The assault on the invaders

Scenic, picturesque beaches are a common sight in Western Australia, and I was lucky enough to be involved in some conservation work along the beautiful coast of Sorrento during the mid-semester break when I returned home. Over two days, under the enthusiastic guidance from Karis, the project co-ordinator, myself and a small group of keen volunteers were armed with gloves, bags, a trusty shovel and, one of the best tools for the job, our hands; and we were ready to hand weed the coastal dunes of Sorrento. Our main targets were dune onion weed (Trachyandra divaricata), a native of South Africa,  sea spurge (Euphorbia paralias), a native of Europe, Northern Africa and Western Asia, and rose pelargonium (Pelargonium capitatum), endemic to South Africa. These three species are all alien to Australia, and, more importantly, unwanted and threatening to Australia’s coastal habitats.

Hard at work: hand weeding along the Sorrento coast

My conservation work continued back in Canberra, where I volunteered with the passionate project co-ordinator Tim for a day to continue the battle against invasive plant species on the other side of Australia. This time, I was high up in Isaacs Ridge Nature Reserve in South Canberra, where I had a beautiful view of the green hills in the distance. It would have been a perfect view, except for one thing… there were countless sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa), lining the horizon and were alarmingly widespread throughout the area we were in.

Isaac Ridge Nature Reserve: Had it not been for sweet briar, it would have been a lovely view.

A freshly applied solution of glyphosate to the cut stems keeps the weed away!

Sweet briar is not easy to take down, and proved to be trickier to remove than the coastal species in WA, as the plant is painfully covered with needle-like thorns (equipping very thick gloves and clothing is advised!), and after cutting through the stem, glyphosate chemical must be applied to the exposed stem almost immediately, as after 15 seconds, sweet briar will begin to heal the cut, foiling the chance to kill it. This method of stem injection relies on the active uptake and growth of the plant to move the chemical through its tissue to ultimately bring it down for good.

Casualties of war

Along Sorrento coast in Western Australia, the native plant species that were threatened by dune onion weed, sea spurge and rose pelargonium were mainly Spinifex spp. and goat’s foot convolvulus (Ipomoea pes-caprae). The invasive coastal weeds compete aggressively for resources, and can rapidly replace the native coastal flora, and establish dense infestations, with sea spurge believed to be able to alter the natural shape and structure of beach and dunes, and has adverse effects on the nesting habitat of a range of threatened shorebirds.

(L-R) Dune onion weed, sea spurge & rose pelargonium: the beach invaders
Source: Urban Bushland Council WA & Warweeds

(L-R) Spinifex spp. & goat’s foot convolvulus: the beach natives
Source: Urban Bushland Council WA

Back in Canberra, while sweet briar looks quite pretty when it flowers, it absolutely does not belong in Australia’s native grasslands. Native to Europe and Western Asia, sweet briar can rapidly take over areas as it aggressively competes with native species in the area, such as bulbine lily (Bulbine bulbosa), sheep’s burr (Acaena echinata) and Australian trefoil (Lotus australis). Isaacs Ridge Nature Reserve is also home to patches of the critically endangered White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland in both woodland and open grassland forms. Sweet briar also impedes the movement of native grazing animals, and also shelters rabbits and other pest animals. 

One of many invasive sweet briar in the nature reserve.

(L-R) Bulbine lily, sheep’s burr & Australian trefoil, just three of many native plants threatened by sweet briar in Isaacs Ridge Nature Reserve.
Source: Canberra Nature Map

Two very different locations, one very common problem: native species under threat from weeds. It is clear that biodiversity all across Australia is threatened by invasive plant species, as these foreign invaders often compete with native flora species for resources such as nutrients, water and light (Grice 2006). Invasive plants can also have bottom-up impacts in the structure of ecosystems and fauna communities (Vila et al. 2011), as there might be negative changes in the breeding or foraging habits of various endemic fauna that rely on the native species for habitat or as a food source (Vila et al. 2011). Some invasive plant species, such as buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris), can even change fuel properties of native ecosystems (Brooks et al. 2004), which in turn can affect fire behaviour and, ultimately, alter fire regime characteristics such as intensity, seasonality, frequency, extent and type of fire (Brooks et al. 2004).

