21 de diciembre de 2023

Flying foxes set up camp in new rainforest

Imagine walking trough a rainforest and thinking that I cannot remember a rainforest being here. Then it hit me, I planted the rainforest in 1993. On moist, alluvial soils in the tropics, a rainforest can grow in thirty years. Wildlife, including the endangered spectacled flying fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) has also returned to the forest.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/194466593 - the new rainforest
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/194466592 - spectacled flying foxes in the new rainforest

In 1993, I was part of the Wet Tropics Tree Planting Project and was based in Cairns (Mulgrave Shire), Queensland, Australia. We were tasked with planting trees along Freshwater Creek and in Goomboora Park. Whilst the site would have originally supported riparian rainforest, the rainforest had been removed to allow for sugarcane farming. Even trees on the top of the creek bank had been removed. It was not a pleasant place with building waste tipped over outer bends in the creek to prevent erosion and elephant grass (Cenchrus purpureum) growing to more that 2 metres tall on any low flats that flanked the creek.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/194466590 - condition of area before rainforest regeneration.

Cairns is a major growth area and the council of the day, purchased a cane farm to be a public open space in the future. In 1993 planted trees along the creek but to this day plantings are continuing on the former sugarcane farm. The rainforest helps to preserve Freshwater Creek, which is popular for swimming and which has a vast array of native fish (by Australian standards). The trees also provide shade for creek users and along the concrete bicycle path that follows the creek.

On my visit in 2023, I saw a few dozen spectacled flying foxes looking back at me from above. They were hanging from a cluster fig (Ficus racemosa) that I may have personally planted. This event provided proof that we can grow patches of forest that flying foxes or fruit bats as they are also known, will establish camps in planted trees. I was also wondering why flying foxes often set up camp in parks in the centres of country towns. We have some populist politicians that would happily shoot all flying foxes despite them being a keystone species and being endangered at both State and Federal level. There has long been pressure to remove the bats from town centres. I was not sure why flying foxes like town centres. Some animals, mainly parrots, revel in the lights and action of towns. Predators such as pythons and sea eagles are also far less prevalent in towns. Finally, trees in parks are irrigated, so grow tall and shady which can moderate temperature extremes.

The new rainforest is connected to the rainforest on the hills behind Cairns so would have all of the predators that live in the hills. The new rainforest also lacks the activity of a town centre so that leaves thermal comfort as the remaining reason why the bats moved in. I am also told (Beth Noel pers comms) that flying foxes will choose locations that are close to food. As the urban forest spreads, there is less sugarcane and more trees and palms which flying foxes can use as food. Perhaps, with expanding urban development, the centre of gravity of urban food resource has moved to Freshwater Creek.

Other animals that inhabit the planted rainforest include bandicoots (Parameles nasuta), striped possums (Dactylopsila trivirgata), frogs (Ranoidea jungguy) and orange-footed scrub fowls (Megapodius reinwardt).

Publicado el diciembre 21, 2023 12:00 MAÑANA por coenobita coenobita | 2 comentarios | Deja un comentario

14 de mayo de 2020

Fauna might be eating mushrooms in Canberra

I did not see any fauna eating mushrooms, however many mushrooms were broken off and some had stems missing or animal shaped bite marks in them. The prime suspects were brushtail possums and sulphur-crested cockatoos. The mushrooms were in parkland, with exotic trees that would not usually be considered food trees for native Australian fauna.

Publicado el mayo 14, 2020 05:33 MAÑANA por coenobita coenobita | 2 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

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