Pittwater Councils Environment Newsletter - Cooee March/April 2016
A Compilation of current local Environment News and upcoming Events issued bi-monthly
HERE (PDF - 2.65 MB) - Subscribe to receive HERE
A few Important Extracts from the Current - March/April edition:
WEED ALERT: SINGAPORE DAISY
Native to tropical America and member of the Asteraceae family, Singapore Daisy (Sphagneticola trilobata) is a vigorous ground cover with lush glossy green leaves in pairs up the stem, usually three lobed (hence the species name) but mostly with irregular toothed margins. Yellow to orange-yellow single daisy flowers about two centimetres across are produced from spring to summer and although variable amounts of seeds are produced, it is mainly spread vegetatively by cuttings via slashing and pruning.
Singapore Daisy colonises rapidly with stems rooting at the nodes, forming thick spreading mats up to two metres in length and 70 centimetres high that smother native groundcover, shrubs and seedlings.
Sphagneticola trilobata - photo by Wedelia
This garden escapee is already a declared Class 3 noxious weed in Queensland and well established in a variety of different environments including riparian areas, drains, roadside, wetlands and rainforest edges. However, in NSW Singapore Daisy has only recently been documented in a drainage area in Wyong Council and most recently in Pittwater, colonising a section of native groundcover in the Bush to Bay reserve, Careel Bay. This first known local incursion is highlighted for control as soon as funding is available to halt spreading.
If you think you have seen Singapore Daisy and certainly before commencing weed control, please contact Council’s Noxious Weed Officer on 9970 1111 to ensure that you have correctly identified this new weed as there are a few similar native daisy plants includingEnhydra fluctuans and Melanthera biflora that may be mistaken for this aggressive weed species.
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BILGOLA BEACH COMMUNITY PLANTING MORNING
Come along and give the local community volunteers a hand to restore the coastal heath at the northern area of Bilgola Beach. This project is part of a Federal Government funded Salty Communities Grant for the ‘Biodiversity Protection of Bilgola Creek Catchment’.
The aim is working to restore and repair weed infested coastal bushland to a healthy viable state. Bush regeneration and weed control works are being undertaken along the walkway from Allen Avenue up to the Serpentine.
The morning event will help to replace weed infestation with local native coastal heath species. Can you give an hour or two on this morning? Want some more information about the project? Please contact the Bushland Management Officer on 9970 1390.
When: Monday 21 March, 8 – 11am
Where: Meet at the end of Allen Avenue, Bilgola Beach (northern end).
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INGLESIDE ESCARPMENT WALK
Sunday 3 April, 9 – 11:30am
Come and join us for a walk through Ingleside Chase Reserve, Pittwater’s largest continuous piece of bushland that contains many beautiful plant communities and threatened fauna.
The walk will commence at Irrawong-Epworth Reserve and climb to Ingleside Park. At the park we will have a morning tea break and then head back down.
The track is 1.5km one-way and is a little steep in parts so although we will be taking it at a gentle pace, a reasonable level of fitness is required.
BIRDING MORNING
Sunday 10 April, 7 – 9am
Come for a morning with the birds. We will take you for a fantastic guided walk to learn more about our feathered friends. Our birding mornings are guided by local experts and are a great opportunity to get a better look at our local bird life. A great activity for those people interested to learn more as well as passionate birdwatchers. It’s a great morning out for everyone!
HEADLANDS WALK
Saturday 23 April, 9 – 11am
Come and join us for a tour of the headlands of Narrabeen and Warriewood. This is a spectacular walk suitable for the whole family. Discover new places and secret beaches.
BANGALLEY HEAD WALK
Saturday 14 May, 9 – 11am
Avalon. Meeting point provided on booking.
Join us for a relaxing morning walk taking in the beautiful views and coastal bushland of Bangalley Head.
Bangalley Head stands as the highest point and one of Pittwater’s largest bushland reserves on its clifftop coastline. This – together with the great variety of native plants and beautiful ocean views – makes Bangalley Head a haven for bushwalkers and wildlife alike. Native birds and marsupials – such as ringtail possums, honeyeaters, spinebills, finches and wrens – feed, breed and shelter among the dense thickets of coastal scrub and pockets of rainforest plants.
This is a fun walk for all the family and a great opportunity to learn more about our amazing flora and fauna!
Bookings essential for all events!