These alien invaders definitely pose severe and formidable threats to the whole of Australia, with weeds representing the second greatest threat to biodiversity in New South Wales, and there has been a correlation between invasive species and threatened species across Australia (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Number of national listed threatened species considered to be at risk from invasive species.
Source: Australian Government (2011).

Therefore, it is evident that there are many significant benefits in working with the volunteer groups to remove the offending alien plants, as it would help the endemic flora, especially species with vulnerable or endangered statuses, to take back their native ecosystem so that they may flourish and thrive and protect biodiversity in Australia.

Invasion of the habitat snatchers

So we’ve all seen them. Invasive species are fairly ubiquitous in Australia’s grasslands and bushlands but most people don’t always know that they’re invasive and alien to this country. Sometimes all that we see is green, and we think that must be a good thing! But greenery doesn’t always mean healthy. So, how do invasive plants, like the ones I helped to remove, arrive in Australia, and why do they thrive in a place that is not their home?

Figure 2. Diagram showing propagule pressure (P), abiotic characteristics (A) and biotic characteristics
(B) interact with each other to ultimately drive invasion (I), and how the additional influence of humans
(H) may modify P, A and B.
Source: Catford, Jansson & Nilsson (2009).

Many invasive plants have been introduced to Australia since European settlement, where they were brought over for ornamental purposes. In modern times, international travel and trade have seen a large increase, that has subsequently intensified the frequency and extent of species transfer around the world, and shows no sign of slowing down (Catford, Jansson & Nilsson 2009). There are three main factors that contribute to invasion success – Propagule pressure (P), abiotic characteristics (A) of the recipient environment, and biotic characteristics (B) (Catford, Jansson & Nilsson 2009) of the invading plant species and the potential environment to be invaded (Figure 2). The PAB must be accommodating for the invader plants for the actual invasion to be successful, and favourable, if the invasive plants are to thrive in their new environment (Catford, Jansson & Nilsson 2009).

Alien invasion defense strategies

Under the Australian Constitution, the Biosecurity Act 2015 enables the Australian Government to physically prevent the introduction of weeds through the inspection of incoming luggage, cargo, mail, animals and plants and their products. Each state and territory has legislation covering the control of noxious weeds, and there are currently 32 Weeds of National Significance (WoNS) identified by the Australian Government to help focus national efforts to control the impact of the WoNS at the state level.

My personal experiences with weed removal involved hand weeding and also chemical control using glyphosate, however the type of weed removal strategy is wholly dependent on the invasive plant species, and also the ecosystem it resides in, as the strategy should not also negatively impact on the native flora and fauna.

Overall, being able to take part in different weed removal projects has been admittedly not easy, and quite demanding, but it is definitely extremely fulfilling and I encourage anyone who is interested in any conservation project to volunteer with Conservation Volunteers Australia for a rewarding experience!

Li-Ann Koh (u5673835)

References

Australian Government 2011, State of the Environment 2011. Available from: http://olr.npi.gov.au/soe/2011/report/biodiversity/3-9-invasive-species-and-pathogens.html. [10 October 2016].

Brooks, ML, D’Antonio, CM, Richardson, DM, Grace, JB, Keeley, JE, DiTomaso, JM, Hobbs, RJ, Pellant, M & Pyke, D 2004, ‘Effects of invasive alien plants on fire regimes’, BioScience, vol. 54, no. 7, pp. 677-688.

Catford, JA, Jansson, R & Nilsson, C 2009, ‘Reducing redundancy in invasion ecology by integrating hypotheses into a single theoretical framework’, Diversity and Distributions, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 22-40.

Commonwealth of Australia 2016, Weeds in Australia – Legislation. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/weeds/government/legislation.html. [10 October 2016].

