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Bushcare NewsSummer 2013

The Waverley Bushcare Inc. Newsletter

Shooting the rapids in Bronte Gully

Welcome to Summer!This can be a challenging time of year for bush regenerators with hot sticky weather and everything growing vigorously.

Although it can seem like one step forward, two steps back, the victories in controlling weeds over summer make real gains for a site’s future. Depleting the weed seed bank will also reduce future resilience. And as most native plants fruit over summer, they add to the soil seed bank, further improving the site’s regen response.

If you remember from the last issue, I suggested: We can help make it rain by doing any of the following: wash your car, water the garden, pray, plan an outdoor wedding, leave your umbrella at home, or, a good old-fashioned rain dance.

Well, it worked! My esteemed colleague, Bianca, planned a wedding for November, and that started the rain. A week later we had an outdoor Xmas party and that really got it falling! Also, I penned an article for this edition about fire in the Australian Bush, as it was looking very grim in early November. That, of course, also made it rain. Though still relevant, that article doesn’t

The bushcare Xmas partiers

The Bushcare photo competition returns in 2014, so get snapping!Email your entries to PaulA@waverley.nsw.gov.au

quite have the urgency it had when fires blazed across the state. Perhaps some of you also helped put the fires out by doing the good old-fashioned rain dance. If so, it worked... thanks for your efforts, but don’t stop dancing just yet!

At this time of year the environmental cues for plant growth (temperature and day length) are at a peak. So, if the soil moisture levels are also high, just wait until the sun comes out... whoosh! (though hopefully not the weeds). The down side is that we need to mow the lawn on a weekly basis.

Despite the showery day on Sunday 17 November, the Bushcare Xmas party was a great day for all. Thanks to everyone for coming along – I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. We started off with some bushcare with Glen and the Bronte Gully team leading by example. After a walk through the gully, it was time to eat.

This rain is not only great for plant growth, there are lots of other benefits. The power and beauty of our two treasured waterfalls at Bronte and Tamarama

gullies were on display recently – with Bronte creek turning from Rivercaves-style tranquillity to a raging torrent that would suit white-water rafting.

Wet weather over summer is the perfect time to keep an ear out for frogs calling their mates, so the Fauna Survey Group will focus on frog monitoring over summer. I hope you’ll tune your ears to the recognisable sound of the frog species in Waverley (not to be confused with cicadas or crickets). Please let me know what you notice. Lizards are also very active in summer so we have included an article about Blue Tongue Lizards and how to make life easier for them in your backyard.

Please try and work in the shade over summer wherever possible. Slip, slop, slap is essential and keep up your water intake. Looking forward to seeing you soon and keep up the great work.

Season’s greetings from

Paul, Sue and Bianca.

It’s a busy time of year with final exams, Xmas parties, shopping for presents, maybe even a holiday, but of course Bushcare takes precedence over all these, right? If anyone is having guests come and stay please bring them along to Bushcare for the morning. It’s a great way for visitors to experience Waverley and to demonstrate that we Sydneysiders don’t always put hedonism before the environment.

Around the Bushcare Sites

Diamond Bay Bushcare site

Diamond Bay Gully. It really is quite a gorgeous gorge

This potential project site at Diamond Bay is in dire need of regeneration work.

The Bushcare team have made some great progress at this site. The dense shrub layer is virtually impenetrable and looking very healthy as you can see from the photo. The soil would be falling off the cliff without their efforts to stabilise the site with native vegetation. I’m still yet to explore down in the actual gullies to the rock shelf as shown here, there is probably something quite interesting and surprising to discover. Maybe the next Wollemi Pine?

The teams efforts are certainly paying dividends at Eastern Reserve

Eastern Reserve

Hugh Bamfordand loss of bio-diversity. Weedy invaders try to creep in from around the edges, or they blow in on the wind. Sometimes birds will deposit seed within the Reserve, and we have to regularly search the site and remove exotic plants such as the weedy Passiflora (not an edible Passionfruit, this is an out-and-out weed). There is an edible native fruit at Hugh Bamford, the delightful Billardiera, commonly known as Apple Dumplings, though to me they taste more like peach. The next visit with the Waverley Bushcare volunteers will be a chance to sample this very interesting fruit. I can’t wait.

- interesting, thanks for your contribution Robert

In November we had a new recruit, Stephanie, come along for her first day of Bushcare. However, I’m sorry to hear that Sandra will be leaving us shortly as she has a new work opportunity in Melbourne. We wish her well and hope that she has some opportunities to continue with bush regen in the future.