Online - www.pittwater.nsw.gov.au/cecbookings
In person: Coastal Environment Centre, Lake Park Road, North Narrabeen Phone: 1300 000 232
SUNDAY MORNING BIRDWATCHING with PNHA
Would you like to know more about our local birds and explore our bushland reserves? Then join us on one of our bird walks:
17 April, Deep Creek Reserve, near Narrabeen Lagoon
21 August, Chiltern Track, Ingleside (birds and wildflowers)
25 September, Irrawong Reserve, North Narrabeen
27 November, Warriewood Wetlands
Most walks start at 7.30 or 8am and last a couple of hours. Bring binoculars and morning tea for afterwards if you like. Contactpnhabirdwatching@gmail.com for details of each walk.
Wild Things Talk At Warriewood: Get Native Bee Hives, Nest Boxes For your Own Backyard
Thursday 21 April, 7:15pm
Nelson Heather Centre, Banksia Room, 5 Jacksons Road, Warriewood
If you are passionate about our wildlife and their presence in our local areas – why not get help in your own backyard?
The Wild Things program, based at Ku-ring-gai Council, aims to protect urban wildlife and create suitable habitat in our backyards to encourage the return of wildlife. Wild Things work with Permaculture Northern Beaches and supply native bee hives. They also supply native fish, nest boxes as well as promote swimming pool conversions to aquaponics.
For more information please contact elle232@gmail.com
Elvina & Fredericks Tracks - an Aussie flora wonderland in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Bird In Backyards TV: Published on 16 Mar 2016
This photo collection features the beauty and diversity of plant species in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The photos were taken during the months of February and March 2016, and show many of the plants in flower.
Seagrass at Perth’s Rottnest island (Australia) has paid a terrible price for the island’s popularity among tourists and day-trippers
March 15, 2016
Photography shows the loss of seagrass in bays around Rottnest Island off the coast of Perth. Credit: ECU
Seagrass covering 48,000sq m has been scoured from the sands of Rottnest Island (Western Australia') by almost 900 mooring chains used by recreational boats according to research from Edith Cowan University and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
The research published in the journal Nature: Scientific Reports surveyed the 'scars' created by mooring chains in the bays around one of Western Australia's iconic tourist destinations.
Dr Oscar Serrano led the research with Professor Paul Lavery and Professor Pere Masque from the Edith Cowan University (ECU) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB and Department of Physics UAB), and said the movement of the chains scraped seagrass off the seafloor.
"As moored boats drift with the currents, wind and waves they drag a heavy chain across the seafloor and that chain acts just like a razor across the skin removing the seagrass," said Oscar Serrano.
"But unlike a 5 o'clock shadow -- in this case the seagrass doesn't grow back.
"Unfortunately these protected, calm bays favoured for boat moorings are also prime habitats for seagrass."
Efforts to preserve seagrass meadows by using seagrass friendly mooring lines in some areas is resulting in the recovery of seagrass in some areas of the Island however overall seagrass covers is decreasing.
That's because the size of mooring scars in Stark Bay on the Island's north coast has increased about 500 per cent from 2,000sqm in 1980to 9,000 sqm today due to erosion of the already scarred areas by wave action.
"Once the mooring chains have started the process of scouring, waves will likely continue spreading those scoured areas.
"In Stark Bay, we've seen the scarred areas join up to become large areas devoid of any seagrass."
The destruction of the seagrass meadows has important implications for the ecosystems of Perth's favourite marine playground.
"Seagrass is an important habitat for many species of fish as well as a food source for dugong and turtles," he said.
"More importantly in a global sense, seagrass absorbs carbon dioxide at more than 40 times faster than tropical rainforests.
"What that also means is that when the seagrass meadows are wiped out the carbon dioxide which has been absorbed over hundreds of years, is released back into the atmosphere."
As part of this project, core samples were taken in the scarred areas and where seagrass still existed.
Those sample showed on average more than 75 per cent of carbon absorbed in those seagrass meadows was lost increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Dr Serrano said it is important steps are taken to protect the seagrass meadows around Rottnest Island and the rest of Australia.
"These older style moorings have started to be replaced on Rottnest Island, but that needs to continue here and in other popular mooring sites," he said.
Fast facts on seagrass:
• Seagrass meadows cover about 90,000 sq km of seabed off Australia's coast -- that's about the same size as Tasmania.
• Seagrass absorbs CO2 about 40 times faster than rainforests and could be a valuable way to offset carbon emissions.
