Winter-flowering natives

One of the nicest things about living in our corner of the planet is the change in seasons. While we might bemoan the sudden chill in the air at this time of year, many native trees and shrubs welcome the lower temperatures and have adapted to survive and even bloom during the colder months.

There are many forms of the beautiful Correa.

Indeed, many of our natives actually come into flower at this time of year – correas, epacris, hakeas, lechenaultias, various eucalypts, acacias, banksias, grevilleas and others, can all put on a great floral display during autumn and winter. Who doesn’t enjoy the wonderful sight of the beautiful scarlet, pink or white Common Heath (epacris), in our forests at this time of year?

Common Heath is Victoria's floral emblem

Many native insects, mammals and birds benefit from a nectar and protein source during winter and many plants and animals have evolved to be mutually beneficial to one another at this time of year – the animals have a food source and the plants are pollinated.

Tetratheca or Pink Bells is often seen flowering on roadsides in the bush in winter

Winter flowering plants will often form seed earlier than plants that flower later in the year. In this way, the winter-flowerers get a head start on the others when it comes to germination as the temperature rises and any young seedlings have less competition as they grow.

Many of our Hakea species are happy to bloom profusely at this time of year

Winter flowering eucalypts are vital for the survival of one of Australia’s rarest birds, the critically endangered Swift Parrot. Swift Parrots breed in Tasmania in spring and in late summer they fly to Victoria and parts of SA and NSW to spend winter feeding on blossom, nectar and insects in our flowering eucs.

'Swifties' rely on winter-flowering eucs for their survival

There’s a lot going on in our bush at this time of year.

"Endangered"

In March this year, the wonderful Gang-gang Cockatoo, Callocephalon fimbriatum, was added to the list of  endangered birds in the Commonwealth Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Gang-gangs were recently recorded at Longwarry North during the FoDT bird surveys

The Gang-gang was added to the ever-growing list of threatened species due to its decline in numbers from 1999 to 2019. It is estimated that in those 20 years, the population of Gang-gang Cockatoos declined by 69%. This decline was recorded BEFORE the 2019-220 bushfires when around 30% of the bird’s natural range was impacted. Researchers estimate the fires reduced the population of Gang-gangs by a further 10% at least.

The Gang-gang Cockatoo is endemic to south-eastern Australia where its preferred habitat is temperate eucalypt forests and woodlands. Gang-gangs feed on flowers, seeds and fruits of a wide range of native trees and shrubs from the families of eucalypts, acacias, hakeas, etc. They are also known at times to eat seeds and fruits of non-native plants in urban parks and gardens.

Gang-gangs rely on fairly large tree hollows for nesting. The same family of birds will often use the same hollows for several years in a row before moving to a different set of hollows for several seasons and returning to their original trees later on. This procedure is thought to be a means of avoiding nest parasitism.

From the EPBC Act Conservation Advice: “Gang-gang Cockatoos are adversely impacted by a range of threats including habitat loss, wildfire, climate change and competition for suitable nesting hollows.”

Female Gang-gang

The ongoing loss of suitable tree hollows due to land clearing (timber harvesting, urban development, pastoral enterprises), wildfire and inappropriate fire regimes is considered the principal cause of the decline in Gang-gang numbers.

A decision has been made at Government level to produce a recovery plan for the Gang-gang Cockatoo. This promises to be an involved and lengthy process. In the meantime, at the local level WE NEED TO SAVE OUR BIG TREES!

 

 

We need BIG trees

Drouin has some large old trees. The Settlement Giant, in Settlement Rd, is on Australia’s National Register of Big Trees LINK.

While Victoria and Tasmania in particular have some of the world’s largest trees, we are at risk of losing them through land clearing for agricultural purposes, urban development and infrastructure and for timber harvesting.

Mountain Grey Gum Settlement Rd Drouin

The loss of large trees can have significant ecological impacts. Large trees are best at storing carbon and stands of large trees play an appreciable role in the water cycle.

Our eucalypts take almost 100 years to develop hollows that provide habitat for native birds, mammals, and reptiles. More than 300 species of native animals rely on tree hollows for their survival, a greater proportion than in any other country on the planet.

The Settlement Giant: 12.5m girth; 35m tall; 33m spread; loaded with hollows

With advancing climate change, there is a pronounced push to plant more trees to sequester carbon. Existing large trees absorb disproportionally more carbon than small trees. Saving the large trees we already have is essential.

Trees can be thought of as water pumps. They draw large amounts of water from the soil and transpire it as water vapour into the atmosphere. Trees contribute to the amount of rainfall as much as the oceans do.

Many of our large, old trees have important cultural and historical values for our first nations people and early settlers.

Yes, we certainly need to plant new young trees to play their role in the future but we badly need to save our existing big old trees too.