Learning about and repairing saltmarsh ecosystems Pages 4 and 8
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cradle to coastlines
cradle to coastlines September 2019
in this issue Page 4
Cradle Coast NRM online learning packages launched
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Soil health begins by keeping our soil in the paddock
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Prospects for seascape repair
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Page 10 Spider crab aggregations on Tasmania's north-west coast Page 11 TassieCat Campaign Page 12 Devonport volunteers activities Page 14 Help celebrate our biodiversity
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Page 15 Waste education Page 16 What's on
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cradle coast nrm 1-3 Spring Street BURNIE TAS 7320 03 6433 8400
www.cradlecoast.com/nrm www.facebook.com/CradleCoastNRM/
THE SOILS OF THE CRADLE COAST ARE HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE – OUR REGION ACCOUNTS FOR AROUND 40% OF TASMANIA’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY. BUT HOW CAN WE MAINTAIN LONG TERM PRODUCTIVITY IF WE DON’T KEEP IT IN OUR 3 .p
PADDOCKS? Dr Tom O'Malley Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitator
Cradle Coast NRM online learning packages launched
Cradle Coast NRM has produced four online learning packages on Little Penguins, Giant Freshwater Crayfish, Short-tailed Shearwaters and Coastal Saltmarshes. The aim of these newly-developed and attention-grabbing educational tools is to broaden community knowledge of the Cradle Coast Region’s iconic and threatened species.
Each module contains information about an important local species, summarising the latest scientific research, and pulling together the best photos, videos and well-researched facts and figures, and dispelling some myths about these species. The modules are designed to take about an hour each to complete, and there are plenty of links to further information if you’d like to do more reading. They are suitable for school students and anyone else who has ever wondered about the natural world around us in the Cradle Coast region.
We’ve also highlighted ways that you can get involved and help reduce the threats each species faces. Please explore our new-look Cradle Coast Authority website, and spend some time getting to know our amazing native species. www.cradlecoast.com/online-learningpackages. For more information, contact Anna Wind on awind@cradlecoast.com
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Cradle Coast NRM is pleased to launch a set of online education resources designed to increase understanding and appreciation of our local wildlife.
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Soil health begins by keeping our soil in the paddock
During winter, there are periods where soil is left bare, creating a high risk of soil erosion. Rills are visible in paddocks where water movement has created channels. Soil washed onto roads can create a hazard for drivers, and huge plumes of soil entering Bass Strait from rivers are striking features of aerial imagery. The soils of the Cradle Coast are highly productive – our region accounts for around 40% of Tasmania’s agricultural productivity. But how can we keep our soil healthy and maintain long term productivity if we don’t keep it in our paddocks? The 10-20 cm of topsoil is where most of the soil/plant interaction occurs, and under our temperate climatic conditions, can take thousands of years to form.
No farmer wants to lose their soil, but with consumers demanding a range of cool climate vegetables to be available throughout the year, some level of bare ground during winter seems inevitable. There are, however, ways we can reduce the severity of soil erosion in cropping paddocks. In sloping paddocks, rip lines or mulched rip lines installed along contours can trap soil washed down from further up the slope. This keeps the soil within the paddock, and the water itself enters the soil profile through the rip line, preventing surface water run-off building up speed, moving downhill and taking soil with it Including a green manure or cover crop phase in a crop rotation is an option for keeping steeper cropping ground protected. Any plant material, be it living plants or dead stubble, will slow water movement and reduce the risk and severity of erosion. Green manure and cover crops also increase the plant-available nutrition in the soil for subsequent crops, as living plant roots feed soil microbes which help bind soil together.
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As another wet winter passes, the price our productive soils pay for being left unprotected during heavy rainfall is again evident.
To register your interest please contact Cradle Coast NRM’s new Agriculture Project Coordinator, Ali Dugand via email at adugand@cradlecoast.com
Rills caused by surface water run-off in a north-west paddock. Photo credit: Dr. Tom O'Malley.
