Conservation and Environment

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Threatened Species and Communities - past projects

Over 500 fauna and flora species and ecological communities are listed as threatened under Victorian legislation (Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988). Many more are included in DSE's Threatened Species Advisory Lists (over 250 animals and 1800 plants). Reasons for their decline include the loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitat due to clearing for agriculture, urban development, timber harvesting, weed invasion, inappropriate fire regimes, grazing, climate change, and alteration to flows and temperature regimes in rivers. Competition for resources and predation by introduced species (e.g. fox, cats, rabbits, trout) have also had a significant effect on many species. Effective management of these processes is required to ensure the survival of threatened species and communities into the future. This management needs to be based on information obtained via ecological research.

Key past projects:

• Recovery Plans - Vertebrates
• Spot-tailed Quoll Surveys Using Heat and Motion-Triggered Cameras
• Hair-tube Survey Protocol for the Spot-tailed Quoll
• Endangered Species Survival Decision Tool
• Impact of the 2003 Fires on the Alpine Stonefly

Recovery Plans for Threatened Vertebrates National Recovery Plans are currently being developed for five species: Growling Grass Frog Litoria raniformis, Alpine Tree Frog Litoria verreauxii, Stuttering Frog Mixophyes balbus, Southern Brown Bandicoot Isoodon obesulus obesulus and Spotted-tailed Quoll Dasyurus maculatua. Management and research actions required to aid the recovery of these species are an important aspect of these Plans which have the ultimate aim of preventing the loss of these taxa. All five Recovery Plans identify the need for survey and monitoring programs to clarify distribution and status of populations, increase knowledge of biology and ecology, clarify the impact of known and potential threats and to reduce the impact of these threats and to increase awareness of the species within the wider community. Draft plans have been produced are going through an approval process. A brief overview of each species is given below: There is limited information available for the Stuttering Frog (also known as the Southern Barred Frog). Only a few, dated records exist from Victoria with patchy records from New South Wales. Recent visits to many known localities have failed to record any individuals. The Alpine Tree Frog is known to occur within alpine regions of Victoria, Canberra and New South Wales. It has declined from the higher altitude areas within its range, from both highly modified and pristine habitats. The Growling Grass Frog occurs across much of Victoria from south-east South Australia to southern New South Wales as well as Tasmania. Breeding cycle and preferred habitat differs across its range. Threats that are likely to be affecting all three frog species include disease, habitat degradation and destruction and changes to natural water regimes. The Southern Brown Bandicoot is restricted to South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. The need to identify key habitat is highlighted in the Plan. The suggested process for this is by surveying known habitat and using collected ecological and bioclimatic information to develop predictive models to help identify potential habitat. The Spot-tailed Quoll is widely distributed within southeastern Australia occurring from North Queensland, through to Victoria and Tasmania. Key threats include habitat loss and modification as a result of forest management practices, competition from introduced predators, poisoning during predator control programs, human persecution, road mortality, poisoning by cane toads and climate change. The magnitude of these threats varies throughout its range. Completed recovery plans are available from the federal Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts website Page Top
Spot-tailed Quoll Surveys Using Heat and Motion-Triggered Cameras Spot-tailed Quolls Dasyurus maculatus are forest-dependent marsupial carnivores that are classified as ‘endangered’ in Victoria. They are a difficult species to survey and monitor, however appropriate conservation planning and management is dependent upon being able to determine where quolls occur. A reliable survey protocol has now been developed for the detection of these animals using hair-tubes, which are a widely used non-invasive, mammal-survey tool. However, many tubes must be spread over large areas for a high probability of detection. Such surveys can be costly to implement. Detection by digital cameras modified to be triggered by heat and movement may be a feasible alternative and several trials have been completed. Cameras were set near large meat baits, which act as an attractant, and left in place for two to three weeks. Just under 10,000 ha of suitable Spot-tailed Quoll habitat in East Gippsland was surveyed. Hair-tubes were deployed at the same time for a comparison of the two methods. Areas where quoll populations were known to exist returned the most records; quolls were photographed from four of 29 sites in a 3,000 ha area. These results indicate remote cameras can be a useful survey tool for Spot-tailed Quolls and a survey protocol for their use is currently being developed. Many other species were also photographed during the survey period with lyrebirds one of the most common. The relatively high numbers of foxes and feral cats recorded, both of which compete with quolls for resources, indicates that this technique could be a useful survey-tool for carnivores in general. Other species photographed included brushtail possums, Bush Rats, antechinus, kangaroos, bandicoots, rabbits, deer, Wonga Pigeons, magpies, crows, currawongs and even a Wedge-tailed Eagle at one site. For further information contact Jenny.Nelson@dse.vic.gov.au Page Top
