Newsletter September 2020
|
|
- Make sure you are in browser mode (click View this email in your browser)
- Click on the heading to open up a new page and go straight there
- Close that web page to return here.
Urgent: Mistaking Natives for Weeds
Errata: Severe Weather in a Changing Climate
Feature Article: A Personal Perspective on Biolink Participation:
For Your Diary
News and Opportunities
News Bites *New*
State of the Environment
Grants
Local Information
Newsletter Feedback
Landcare and Related Contacts
Image at the End: Cousins of Old Friends Return
Lost your earlier newsletters? Or just want to check something out? Go to here and all will be revealed.
Please feel free to pass on or reuse any of our articles, all we ask is acknowledgement of the MPLN Newsletter and its month of issue.
And don't forget to let me know of any problems - Greg Holland (Editor).
|
|
Reports are coming in of increasing frequency of discovery of native plants that have been pulled out, presumably because of mistaken identification with similar weeds.
For example, the following have been found along the tracks in Greens Bush and Arthurs Seat:
- Trachymene composita - Wild Parsnip
- Myrsine howittiania - Muttonwood
- Sambucus gaudichaudiana - Native Elderberry
- Coprosma quadrifeda - Prickly Currant Bush
Images of these are provided below. But in the real world there can be distinct variations across a species - and the differences between some natives and similar weeds can be quite subtle.
The basic rule is: If in any doubt don't pull it out.
There are several experts that are very willing to check out doubtful cases so please contact any of the folks listed under Landcare and Related Contacts or myself for advice.
- Article by Greg Holland, with thanks to Virginia Carter for the initial information. Images from Atlas of Living Australia
Trachymene composita - Wild Parsnip
 
Myrsine howittiania - Muttonwood
Sambucus gaudichaudiana - Native Elderberry
Coprosma quadrifeda - Prickly Currant Bush
 
|
|
Last month a draft version of the section on climate-change impacts on severe weather slipped through to the final newsletter. So here with apologies is the correct version, with an update to include Australian progress on reducing climate change and its impacts. Editor
IAG (Australia) has released a 2nd edition of the assessment of expected changes to severe weather across Australia as a result of climate change (Bruyere et al 2020). An executive summary in that report summarise the major findings, each of which is based on extensive review and assessment as documented in the remainder of the report. Areas of major concern to the Peninsula are summarised below.
Preamble: Small changes in the mean lead to very large changes (can be much greater than 100%) in extremes.
Temperature:
- Global mean temperature has already risen by more than 1°C due to increasing greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation. It could reach 1.5°C during the 2020 decade and 2°C by 2035
- Overland temperature anomalies in Australia are already approaching 2°C.
Although seemingly small, such temperature rises increases the potential for extreme heat waves by more than 100%. They also substantially increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate events. As discussed in previous newsletters, this has strong implications for some forms of Peninsula agriculture including grapes, and we already are seeing changing bird species and activities.
Sea-levels have already increased by 22 cm and this is expected to accelerate to approach 1 m by the end of the century. This has considerable implications for low-lying Peninsular bayside and seaside urban areas.
Intense, short-duration rainfall has increased and is expected to continue to increase almost everywhere in Australia, even in regions with ongoing drying trends. The result will be more frequent and severe flash flooding in urban areas and in small, fast-response river catchments.
The region of highest risk to large hail events is moving southward and into Victoria.
Bushfire: expect longer fire seasons and more frequent extreme fires, especially across southeastern Australia. Recent research has shown that current climate models under-predict events of the severity of the recent Black Summer 2019-2020 fire season so current assessments are conservative.
Drought: Although not specifically addressed in the report, increased temperatures lead to more rapid drying followed by longer and more severe drought events.
Australian response to Climate Change - Lets simply consider the evidence:
- A recent assessment by the Australia Institute ranks Australia as: the fifth-largest miner of fossil fuels in the world (on par with Saudi Arabia); the largest exporter of fossil fuel in the OECD; the 14th largest emitter of greenhouse gases; and the largest emitter per capita in the OECD
- A just-released assessment of country performance on climate change ranked Australia last out of the 61 countries assessed - with a remarkable score of zero on a scale of 100.
For the latter report, the authors concluded that the current "government has continued to worsen performance at both national and international levels."
Further, the Prime Minister has recently declined an invitation to endorse an international move to protect and improve biodiversity under The Leaders Pledge for Nature, viz: "Political leaders participating in the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity in September 2020, representing 76 countries from all regions and the European Union, have committed to reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. By doing so, these leaders are sending a united signal to step up global ambition and encourage others to match their collective ambition for nature, climate and people with the scale of the crisis at hand."