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Cradle Coast NRM is launching a sustainable agriculture project with a focus on reducing the effects of hillslope erosion. This project will offer a range of extension opportunities for farmers who are interested in exploring options for controlling erosion on their farm.
Prospects for seascape repair
Coastal seascapes are a mosaic of tidally influenced habitats. Their flat profile and proximity to the coast and human settlements make them susceptible to being drained, filled and converted to farmland. One of the three case studies used was the temperate coastal saltmarsh areas of the Circular Head region which are listed as a Threatened Ecological Community. The Circular Head region is home to about a quarter of all coastal saltmarsh in Tasmania and forms part of a rich seascape with expansive tidal flats, seagrass beds and buffering Melaleuca ericifolia swamp forests. A previous study by Dr Vishnu Prahalad was the first documentation of fish usage of Tasmanian saltmarshes with 11 species found including commercially important Yellow-eye Mullet, Australian Salmon and Greenback Flounder. The seascape repair paper argues that the region is very important for commercial and recreational fisheries in Tasmania. Although the region’s saltmarshes have been subject to extensive clearing and agricultural drainage works, there is a great potential for habitat repair through tidal restoration.
The Australian Government’s conservation advice for the recovery of the Coastal Saltmarsh Threatened Ecological Community identifies the need for ‘maintenance of ecological function and increased resilience’ through permanent or intermittent connection with the sea. Dr Prahalad and his colleagues found that removing tidal barriers to reconnect marshes currently behind levees is likely to return immediate benefits for fish use through expanded habitat and food resources. The remediation would contribute to overall marine biodiversity and productivity of these temperate systems and the marine food web. The paper suggests that the repair works to reinstate tidal connectively and re-establish tidal channels are simple and relatively inexpensive and could be undertaken by farm equipment. While it may be a challenge to identify suitable repair sites with interested land owners, this work could lead to future demonstration projects to increase seascape function. To read the full scientific paper go to the Cradle Coast NRM website. C. Creighton, V. Prahalad, I. McLeod, M. Sheaves, M. Taylor and T. Walshe. (2019) Prospects for seascape repair: Three case studies from eastern Australia. Ecological Management and Restoration.
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A scientific paper has recently been published detailing the potential benefits of investing in the repair of coastal seascapes. Fisheries were used as a market benefit indicator for ecosystem services generated through habitat restoration.
Saltmarsh at East Inlet, Circular Head. Photo credit: Iona Flett.
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Yellow-eye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsterie). Photo credit: Dr. Vishnu Prahalad.
Spider Crab aggregations on Tasmania's north-west coast Every few years concerned community members raise the issue of large numbers of Great Spider Crabs, Leptomithrax gaimardii, washing up on the beaches around the north west. At Stanley in June, the seafloor around the wharf was completely covered in living Spider Crabs. This is called an aggregation. Spider Crabs are social animals and form dense aggregations both for protection against predators and in preparation for moulting and subsequent mating. They travel to inshore shallow coastal areas where they prepare for moulting, after which they can increase in size. Following moulting, the shells harden and mating occurs. The crabs then return to deeper waters and a more solitary existence.
Explorers in the 1800s observed Spider Crab aggregations. Fishermen who use gill nets along the north-west coast encounter them every year, and scallop dredgers often go through the middle of mounds and fill their dredges. When you see large numbers of crabs either in the water or washed up on the beach the best course of action is to leave them alone and understand that what you are observing is a marvelous natural event. For more information, contact Damian Heran, Fishcare Volunteer Coordinator NW on Damian.Heran@dpipwe.tas.gov.au
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Most of the shells washed up on the beaches are moulted exoskeletons with a few whole crabs interspersed. These whole crabs were likely not strong enough to withstand the wave action during storm events.
The most common question that Fisheries Officers are asked is: Can you eat them? Well yes but with the proviso, why bother? When Spider Crabs are preparing to moult, nutrients are being used to increase body size. Therefore, both taste and texture of the flesh is poor.