Grice, AC 2006, ‘The impacts of invasive plant species on the biodiversity of Australian rangelands’, The Rangeland Journal, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 27-35.

Vila, M, Espinar, JL, Hejda, M, Hulme, PE, Jarosik, V, Maron, JL, Pergl, J, Schaffner, U, Sun, Y & Pysek, P 2011, ‘Ecological impacts of invasive alien plants: a meta-analysis of their effects on species, communities and ecosystems’, Ecology Letters, vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 702-708.

Mulligans Flat and the Turtle Patrol

The Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve (Fig. 1), integrated into the greater Mulligans Flat – Goorooyarroo area can be found on the northern outskirts of Canberra. This area represents a critically endangered ecosystem of grassy box-gum woodland that was seriously degraded after 150 years of grazing practices. The Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve covers an area of 765ha with around 60% enclosed by a predator-proof fence (Shorthouse, et al., 2012).

Fig. 1: Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve, located near Canberra’s northern most suburbs

It is clear that many significant benefits have been achieved from the installation of the fence, but does present some drawbacks. I am referring to the native residents that are restricted by this boundary line, potentially putting some vulnerable creatures at risk. The known impacts mostly including disrupting movements of reptiles and mammals of which, the eastern long-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis) is of main concern. Impacts upon the turtles include disruptions to migratory patterns as well as increased mortality rates from exposure, entanglement and predation (Ferronato, et al,. 2014).

One of the many Eastern Long-necked Turtles found on my patrol – Photograph:  Gareth Quirke

The issue that arises from a park managers perspective is that the fence itself is quite costly to maintain, hence continuously managing these turtle populations becomes quite time consuming. It is for this reason that Mulligans Flat relies heavily upon the enthusiastic involvement of community volunteers to help and protect the local turtle populations.

Eastern Long-necked turtle trapped on predator proof fence – Photograph: Gareth Quirke

Recent studies in the area have shown the scale of this issue for the reserve. More than half of all reptiles caught on the fence tend to be the eastern long-necked turtle.What was worse is that an astonishing 9 out of 10 turtle deaths in and around the park were fence related (Ferronato, et al,. 2014).The most common causes for statistics was due to over-heating, followed by fox predation, vehicular collisions and entanglement. Being able to help prevent these turtle deaths is the reason that I, and so many other volunteers chose to join the Mulligans Flat Turtle Patrol.

The Work Itself  (13/9 – 12/10)

This volunteer work included a combination of turtle relocations and data logging. The majority of the time consisted of numerous walks up and down the southern perimeter of Mulligans Flat.The track itself can be seen in Fig. 2 which corresponds to the sightings that were recorded along the way (Fig. 3).

Fig. 2: The Southern Track of Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve

During the patrol, if a turtle was encountered, the first stage was to document its location through GPS coordinates to the Canberra Nature Map project. The details of individual turtle locations are used to help rangers and managers at Mulligans Flat to not only understand dynamics and populations of turtle movements, but also find hotspots to be targeted in future years. After photographed and tagged, each individual was carefully relocated 10m beyond the other side of the fence. Transportation of each turtle was carried out by placing it into a hessian bag and then carrying it by hand or in a bucket to the opposing side of the fence. This sometimes entailed large walking distances as entry gates could be anywhere up to 400m away.

Another Trapped Turtle – Photograph: Gareth Quirke

This form of volunteer work is very popular and due to the large numbers of volunteers conducting this work, it was crucial to not move any turtle twice by accident. To ensure that a turtle wasn’t placed on the side that it was originally found, only turtles located directly on the fence were moved. Turtles away from the fence may have already been moved by previous patrols and therefore were not disturbed. While there were so many successful relocations, the nature of this work meant that unfortunately some fatalities did occur. It was the responsibility of volunteers to record each of these deaths, including its location. Each dead turtle was marked with a fluorescent paint to ensure that it was not recorded multiple times. Sightings of both dead and living turtles aims to assist managers at Mulligans Flat to identify trends of movements as well as associated potential causes of death.

