Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 N

The open treeless grasslands of the Central Gippsland Plains once covered about 600km² (Lunt in McDougall and Kirkpatrick 1994) at the time of European settlement, but are now believed to be extinct. The grassy vegetation of the plains has been severely modified by nearly 200 years of agriculture and development, and its original condition is not known in precise detail. Composition and structure of the original grasslands and open grassy woodlands was maintained by grazing and aboriginal burning. Cessation of burning led to a decrease in grassiness and increase in shrub and tree cover. Following European settlement, burning in grassy woodlands greatly decreased and woodland remnants were grazed by stock. Small remnants such as railways and cemeteries were excluded from grazing but were repeatedly burned, as often as every 2-3 years. So over the last 150 years, grassland and woodland remnants have been altered from ecosystems subject to burning and grazing interactions, to either solely grazed or solely burned ecosystems.

Lunt (1997a) has proposed that these remnants now form two distinct communities - Forest Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Central Gippsland Plains Grassland - formed by different land use histories. The present grassland community of the Gippsland Plains consists of small remnants derived from the original grassy woodlands.

Forest Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Central Gippsland Plains Grassland have many species in common, but because of this ecological segregation they now contain different threatened species and have different management requirements.

The present areas of open, herb-rich grasslands occur almost exclusively on small areas of public land that have had a history of frequent burning for fuel reduction. These are small fragmented patches on the Melbourne-Bairnsdale rail line, disused Heyfield-Maffra line, and in a few local cemeteries and roadsides – comprising at most 60 hectares.

This burning regime has created an open, treeless community with a suite of tall flowering herbs. It includes species that are tolerant of frequent burning but intolerant of grazing (e.g. orchids). The community is dominated by Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra) with Wallaby Grasses (mostly Austrodanthonia laevis and Notodanthonia semiannularis) and Tussock-grass (Poa labillardierei) and includes a number of native herbs, mostly perennials. Common species include Common Everlasting (Chrysocephalum apiculatum), Short-stem Sedge (Carex breviculmis), Five-awned Spear-grass (Pentapogon quadrifidus), Blue Grass-lily (Caesia calliantha), Golden Weather-glass (Hypoxis hygrometrica ), Pale Sundew (Drosera peltata ssp. peltata), Milkmaids (Burchardia umbellata), Common Rice-flower (Pimelea humilis), Yellow Rush-lily (Tricoryne elatior), Common Bog-sedge (Schoenus apogon), Chocolate Lily (Arthropodium strictum). Threatened species include Purple Diuris (Diuris punctata) and Gaping Leek-orchid (Prasophyllum correctum).

Although dominated by Themeda, and containing many species common to the grasslands further to the west of Victoria, the flora of the Central Gippsland Plains Grassland has distinct differences from that of the Western (Basalt) Plains Grasslands, and from that of the heavy soils of the South Gippsland grasslands. Species that are common in the Central Gippsland Plains Grasslands, but are rare or absent in the Western (Basalt) Plains Grasslands, include Purple Diuris, Golden Weather-glass and Noah’s Ark (Poa clelandii). Species that are common in the Western (Basalt) Plains Grasslands, but do not occur in the otherwise floristically similar Central Gippsland Plains Grasslands, include Lemon Beauty-heads, Prickly Woodruff (Asperula scoparia), Pink Bindweed and Blue Devil. The uncommon but still widely distributed Swainsona and Ptilotus species that occur in other Victorian grasslands are also absent.

There are few if any fauna species characteristic of this community remaining. Some relatively common and non-specialised may remain, but no grassland specialists. Invertebrate fauna are so far unsurveyed.

Rail reserves at Clyde, Dawson, Munro, Marriage Lane, Hillside and Toongabbie South

Mornington tourist rail line

Cemeteries at Briagolong and Maffra

West Sale aerodrome

Fulham road reserve.

Mostly unreserved

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  Weed invasion, by African love-grass, St John’s Wort, exotic pasture species and cemetery garden waste. Chilean Needle-grass has been recorded in the area and has the potential to be a major weed. On long-unburnt sites, invasion by native shrubs such as Burgan (Kunzea ericoides), melaleucas, acacias and casuarinas require management.
  
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  Lack of burning for biomass management
  
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  Overgrazing by stock and pest animals, especially on disused rail lines and roadsides
  
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  Broadscale and incremental damage caused by railway maintenance works and road upgrades and maintenance works
  
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  Destruction for cemetery use, by digging graves and “tidying up”.
  
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  Tree planting in naturally treeless areas
  
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  Increasing groundwater salinity
  

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  Action Statement prepared for Prasophyllum correctum, Gaping Leek-orchid (No. 57),
  
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  Brief management statements prepared for known rail and road sites in the early 1990s
  
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  Management plan developed for the Traralgon Reservoir Conservation Reserve by the Friends group
  
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  FFG Action Statement completed for Maroon Leek-orchid Prasophyllum sp. aff. frenchii 2 (formerly Prasophyllum frenchii)
  

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  Establishment of the Perry River Protected Area Network (later expanded into the Gippsland Plains Conservation Management Network)
  
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  Dawson, Toongabbie and Bumberrah rail reserves established as RailTrails under Committees of Management
  

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  Burning, weed control, fencing and signposting undertaken at high quality rail reserves and cemeteries
  
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  Rabbit control undertaken at Munro and Lindenow South
  
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  Weed control along rail reserve sites.
  
