Biodiversity Strategy - Gosford City Council - NSW Government
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Biodiversity Strategy - Gosford City Council - NSW Government

Biodiversity Strategy - Gosford City Council - NSW Government Biodiversity Strategy - Gosford City Council - NSW Government

gosford.nsw.gov.au
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01.01.2014 Views

A - 5.6 Significant Habitat In addition to vegetation communities and individual species singled out for particular attention, significant habitat features may be identified with corresponding recommendations for their conservation. These are described below. A - 5.6.1 Tree Hollows and other ‘Old Growth’ Values Figures 5.18 and 5.19 Tree hollows are homes for lots of native animals including owls, bats and gliders. Hollows in living and dead trees provide homes for a large number of native animals. In studies of the importance of hollows for fauna, Gibbons and Lindenmayer (2003) found that the following percentages of all known species in Australia use hollows to nest in and shelter: • 27 (or 13%) of amphibian species, • 79 (or 10%) reptile, • 114 (or 15%) birds, and • 83 (or 31%) of mammals. Gibbons and Lindermayer found that there was a concentration of hollow utilising species in closed forest (32%) (a vegetation community that occupies 0.6 % of the continent) compared to 70% in woodland (covering 42% of the continent). This emphasizes the importance of closed forest (or rainforest) communities. Hollows form in mature trees and may be associated with areas of ‘old growth’ forest. In one study it was shown that Blackbutts (Eucalyptus pilularis) take 150 years to develop hollows (Mackowski 1984). Although definitions of old growth forest vary, Scotts (1991) provides some important characteristics that include: • Vertical diversity resulting from the presence of more than one tree age-class • Individual live trees that are either old (i.e. over 150 years old) or large (greater than 1 metre diameter at breast height (dbh)) • Have stags (standing dead trees) and logs that are large (i.e. greater than 0.5m diameter and greater than 6 metres in length) present in significant numbers. • Protection of old growth forest was an important aspect of the regional forest agreements to conserve important areas for biodiversity. Biodiversity - Technical Report Page 121

Variables such as ‘proportion of old growth forest in 2km’, ‘hollows’ index and ‘decorticating bark’ and other related variables have been shown to be good predictors of forest owl and arboreal marsupial distributions (Kavanagh and Bamkin 1995). One of the features of old growth areas is that there are fallen logs remaining in a forested area. The value of logs is also discussed by Scotts (1991). Micro-organisms, invertebrates, vertebrate and invertebrates all use logs for shelter, as a food resource, reproduction, basking, nesting and lookout sites (Maser and Trappe 1984 quoted in Scotts). Reptiles, amphibians and small mammals, in particular, utilise logs for shelter and they may become important refuges during fire (Scotts 1991). Old growth forest is also important for nitrogen recycling and fixation in the soil. For many animals old growth forest is the optimum habitat for both foraging, or nesting, or both. Some of the threatened species that occur in the Gosford LGA that utilise hollows include: • Broad-headed Snake • Pale-headed Snake • Stephen's Banded Snake • Glossy Black Cockatoo • Swift Parrot • Powerful Owl • Barking Owl • Sooty Owl • Yellow Bellied Sheathtail Bat • Greater Horseshoe Bat • Large Eared Horseshoe Bat • Large Footed Myotis • Greater Broad Nosed Bat • East Coast Freetail Bat • Spotted Tailed Quoll • Brush Tailed Phascogale • Squirrel Glider • Eastern Pygmy Possum (List based on Gibbons and Lindenmayer 2002 and DEC Atlas records). Old growth mapping is not available locally or regionally. A regional fauna survey and mapping project (Wintle 2004) recommended the collation of forest-growth stage information for the region to improve the predictive performance of habitat models and provide information regarding important areas of old-growth forest in the region. At a local scale, no mapping has been done that identifies the age and condition of areas that would assist in identifying key habitat. A regional vegetation mapping project currently being undertaken by HCCREMS aims to provide regional vegetation condition mapping based on the interpretation of satellite imagery however no products are yet available. Important habitat trees remain around the Bensville/ Kincumber area (pers. comm. Payne and pers.obs.) as isolated very mature trees containing multiple hollows. Some of these trees such as large Angophora costata and Eucalyptus pilularis are estimated to be over 100 – 250 years old. Retention of hollow bearing trees is an important action for biodiversity conservation. A - 5.6.2 Wildlife Corridors and Linkages Wildlife corridors are areas of habitat (such as remnant vegetation, feed or hollow bearing trees, caves, roadsides, wetlands and waterways) that form connections between larger areas of vegetation, particularly reserves and national parks. Corridors contribute to the protection of biodiversity as they aid the movement of species. They do not necessarily form linear Biodiversity - Technical Report Page 122

A - 5.6<br />

Significant Habitat<br />

In addition to vegetation communities and individual species singled out for particular attention,<br />

significant habitat features may be identified with corresponding recommendations for their<br />

conservation. These are described below.<br />

A - 5.6.1<br />

Tree Hollows and other ‘Old Growth’ Values<br />

Figures 5.18 and 5.19 Tree hollows are homes for lots of native animals including owls, bats and<br />

gliders.<br />

Hollows in living and dead trees provide homes for a large number of native animals. In studies<br />

of the importance of hollows for fauna, Gibbons and Lindenmayer (2003) found that the<br />

following percentages of all known species in Australia use hollows to nest in and shelter:<br />

• 27 (or 13%) of amphibian species,<br />

• 79 (or 10%) reptile,<br />

• 114 (or 15%) birds, and<br />

• 83 (or 31%) of mammals.<br />

Gibbons and Lindermayer found that there was a concentration of hollow utilising species in<br />

closed forest (32%) (a vegetation community that occupies 0.6 % of the continent) compared to<br />

70% in woodland (covering 42% of the continent). This emphasizes the importance of closed<br />

forest (or rainforest) communities.<br />

Hollows form in mature trees and may be associated with areas of ‘old growth’ forest. In one<br />

study it was shown that Blackbutts (Eucalyptus pilularis) take 150 years to develop hollows<br />

(Mackowski 1984). Although definitions of old growth forest vary, Scotts (1991) provides some<br />

important characteristics that include:<br />

• Vertical diversity resulting from the presence of more than one tree age-class<br />

• Individual live trees that are either old (i.e. over 150 years old) or large (greater than<br />

1 metre diameter at breast height (dbh))<br />

• Have stags (standing dead trees) and logs that are large (i.e. greater than 0.5m<br />

diameter and greater than 6 metres in length) present in significant numbers.<br />

• Protection of old growth forest was an important aspect of the regional forest<br />

agreements to conserve important areas for biodiversity.<br />

<strong>Biodiversity</strong> - Technical Report Page 121

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