As this was such a successful year for turtle rescues analysis of last years volunteer data was conducted as a comparison. It suggested that the southern section of the fence had the highest abundance of turtles relocated in 2015. So far, during the 2016-2017 period, 84 successful relocations have been made with many more still being logged every day. However, for reasons unknown, this year produced a far greater number of turtle relocations on the northern side. This knowledge has allowed for detailed ‘high traffic’ points to be located and shows how trends change between years.

The product of all this work was many successfully saved turtles and a map of wildlife sightings. As can be seen in Fig. 3, the southern fence track is shown with a variety of different symbols each representing a sighting. Alongside the turtle sightings many other animals were witnessed, each adding to the Canberra Nature Maps database. These included Shingleback lizards (Tiliqua rugosa), Bearded Dragons (Pogona barbata), Short-beaked Echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) and even a Yellow Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa itea). All of my current and future sightings can all be found on my Canberra Nature Map profile as listed below.

Fig.3: Map of my recorded sightings recorded for the duration of volunteer work

The volunteering work at Mulligans Flat has a strong community base network aimed towards public involvement in the monitoring and development of the sanctuary. Without the enthusiastic support of the public for projects such as the Turtle Patrol, many aspect of the reserve would simply not be able to work as efficiently. This work has been an eye-opener, showing how easily rewarding it is knowing that a few turtle fatalities have been prevented due to the turtle watch. I will certainly be continuing on with my support at the reserve and strongly recommend others to be a part of this great experience.

Gareth Quirke – u5563390
Canberra Nature Map Profile: http://canberranaturemap.org/Community/Author/18241

Bibliography

Ferronato, B. O., Roe, J. H., & Georges, A. (2014). Reptile bycatch in a pest-exclusion fence established for wildlife reintroductions. In Nature Conservation vol.22 (pp. 577-585).

Shorthouse, D. J., Iglesias, D., Jeffress, S., Lane, S., Mills, P., Woodbridge, G., et al. (2012). The ‘making of’ the Mulligans Flat – Goorooyarroo experimental restoration project. In Ecological Management & Restoration (pp. 112-125).

Figures 1 & 2 – Adapted from Google Maps data

Figure 3 – Map found on my personal Canberra Nature Map profile

Photographs – Gareth Quirke, October 2016

Since the first nature reserves was established in 1956, there have been 2588 different of protected areas in the end of 2010 (Liu, et al., 2011). It is an unquestionable “number” that China has put lots of efforts on conserving natural environment and biodiversity. only 1657 nature reserves have set clear boundaries according to the 2014 statistics (Xu, et al., 2015). There are different levels of nature reserves in China, including national, provincial, municipal and county-level. The most effective protected areas are at the national level due to more formal, or normative way of management (Xu, et al., 2015). In fact, nature reserves have been making improvement of biodiversity in recent 60 years.

Nature Reserves Protects Biodiversity

However, it is questionable that the effectiveness of those nature reserves on biodiversity conservation and sustainability. Numbers of protected areas was established urgently from 1980s to 2000s in order to reduce the pressure of economic growth on natural environment (Liu, et al., 2011). The rapid establishments of nature reserves have result in lack of management, and even “ghost” nature reserves. Only 1657 nature reserves have set clear boundaries according to the 2014 statistics (Xu, et al., 2015). There were also less effective scientific arguments about whether what to protect or what areas should be protected. Protection of biodiversity was clearly improved by protected areas for a short period, however, there is concern about the long-term effectiveness on conserving biodiversity.

There are several problems associated with current management of nature reserves in China.

Problem 1: Boundaries

Many reserves have unclear boundaries that defines scope of the protected areas, also the process of boundary survey is slow. Blindly pursuing the increases of number of nature reserves causes the establishments too urgent to have good qualities on management of conservation. It is less likely to make effective protection to natural ecosystems and biodiversity since there could be less chance to have regular management and monitoring processes. Currently the protected areas are around 13% of the total land of China, which is still 4% to achieve the objective listed in the China Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (Xu, et al., 2015). Reserves with clear boundaries only 61% of total reserves (Xu, et al., 2015). The main causes are informal and uncompleted procedures of establishing nature reserves.

