Habitat losses and creeping wildlife extinction on the Mornington Peninsula
"Kangaroos were formerly so plentiful that they resembled flocks of sheep. At Sandy Point they erected yards for a big kangaroo drive. Messrs. Clarke, White and Benton and others got 1500 in the first drive. Stakes 7ft high were driven into the ground and interwoven with tea-tree. In the last drive they got 800 kangaroos. On the plain they were in their thousands as also were the possums. Bandicoots and goannas were also very numerous"
Tuck, (1971, p.6)
"Research indicates that populations may continue to decline, or become locally extinct, long after initial changes and impacts to the environment. This is known as an extinction debt, caused by a time-lag effect of vegetation clearing and landscape change that has happened many years ago. The decline of the number of species and their abundance may still be occurring long after clearing native vegetation has ceased. Therefore, the wildlife present today throughout the Mornington Peninsula may still be at risk of decline or local extinction"
Malcolm Legg
Malcolm Legg
Loss of mammalian species on the Mornington Peninsula
From 37 original species - locally extinct or endangered = 25 or 66%
Loss of mammalian species in the Frankston area
From 37 original species - locally extinct or endangered = 28 or 76%
This graph shows presence/absence results and conservation status of the mammals/marsupials found/not found in surveys of 85 Peninsula reserves. All the native animals on this list once lived on the peninsula. Birds, fish reptiles and many invertebrates have suffered similar declines in species richness and numbers
Historical references concerning the original abundance of native animals on the Mornington Peninsula
Malcolm Legg
Historical wildlife records are interesting to compare with fauna communities present today. In general, the historical records show greater diversity and abundance of fauna throughout the region. The decline in wildlife diversity and abundance can largely be attributed to anthropogenic changes in the environment, such as vegetation clearance, intense weed invasion, hunting, and the introduction of non-indigenous pest animals and diseases.
In the report prepared by Andrew et al. (1984), there are accounts from a number of historical sources. These mention waterbirds in flocks of hundreds, and even thousands, although these waterbirds are still present today, they do not occur in the numbers previously observed.
The following are extracts from historical records of the fauna that once occurred in the area during the 1800s and early to
mid 1900s: Wheelwright (1862) spent a number of years in the mid-1800s hunting professionally around Melbourne, in particular the upper region of the Mornington Peninsula. He wrote about the native fauna encountered whilst in the bush and their abundance. Wheelwright describes the Dingo as being "common in thick forests, deeply scrubbed gullies, in belts of timber bordering the large plans and in patches of tea-tree on the plains themselves". He also goes on to describe many species that have also been noted by Cavill (1989), such as Common Wom- bat, Koala, Common Brushtail and Ringtail Possums, Sugar Glider, Feathertail Glider, Long-nosed and Southern Brown Bandicoots, Short-beaked Echidna and Water Rat.
Kenyon (1930) reporting on the work and travels of Dr Edmund Charles Hobson, an early Victorian naturalist, quotes from Hobson's 1837 notes "The forests between Melbourne and Arthurs Seat teem with life. The large Kangaroos may be seen in flocks of three hundred or four hundred, and some measure nearly eight feet in height". He goes on to describe that the Southern Brown Bandicoot, Common Wombat, Eastern Quoll, Common Brushtail Possum and Common Ringtail Possum were very numerous. Many of these species no longer occur on the Peninsula or are diminished in abundance.
Wheelwright also makes note of how common the Long-nosed Potoroo is, which is now no longer present on the Mornington Peninsula. Interestingly, Wheelwright never observed Platypus in the "Westernport district", although he found it common in the "Yarra, the Exe and many of the streams to the north and east of Melbourne". Wheelwright found Spotted-tailed Quolls rare, but the Eastern Quolls to be "one of the commonest of all bush animals", especially in the belts of timber around swamps. The Eastern Quoll is now considered extinct on mainland Australia.
Jenny Cavill in her study and observations (Cavill 1989) noted the decline in the occurrence of wildlife living around Moorooduc Quarry Flora and Fauna Reserve. Of the mammals, quolls, Southern Brown Bandicoots and Eastern Grey Kangaroos were present until around the 1940s while the Common Wombat remained until twenty years later. As recently as twenty years ago, Cavill recalls Koalas, Sugar Gliders and Agile Antechinus as abundant; however their numbers have since declined significantly. She believes the Black Wallaby was still present until 1984. Two species of pygmy possum, the Feathertail Glider and the Eastern Pygmy Possum, were also thought to have lived in the vicinity.
Local resident Julie Firnell, formerly a wildlife carer, has been observing fauna along Earimil Creek since 1980. She reports that the overall abundance and the number of species have greatly reduced over the last few years due to increased predation by cats and foxes. According to Firnell's observations, a number of species that were regularly seen have not been seen for a number of years, including Azure Kingfisher, Barn Owl, Water Rat and an unconfirmed sighting of a bandicoot. Firnell also comments that an older person whom she cared for re- members (circa 1930s) that "wombats, koalas kangaroos and wallabies were common along the creek".