The basis being that it is inconsistent with government policy on reducing Greenhouse emissions!
In other words, Australia demonstrably is one of the countries most sensitive to climate change. Yet we continue to be amongst the worst for taking ameliorating action.
- Article by Greg Holland, based on the IAG Report (Bruyere et al 2020) developed jointly between IAG, the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, James Cook University of North Queensland, and the University of Wollongong.
Declaration of interest: I was a co-author of the report and one of the presenters at its release.
|
|
In 2006 our family bought a 60-acre farm in Boneo, a short walk from Greens Bush National Park, the major feature of scattered patches of remnant bushland that earlier colonists left untouched or left alone to regenerate. On Google Earth, this remnant bush appears as islands of refuge for flora and fauna, unconnected with few safe corridors for movement.
It took a chance encounter with a local conservationist for my eyes to be opened to the plight of this region. Put simply, there are two significant patches of remaining bushland on the Mornington Peninsula: Arthurs Seat State Park and Greens Bush National Park and very few safe wildlife corridors to connect them.
To address this lack of landscape connectivity Mornington Peninsula Landcare have been working with private landholders to re-establish the physical links plants, animals and birds need for migration, colonisation and breeding through its Biolink program. It was explained to me how our property could be a valuable part of the link because the surrounding properties use wildlife exclusion fencing, therefore our farm is a safe first stop for kangaroos leaving Greens Bush if they do not want to use the roadway.
For this reason alone, we were on board; little did I know how enriching and educational the collaboration would be. It is a gift that keeps on giving. In April 2019 a conservationist and a Landcare representative walked the paddocks with me to suggest areas for regeneration. I was easily persuaded to fence off the few lonely Eucalyptus cephalocarpa, Silver-leafed Stringybarks who were looking the worse for wear from cattle rubbing up against them. The area we ‘rescued’ is a long rectangle of just under 3 hectares with a small wetland. Luckily for us, it is adjacent to a neighbour’s area that had been regenerated forty or fifty years ago. We could see the flora bursting through the fence, desperate to spread.
In this first phase - June and July - we planted 2,835 indigenous trees, shrubs and wetland plants, aided by fantastic volunteers and TAFE students and teachers for Chisholm and Holmesglen. At the end of the first phase of planting we walked the area again and the conservationist was delighted to spy tiny sun and leek orchids that had a ppeared once the livestock had been removed. For me, the area became an enchanted place, full of potential, brimming with new life, welcoming again.
We decided to extend our commitment to the Biolink project and allocate more land, another 1.17 hectares, and this became phase 2. A long strip of land along the driveway to give cover to kangaroos coming off the road, the removal of a fence to given them free movement through the landscape and another paddock with a large pond were designated for regeneration and plants were ordered. In March, around 3,000 plants arrived but this time the scheduled teams of volunteers were cancelled due to Covid19. The family and a smattering of volunteers would be the entire labour team, and this was tirelessly overseen and guided by the Biolink Project Coordinator Chantal Kelly who was there for us through all weather, professionally navigating Covid restrictions, all the while knowing the imperative was to get these plants in the ground.
In just over a year we have noticed how much more alive our farm feels. There are more birds, more frogs, definite kangaroo highways. I knew there was method to how and why the plants were selected – food for insects, birds, boosting the various layers of canopy, erosion control and more – but I was frustrated I could not identify the plants we were planting nor appreciate their ecological roles. Also, as a  student of First Nations ways of knowing and being – my doctorate studies explored personal decolonisation – I was keen to understand how these indigenous plants had been of service to the First Peoples for millennia. To fully appreciate and celebrate the regeneration via the Biolink Project I have researched and compiled a detailed Warrak Farm plant list with added information to expand our knowledge bases.
The First People of this region, the Boon wurrung, have been custodians of this Country for millennia. Colonisation disrupted their ability to care for Country, but the Biolink is an opportunity and invitation for us to take on some of that responsibility and connect with and care for the plants and creatures that are so essential to the health of our small patches and the wider community.
We would like to wholeheartedly thank the following people for their enthusiasm and guidance:
Chantal Kelly, Project Coordinator
Virginia Carter from Local Habitat
Kate and the team from The Briars
- Aticle and images by Melissa Razuki, a local writer and researcher of decolonising stories
|
|
|
|
An Aussie bird count by Birdlife Australia will be held from 19-25 October. This is a great way to connect with the birds in your backyard, no matter where your backyard might be — whether it's a suburban backyard, a local park, a patch of forest, a farm, down by the beach, or the main street of town.
day as I heard the cuckoo. These gather in tight groups at the base of trees for mutual protection during the day, and presumably for warmth in cold weather, then disperse across the tree overnight to chomp away at the new leaves.