Proportions of identified boundaries

It is interesting that only national nature reserves reach the 100% reserves with delineated boundaries, however, the lower levels demonstrate a lower level of proportion of reserves with clear boundaries (Xu, et al., 2015). Without exact boundaries of nature reserves, any of those successful numbers of establishing nature reserves could only indicate a success on “paper” rather than in the aspect of any practices.

Problem 2: Strength of Conservation

Serious environmental degradation has been causing loss of habitat therefore influencing biodiversity and increasing number of species are threatened by degrading ecosystems. Nature reserves have protected ecological environment from further degradation, however, not all the species are covered by the protection. According to assessment of most nature reserves, 9.8% of native vegetation is not included in any nature reserves and many important species only distribute in very less number of nature reserves (Xu, et al., 2015). As the result, the unprotected and less protected species are almost half of total number of assessed species.

Nature reserves in China have to be divided into three main sections including the core, buffer and experimental plots. Core plot will not allow any scientific researches and public access and only experimental plot could have scientific experiments on the environment. I believe that limited researches will affect the effectiveness of conserving biodiversity in nature reserves. It is important to understand biodiversity through scientific researches before conserving biodiversity.

Problem 3: Monitoring Processes

This is related to lack of scientific researches mentioned in problem 2. The background studies of nature reserves are limited and outdated in many areas. It was indicated that some reserves had only one comprehensive scientific research at the beginning of building nature reserves. Relatively lack of scientific researches has resulted in lack of understanding on protected and unprotected species, lack of monitoring process, and insufficient management. In the aspect of adapting climate change, scientific researches are essential to monitor then help many sensitive species survive climate change.

Policies around nature reserves also need to be improved as an additional benefit of monitoring. Monitoring could provide valuable information and data to inform policy-makers about what should be done urgently or what should be changed for better outcomes.

Problem 4: Limited Information

Access to the information around management and outcome of nature reserves is limited via internet or other medias. In Australia, we could always find plans or strategies of management of particular nature reserves, however, it is impossible in China. There are only general regulations or national legislations about conserving biodiversity or managing nature reserves. If works of nature reserves could be published for public access, there will be not only a proof of efforts but also more chances to improve.

U5168238 Charlie

Reference

Liu, W. et al., 2011. Current Status of Management Capability of Nature Reserves in China. Journal of Beijing Forestry University, Volume 33, pp. 49-53.

Xu, W. et al., 2015. Status Quo of Delineation of Ranges of Nature Reserves and Area of Nature Reserves Under Effective Protection in China. Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment, 31(6), pp. 791-795.

An introspection of animal releasement based on the Piranha case study in Liujiang River, China

Setting lives free is a reflection of compassion which can make countless dying animals regain the vitality. In China, many people think the activity of setting animals free equals to saving the lives of animals, so there is a great number of people in China buy various animals from the market and release them into wild. However, there are many industrial chains derived from the increasing scale of the releasement activity in the Chinese public. More importantly, with the variety of “set animals free” activities, there were sorts of exotic animals released into the local forests and river systems. The troubles of the imbalanced ecosystem and the endangered biodiversity started to appear gradually, which not only threaten to the environment, but also cause enormous losses to the lives of people in China.