Great Spider Crab (Leptomithrax gaimardii), photo by Nick Shaw, retrieved from the Atlas of Living Australia.
TassieCat Campaign
The production of a new web series, “That's Cats”, encouraging responsible pet cat ownership in Tasmania took place on the Cradle Coast this month. The series, initiated by the Tasmanian Cat Management Project (TCMP), promotes the benefits of cat ownership and the simple steps owners should take to protect their cats and native wildlife. The ‘That’s Cats’ series will form part of the TassieCat campaign, an initiative of the TCMP that aims to increase levels of desexing, microchipping and containment of pet cats and reduce the number of stray and abandoned cats across the state. The TCMP team hopes the series will help the campaign reach more Tasmanians and get more people talking about the issues.
Scruffy the cat will feature in the 'That's Cats' web series
The web series, which is expected to be released in September, can be viewed online at www.tassiecat.com and will be aired on local TV over the coming months.
The Tasmanian Cat Management Project is a statewide joint initiative funded by the Tasmanian Government.
For more information, contact Haylee Kaplan, Regional Cat Management Coordinator on hkaplan@cradlecoast.com.
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We’d like the Tasmanian community to understand the risks to the welfare of native wildlife, humans and cats themselves if we don’t look after them properly.
Devonport volunteer activities
The region’s newest Wildcare group got active as soon as Spring hit! The Friends of Devonport Reserves volunteers have been out and about in Kelcey Tier helping to prepare the reserve for the arrival of Swift Parrots.
Later in the year, citizen scientists will have the chance to find out more about the species living in the region, when Devonport City Council and the Bookend Trust host a BioBlitz in and around the Don Reserve.
Kelcey Tier is known to contain good foraging habitat for Swift Parrots, who especially love Eucalyptus ovata woodland (recently listed as a Threatened Ecological Community), and there are hollow-bearing trees in the reserve suitable for nesting sites.
School groups and members of the public can team up with scientists and specialist naturalists who will guide the discovery and recording of as many species as possible. The event will be held over two days, 8 and 9 of November.
See what was discovered at past events at www.extinctionmatters.com.au. Contact Phil Hrstich, NRM Officer, Devonport City Council on phrstich@devonport.tas.gov.au or Clare Hawkins on clare.hawkins@utas.edu.au if you have any questions.
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Volunteers collected data about the vegetation in the reserve to add to DPIPWE’s Swift Parrot habitat mapping project. They also raked leaf litter away from the bases of the old, hollowbearing trees. This is to help protect the parrots in the event of a controlled burn or an unplanned bushfire. Swift Parrots need all the help they can get - they are a nationally listed threatened species, with numbers thought to be declining in Tasmania.
Sign up here to be added to the mailing list for more information.
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Angela and Jen from Friends of Devonport Reserves collecting data in Kelcey Tier.
Help celebrate our biodiversity
September is Biodiversity Month and the aim is to promote the importance of protecting, conserving and improving biodiversity both in Australia and the world. Biodiversity is the variety of all life forms on earth - the different plants, animals and microorganisms, their genes and ecosystems of which they are a part. Australia is home to more than 600,000 species. About 84 per cent of our plants, 83 per cent of our mammals, and 45 per cent of our birds are endemic. Humans depend for their sustenance, health, well-being and enjoyment of life on biodiversity. We derive our food, many medicines and industrial products from components of biological diversity. Biodiversity is the basis for much of our recreation and tourism, and includes the ecosystems which provide us with clean water.
Be a responsible pet owner. If you can no longer keep your pet do not release it into the wild. This includes pet fish — do not flush them down the toilet or put them into local streams. Make sure your cat is de-sexed, keep it indoors or invest in an outdoor cat run — domestic cats can have a devastating effect on local wildlife. See TassieCat for more. Reduce, reuse and recycle. Look at ways to reduce the amount of rubbish that ends up in landfill and recycle. For more information see RethinkWaste. Start your own compost bin. Organic matter like vegetable peelings which usually ends up landfill is great for your garden. Start composting and improve the health of your soil. Only put water down drains. Oils and chemicals can end up in our waterways and seas and can affect animals and plants living in streams and rivers.
