Category: Natural Values

Insects of the Grampians

Dennis Crawford

Dennis brought along some brilliant photos he has taken over the years, just a small selection of the ones that have fascinated him the most. With each insect he described, Dennis projected up a larger than life closeup picture to show off the best features. He is very passionate and moved from one to the other very quickly, sharing snippets of information as he went. I have done the best I can to string his information into a report for everyone who missed his brilliant presentation.

Insects occur on every continent in the world, including Antarctica!

Current estimates suggest there are 70,000 insect species in Australia, 20-30 million worldwide. But most are yet to be classified. Of this total less than 1% are pests. Their bad reputation comes because most people only notice them when they are a problem.

3/4 of all species on earth are insects. They … Read the rest

Eco-Burning In Winter

The Grampians National Park’s winter heathland burning program aims to provide small patches of diverse, new habitat for some of the parks most threatened small mammals whilst leaving large areas of long unburnt habitat that are important refuges from predators. This program targets heathlands throughout the park with a particular focus on areas of long unburnt heath.

Capitalising on clear, calm and dry winter weather days, for the past five years the Grampians team have been burning small patches bordering the Wannon River stretching from Yarram Gap Road to Lynches Crossing Track. The team is working to provide a mosaic of habitat for the nationally threatened long nosed potoroo and southern brown bandicoot. Using only matches to ignite the fiery grasses, in August this year the team burnt a total of five patches covering 18Ha of the 900ha burn unit; the largest being 11ha and the smallest 1ha.

To complement … Read the rest

Caladenia audasii (McIvor spider orchid)- 2017 update

The Caladenia audasii (McIvor spider orchid) near Stawell is endemic to Victoria and is well protected with a fence which was erected with a Communities for Nature Grant which we got back in 2015.

This plant was pollinated and some seed was obtained last spring. Also last Spring another plant was found in the Ararat area and so another Grant application has been submitted to get funding to protect this plant. It is also hoped the grant will allow seed to be collected from these plants which will allow propagation of this plant at Cranbourne Botanic Gardens with the intent of planting them back into protected areas.

There are currently only around ten wild plants known in Victoria. The population in central Victoria was able to be hand pollinated several years ago and plants propagated from these plants have been successfully re-introduced back into the wild. It is hoped we … Read the rest

Grasslands Seed Project 2017

WAMA and Jallukar Landcare have joined together to create a seed bank for restoring grasslands on the edge of the Grampians. Recently over 20 volunteers from WAMA, Grampians Australian Plant Society Group and staff from Greening Australia met in Pomonal. Our task was to sort, classify and plant seed collected over the past 6 months as part of the Grasslands Seed Project.

Expertise and knowledge was shared by local horticulturist Phil Williams, Botanist Neil Marriott and Ecologist Jess Gardner. Under their guidance, we learned how to de-construct the pods, locate the seed and place into labelled bags, weighed and ready for planting.  As part of this exercise we also had the opportunity to take a close up look at each seed pod with the aid of a macro lens.  How exciting this was to see the beauty and intricacies of nature – the patterns and symmetry unfolding under a macro … Read the rest

Sallow Wattle Update

New 3D vision technique to revolutionise conservation efforts

PV Press Release Tuesday 21 March, 2017

If you think 3D vision glasses used for gaming are purely for entertainment, think again. A Parks Victoria science team is successfully using this technology for the first time to “fight the enemy” and identify a highly invasive weed, Sallow Wattle in the Grampians National Park.

The breakthrough technique has the potential to revolutionise the way weeds are identified and managed across Victoria, including areas previously difficult to access with mountainous terrain.

Steve Shelley, the Parks Victoria Information Management Officer, who has developed the use of this technology said, “The possibilities are endless. And how lucky am I to have this as part of my job? I enjoy using gaming technology at home for fun and then at work too.”

Parks Victoria Project Manager, Mike Stevens said, “You have to get sophisticated about knowing your … Read the rest

Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby Site

2017 August

We hope many of you watched the recent news on TV or heard some of the interviews on radio.

A story about the Moora Creek rock-wallaby colony featured on Sunday night 12 March ABC news bulletin. It was shown in at least South Australia, QLD, NSW and possibly ACT. An online extract can be viewed in the link below.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-12/rock-wallaby-joey-gives-hope-in-western-victoria/8347322

 … Read the rest

Consultation Seems To Be The New Fashion

Rodney has already talked about the local consultation he and Bill attended, but wait, there’s more:

Did you take part in  a web survey “Join the conversation about Strengthening Parks Victoria”? It has now closed – the time frame was extremely short and it was not well publicised. I tried to put in my 2c worth but I see from the website that my story is there but not my plea for better funding. (It seemed to be for individuals not groups, so no FOGG response). Here is a little about the survey:
“ Victoria has one of the most comprehensive parks systems in the world, spanning a total
of 18 per cent of the state, including land and sea, and supporting citizens and visitors.
Strengthening Parks Victoria is a project about celebrating the spectacular landscapes,
habitats and places we have managed for nearly 20 years, and understanding how we… Read the rest

Fire And Climatic Extremes Shape Mammal Distributions In A Fire-Prone Landscape

Ryan Duffy has sent me a paper recently published in Diversity and Distributions.  It is too long and detailed to include here but most thought provoking. The authors include Susannah Hale who spoke to us earlier in the year. If you would like to read the whole document I can email it to you, but I am giving you the abstract and then a few more details.
Fire and climatic extremes shape mammal distributions in a fire-prone landscape

The Grampians Fire and Biodiversity Project is a collaboration between Deakin University, Charles Sturt University and Parks Victoria. The team is interested in the ability of land management to enhance the capacity of the Grampians ecosystem to cope with and recover from changes in climate
and disturbance regimes.

ABSTRACT
Aim: Extreme climatic events and large wildfires are predicted to increase as the world’s climate warms. Understanding how they shape species’ distributions … Read the rest

Local Landcare News

The Wildlife Art Museum group, Greening Australia, Jallukar Landcare  and the Pomonal Australian Plant Society have joined forces to establish a local Seedbank Project. The long term project aim is to conserve native grasses and habitats which are on the verge of becoming threatened and to improve agricultural sustainability in the Jallukar Landcare area. The Project has been fortunate in receiving funding to get started, from the Wimmera Regional Community Grants Round Three. Under the grant, in the first year, the aim is to collect, store and propagate native grass seeds from the Jallukar Landcare area. They will also be inviting people from the local community to join in. Subsequent years will see mass propagation and revegetation of local land.

Also a new Landcare group has just started in Halls Gap. They will be concentrating on foxes, cats, and weeds. Hoping for a grant for some professional help, but also … Read the rest

Bird Observing in the Grampians

JanBert Brouwer

The joint outing with the Birdlife Horsham branch on Sunday July 3rd started with a bleak weather outlook following rain and low lying clouds. Not something that is likely to make the birds put on an active show. However a large-turn out of bird observers often means many keen eyes to detect birdlife.

The Birdlife group always prepares their trips very thoroughly with a reconnaissance visit preceding the outing to find interesting birds. Tim Mintern and Ian Morgan had recently sighted emu wrens near the air strip in the western part of the park but these birds proved to be too elusive for this outing. However the Scarlet Robin put on a splendid display there and was a real highlight. It was surprising that even water birds were very scarce on the Moora Moora Reservoir.

Hennie and Bill Neve hosted us for our lunch break at their … Read the rest

Friends of Grampians Gariwerd