The piranha in Liujiang River, China—from “pets” to “pest”

On July 7^th 2012, when Mr. Liu bathed his dog near the Liujiang River, he got attack by three Piranhas. His left hand was almost biting off a piece of meat by one of the piranhas. After that, Mr. Zhang brought one of the fishes back home, and his friend Mr. Wu also had been bitten through his thumbs by the fish when he was touching it with curiosity. On the second day, the experts found that the fish was Red-bellied piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) which is native to South America and mainly found in Amazon River. The existence of piranha in Liujiang River comes as a shock, but how are they get into Liujiang River system is the focus of attention. According to the Department of the Fishery of China, the species was first introduced into domestic as the ornamental tropical fish, and not only Liujiang River, other river systems, especially in the southern part of China, had found the species before (Bai, 2012). Due to the serious invasion by the fish, many people, including Li Xinhui, a researcher at the Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, believe that the piranhas in Liujiang River came from the activity of releasement of the fishes. At the same time, due to the similar environment conditions and the fast breeding characteristics of the fishes, the rapid increase in the number of Piranhas appeared in Liujiang River system. Mr. Li also claimed that the other fish species would be largely killed hence harm to the local ecosystem when the piranha fishes reach a certain amount in the Liujiang River (Remling, 2012).  

Piranha fish bit Mr. Liu’s left hand

Red-bellied piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri)

The consequence of “set lives free activity”

Nevertheless, there are more than 120 invasive species in China at present, and about 50% of them are spread in a boarder range and cause hazards to the native ecosystem after the intended introduction, proliferation and releasement. China has become one of the countries which suffering the most from foreign invasive species, and the releasement of animals is one of the ways for the expansion of the exotic species.

Fierce and strong animals and fish can eliminate the other creatures in the local ecosystem, and the animal which cannot adapt the new habitat, would die and cause the problem of water and environmental pollution (Henn, 2015).

The behavior of animal releasement also stimulates the industry of capture animals. In China, there are some small retailers catch the animal from wild and sale in the market. The people are easily tempted to buy the animals and set them free. A gray industrial chains “capture—sales—release” was formed under the certain circumstance. The species like wild sparrows, crested mynas and wood thrush become a unique new category as the “released bird” with the special functions in many markets in China. Also, during the process of releasing animals, it is a common occurrence phenomenon that the people set animal free in the upstream, and the vendors catch the animal in the downstream (Xinhua, 2016).

“Released Birds” in the Chinese market

The traders re-capture the released animals

The industrial chain would harm to the wild animal, and animal releasement is worse especially to the wild animals which have already become endangered because of human activities. For the wild animals which had no trade value, they also suffer from the “value of releasement”. Those animals would have very low survival rate if they were released in the place where the habitat has the huge difference with the origin. Moreover, there are many animals in the markets are fed artificially, which have already lost the survival ability in the wild. For example, cage birds would easily die after the releasement because the lack of ability to fly and foraging. For the fish species, the mortality rate is high as well because they cannot adapt to the change of water temperature and quality (Waples and Stagoll, 1997). In this term, the behavior of “safe lives” becomes “kill lives”, and at the same time would npollute the local environment as well.

The overabundant invasive species threaten the local environment

The released snakes in Qingzhou Forest, China

The fishes died after releasement and caused water pollution

The lack of government control

The activity of releasing animal blindly should be criticized, and the vacancy of legislation is the essential of the problem. The current Chinese legislation is mainly formulated from the aspects of listed domestic endangered species, there are few laws related to the invasive species. In the case of Piranha in Liujiang River, there is no any law and regulation which clearly pointed out such the species must be banned in the market, and the managements of the business of ornamental fish are also not clear. Due to the blind spot of the current legislation, and the lack of enforcement of the governments, the piranha fishes swam into Liujiang River and caused the hazards to the local ecosystem.  

The introspection of animal releasement

Animal releasement should be regulated strictly and scientifically. The public of China should know that the blind releasement of lives will not only bring disaster to the animals, but also cause the hazards to the local ecosystem at the same time trouble the life of human beings. Also, the Chinese governments should consummate relevant law by learning from other countries, to control the problem of pest animals and maintain the biodiversity.

References

Bai, Y. (2012). Number of piranhas in the Liujiang River under investigation. CCTV English. [online] Available at: http://english.cntv.cn/program/china24/20120713/117969.shtml [Accessed 12 Oct. 2016].