How can I help protect biodiversity?
Get rid of weeds. A harmless plant can turn into a noxious weed if it jumps your back fence and heads into bushland. Check out what's a weed at Weeds in Australia.
Understand biosecurity. Some souvenirs and items you buy over the internet are made from or contain derivatives of plants and animals. If you are bringing plants or animals into Australia, go to Information for travellers and online shoppers beforehand. When boating, don't get too close to whales and dolphins. To find out more go to Whales, dolphins and porpoises.
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Create a natural habitat in your backyard. Look at plants that are native to your region and help create a sanctuary for local birds and wildlife. Frog ponds.
Be an informed seafood eater. Don’t eat threatened fish species. To find out what species you should avoid go to Find a Fish or get the Sustainable Seafood Guide app.
Waste education
Primary school teaching resources are now available on plastic waste, paper waste and litter. Developed by the Environment Protection Authority Tasmania, the resources are aligned to subjects of the Australian Curriculum, including Science, Maths and English and the cross-curricular priority of Sustainability. The Paper Waste Teaching Resource covers topics on how paper is made, how much paper we use, how paper consumption and waste affects biodiversity, water use, energy use and climate change. It suggests how we can reduce, re-use and recycle paper and how schools can cut down on paper consumption.
The Litter Teaching Resource provides a sequence of educationally aligned, hands-on litter-related teaching units for primary school teachers. Activities to develop awareness in students about litter in Tasmania include how to undertake a litter audit, pollutants entering storm-water drains and rivers, marine debris, beach clean-ups, and the effects of beach litter on seabirds and marine animals. Go to the link to download the resources: www.epa.tas.gov.au/sustainability/resources-forschools/waste-education/
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The Plastic Waste Teaching Resource enables students to investigate the role and uses of plastic in our world, and how plastic consumption and waste affects our environment, particularly the sea. It covers how students can reduce, re-use and recycle plastics.
What's on what
where & who
when
Volunteers needed for vegetation survey to assess the impacts of deer on Tasmanian vegetation
Tasmanian Land Conservancy property, Bronte Park More info: Thomas Guy on thomas.guy@utas.edu.au
August & September
Introduction to Beekeeping Workshops
Burnie, $125 for two days, including lunch. More info: Jess and Matt on twowfarm@hotmail.com
21 & 22 September 28 & 29 September
Calamari and squid fisheries closed
The calamari and squid fisheries will be closed to recreational and commercial fishing on Tasmania's north coast to protect spawning calamari. More info: https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/sea-fishing aquaculture/sustainable-fisheries management/fisheries-management strategies/north-coast-calamari-closure
1 - 31 October
Burnie Agricultural and Pastoral Society Show
Pip Lynch Park, 329 Ridgley Highway, Romaine. More info: Kyle Barker on 0498 994 417
4 & 5 October
Vanishing Point Unseen Community Forum - a major art-meets-science collaborative exhibiton and education program
Makers Workshop, Burnie. More info: Joanna Gair on joanna.gair@utas.edu.au
5 October
2019 Tasmanian Community Landcare Conference
Southern Tasmania. More info: www.landcaretas.org.au For funding assistance, contact Landcare Tas on 03 6234 7117 or email support@landcaretas.org.au.
25 - 27 October
Devonport BioBlitz
Don Reserve and surrounds. More info: Phil Hrstich on phrstich@devonport.tas.gov.au or Clare Hawkins on clare.hawkins@utas.edu.au.
8 & 9 November
National Recreational Fishing Conference
Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart. More info: 0418 121 317 or visit www.arffnet.au/nrfc/
11 & 12 December
cradle coast nrm 1-3 Spring St Burnie Tasmania 7320
www.cradlecoast.com/nrm www.facebook.com/CradleCoastNRM/