Hair-tube Survey Protocol for the Spot-tailed Quoll The Spot-tailed Quoll Dasyurus maculatus is a marsupial carnivore that has declined markedly in distribution and abundance since European settlement. They are cryptic forest-dependent animals that are thinly distributed over large areas of often remote and rugged terrain making them difficult to locate and study. Knowing where quolls occur is fundamental to developing appropriate management strategies to aid their recovery. A reliable survey protocol has now been developed for the detection of these animals using hair-tubes, which are a widely used non-invasive, mammal-survey tool. The probability of detecting Spot-tailed Quolls with hair-tubes was investigated by placing different densities of tubes within the home ranges of radio-collared females in New South Wales. Mathematical models determined the number of hair-tubes required per site and the number of sites that must be surveyed to maximise the probability of detection. Results indicate that widely spacing 20 hair-tubes over sites of 100 hectares in size, while surveying at least half the study area ensures a high probability (>80 %) of detection, even when quolls are present in low numbers. Studies of habitat use indicates that the hair-tubes at each site should target the range of topographies present ensuring that riparian habitats including gullies, drainage lines and creek flats, as well as rocky outcrops are sampled. The optimal time for surveys was found to be between May and August to correspond with increases in activity during breeding season. The survey protocol has been used to survey for the Spot-tailed Quoll at several sites in Victoria including near Rawson in Central Gippsland, the Strathbogie Ranges in North East Victoria and the Errinundra Plateau and Coopracambra National Park in East Gippsland. Quolls were detected during two of these surveys indicating that this method is broadly applicable across the species’ range and provides a useful tool for determining distribution and monitoring the status of populations. This project was carried out as a PhD through the University of Melbourne. For more information contact Jenny.Nelson@dse.vic.gov.au The following article on related work is available: Nelson, J.L. (2006) A comparison of three hair-tube types for the detection of the spotted-tailed quoll Dasyurus maculatus in south-eastern New South Wales. Australian Mammalogy 28: 229-233 Page Top
Endangered Species Survival Decision Tool (software) Managers are sometimes forced to make decisions on management actions that can directly affect the survival of natural populations of animals and plants. One way to facilitate the decision-making process is to use population modelling techniques to explore the impact that any decision may have on a population, by: Providing a quantitative approach for systematically exploring outcomes of management actions. Enabling consideration of several, simultaneous management actions. Specifically allowing data uncertainty and variability to be incorporated in model formulation. Most management decisions are based on a range of options. Modelling can assist in decision-making by introducing a logical and systematic approach to comparing different management options. ESSENTIAL (endangered species survival and extinction analysis) is an easy to use software program that provides a quantitative modelling approach to assessing and comparing risks associated with different decisions in the management of populations. ESSENTIAL was developed by mathematical modellers and scientists. ESSENTIAL is available to download: Essesntial Installation Version 1 (ZIP - 1.4 Mb) Page Top
Impact of the 2003 Fires on the Alpine Stonefly The Alpine Stonefly Thaumatoperla alpina is classified as ‘vulnerable’ in Victoria and is found in just a few locations in the Victorian High Country. The largest of the Australian stoneflies, this species has a lifecycle of about three years with the adults living only a few months from April until the first snow falls. In collaboration with La Trobe University (Albury-Wodonga), high altitude streams in the Bogong Alpine area were surveyed during February 2005 to investigate the status of the Alpine Stonefly following the 2003 alpine bushfires. Over 1.12 million hectares of land in Victoria were burnt during these fires, the largest since 1939. The stonefly was found at fire affected sites indicating short-term survival, although longer-term impacts on the species’ distribution are unknown. Decreased vegetation along stream sides, caused by the fires can increase predation on adult morphs, as well as raising the water temperature, which may affect nymphal development. The highly restricted habitat range of the Alpine Stonefly also makes it vulnerable to climate change. These and other aquatic organisms in the alpine region may not be able to withstand any resulting increase in water temperature. Further surveys will help assess long-term population trends. Management recommendations have been made to Parks Victoria and DSE to aid in the protection of the species. For further information contact Shanaugh.Lyon@dse.vic.gov.au A Fact Sheet about the species is available, and see the report below for more detail on the project: ARI Technical Report 155 - Alpine stonefly and the 2003 fires in north east Victoria (PDF - 1.3 Mb)