Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

How do they do it? [1] Making something out of nothing

Posted on 14 December, 2015 by fobif

It’s been a bleak period in our bushlands this year, but even in the bleakest of times, something surprising can be seen: and, as during the millenium drought, one of the most surprising is the sight of this delicate looking plant, growing in the most unpromising, dried out locations: bare, hardened tracks, crackling, apparently soil free ground–almost anywhere where life looks to be a struggle. It’s the Magenta Storksbill.

Magenta storksbill [Pelargonium rodneyanum]: it flowers valiantly when other plants are hunkered down.

Magenta Storksbill [Pelargonium rodneyanum], Kalimna Park, December 4: it flowers valiantly when other plants are hunkered down.

Pelargonium rodneyanum makes its first appearance in Western documentation in volume 2 of Mitchell’s journals of his expedition into south eastern Australia. He seems to have noticed it first in the Swan Hill region. His journal entry for June 21 1836 reads:

‘We also discovered a beautiful new species of the Cape genus Pelargonium, which would be an acquisition to our gardens. I named it P. rodneyanum* in honour of Mrs. Riddell at Sydney, grand-daughter of the famous Rodney.’

The ‘famous Rodney’ was apparently Admiral George Rodney, notable for his sometimes controversial exploits in wars against the French and the Americans–and for some pretty dodgy efforts at accumulating wealth for himself. A good name for such a plant? You decide.

The sample Mitchell collected was sent to England, and the plant received its first description in modern scientific terminology from the famous botanist John Lindley. The description, which appeared for the first time as a footnote in Mitchell’s published journal in 1838, was in Latin. How modern is that?

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How do they do it? [2] Surviving in the pollution soup

Posted on 14 December, 2015 by fobif

The picture below is a Common Long Neck turtle [Chelodina longicolis] sun baking in the horrible pollution soup that is Forest Creek at the Wheeler Street bridge. Turtles have been seen in this unpromising location for many years, and seemed even to have survived the millenium drought, when there was little or no water under the bridge.

Common long neck turtle in Forest creek: it’s not the most pristine environments, but the species has hung on in this location for years.

The scum covering the turtle’s back doesn’t suggest that the creature is terribly healthy, but when disturbed, it moved with tremendous speed to take shelter in the reeds.

Interesting turtle facts: the Common Long Neck [aka ‘snake neck turtle’ and ‘stinker’] can survive long dry periods by digging into soil and aestivating. According to the Bendigo Field Naturalists excellent guide Frogs and reptiles of the Bendigo district, ‘turtles communicate with each other via a wide range of vocalisations that have a lower pitch than humans can hear.’ When threatened, the turtle lets out an offensive odour [hence the unromantic name, ‘stinker’]. This turtle can live for 50 years, so maybe the sightings regularly made in this unpromising location over the last 20 odd years have been the same one.

This creature can wander significant distances in search of viable habitat. And guess what? After habitat depletion, the biggest threat to its survival is that of being run over by a car.

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Lessons from Lancefield [2]: public land, private land

Posted on 22 November, 2015 by fobif

A second point worth highlighting in the Carter report is the importance of integrating public and private land in fire preparations. The report says: ‘The Department must adopt a tenure-‐blind approach to the management of bushfire risk including the planning of burns.’

In the case of Cobaw:

‘A common response from some [DELWP] staff interviewed who had responsibility for planning part of the burn was that in spring the surrounding area was green paddocks, but in reality this burn is surrounded by public and private forest, much of it long unburnt. The burn plan contains little information about the surrounding area, the fuels outside the burn, neighbours and the broader context. It will be stated throughout this report that the focus of the Department in relation to the Lancefield-‐Cobaw burn was clearly on its own tenure with inadequate attention to external considerations. The Investigation Team does however note that processes are afoot to shift bushfire risk management, and therefore burn planning, to a broader landscape approach… This will provide some impetus for change however significant cultural and procedural shifts within the Department are also required to increase the focus on external factors and contingency planning.’