We have applied for grant funding from the NSW Environmental Trust for further restoration works at Diamond bay. Being one of the largest remnants in Waverley, it would be a great boon to our conservation efforts. The proposal centres around the small wetland adjacent to the boardwalk on the southern side of Diamond Bay as shown in the photo. This site will also feature in our frog conservation efforts this summer. We have to wait until March to find out about the funding but fingers crossed!

Diamond bay

As you probably know, this site is my favourite. The regeneration happening here is gaining incredible momentum. The Bushcare team has found the sweet spot in terms of how intensive the weed control needs to be to get native germination. It’s great to see all the phases of succession across the site: weed infestations → cleared ground → colonisers (pioneer species) → secondary succession → mature phase.

A word from Robert: Like many small remnants of urban bushland in Australia, is in need of fire. Fire to help the sadly dying Banksias produce new life; fire to take out the rampant Tea-trees which gradually cast too much shade upon the ground, and will lead to the loss of plant diversity. A fire would cause an abundance of germination to take place, and enhance what is already a remarkably diverse vegetation, in an area (Sydney’s eastern suburbs) characterised by an almost complete destruction of native bushland. Hugh Bamford is precious, and Bush Regenerators, in the absence of fire, attempt to protect the Reserve from weed invasion

Bronte Gully

Tamarama Waterfall doing what it does best

The creekline near Carlisle St stairs at Tamarama

Bronte Gully site

Glen and the team are driving forward and the site is looking better than ever. I think that if we get some decent rainfall over the coming summer, we will really see some extraordinary growth at this site. Rainforest plants have the habit of laying dormant and then undergoing a growth explosion if soil moisture levels are high in the growing season. It’s always good to tap into Glen’s wealth of knowledge as rainforest is somewhat unusual around most beaches. They have some plans to extend the terracing further to the west. I imagine it will be quite a working bee that day.

Bronte Gully also hosted the Xmas party this year and it was a great turn out of volunteers from all over Waverley as well as some new faces.

Tamarama

Tamarama Pocket Park Group

can spread from their existing space if we can keep a cleared edge for seed fall and germination to occur. We hope to do some more planting over summer at several locations in the gully where runoff keeps the soil moist for longer.

I also happened to be passing during the rain recently and snapped a few photos of the waterfall. It’s quite impressive and still amazes me that it was covered in weeds for so long.

The Pocket Park group have a sort of “roving commission” in the gully. The edge of the vegetation near the Carlisle St stairs will be spruced up over coming months and the little ephemeral creek-line that descends from the rockshelf will make a great restoration project in future. I can just see it with lots of Maidenhair ferns replacing the Asthma weed you can see in the photo below.

There are already some nice Bird’s Nest ferns along there.

With recent rain we had some bushcare days cancelled in November. With summer coming it’s important to get on top of the weeds and letting 2 months pass between bushcare days will invite a weed explosion, so please consider rescheduling your bushcare if consensus can be reached.

The team had a change of scenery in November, as are so many spots within Tamarama Park that need some regen work. Some watering of recent plantings got the day started and then some patches of the native grasses Microlaena and Oplismenus (Basket Grass)were cleaned up. This was particularly productive as these were patches of remnant native grasses that were not previously known. It will be nice to see how rapidly they

With a warm Spring and an early start to the fire season, it’s a good time to look at the role of fire in Australian native plant communities.

above-ground parts of a plant or result in 100% leaf scorch (no photosynthetic material left on the branches).The two possible plant response to fire are: death or resprouting.Plants which re-sprout have buds (growth points) that are protected from the heat and able to grow after the fire. The drier Eucalypt species resprout from dormant epicormic buds protected under the bark. These dormant buds originated from the same apical or lateral buds that produce seasonal foliage. They are actually remnants of such buds that produced leaves when the tree was much smaller (having been suppressed by new buds and layers of bark) and wood has grown over these parts of the stem over the years. Interestingly, because these dormant buds on the trunk and branches originated in the young tree, they again produce the juvenile foliage which is often very different to the adult foliage the tree possessed before the fire. All this gives the very odd appearance of the re-sprouting tree which we see as bushland recovers from a fire. This epicormic resprouting can also be triggered by other defoliation events such as insect herbivory, leaf abscission resulting from water stress and even excessive artificial pruning of foliage.Some plants lack these dormant buds or are otherwise not able to survive 100% leaf scorch. Most native rainforest trees and (exotic) pine trees are not adapted to survive fire. The increasing incidence of fire over millions of years is a primary reason rainforests have retreated in range to protected refugia, despite once covering most of the continent (but that’s another story!). Fires in these sensitive plant communities often lead to a complete change in the community composition, which can take hundreds of years to recover.However, many plant species are killed by fire and yet a population persists on the site. These species have seeds that survive the fire and provide the next generation of recruitment. The seeds are either released from the woody capsules of the deceased parent plant (such as Banksia ericifolia), or from the seed bank that has accumulated over years in the

