Friday 6 November 2015

OUTING REPORT - TRIUNIA ENVIRONMENTAL RESERVE

Triunia Environmental Reserve is an important piece of land, purchased on behalf of Sunshine Coast rate payers, that adjoins the previously acquired Triunia Environment Levy Conservation Area. The reserve is contiguous with Truinia National Park and Truinia Bushland Conservation Reserve.

A description of the adjacent National Park follows;
Triunia National Park will continue to be an important place for the preservation of plants and animals of high conservation significance. These include the endangered and recently rediscovered rainforest shrub Triunia robusta, after which the park is named and Zieria bifida, a small plant found only in the local area. The park will continue to provide a critical resource for the scientific and educational programs that are crucial to the survival of these important species. The park will conserve a representative example of the richness of ecosystems and species that existed across the Sunshine Coast Hinterland in the past in an increasingly developed environment. The ongoing implementation of appropriate pest and fire management programs will continue.

First established in 1994, Triunia National Park covers 33.99 ha and is located in the South East Queensland 
bioregion in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. It is situated about 6 km west of Woombye on the Woombye–Dulong 
Road and about 20 km due west of Maroochydore. The towns of Montville and Mapleton are 
within a short travelling distance of the park.
Triunia National Park is located in an area that has been extensively cleared for agricultural purposes, including 
orchards and grazing. Sunshine Coast Regional Council manages a 20 ha conservation area adjacent to the 
eastern and southern side of the park called Triunia (Scientific) Conservation Area, and the Dulong Road Bush 
Conservation Reserve to the west of the park. These areas have consolidated wildlife habitat in the immediate 
vicinity of the park, and share threats from fire and pests with Triunia National Park.

The park has minimal recreational significance to local residents. It has been managed to preserve its conservation 
and scientific values through minimal disturbance and careful application of pest control measures that do not 
compromise the natural integrity of the park’s native plants and wildlife. 

Vegetation is a mix of open forest communities and lowland subtropical rainforest. Brush box Lophostemon 
confertus grows in the tall open forest along the ridges and is part of the regional ecosystem 12.12.1 that is of 
concern. Other prominent canopy species, grey gum Eucalyptus propinqua, tallowwood E. microcorys and pink 
bloodwood Corymbia intermedia also grow along these ridges. Lowland subtropical rainforest (complex notophyll 
vine forest) with an uneven canopy to about 40 m extends into the steep gullies, covering 75 per cent of the park.
Lower altitude rainforest of this type has been extensively cleared on the Sunshine Coast, and less than 10 per 
cent of its original extent in the South East Queensland bioregion is left. Regarded as the plant community most at 
risk on the south-east Queensland coast, this vegetation exists on the Sunshine Coast only as remnant patches. 
Triunia National Park contains one of the few remaining rainforest patches of this type on the Sunshine Coast and 
it has extremely high conservation values and high species richness, with about 300 recorded plant species. The 
park hosts 13 plant species of conservation significance, four of which are endangered, six are vulnerable and 
three are near threatened. 
The endangered plant species Zieria bifida is endemic to Queensland and is found in only three locations, one of 
which is Triunia National Park. Triunia robusta, after which the park was named, is also endangered (until recently 
thought to be extinct) and found on the park. Protection and sensitive management of these plants are critical to 
their long-term survival in the wild. The vulnerable plant species, macadamia nut Macadamia integrifolia, grows on 
the park and is one of the species covered by the Southern Macadamia Species Recovery Plan. Although it is also 
grown commercially, its genetic integrity is threatened in wild populations. 
Z. bifida grows in the fire-adapted tall open forest and requires specific fire management, while the other three 
endangered species, reticulated holly Graptophyllum reticulatum, shiny-leaved coondoo Planchonella eerwah and 
T. robusta, are located in the fire-sensitive lowland subtropical rainforest section. Pest plants, especially lantana
Lantana camara and glycine Neonotonia wightii, pose a risk to all the plant species of conservation significance on 
the park, but particularly Z. bifida. Illegal harvesting of T. robusta fruits from trees outside the park poses a threat to 
the ability of this plant to reproduce naturally within the park as it impacts on seed set and pollination processes. 

The main native animal species living on the park are amphibians and birds. Surveys in 1999 and 2000 identified 
the vulnerable tusked frog Adelotus brevis and koala Phascolarctos cinereus (South East Queensland bioregion) 
as the only animal species of conservation significance found on the park. A protected landscape is critical to the 
survival of the tusked frog Adelotus brevis, which relies on water bodies and drainage lines for its habitat. Seven 
other frog species have been recorded and their continued survival is threatened by inappropriate catchment 
management, the use of herbicides and insecticides on nearby properties, excessive nutrient build-up, degraded 
water quality, and habitat modification. Koala numbers have markedly decreased throughout Australia due to
habitat loss from fire, weed effects and clearing, and many populations are now living in isolated patches of habitat 
like Triunia National Park. This isolation puts them at great risk of localised extinction. The notophyll vine forest is a 
popular habitat for the many species of birds that live on the park. Further threats to all animal species on the park 
include dogs, cats, foxes and toads.

An excellent turn out of over 40 members and visitors enjoyed a stroll through the Environmental Reserve and recorded the following species;
Triunia Environmental Reserve, Queensland, AU Nov 7, 2015 7:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling - circa 2.0 kilometer(s)
Comments:     regular monthly outing for Birdlife Australia - Sunshine Coast
61 species [some spp recorded by call only]

Australian Brushturkey  1     active mound
Australian White Ibis  1
White-headed Pigeon  1
Brown Cuckoo-Dove (Australian)  6
Emerald Dove  2
Crested Pigeon  1
Wonga Pigeon  1
Peaceful Dove  2
Bar-shouldered Dove  1
Wompoo Fruit-Dove  2
Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove  1
Topknot Pigeon  4
Shining Bronze-Cuckoo  4
Channel-billed Cuckoo  8
Pheasant Coucal  2
White-throated Needletail  12
Laughing Kookaburra  8
Forest Kingfisher  2
Rainbow Bee-eater  2
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo  2
Australian King-Parrot  4
Pale-headed Rosella  6
Rainbow Lorikeet  6
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet  4
White-throated Treecreeper  7
Lewin's Honeyeater  8
Noisy Miner  8
Scarlet Honeyeater  6
Blue-faced Honeyeater  3
White-throated Honeyeater  8
Spotted Pardalote  3
Striated Pardalote  2
White-browed Scrubwren  11
Large-billed Scrubwren  6
Brown Thornbill  8
Striated Thornbill  4
Brown Gerygone  1
Eastern Whipbird  2
Pied Butcherbird  2
Australian Magpie  3
Pied Currawong  3
Black-faced Cuckooshrike  1
Varied Triller  4
Common Cicadabird  2
Crested Shrike-tit  1
Little Shrikethrush  4
Grey Shrikethrush  1
Golden Whistler  12
Olive-backed Oriole  4
Australasian Figbird  5
Spangled Drongo  3
Rufous Fantail  1
Grey Fantail  1
Spectacled Monarch  2
Leaden Flycatcher  2
Torresian Crow  4
Pale-yellow Robin  2
Eastern Yellow Robin  5
Silvereye  4
Mistletoebird  2
Red-browed Finch  1

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25728343


No comments:

Post a Comment