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  WWF/NHT grassy ecosystem grants was awarded in 2000 for ‘Best Practice Grassland Management Project’ undertaken by Wellington Shire, for management and PAMAs at several sites including the West Sale Aerodrome
  

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  WWF/NHT grassy ecosystem grants was awarded in 2000 for Grassland Conservers (Trust for Nature)
  

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  Programs of springtime walks, talks and tours carried out through the last decade, by Trust for Nature and NRE staff
  
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  NRE liaised with landholders to inform them of management activities on adjacent sites
  
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  Interpretation boards erected at the Munro, Fulham and Dawson grasslands
  
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  Grassland Interpretation Board erected at West Sale Aerodrome Terminal Building, as part of Wellington Shire’s ‘Grassy Ecosystem Grants Project’
  
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  WWF/NHT grassy ecosystem grants were awarded in 2001 for Grassland Conservers Part 2 – Trust for Nature
  

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  Surveys of sites and development of management recommendations for sites on the Traralgon-Bairnsdale rail lines during the 1990s, funded by grants and the then Department of Conservation and Environment
  
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  Trust for Nature undertook a survey of grassland sites on private land, on invitation from interested landowners in 1997
  
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  Known grassland sites were entered onto the Grasslands Register and later the NRE Biosites database
  
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  Surveys were undertaken to identify and map grassland remnants on rail reserves of active lines from Warragul to Bairnsdale, in 2001
  
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  Ecological Assessment completed for West Sale Aerodrome
  
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  Gaping Leek-orchid monitoring program at Munro and Lindenow
  
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  Grassland community monitoring quadrats at 10 key sites to the east of the bioregion
  
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  Purple Diuris monitoring occurring at key sites
  

The community is estimated to have once covered about 1200km² prior to European settlement (Lunt 1994) , but 99.5% of the original Gippsland plains woodlands has been converted to farmland and few remnants of the original flora now survive. This original distribution can be seen from large numbers of old Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis subsp. mediana) trees and stumps dotted across the plains, but most are surrounded by an understorey of exotic grasses and other weeds. Perhaps 900 ha of partially intact grassy woodland remains, in a few reserves, on roadsides and on blocks of private land with a past history of light grazing. The Gippsland RFA Biodiversity Assessment Report (Commonwealth of Australia 2000a) equates the community to EVC 55-03 Plains Grassy Woodland.

The community presently consists of woodland with a scattered mosaic of smaller open grassy areas. However the composition if this community has undoubtedly been altered since European settlement. Composition and structure of the original grassy ecosystems was maintained by grazing and aboriginal burning. Halting of burning led to a decrease in grass and an increase in shrub and tree cover. Following European settlement, burning in grassy woodlands greatly decreased and woodland remnants were grazed by stock. Small remnants such as railways and cemeteries were excluded from grazing but were repeatedly burned, changing them from an open grassy woodland to a treeless grassland. Lunt (1997b) has proposed that these remnants now form two distinct communities - Forest Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Central Gippsland Plains Grassland - due to different land use histories. Division of these communities is problematical due to the small size of remnant areas. Some open grassland areas occur within the woodlands, and some of the Central Gippsland Grassland Community has undergone some shrub and tree invasion. These two communities have many understorey species in common, but because of this ecological segregation they now contain different threatened species and have different management requirements.

Since European settlement most of the Forest Red Gums in Moormurng Flora and Fauna Reserve had been felled for railway sleepers, farming timber and cobbles for Melbourne streets. Most of the timber stands are about 130 years old. Adjacent roadside vegetation which has never been grazed contains about 30 more understorey species than exist in Moormurng.

Forest Red Gum Grassy Woodland occurs on Lower Pleistocene gravels, sands, silts and clays with minor Tertiary alluvium. (Commonwealth of Australia 2000). It is dominated by Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus teretecornis subsp. mediana) over a grassy understorey that is similar to that of Central Gippsland Plains Grassland, but without the dominance of Kangaroo Grass. Co-dominant trees are Red Box (E. polyanthemos), and scattered smaller trees of Lightwood (Acacia implexa). There are occasional patches of Black Sheoke (Allocasuarina littoralis). Dominant understorey grasses include Weeping Grass (Microlaena stipoides), Wallaby Grasses (Austrodanthonia racemosa and Notodanthonia geniculata) and Spear Grass (Austrostipa spp., commonly A. rudis). Dominant herbs include Kidney Weed (Dichondra repens), Stinking Pennywort (Hydrocotyle laxiflora), Small St John’s Wort (Hypericum gramineum), Chocolate Lily (Arthropodium strictum), Common Bog-sedge (Schoenus apogon), Short-stem Sedge (Carex breviculmis), Cranberry Heath (Astroloma humifusum), Creeping Bossiaea (Bossiaea prostrata), Yellow Rush-lily (Tricoryne elatior), Thatch Saw-sedge (Gahnia radula), Star Cudweed (Euchiton involucratus), Small Poranthera (Poranthera microphylla).

Threatened species include Bushy Hedgehog-grass (Echinopogon caespitosus), Dwarf Milkwort (Polygala japonica), Southern Spider-orchid (Caladenia australis), Slender Tick-trefoil (Desmodium varians) and Paddock Love-grass (Eragrostis leptostachya).