• But as seagrass meadows die off due to climate change and the effects of human development, that CO2 will be released.
• It is notoriously hard to propagate seagrasses and replace meadows lost due to human influences.
Serrano, O. et al. Impact of mooring activities on carbon stocks in seagrass meadows. Scientific Reports, 2016 DOI: 10.1038/srep23193
Hollows as Homes Citizen Scientist Project: Sydney and NSW
Launched March 3rd, 2016: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and University of Sydney
With the help of the community this project aims to assess the availability of tree hollows and their use by wildlife across the Sydney region. The Hollows as Homes team wants you to report tree hollow(s) in your backyard, street, park and/or paddock through
Find out more and Register at: www.hollowsashomes.com
Participants will take measurements of the hollow-bearing tree and periodically conduct monitoring and report wildlife using the hollow(s). Training is available through workshops and the website.
Background
Around 300 animal species rely on tree hollows in Australia, including birds, possums, gliders, microbats, frogs, lizards, snakes, insects and spiders. Changes to the landscape from urbanisation and agriculture not only reduce the amount of trees and homes for animals, but also create big gaps between the remaining trees and bushland. In New South Wales, of terrestrial vertebrate species that are reliant on tree hollows for shelter 40 species are listed as threatened with extinction.
Why does tree hollow loss matter?
Tree hollows are so important to our native wildlife, that their loss has been classed as a Key Threatening Process to biodiversity in New South Wales. It can take decades for a tree hollow to form. In Australia, there are no animals that are able to create tree hollows (e.g. wood pecker), thus hollow creation is a slow process that relies on fungus to eat away at the tree. What can we do to help?Cities and agricultural areas provide habitat for endangered animals and plants. We can encourage animals to share our cities, suburbs and farms by retaining:
Large, hollow bearing trees
Remnant patches of bushland that surround these trees which make it easier for them to move through the environment
Dead trees which provide important habitat whether they are standing or on the ground.
Top: Lorikeet in Angophora, McKay Reserve, Palm Beach
Eastern Yellow Robin in Bobbin Head rainforest habitat
$1.4m donation to UNSW will help train GPs in the roll out of new hepatitis C cures
16 MARCH 2016: UNSW MEDIA
From L-R: Professor Greg Dore (Kirby), Mrs Jenny Alison (niece of Dr Joseph), Mrs Anne Orban, Dr Tanya Applegate (Kirby), Mr Scott Alison, Mr Frank Orban and Ms Janet Hall (UNSW).
The Kirby Institute at UNSW has welcomed a $1.4 million gift from the late Dr Lynn Joseph that will help transform the lives of Australians living with hepatitis C.
The World War II and Kokoda Track veteran practised medicine as a general practitioner for more than 60 years, before passing away in 2013 at the age of 94.
Dr Joseph’s relatives, including his nieces Jenny Alison and Gai Stanton, officially presented the bequest to the Kirby Institute yesterday.
The philanthropic donation will initially be used to support training to upskill general practitioners, who will be pivotal to the roll-out of new, highly curative hepatitis C therapies.
The new medicines were listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) on 1 March, making them accessible and affordable to the approximately 230,000 Australians living with chronic hepatitis.
Australia is a world leader in facilitating patient access to the life-saving hepatitis C treatments and the inclusion of general practitioners as prescribers.
The Kirby Institute’s Professor Greg Dore will lead a team to investigate the best ways to engage general practitioners in the management of hepatitis C and provide training for administering the new treatments.
“Dr Joseph’s commitment to holistic care for patients and the crucial role of community marks a profound alignment with the values and work of the Kirby Institute,” Professor Dore said.
“His gift will have a real impact on our ability to transform the lives of people living with hepatitis C in Australia. With broad access to these game-changing new treatments and general practitioner management, Australia will truly lead the world in the treatment of the virus, and Dr Joseph’s legacy of care will continue through this work”.
'Fairy circles' discovered in Australia
March 15, 2016
A large fairy circle with a hardened top-soil layer that prevents the growth of grass. Australian fairy circles have mean diameters of 4 meters but some may exceed 7 meters. Credit: Dr. Stephan Getzin
The circular, barren patches of land, forming a highly regular pattern over the dry grassland of Namibia, were thought to be the only ones of their kind anywhere in the world. But a new study in the journal PNAS shows that they are not. Working with Israeli and Australian colleagues, researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig have now discovered the baffling structures in the uninhabited Australian outback too. Investigations carried out there have also provided new evidence that these fairy circles result from the way plants organise themselves in response to water shortage.