The policy of integrating public and private land into bushfire plans is still undeveloped, as we’ve pointed out before. The Safer together document [see below], while enthusiastically embracing the idea of private participation in bushfire mitigation, has this to say:

‘While our bushfire risk target will only apply to the delivery of the fuel management program on public land in the immediate term, we will build our systems and processes to enable a bushfire risk target to guide planning and investment across all bushfire risk reduction activities on public and private land in future.’ [p 13] [Our emphasis]

In other words, ‘processes are afoot’, but as for action: not yet.

The risk we run is that the ‘new’ policy will look very like the old one.

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“Mum look out, don’t touch!”

Posted on 13 November, 2015 by fobif

A recent visit to our local patch and bush cubby saw a near miss for me and the realisation that the bush in Campbells Creek seems in distress. On our way up the trunk of our unusual, almost horizontal Candlebark ’friend’, my daughter said, “Mum look out, don’t touch!”

Her six year old eyes, sharper than mine, had spotted a Cup Moth caterpillar or Doratifera sp.

She was right in warning me, the caterpillars, often known as ‘stingers’ or ‘stinging joeys’ have spines that can inflict a sharp and painful sting, rather like a nettle. When I looked around I noticed there were many caterpillars of the same species heading up the trunk and into the canopy, which appears much more open than usual, presumably they were heading for lunch.

Cup-moth caterpillar. Photo by John Ellis

Cup Moths are forest insects and at times have been responsible for severe damage to Eucalypts in Victoria. Sometimes they also become pests on garden trees, especially fruit trees such as apricots, apples and cherries. Back in August 2012 FOBIF reported finding the Cup Moth in a large tract of defoliation in the south end of the shire.

Cup moths belong to a small group of moths that have unusual slug-like caterpillars with clusters of spines on their bodies that are often beautifully marked and coloured. Their name comes from the cup shaped cocoons made by the caterpillars when they pupate.

Young caterpillars feed by skeletonising the leaves while older caterpillars eat the whole leaf often leaving only the midrib.

Defoliated trees along the Castlemaine-Muckleford-Road

It is the caterpillar (larval) stage that causes the damage. Many leaves are completely or partially eaten and many more are cut off and fall to the ground. Caterpillars are usually present in small numbers but sporadic outbreaks may cause severe damage with trees completely defoliated over a large area. However, unless attacks occur over 3-4 successive years the trees usually recover.

Long time resident the late Doug Ralph responded to our 2012 post by recounting an outbreak ten years prior and a long break in occurrence in between. These recent attacks coupled with the very dry weather though may have a more serious effect on the health and survival of the trees.

Cup Moth caterpillars are very susceptible to viral diseases and sometimes entire populations are killed. Viral disease is the most common natural control of Cup Moth caterpillars. Outbreaks of disease usually occur when weather conditions are warm and humid and when there is overcrowding and shortage of food. Affected caterpillars stop feeding and the body swells with the body contents liquefying and the skin eventually splits and releases the contents over the leaves. Other caterpillars can then become infected.

Natural predators can include parasites, wasps, flies and occasionally, birds.

It is distressing to see the damage done by these animals. Coupled with an asset protection burn and drier weather, the bush in our patch at Campbells Creek seems to be really up against it. I wonder what changes my daughter will see as we continue to visit our cubby into the future.

This post was written by Naomi Raftery with most of the factual detail provided by Marie Jones. If readers have any further information on cup moths or would like to share their stories of personal encounters with them we welcome contributions.

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Befriending our frogs

Posted on 9 November, 2015 by fobif

Elaine Bayes and Damien Cook who led our last FOBIF walk in Chewton have produced two terrific youtube videos:’Frogs and their Calls’ and ‘Frogs and their Habitats’. The information is well presented and relevant to our local area. Each goes for about 30 minutes. Click on each image below to view.