Since 1989, local botanist, Jeff Yugovic, who lives along Earimil Creek, has observed the following fauna species: Australian Wood Duck, Masked Lapwing, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Striated Pardalote, Rufous Whistler, Olive-backed Oriole, Pied Currawong, Little Raven, and the Red-browed Finch. These were not detected in Legg (2002). Yugovic also believes that Koalas existed on the Peninsula prior to 1985.
Research indicates that populations may continue to decline, or become locally extinct, long after initial changes and impacts to the environment. This is known as an extinction debt caused by a time-lag effect of vegetation clearing and landscape change that has happened many years ago. The decline of the number of species and their abundance may still be occurring long after clearing native vegetation has ceased. Therefore, the wildlife present today throughout the Mornington Peninsula may still be at risk of decline or local extinction.
Read more from Mal here
Historical wildlife records are interesting to compare with fauna communities present today. In general, the historical records show greater diversity and abundance of fauna throughout the region. The decline in wildlife diversity and abundance can largely be attributed to anthropogenic changes in the environment, such as vegetation clearance, intense weed invasion, hunting, and the introduction of non-indigenous pest animals and diseases.
In the report prepared by Andrew et al. (1984), there are accounts from a number of historical sources. These mention waterbirds in flocks of hundreds, and even thousands, although these waterbirds are still present today, they do not occur in the numbers previously observed.
The following are extracts from historical records of the fauna that once occurred in the area during the 1800s and early to
mid 1900s: Wheelwright (1862) spent a number of years in the mid-1800s hunting professionally around Melbourne, in particular the upper region of the Mornington Peninsula. He wrote about the native fauna encountered whilst in the bush and their abundance. Wheelwright describes the Dingo as being "common in thick forests, deeply scrubbed gullies, in belts of timber bordering the large plans and in patches of tea-tree on the plains themselves". He also goes on to describe many species that have also been noted by Cavill (1989), such as Common Wom- bat, Koala, Common Brushtail and Ringtail Possums, Sugar Glider, Feathertail Glider, Long-nosed and Southern Brown Bandicoots, Short-beaked Echidna and Water Rat.
Kenyon (1930) reporting on the work and travels of Dr Edmund Charles Hobson, an early Victorian naturalist, quotes from Hobson's 1837 notes "The forests between Melbourne and Arthurs Seat teem with life. The large Kangaroos may be seen in flocks of three hundred or four hundred, and some measure nearly eight feet in height". He goes on to describe that the Southern Brown Bandicoot, Common Wombat, Eastern Quoll, Common Brushtail Possum and Common Ringtail Possum were very numerous. Many of these species no longer occur on the Peninsula or are diminished in abundance.
Wheelwright also makes note of how common the Long-nosed Potoroo is, which is now no longer present on the Mornington Peninsula. Interestingly, Wheelwright never observed Platypus in the "Westernport district", although he found it common in the "Yarra, the Exe and many of the streams to the north and east of Melbourne". Wheelwright found Spotted-tailed Quolls rare, but the Eastern Quolls to be "one of the commonest of all bush animals", especially in the belts of timber around swamps. The Eastern Quoll is now considered extinct on mainland Australia.
Jenny Cavill in her study and observations (Cavill 1989) noted the decline in the occurrence of wildlife living around Moorooduc Quarry Flora and Fauna Reserve. Of the mammals, quolls, Southern Brown Bandicoots and Eastern Grey Kangaroos were present until around the 1940s while the Common Wombat remained until twenty years later. As recently as twenty years ago, Cavill recalls Koalas, Sugar Gliders and Agile Antechinus as abundant; however their numbers have since declined significantly. She believes the Black Wallaby was still present until 1984. Two species of pygmy possum, the Feathertail Glider and the Eastern Pygmy Possum, were also thought to have lived in the vicinity.
Local resident Julie Firnell, formerly a wildlife carer, has been observing fauna along Earimil Creek since 1980. She reports that the overall abundance and the number of species have greatly reduced over the last few years due to increased predation by cats and foxes. According to Firnell's observations, a number of species that were regularly seen have not been seen for a number of years, including Azure Kingfisher, Barn Owl, Water Rat and an unconfirmed sighting of a bandicoot. Firnell also comments that an older person whom she cared for re- members (circa 1930s) that "wombats, koalas kangaroos and wallabies were common along the creek".
Since 1989, local botanist, Jeff Yugovic, who lives along Earimil Creek, has observed the following fauna species: Australian Wood Duck, Masked Lapwing, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Striated Pardalote, Rufous Whistler, Olive-backed Oriole, Pied Currawong, Little Raven, and the Red-browed Finch. These were not detected in Legg (2002). Yugovic also believes that Koalas existed on the Peninsula prior to 1985.
Research indicates that populations may continue to decline, or become locally extinct, long after initial changes and impacts to the environment. This is known as an extinction debt caused by a time-lag effect of vegetation clearing and landscape change that has happened many years ago. The decline of the number of species and their abundance may still be occurring long after clearing native vegetation has ceased. Therefore, the wildlife present today throughout the Mornington Peninsula may still be at risk of decline or local extinction.
Read more from Mal here
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