Henn, C. (2015). What Happens When People Release Exotic Animals Into the Wild. [online] One green Planet. Available at: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/what-happens-when-people-release-exotic-animals-into-the-wild/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2016].

Remling, A. (2012). Piranha Attack In China: Three Red-Bellied Piranha?s Bite Two Men In River, Alien Species To The Area. International Business Times. [online] Available at: http://www.ibtimes.com/piranha-attack-china-three-red-bellied-piranhas-bite-two-men-river-alien-species-area-721845 [Accessed 12 Oct. 2016].

Waples, K. and Stagoll, C. (1997). Ethical Issues in the Release of Animals from Captivity. BioScience, 47(2), pp.115-121.

Xinhua, K. (2016). Release of animals into the wild threatens ecosystem. China Daily. [online] Available at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-05/10/content_25179474.htm [Accessed 13 Oct. 2016].

U5066156

Jiahui Luo （Livia）

Isaacs Ridge Nature Reserve (-35°22’0.84″, 149°7’4.8″) is one of the Canberra Nature Park around Isaacs, South Canberra. This reserve contains the various vegetation types like box gum grassy woodland and pine tree plantation. It’s also significant for threatened fauna like Speckled warbler (Chthonicola sagittata) and Varied sittella (Daphoenositta chrysoptera), the threatened flora includes Australian trefoil (Lotus australis), Black mountain leopard orchid (Diuris nigromontana), Black tongue caladenia (Caladenia congesta) and Emu-foot (Cullen tenax). Isaaca Ridge Nature Reserve sustains the local biodiversity level and maintains the environmental biomass.

Nevertheless, some environmental issues were emerged when park managers regulate this reserve. The invasive weed species has become the annoying environmental problem in Isaac Ridge Nature Reserve even all Parks in Australia. Briar rose or Sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa) is one of the weed species in Isaacs Ridge Nature Reserve. Sweet briar is a species of rose native to Europe and western Asia. In a commercial aspect, its scent and hips would be valued, however in ecological aspect, its regards as extreme invasive species in Australia.

Sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa)

Sweet briar is a common sight in both the ACT area and surrounding tableland and spread into pasture, native grassland and bushland. Sweet briar is a perennial shrubs with multiply stems and can be growing 1.5m to 2m. It mainly spreads the dispersal of seed by bird eats or dropping the seed. This species prefers the well-drained area in unimproved grasslands and disturbed bushland, it’s verified that there were a bunch of sweet briar around the upper hill in Isaacs Reserve.

Sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa) in Isaacs Nature Reserve

Sweet briar could be the environmental problems because it has the aggressive competition with other native species and provides the excellent harbour for pest animals like feral fox and rabbit. Additionally, quick growth rate and distribution of this species would reduce the presence and productivity of native pasture species as well as reduction of biodiversity.

Conservation Volunteers Australia provides many opportunities to people those love environment and biodiversity conservation. Projects take place in urban, regional and remote areas includes activities like tree plantation, seed collection, weed control etc. Fortunately, I joined in a project about sweet briar removal activity in Isaacs Reserve to enjoy contribute to biodiversity conservation, but unfortunately I also suffered in this project as well. The main task, of course, is removing the weed sweet briar by using stump treatment which is cut the stem and spray the chemical immediately to suppress it growth.  The majority of the sweet briar in reserve was distributed around the upper hill due to the preferred habitat and most of them developed maturely. The native understory vegetation cannot develop very well due to less resource and space. Some of the large and hard stems weren’t easy to cut down and spray well, and always hurt by thorn! Although we knocked down the 2/3 large weed in planned area, some small or new generation remained in this site and might develop mature in couple years.

Weed removal activity

This was a rewarding and interesting working experience to me that learned how to identify the weeds and how to control them. This also helps park managers to suppress the growth of the weed and recover the environment and contributes to the biodiversity conservation to some extent. I courage people to join this project and try something different in Conservation Volunteer Australia for our environment.

U5572969

Białowieża Forest represents one of Europe’s only remaining ‘primeval forests’ that remains undisturbed by human activity.

