From what little experience I have had with Plains Wanderers at Ivanhoe,
NSW many years ago, is that they respond (like most inland birds) to changes
in climatic conditions. In poor seasons or below normal then Plains Wanders
( same for Gibber Birds) would appear, when a good seasons happens then they
disappeared from the area. I put this down to the fact they couldn't handle
wet weather, and the heavy or thick under growth, mostly from introduced
grasses or weeds (Riverina Bluebell as an example), that result from the
good season. Their feathers didn't seem to me as being water proofed so they
were a pretty sorry sight when wet.
I guess the point is they always returned, so I'm suggesting we shouldn't be
over reacting, because a species appears to disappear for a period.
The big problem, I think with a lot of our conservation areas on the plains
country is introduced grasses and weeds taking over from the saltbush and
the fact there is no active management (at least in NSW) of these areas (and
I don't mean sheep). I think an active fire regime especially of those areas
heavily infested with introduced weeds or grasses should be a priority to
encourage saltbush regeneration.
There is currently a big push by the NSW Farmers Association, Western
Council Association and the current NSW government (besides shooting in
conservation areas) to reintroduce stock (sheep and cattle) into
conservation areas. I don't see how this will benefit the Plains Wander or a
number of other species in the long term and until funds are made available
to the NPWS (or whatever they are called now days) for active management of
these grasslands, then I see no solution to the problems of weed invasion,
but I don't believe stocking of conservation areas as the long term answer.
I've probably simplified the issue, but if stocking were the answer then we
should have plenty of Plains Wanders in the western areas of NSW.
Neville
-----Original Message-----
From: Laurie Knight
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 6:25 AM
To: Birding Aus
Subject: Weekly Times front page- "Plains Blunderer"
Well it does beg the question as to how the Plains Wanderers coped
before the arrival of first Aborigines and then Europeans ...
What is the macropod grazing pressure like in the protected areas?
Laurie.
On 19/11/2012, at 9:21 PM, Jeremy O'Wheel wrote:
Very interesting. I'd bet money that the problem is poor fire regimes,
which grazing is a poor alternative.
Jeremy
On Nov 19, 2012 7:17 PM, "Simon Starr" <> wrote:
Hi all,
In this week's Weekly Times, Wed 14th, the front page reads "Plains
Blunderer- Lock-it-and-leave policy debunked as sheep graze a national
park
to save the Plains Wanderer "
The article opens the lid on the fact that since the acquisition of
more
than 11,000 ha of farmland in Northern Victoria by federal and state
governments as well as by private environmental groups over the last 20
years, to protect native grasslands and the associated threatened
species,
the reduction in grazing, and lack of response to the recent wetter
years,
have led to a situation where the Plains Wanderer has virtually been
completely eliminated from the now protected areas. In my opinion the
dense
grass growth has also crowded out many wildflowers.
The population in Victoria has crashed, and remaining birds seem largely
confined to regularly grazed private grasslands, some of those being
landholders who did not want to sell their native grasslands.
The grassland reserves are certainly now protected from being
ploughed/cropped, but when it comes to managing grasslands there are
different ideas on how to do it !
It appears that there is now a realization amongst the powers that be,
that
these birds, and other threatened species have been badly affected due
to
poor management on the reserves.
There are many good people working to improve the situation which gives
me
great hope that in the future the dire situation for the Plains Wanderer
will be reversed. However it will require suitable funding to make it
work,
and in the current climate it is a worry that adequate funds will not be
allocated to managing what is now a very large area of the northern
plains.
The Weekly Times article will certainly reinforce some attitudes in
rural
areas, that "greenies" do not know how to manage the land. Having lived
and
worked on the land, I think that both sides of the argument have
something
to learn from the other.
Grassland conservation in the Riverina is still a relatively new
exercise,
so these experiences will no doubt help the process into the future.
Regards,
Simon Starr,
PS the article does not seem to be available online, but the paper
should
still be available tomorrow/Tuesday.
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
|