Fire and the Australian bush

“Fire! Fire!” said Mrs Dwyer. “The Lord save us” said Mrs Davis. Residents bravely battle the Bronte blaze

Epicormic Shoots on Eucalypts after fire

Waverley has only small remnants of native vegetation, scattered along the coast and cliff-tops. The massive reduction in the extent of these plant communities has diminished the threat of wildfires starting and spreading. The native heathland vegetation is quite adapted to fire – and lack of fire in these communities can lead to loss of diversity.

soil (such as many Acacia species).Some of these “seeders” require fire to germinate by removing the leaf litter, or breaking the dormancy of the seed. This may involve cracking of the “seed coat” by heat or the presence of certain chemicals and nutrients present in the “ash-bed” post-fire soils.Because species such as Banksia ericifolia are killed by fire and new seedlings germinate afterwards, it is possible to tell how many years since a fire occurred by the age of the plant. How? Not by cutting it down and counting the growth rings, but by counting the number of nodes along the primary stem. The nodes are produced with each season of growth. This dating method works for up to 21 years since a fire.

VegetAtion MAnAgeMent in WAVerley

At Eastern Reserve we have a Banksia erifiolia that just might be one of the oldest recorded. The fact there has been no fire for a long time has allowed one individual to grow to a very ripe old age. Considering that coastal heaths are one of the most fire-prone vegetation types (usually burn every 8–20 years), and B. ericifolia is killed by fire, it is extremely unusual to see one this old. It also supports a colony of New Holland Honeyeaters whose activities are well worth watching. This makes it my favourite tree in Waverley. Come along to Eastern Reserve Bushcare and have a look for yourself.Most sclerophyll coastal vegetation like heath is very well adapted to fire. As fire is generally now prevented and discouraged, we need to understand the impacts to community succession and species recruitment. For more in-depth analyses of fire in Australia, I recommendthe book Fire and the Australian biota (1981) Gill, A.M., Groves, R.H. & Noble, R.I. (eds). or just look online.The water relations and other eco-physiological characteristics of fire-adapted or fire-sensitive vegetation will be examined in the next issue. You will just have to wait!

Fire in Bronte gully

Some of the major weeds in the area can also sustain a fire. Exotic species such as Lantana and Giant Reed (Arundo donax) form dense infestations which have a large amount of fine fuel. This can burn quickly in the right conditions of high temperatures, low humidit y and strong winds. Steep slopes are also particularly vulnerable due to the pre-heating effect on vegetation upslope from the fire. This combination of conditions led to the fire in Bronte Gully on Australia Day in January 2013. A fire was ignited in an infestation of Giant Reed, quickly spreading upslope to threaten homes backing onto the gully. Fortunately, the efforts of residents and the NSW Fire Service extinguished the blaze. The fire removed most above-ground biomass. However, the root systems inevitably re-sprout and, after a year or two of regrowth, the fire risk returns. A restoration project is now underway, to produce a more stable native plant community with a lower probability of sustaining a wildfire.

PlAnt reSPonSeS to Fire- SeederS or reSProuterS

The resprouting of the Giant Reed at Bronte was one example of how plants can respond to a fire which burns all the

Frogs facing hard times

The conservation status of many species of frogs has taken a turn for the worse in recent decades.

or enthusiasts potentially spread the disease to susceptible populations.

With many frog species around the world on the edge of extinction, there is occasionally good news. We probably all had the childhood experience of “captive breeding” of frogs. Well, the rare Corroboree Frog found in the Snowy Mountains is been saved by such a program. The details can be found on this webpage: frogs.org.au/corroboree/kom.html

It’s great to see successful species recovery efforts and it looks like something we might try to emulate in Waverley (on a slightly smaller scale).

Surveys for frogs are usually conducted at night and can involve active searching, aural survey and call playback (to elicit a vocal response). Tadpoles are sometimes easier to spot and can be identified to the species. Actually only 4 sites were found to contain permanent water sources- Queens Park, Bronte Park, Tamarama Park and Diamond Bay and the best frog habitat in Waverley was considered to be the Queens Park pond.

