Hi Denise,
can you please expand on "loss of indigenous rangers from key parks"
and "before they resigned" - what has prompted this? I am curious -
surely they are needed both for their inherant knowledge of their local
areas and for providing income/employment to communities in these areas
email me direct if too politically sensitive for the list
Ian
On 8/07/2013 8:18 AM, Denise Goodfellow wrote:
Yes, certainly, and thank you, Peter, for asking. The second title says it
all.
Africanising the tropical woodlands: Canopy loss and tree death following
gamba grass Andropogon gayanus invasion
Ferdinands, K, Douglas, MM, Setterfield, S and Barratt, JL (2006).
Africanising the tropical woodlands: Canopy loss and tree death following
gamba grass Andropogon gayanus invasion. In: Sindel, BM and Johnson, SB 15th
Australian Weeds Conference: Managing Weeds in a Changing Climate, Adelaide,
24-28 September 2006.
http://espace.cdu.edu.au/view/cdu:6670
"Field of nightmares: gamba grass in the Top End", Aaron Petty (2013).
http://theconversation.com/field-of-nightmares-gamba-grass-in-the-top-end-
12178
I'm awaiting more articles from Dr. Petty.
As I think I mentioned in an earlier email the NT Government has declared
that Gamba grass is out of control from Darwin to Katherine. They are
fighting a rear guard action trying to prevent it moving further south. The
situation may have been made worse by the loss of Indigenous rangers from
key parks - they tell me that weeds were under control before they resigned,
but not now.
Denise
On 8/7/13 7:33 AM, "Peter Shute" <> wrote:
You often mention Gamba Grass here, Denise, but there's rarely any response. I
know nothing about it, do you have any online references about the problem?
Peter Shute
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of
Denise Goodfellow
Sent: Monday, 8 July 2013 7:11 AM
To: David Clark; Birding Aus
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Cats
I suspect that the impact on wildlife of cats or cane toads
will pale into insignificance against that of Gamba Grass,
and I can't see any body, Government or otherwise, investing
much money in fighting that weed!
Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow
PO Box 71, Darwin River,
NT 0841
043 8650 835
On 7/7/13 9:48 PM, "David Clark" <> wrote:
I am currently travelling through northwestern Queensland
and I have
been surprised at the number of feral cats scavenging around
campsites, crossing roads in broad daylight and feeding on roadkill.
My first response was to bemoan the increase in the population of
feral cats and to wonder about what damage they are doing
to native fauna.
However, the situation is not that simple.
There has been no wet season for the past two years and the seed
bearing plants haven't produced seeds. This has had a
dramatic impact
on the numbers of seed eaters, particularly finches and
small rodents.
The latter are the main prey of feral cats and, in their
absence, the
cats are starving. There is not an increase in the feral cat
population; the starving survivors are congregating where they may
find food and are more visible to the casual observer than
they are in normal conditions.
I'm not saying that feral cats aren't a problem but, in terms of
impact on native animals, they come in well behind the Cane Toad.
Goannas used to be common in the area through which I am travelling
but not anymore. Olive Pythons are absent from most of
their range.
A dead Freshwater Crocodile floating down the creek two
days ago was
most likely a victim of Cane Toad poison. The Kites are back, and
have presumably learned to avoid Cane Toads.
There is a lot of local concern about feral cats and many
of the north
Queensland shires offer a bounty on cats' tails. While
that may put
some money into the pockets of local people, it won't
really address
the problem and I'm not sure that Governments are prepared
to invest
the money necessary to control feral cats, Cane Toads, feral pigs,
feral camels, feral goats, feral dogs, Common Mynas, etc, etc.
Cheers
David
On Sat, Jul 6, 2013 at 6:21 PM, Peter Morgan
<> wrote:
We felt sickened when we found a large ginger tabby curled
up in what
we presume is a Letter-wing Kite nest in the tree where we found a
family of 2 adults and 2 young last year in SA. Bev got one poor
photo, but the cat scooted down and out of the tree as she
approached to get better shots.
We have seen more cats on this trip through NSW, Qld, and SA than
ever before. Today, we watched a large grey cat stalking
a huge mob
of Little Corella feeding on the ground just after we came out of
Sturt NP on our way to Tibboburra.
Throughout the trip, we have had many locals, some from
the grazing
industry, bemoaning the number of cats and the damage they
are doing.
One suggested that explosion of bush rats in western Qld
in 2011 led
to an increase in cats that lives on to this day.
Peter and Bev Morgan
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