. The results have also been placed MelbourneWater, local governmentandCom- on Dropbox™ for information and training mittees of Management (Parks Victoria 2002, purposes. MMBW 2006, 2009; 2007), but the success of • Participation in training sessions for tile and anyplans reliesheavilyon the support ofcom- tindeploymentforreptilesurveys. munity groups, adjacent landholders or man- Furtherparticipationopportunitiesexistwith agers andotherpark users. Managementplans the deployment oftiles and tin and the subse- havebeendevelopedasaframeworktoidentify quent monitoringofthese sites, as well as any the issuesand provide a set ofcommon strate- birdsurveysthattakeplace. Vol 131 (1) 2014 29 Honours Bibliography ParksVictoria(2002)CardiniaCreekFutureDirectionsPlan. BelaslknadSi,teMMauDr,rszRiaecninoMerMt(,2H0C,0e8nA)trmWJa,hiKatotibeicneoerusnAkt,as.G?Hr,oVdoPzloiudrnjitesedke.arP-s,JuVarancndzdaztkhienMi-r PaPDriakrrsekcsVtiViciotcnotsroirPailaa(,n2.M0e0Pl6ab)roksuDraVnniecdt.eornioan,gMeVlablolueyrnPea.rklands Future organisationsintherecordingandmonitoringofbiodiver- ParksVictoria(2009)ChurchillNationalParkandLysterfield sity.BiodiversityandConservation 17(14)3443-3454. Parkmanagementplan.ParksVictoria,Melbourne. Melbourne Metropolitan Board ofWorks (2007) Braeside Metropolitan Park - Master Plan Report. MMBW, Mel- bourne. Received5December2013;accepted19December2013 Australian Natural HistoryMedallion 2013: Marilyn Hewish The2013AustralianNaturalHistoryMedallion mallee remnant 50 km from Melbourne and hasbeen awardedtoMarilyn Hewish,whowas has birds typical ofdrier areas in north-west nominated by the Geelong Field Naturalists Victoria. The book combined her own survey Club. data from430 fieldvisits,recordsfrom over60 Marilyn Hewish joined the Geelong Field individuals and organisations, and data from NaturalistsClub (GFNC)in 1982,andformore literature sourcesbackto the 1880s. Itpresents than 30 years has demonstrated an ongoing acomplete currentandhistorical record ofthe commitment to expanding knowledge ofAus- birdsinthisuniqueareaofVictoria, tralian natural history. Her interests are wide For 18years (1991-2008), Marilynwaseditor ranging but her field activities have focused ofthe annual GeelongBirdReport(GBR), a se- mostly on Australian birds. In the past five riesthatissubscribedtobyorganisationsacross years, she hasdevelopedexpertisein the study Australia and overseas. In the early years, bird ofVictorianmoths. observationsweresubmittedthroughtheGFNC Marilyn has organised and participated in a BirdGroupandpublishedaspartoftheGeelong numberofsurveysandbirdcounts. From 1985 Naturalist. From 1993, the GBRwas published to 1990, she coordinated the National Wader as an independent magazine. Papers on birds Counts, and in 1988 she coordinated the Vic- were also published, oftenauthored byMarilyn torian Summer Waterfowl Count at 472 wet- or by inexperienced authors who were guided lands.Shehastakenpartin manyothersurveys byher.TheGBRisanoutstandingpublication. including Orange-bellied Parrot Counts (since Marilyn has an enviable record in publishing 1982), Hooded Plover Counts (since 1984), herfield studies. Since 1983 shehashadabout RAOU Wetland Surveys (1987-1992) and 60 articles published in the GeelongNaturalist Wader Counts (since 1985), as well as wildlife the majorityofwhich have been on birds and, AtlasprojectsfortheRAOU(nowBirdlifeAus- birdbehaviour.Inaddition,betweenApril2007 tralia) and the Department of Sustainability and December 2009 Marilyn wrote a monthly andEnvironment. column in the Geelong Naturalist which cov- Marilyn was a sub-editor for the Habitat ered topics as diverse as clouds, KillerWhales, and Movements sections for three volumes of solar eclipses, cicadas, moss, trees ofthe Gee- the Handbook ofAustralian, NewZealandand long region,themoon,orchids and what natu- AntarcticBirds.Shehascompilednumerousre- ralistsshouldhaveintheirbackpacks. portsfortheRAOU,theDepartmentofNatural Marilynhasgivennumeroustalksandledbird- Resources and Environment and Parks Victo- watchingexcursionsforawiderangeofornitho- ria.Shehasalsobeeninvolvedasanauthorand logical, environmental and community groups. editorinthepublicationofanumberofbooks, She has presented papers to many key groups includingBirds oftheLongForest, ofwhichshe in Victoria, interstate and overseas. In Victoria, wastheseniorauthor.LongForestisanisolated shehasmadepresentationsinGeelongonmany 30 TheVictorianNaturalist