RYDE FLORA and FAUNA STUDY 2007 - City of Ryde - NSW ...

Biosphere Environmental Consultants Pty Ltd
Ryde Flora and Fauna Survey 2007 58
None of these habitats are alien to the Ryde area, and some would require the
procurement of seed stock from nearby bushland areas as parent plants no longer exist
in the Ryde LGA.
Finally, with so much information now available about the flora and fauna of the
bushland reserves, a structure needs to be developed so that this information can be
overviewed and a co-ordinated response achieved. Ryde City Council already has a
“Parks on Track” Plan for its reserves and the new information needs to be
assimilated so that planning decisions can be made with all of the available
information at hand.
6.2 Improving the Habitat Value of Existing Reserves
The existing bushland reserves suffer from a loss of terrestrial fauna. In many cases
this is due to predation by foxes, cats, dogs, black rats or native birds. The bushland
reserves that are established along watercourses tend to be long and narrow, making
them even more prone to feral animal entry. Predation has taken a heavy toll because
there is a lack of shelter sites in the reserves. Dead trees, fallen logs and branches and
rocks usually provide the best shelter habitat along with understorey plants. In many
reserves the understorey is still present (albeit not completely intact) but there is a
shortage of logs and fallen timber. In other instances they have been removed because
they look messy or block tracks. Dead trees are only felled where they are considered
a danger to walkers close to tracks and private property.
The lack of ground shelter is a major impediment for the survival of many native
terrestrial species. This situation does not prevent the use of artificial shelters for
terrestrial animals. Although this is not a widely accepted practice, animal shelters in
trees have been used for parrots and possums. These tree shelters replace the dead tree
hollows that are lost from reserve habitats.
6.3 Connectivity of Bushland Areas
As the residential areas in Ryde were developed, bushland pockets became smaller
and more isolated. The isolation of bushland area makes them even more susceptible
to urban impacts and biota loss. An aim in the conservation of remnant buhsland area
should be to try to increase the connectivity of these sites.
Some of the bushland reserves e.g Memorial Park, are totally isolated from other
bushland areas. This isolation diminishes the survival prospects of various animals
and limits the capacity of migratory species to use the reserves while moving across
Sydney. To create corridors between reserves will require the creation of suitable
habitat outside of the reserves. There appears to be two ways that this can be done:
1. Sympathetic street planting. Instead of using ornamental or totally
decorative street trees, trees that provide habitat value (either as dense canopy, food or
nesting sites) should be utilised. As most of the reserves contain woodland, the types
of tree that would serve this purpose include Turpentine Syncarpia glomulifera,