Along with a permanent water source, other requirements for good frog habitat include: quality of water; absence of exotic predators (Mosquito fish); protection from exposure and salt

laden winds; shelter sites (rock piles ); emergent vegetation and overwintering or dry weather shelter sites.

As you may have already considered, there is a lot we can do to supplement these resources essential for frogs to survive at our bushcare sites and in other natural areas. I hope the Waverley Bushcare Fauna Survey Group may become more involved in frog conservation over the coming summer.

Please contact me if you are interested. Constructing frog habitat would be stage 1. To quote Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams: “Build it and they will come”.

It is known that at least 10 species of frogs have been found in Waverley. The most recent targeted survey in 2010 found only four. These were: �Striped marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peronii) �Common Eastern Froglet (Crinia signifera) �Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog (Litoria fallax) �Bleating Tree Frog (Litoria dentata)

More information about these frogs, including calls and descriptions, can be found on the Frogs of Australia website: frogs.org.au/frogs/ofNSW/Sydney

Owing to their use of aquatic habitats and semi-permeable skin, it was thought that environmental pollutants, such as pesticides, was the most likely cause of their sharp declines in many parts of the world. However, frogs have declined in many pristine wilderness areas as well. All sorts of possibilities were considered with UV radiation, climate change and even artificial lighting being cited as potential causes.

In 1993, a fungal disease, Chytridiomycosis (or Chytrid fungus) was identified as the cause. In many places, including Australia, this fungus appeared suddenly with devastating virulence. The strange link to a human activity being at the root was that the disease was first identified in the African Clawed Frog, which, coincidentally, was traded around the world as it was used in human pregnancy testing.

With a fungal disease identified as the culprit, it also became clear that those who love frogs the most were probably causing them the most harm by unknowingly transporting the fungus to “clean” areas where frog populations were being studied. Quarantine and hygiene then became the best preventative measures available. Sadly, although hygiene guidelines and other preventative measures are practiced by professional zoologists, many collectors

The 2013 Bushcare Xmas Party was held on Sunday 17th November at Bronte Gully. The wet weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of hardy bush regenerators and I can safely say a great day was had by all. Despite there being a few showers through the day, this great gathering of regenerators also got some bushcare done, had a tour through the gully and enjoyed a very tasty lunch of organic tucker from About Life.In fact, the occasional shower simply reduced the competition for the picnic shelters and we enjoyed a degree of solitude that was most pleasant, compared to what would normally be the case for Bronte Park on a Sunday in November. I find that is often the case with Bush regenerators... this extra tenacity and forbearance to go a bit further, when others have given up, often results in success that is even more keenly appreciated. After all, the best views are usually found after a long walk through difficult terrain.We had people from all of our Bushcare teams come along and the Bronte Gully

2013 Bushcare Xmas Partyteam were great hosts. Their work at this site was well showcased on the day and should provide inspiration to how much can be achieved. I’m sure some guests had never been to Bronte and may never actually met each other before, especially our new recruits for whom this was their first Xmas together. So it was a time to make new friends and rekindle old friendships. We also had a visit towards the end of the day from one of Waverley’s Councillors, Angela Burrill. Unfortunately, she missed the lunch but it was interesting to share ideas about Bushcare with her. The overall winner of the 2013 Bushcare Photographic Competition was also announced – Sandra Mondange had entered quite a few photos and actually won four out of the

TEN things about blue-tongue lizards and what YOU can do to make your Bushcare site, pocket park or home garden more inviting to Blue-tongues.

4. Food – Blue-tongues eat snails, slugs, insects and caterpillars. That means NO snail baits and pellets as they may eat contaminated snails and slugs.

5. Protection from cats and dogs – They may be tempted to eat any leftovers in the pet’s food bowl and attract the attention of an angry and hungry dog or cat. So feed pets inside or clean up uneaten food. Dogs and cats are natural predators and will also be attracted to any movement of blue-tongues in the garden.

6. Avoid handling them (but if it is necessary to relocate them from your house or garage, cover them with towel or cloth or place in a box). This will ease their stress and minimise the chance they nip your finger.

7. Be cautious and alert when pulling into/out of garage and driveway.

8. Be careful when brush-cutting, whipper-snipping or mowing the grass especially if it has grown and your vision is obscure by the high grass.