The researchers were alerted to the natural phenomenon in Australia by the photo taken by an Australian colleague, who sent them an aerial shot of the region surrounding the town of Newman. The photo showed plant patterns that were very similar to the fairy circles which had only ever been found in southern Africa.
There are various theories in the world of science as to how these barren circles edged with grass come about. Some researchers have explained them away using termites or ants. The theory goes that these insects nibble away at the roots of the grasses, killing them. Other scientists believe that toxic carbon monoxide gas rises up from the interior of the Earth under the circles and kills the vegetation. And a third camp thinks that the barren areas simply arise of their own accord under certain conditions. The amount of water available at the transition between desert and grassland isn't enough for continuous vegetation cover. So the individual plants compete for the precious water and therefore organise themselves in this characteristic grass carpet with holes in it.
Fairy circle expert Dr. Stephan Getzin from UFZ has for years supported the third theory. Aerial views of the landscapes have contributed to this conviction. In earlier studies, he analysed the precise location of the barren patches. "The interesting thing about fairy circles is that they are spread with great regularity and homogeneity, even over vast areas, but they occur only within a narrow rainfall belt" he explains. He believes that this pattern, which resembles the six-sided structure of honeycombs, most probably results from competition for water. He and his co-authors Hezi Yizhaq and Ehud Meron from Ben-Gurion University of Negev in Israel have also confirmed this appraisal with computer simulations. "For a long time, ecologists weren't convinced that plants in dry areas could organise themselves because the theoretical principles for these processes lie in physics," says Stephan Getzin and points to the laborious preparatory work undertaken by his two Israeli colleagues. "But it has since become increasingly clear how important this process is."
Some colleagues remain sceptical despite this. One frequently heard objection is that if such a mechanism were responsible for them, there would have to be similar structures in other dry areas on Earth. After all, the grassland of Namibia is by no means the only place where plants compete for water. And in fact, it is known that drought causes interesting vegetation patterns in other places too. But barren patches in grassland with such a regular six-sided structure don't appear anywhere other than in Namibia.
This explains why Stephan Getzin was so excited to receive the aerial shot from Australia in 2014. To investigate the phenomenon more closely, Getzin and his Israeli colleague Hezi Yizhaq went to Australia. The scientists measured the barren circles, compared their surface temperatures with those of vegetated areas and charted indications of ants and termites in four parts of the almost uninhabited region. They observed how the water drained away in these areas and took soil samples to analyse later on in the lab. To this, they added aerial image evaluations, statistical analyses of the landscape patterns and computer simulations. Since then they have become convinced that they are actually genuine fairy circles with the same patterns as those 10 000 kilometres away in Namibia.
The researchers have also found new evidence supporting their theory of how the barren patches arise. While in Namibia there are usually two to three species of termite or ant scuttling around in or on the fairy circles and opening up scope for speculation, the situation in Australia is clearer. "There we found in the majority of cases no nests in the circles and unlike in Namibia, cryptic sand termites do not exist in Australia," reports Stephan Getzin. "And the ones we did find have a completely different distribution pattern to the fairy circles." For him this is a clear indication that the barren patches are not produced by animal activities but the way in which the plants organise themselves. This theory is also supported by the fact that the dominant grasses of the Triodia genus found in the direct vicinity of the fairy circles also form other typical drought patterns such as stripes, labyrinths or spot patterns with individual plants surrounded by bare earth. Especially stripe and labyrinth patterns form preferentially on hard soil layers with overland-water flow, as is commonly observed with lined up trees along mountain slopes.
Following their investigations on the ground, the researchers have also gained insight into how the soil and vegetation interact in this region. If the Australian loamy soil isn't protected by vegetation, its surface doesn't just get extremely hot. It bakes to a hard crust that water finds almost impossible to penetrate. Water which does fall in the rare rain showers flows away over the surface, resulting in extremely bad conditions for germinating plants so that the bare areas remain barren. Things are different in places where the first grasses are growing. The plants keep the surface cooler and the soil looser so precipitation finds it easier to seep in. This allows other plants to colonise the area and the conditions again improve slightly -- it's a small-scale, self-perpetuating process which results in the grass carpet with gap pattern we see covering large areas.
