Shadows of Green

By Spencer Shaw, Brush Turkey Enterprises
I was fortunate enough recently (although it took some convincing at the time) to be treated to a joy flight in a 60 year old Tiger Moth aeroplane from Caloundra to the Glasshouse mountains. After saying goodbye to my family (the plane was 60 years old!) we gently ascended over a landscape we are often not fortunate enough to view from above. Kinda scary too… and I’m not talking about the fact that I was 1000metres up in the air without a parachute. The forested areas of the coast look somewhat larger when viewed from land, even from the elevated views of the front of the range, but when viewed directly from above you realize just how isolated and fragmented our forests are. Here on the southern end of the Blackall Range plateau it’s clear for all to see the fragmentation and isolation of our forest remnants. Oceans of kikuyu lap gently around the precious islands of forest that remain. However to look at these fragments as islands is a mistake, they are the remains of a complex, diverse and, most importantly, linked ecology. An ecology, that is doomed if we do not re-link these remnants. Sounds rather dramatic I hear you say, has Spencer forgotten to take his happy pills today? No, the simple fact is that many of the creatures and plants that call our local forests home don’t like leaving these forests. The Long-nosed Potoroo Potorous tridactylus is a small ground dwelling marsupial, somewhat like a miniature wallaby. It lives in thick vegetation from wallum heaths through to the dense undergrowth of wet sclerophyll and rainforests. A major component of the diet of the Long-nosed Potoroo is the fruiting bodies (truffles) of fungi, many of which are mycorrhizal. Mycorrhizal fungi live on the roots of living plants and do not damage their host but improve their health immeasurably – by improving the plants access to nutrients in the soil. The Long-nosed Potoroo after eating these truffles disperses the fungi spore (seed) in its scats. This method of dispersal may be crucial to the health of forests by the constant spread and inoculation of vegetation with these mycorrhizal fungi. Now here’s where we get back to the isolation of forest fragments. Animals such as the Long-nosed Potoroo don’t like open ground (especially the oceans of kikuyu). If they disappear from a forest fragments due to feral cats, foxes or disease – that’s it, they are gone from that forest fragment forever. However, not only have we lost a cute and cuddly beast but also a means of dispersal for mycorrhizal fungi. And this is where things can start to fall apart…If the forest fragments of the Sunshine Coast are left as isolated patches their previous diversity will gradually but surely fade away, because as one species drops out of the local ecosystem others will be sure to follow. It’s a sad fact that Long-nosed Potoroo’s have already disappeared from the coastal area of the Sunshine Coast, and probably the majority of the Blackall Range. Also gone or going is the Tiger Quoll Dasyurus maculatus, the Coxen’s Fig Parrot Cyclopsitta diapthalma coxeni and the Giant Barred Frog Mixophyes iteratus to name but a few. This of course is only half the picture though, animals can disappear quickly from an ecosystem when it is fragmented or they are threatened by new predators or disease. Forests hang on for a little longer due to the longer life spans of their plants, but as their health is threatened by exposure to weather, disease and weed invasion and their pollinators or seed dispersal agents disappear; forest vegetation diversity will also begin to fade.How do I sleep at night after writing up such a depressing scenario, I hear you say. Well eternal optimist that I am I believe we can manage our local ecosystems in a positive manner. First of all I don’t think there are any excuses for the clearing of any more native vegetation, at least on the Sunshine Coast. When I say vegetation clearing what I refer to is ecosystem destruction; that is the complete clearance of natural vegetation and the ecosystem it supports and is part of. From 1000 metres up in the air you can quite clearly see we have already cleared enough land of its native vegetation for all our housing, industry and food requirements – we just have to use this land better. So no more clearing! Secondly and this is what you are all busily doing at the moment (I hope!) is planting local native plants in your gardens, revegetating stream banks, linking up isolated forest fragments with corridors and in even more importantly learning more about all our local plants, animals and fungi that make up our dynamic and eternally awe inspiring local ecosystems.We can’t step back 200 years as far as our local forest go, but we can move forward together with some hard – but fun work – from us. Our grandchildren then may see the return of some of the animal species that have disappeared from our area, and the ongoing survival of our local forest ecosystems. And not be faced with the grief of watching these forests fade into the shadows forever.
References:
Wildlife of Greater Brisbane, Queensland MuseumWet Forest Frogs of South-east Queensland, Meyer, Hines and HeroField Guide to the Birds of Australia, Simpson and DayPotoroos their Poos, Truffles and Trees, Nick Clancy