Register for excursions at: excursion@qnc.org.au and meetings at: meetings@qnc.org.au
| 14/05/21 | ||||
| Meeting | 17/5/21 |
Presentation: Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Gold Coast |
Narelle Power and Damien White |
Narelle and
Damien have
recently
published a
field guide on
the dragonflies
and damselflies
of the Gold
Coast and
surrounds.
Dragonflies and
damselflies (odonates)
are becoming
increasingly
popular for
‘spotting’ and
photographing.
However, not
since 2006
(Dragonflies of
South East
Queensland) by
the late Ric
Nattrass, has a
local regional
guide been
published. The
authors will use
images from
their book to
discuss odonate
life history and
habitat. They
will highlight
the more common
(and rarer
species) present
on the Gold
Coast and more
widely in the
SEQ region. For
more information
please click on
the hyperlink
below. Limited
copies of the
guide will also
be for sale by
the authors on
the night of the
meeting. |
| Meeting | 21/06/21 |
Presentation: Do Bilbies have a Future in Queensland? |
Dr Paul Campbell |
Bilbies are the
fastest
reproducing
Australian
mammal. They are
also ecosystem
engineers,
supporting many
other plant and
animal species
through their
activities. Bilbies
once occupied
over 70% of the
Australian
mainland but
have disappeared
from at least
80% of their
former range. In
Queensland,
bilbies still
survive in small
isolated
populations in
the far west and
are listed as
endangered. The
Save the Bilby
Fund (STBF)
maintains a
growing bilby
population
inside a
predator
exclusion fence
on Currawinya
National Park,
and a breeding
and
acclimatisation
creche in
Charleville. This
presentation by
Dr Paul
Campbell, a
director of the
STBF, will
discuss the
current status
of bilbies in
Queensland and
the Fund's plans
to re-introduce
bilbies back
into parts of
their former
range. |
| Excursion | 23/5/21 | Upper Chrismas Creek | Ron Carr |
Our day
excursion will
be to the upper
end of Christmas
Creek Road,
Lamington, near
where it meets
Lamington
National Park.
The final
kilometres of
the road (from
about 2900) are
unsealed but
easily navigable
by 2wd vehicles.
The Lamington
Landcare Group
have been
energetic and
successful in
reclaiming
significant
areas of their
properties from
the Lantana and
glycine weed
infestations
that have
claimed large
areas of
neglected land.
They now have
reclaimed some
beautiful
stretches of
creek bank with
planted and some
natural
regeneration
beneath the
emergent flooded
gums (E. grandis)
which have
survived the
duration of the
cattle grazing
era. These are
magnificent
specimens that
possibly took
advantage of the
earlier
degradation of
the original
rainforest to
establish
themselves. The
Landcare Group
have invited us
to walk the
creek banks
where convenient
and adjacent
areas where not
convenient to
share the
experience and
with a view to
us helping them
recognize any
subjects of
natural history
encountered,
particularly
plants. Our
hosts for the
day will provide
morning tea at a
convenient
location and we
will provide our
own lunches. Directions in the May - June QNC News |
| Excursion | 27/6/21 | Mt Mellum Nature Reserve | Ian and Chrissie McMaster and Gretchen Evans | This outing is a reschedule of the outing that was cancelled in March due to bad weather. The excursion will take place on the private property of Ian and Chrissie McMaster, which includes a 100ha Nature Refuge on the western side of Mount Mellum. The terrain varies from flat to very steep, with sandstone cliffs and waterfalls in the deeper gullies, so there are plenty of options to test enthusiastic explorers of nature. About 80% of the property is natural bushland, on a variety of different soils, with black basalt derived soils on the mountain, sandstones on the western and northern slopes, and alluvial silts derived from both soils in the creek systems further down. These soils support a mix of subtropical lowland rainforest, wet sclerophyll dominated by flooded gums, and drier sclerophyll dominated by blackbutt and tallowwood. The varied soils and aspects mean there are lots of different plants, with about 500 species recorded here. Consequently, many different birds are seen here, along with the usual range of mammals and reptiles. Of particular interest are a significant number of old growth eucalypts with big hollows that host a population of greater gliders. Note that some of the outing will involve traversing steep slopes and in some places scree. However, there are options for those less able. The owners can provide lists of plant, birds, and pretty much anything else - except fungi. Members will have to ask Gretchen for advice on that one! |
| Meeting | 19/7/21 | Pumicestone Passage - What it was like, what happened and what can be done about it? |
Ben Diggles : is a marine biologist who specialises in study of the health of aquatic animals and their environment. He is a director of DigsFish Services, a fish health consulting company established in 2003 to provide aquatic animal health services to Industries and Governments throughout Australasia. Dr Diggles has published hundreds of papers and reports over the past 30 years on issues as diverse as parasites and diseases of wild and aquacultured fish and shellfish, national and international biosecurity frameworks, pathogen risk analyses, fish welfare, fish kill investigations and environmental standards for fishing tournaments. For more information, see www.digsfish.com |
The pristine and highly productive Pumicestone Passage estuary provided sustenance and cultural services for indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Following European settlement in 1823, Pumicestone Passage remained a highly productive fishery, however by the 1890´s eutrophication and sedimentation from catchment clearing began to damage the oyster fishery, first signalled by loss of biogenic subtidal shellfish reefs in formerly highly productive "dredge sections". By the late 1960´s the oyster industry was in rapid decline due to emergence of QX, a disease process triggered by sedimentation and immune suppression due to chemical runoff from agriculture and forestry in adjacent river catchments. Throughout the 21st century decline of the ecological health of the passage has continued, signalled by accelerating frequencies of algal blooms and fish kill events.
However, recent
oyster gardening
and recycling
initiatives for
the shellfish
reef restoration
trial at Kakadu
Beach in
Pumicestone
Passage have
raised community
awareness of the
loss of these
ecosystems and
the many
critical
ecological
services they
once provided,
uncovering a
groundswell of
community
support to
reverse the
decline.
However, the
Moreton Bay
Marine Park was
established in
1993 on a
shifted
management
baseline which
does not
accommodate
restoration of
these critical
ecosystems at
this time.
In the face of
relentless
catchment
development,
only by a
concerted effort
to cleanse
runoff and
permit active
restoration of
underwater
habitats will
Governments and
community be
able to slow or
reverse the
decline of this
highly stressed
marine
ecosystem.
|