"In Namibia, the sandy soils of the fairy circles are much more permeable and precipitation can drain away with ease," says Stephan Getzin. So reservoirs form under the barren areas, supplying the surrounding grass with moisture via diffusion processes in the soil. "The details of this mechanism are different to that in Australia," he explains. "But it produces the same vegetation pattern because both systems of gaps are triggered by the same instability."
Stephan Getzin now wants to follow up the phenomenon even further. He believes that it is likely that there are as yet unknown fairy circles in other dry and sparsely inhabited regions of the world. The age of discovery is far from over.
Stephan Getzin, Hezi Yizhaq, Bronwyn Bell, Todd E. Erickson, Anthony C. Postle, Itzhak Katra, Omer Tzuk, Yuval R. Zelnik, Kerstin Wiegand, Thorsten Wiegand, Ehud Meron. Discovery of fairy circles in Australia supports self-organization theory.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2016; 201522130 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1522130113
PICA 'Powers up' To Improve CO2 Capture
18 MARCH 2016: CSIRO Media Release
CSIRO and industry partners today launched a two-year research program to improve efficiency of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture.
CSIRO, AGL Energy (AGL), Brown Coal Innovation Australia and Japan's IHI Corporation are partnering on the PICA post-combustion capture research project which will evaluate innovative processes using gases drawn from AGL Loy Yang brown coal-fired power station in south-eastern Victoria.
While CO2 is already being captured at large scale around the world, cost and efficiency challenges remain an impediment to wide-scale commercial implementation.
This research program is targeting a 40 per cent reduction in energy use of current capture processes in order to overcome these challenges.
Throughout the two-year program, researchers will examine the energy efficiency of CO2 capture configurations, the effectiveness of two new solvents into which CO2 will be absorbed, and measure the total amount of CO2 removed.
Right: PICA post-combustion capture project against AGL Loy Yang brown coal-fired power station.
The PICA (derived from first letters of PCC, IHI, CSIRO, AGL) research plant is 21 metres high and was built by IHI in Japan and transported to the Latrobe Valley where it will operate around the clock, capturing 150 to 200 tonnes of CO2 each year.
CSIRO Energy Director Dr Peter Mayfield said CSIRO was excited to embark on the PICA research journey as part of its support of mitigation research efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure Australia's energy security.
"CO2 capture can be applied to both energy generation and industrial processes," Dr Mayfield said.
"This research will complement our research in CO2 storage, and it's a great example of globally-coordinated R&D on emissions management."
AGL's Executive General Manager, Group Operations, Doug Jackson said AGL had committed to decarbonisation by 2050 and technology innovation would be critical in the transition to a lower carbon emissions energy sector.
"The new age of power generation will require a range of innovative technologies," Mr Jackson said.
"AGL recognises that support for technology innovation is critical - this is true of both renewable and thermal generation.
"We are pleased to work with our PICA project partners to continue research into the potential for viable CCS."
BCIA Chief Executive Officer Dr Phil Gurney said to meet Australia's commitment to limit dangerous climate change, emissions of CO2 from the use of coal must be reduced.
"BCIA has invested heavily in research and development to improve the efficiency of brown coal power generation and reduce the costs of carbon capture technologies," Dr Gurney said.
"The PICA project is a major step forward and will make a significant contribution to the broader roll-out of CCS for power generation and the manufacturing sector in the longer term."
IHI Corporation's Executive Officer, Vice President of Energy and Plant Operations, Mr Yahagi also noted the importance of CO2 capture for continued operation of coal-fired power plants.
"Without doubt, this PICA project will be a great catalyst for the future of low-emissions technologies in both the Australian and Japanese coal and energy industries," Mr Yahagi said.
"IHI would like to continue the technical development in collaboration with CSIRO and AGL under BCIA R&D funding."
Additional information:
Carbon capture is the first step of the carbon capture and storage (CCS) process, whereby large quantities of CO2 are prevented from being released into the atmosphere.
PICA builds on CSIRO's existing PCC program at Loy Yang, which began operation in 2008. CSIRO personnel will also run the new PICA plant.
In 2008 at Loy Yang power station, CO2 was captured from a power station flue gases in a post combustion capture pilot plant for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere.
The $5.3M PICA project is partly funded by a $650,000 research and development grant from Brown Coal Innovation Australia (BCIA).
PCC technology can be retrofitted to existing power plants or integrated with new infrastructure to achieve a range of CO2 reductions, from partial benefit to full capture capacity.
It is expected the PICA plant testing and evaluation campaigns will be completed by the end of 2017.