9. Blue-tongues have a considerable home range so even if you don’t think you have a resident Blue-tongue, they still may travel through your property. Males especially wander over a range of about 15 house blocks! So some of the habitat mentioned above will not only make your garden more interesting and beautiful but safe for wandering blue-tongues.

10. Be a Backyard Buddy- someone who values the living things around them and is willing to protect and encourage them by doing a few simple things around the home.

To find out more visit: www.backyardbuddies.net.au www.facebook.com/backyardbuddies

Blue-toungue lizards

This Blue tongue lizard was shifted out of the work zone at Bronte Gully.

five categories! Well done and congrats to Sandra. Waverley Mayor, Sally Betts sent her apologies as she couldn’t make it on the day, but kindly donated a lovely photographic book documenting the first 15 years of Sculptures By The Sea. The book provided an appropriate prize for the photographic competition that should provide inspiration to the winner!Well, the year 2013 has flown by and the team here in the office (Bianca, Sue and Paul) would like to wish all our volunteers and their families a very merry Xmas, thank them for their efforts over the year and wish them even greater success in 2014. Next year’s Xmas party will be held at Diamond Bay, so you guys up there better get to work to impress us!

Blue-tongues lizards have always been synonymous with suburban back yards in Sydney. Across Australia there are about 8 species and several other species occurring in Indonesia. They are members of the Skink family in the genus Tiqua and are closely related to the Shingleback lizards. Sadly, they have been on the decline across Sydney in recent years for a number of reasons. So let’s make them welcome in our outdoor environments. Here’s what you can do to make their life easier:

1. Provide basking spots – blue-tongues need to warm up in the morning sun. They are creatures of habit so providing a quiet, safe place for them to bask in the morning sun but also somewhere safe nearby for them to hide.

2. A safe place to hide and move around – small piles of rocks, bricks, clay pipes etc are perfect.

3. A garden around the fence-line is a great help and provides connective habitat across neighbouring properties.

Bushcare Group locationsHUGH BAmfOrD rESErvESecond Saturday of the month 9am–12noon

Meet at the end of the laneway between 46 and 48 Wentworth Street, Dover Heights.

BrONTE GUllYEvery second Sunday 10am–1pm

Meet at the Bronte Park end of the gully.

TAmArAmA GUllYNote that this group is now only meeting once a month until June. first Sunday of the month 9.30am–12.30pm

Meet at the bus stop on Tamarama Marine Drive (opposite beach).

DIAmOND BAY rESErvE (rOSA GUllY)Third Saturday of the month 9am–12noon

Meet at the end of Diamond Bay Road, Vaucluse.

EASTErN rESErvEThird Saturday of the month 12noon–3pm

Meet at the end of Lancaster Road, Dover Heights.

TAmArAmA POCKET PArK Second Saturday of february 2pm–4pm

Meet at the base of the waterfall at the ‘back’ of Tamarama Park on Tamarama Marine Drive.

Note that this group currently meets quarterly.

@WaverleyCouncil www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/bushcare www.facebook.com/WaverleyCouncil

Summer 2013 Bushcare datesDECEmBEr 2013Sunday 1 9.30am–12.30pm Tamarama GullySunday 1 10am–1pm Bronte GullySaturday 14 9am–12noon Hugh Bamford reserveSunday 15 9am–12noon Bronte Gully Saturday 21 9am–12noon Diamond Bay ReserveSaturday 21 9am–12noon Eastern ReserveSunday 29 10am–1pm Bronte Gully

JANUArY 2014Sunday 5 9.30am–12.30pm Tamarama GullySaturday 11 9am–12noon Hugh Bamford reserveSunday 12 10am–1pm Bronte GullySaturday 18 9am–12noon Diamond Bay ReserveSaturday 18 9am–12noon Eastern ReserveSunday 26 10am–1pm Bronte Gully

fEBrUArY 2014Sunday 2 9.30am–12.30pm Tamarama GullySaturday 8 9am–12noon Hugh Bamford reserveSunday 9 10am–1pm Bronte GullySaturday 15 9am–12noon Diamond Bay ReserveSaturday 15 9am–12noon Eastern ReserveSunday 23 10am–1pm Bronte Gully

Please check out the new Bushland page on the Waverley Council website:http://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/environment/bushland_and_wildlife/bushland_management

and monthly update The Bushcare Buzz:http://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/environment/bushland_and_wildlife/bushland_management/bushcare_buzz

for a whole range of interesting events and activities over summer please subscribe to the Council’s Environment Newsletter: http://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/environment/events_and_programs