Perhaps few have heard of the ancient Białowieża Forest, though its value as a conservational hotspot is worth hearing about. In 1979 UNESCO listed Białowieża Forest on their World Heritage Site List, owing to its immense natural capital and cultural significance. Białowieża Forest represents one of the few remaining examples of what’s considered to be the ‘primeval forest’ of pre-human Europe. Situated between Poland and Belarus in Central Europe, the forest is 141,885 ha and has large swaths of extensive lowland forest, undisturbed by human activity. Without the regular extraction of wood, the forest is dead, well far deader than a managed forest at least. Local ecologist Janusz Korbel estimates that half the wood in the forest is dead, up to 10 times more than in similarly managed forests. This isn’t as bad as you might initially think however, for a huge number of species native to the area rely on this dead wood. Fungi, saproxylic beetles like the near-threatened Cucujus cinnaberinus and birds like the white-backed woodpecker utilise these vital resources. In fact, it’s thought that at least half the species in the forest rely in some form on the decaying wood in the forest. That’s not all though, the living trees are also massive biodiversity hubs and the forest has large populations of wolves, lynx, otters, elk, fire-bellied frogs, beavers, and, of particular importance, European bison. In 1921 one of the last remaining wild European bison was shot in this same forest, but after reintroduction from captivity efforts, the woodland now supports a population of 900 of these majestic animals, 25% of the World’s population; the IUCN even upgraded their classification from endangered in 1996 to vulnerable in the current Białowieża Forest. Some of Europe’s oldest and largest oaks live in the forest, many of which have endearing names and long histories that are of particular cultural value to the area. Białowieża Forest isn’t just forest though, for within the park lie other important habitats for biodiversity: wet meadows, river valleys and wetlands to name a few.

The European Bison were extinct in the wild until recently when they were reintroduced from captivity. Białowieża Forest now supports a population of 900 individuals, that’s nearly 25% of the World’s Population!

If you’ve been following the Polish environmental news recently you’ll know that the forest is under significant threat. Whilst a large part of the forest is protected inside the national park, the majority of the forest lies outside the park’s jurisdiction and as such faces the very real possibility of human management, notably logging practices. This year the Polish Minister for Environment, Jan Szyszko, revealed plans to approve a vast increase in logging within the Białowieża Forest. The justification for such plans are, according to Mr Szyszko, to combat the infestation of the infamous Spruce Bark Beetle within the forest. The European Spruce Bark Beetle is a notorious pest that infests itself in diseased or damaged spruces and can also transfer other pathogens that greatly reduce the health of the trees and will often quickly kill their hosts; in high enough populations it is suspected that the beetle will attack healthy trees as well. Local ecologists, however, argue that the presence of the beetle is nothing novel and that it has co-existed within the area’s natural ecology. While cutting infected trees might be an effective containment method for more managed forests, the unique nature of the Białowieża Forest requires a more bespoke approach, they argue. The complications do not halt there however. Local employment relies heavily on timber extraction, as well as the use of firewood for fuel, leading to conflicts between ecologists and residents.

Dead and decaying wood, known as coarse woody debris, represents essential habitat and food resources for a significant number of species in old-growth forests.

Ultimately, the argument boils down to perspective and the objectives of the park. It may well be the case that the spruce bark beetle is a dangerous invasive pest that threatens the existence of the forest, but is immediate extraction of the crucial resources, the dead wood, that provide habitat and food for the threatened species that make the park special, the correct response? Invasive pests, especially saproxylic beetles, can be devastatingly quick to destroy and do require efficient and targeted strategies, but selective logging of a site famous for its undisturbed history could well be considered shortsighted and irresponsible in the long-run, for it’s especially difficult to regrow a millennia-old forest if you turn out to be wrong.

By John Cannon u5738570

For more information:

UNESCO World Heritage Site

http://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6097

The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/06/poland-environmentalists-foresters-primeval-forest

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/25/poland-starts-logging-primeval-bialowieza-forest-despite-protests