Revegetation Strategy - Townsville State of the Environment Report

Townsville City Council Draft Revegetation Strategy
Thespesia populnea and shrubs including Caesalpinia bonduc, Clerodendrum species,
Dodonea viscosa and Scaevola taccada. The ground storey contains grasses (eg Cenchrus
echinatus, Thuaria involuta) and herbs (eg Tribulus terrestris, Vitex rotundifolia).
Beach ridge/swale.
Older stabilised beach ridges can support diverse woodland, forest or vine thicket (“beach
scrub”) communities. Swales can also contain small freshwater wetland habitats or saline
mangrove habitats. Widespread trees in forests and woodlands include Eucalyptus
tereticornis, Corymbia tesselaris, Canarium australianum, Pleiogynium timorense and
Alphitonia excelsa. Planchonia careya, Acacia species, Macaranga tanarius and Livistona
decipiens are common mid-storey species. Ground-storey plants include Jasminium didymum,
Heteropogon species, Imperata cylindrica and Themeda triandra. Beach vine thickets are
very diverse communities similar to those found in alluvial soils.
2.6. Fauna
Few published faunal lists are available for the Townsville City Council region. Lavery
(1968) and Lavery and Johnson (1968) surveyed mammals and birds of the Townsville area.
Weineke (1989) has published a comprehensive guide to Townsville birds. James et al (1994)
have compiled a list of Townsville reptiles, and Hero et al (1996) have developed a similar
list of frogs.
Faunal records based on these sources include 25 frogs (15 tree frogs, 10 southern frogs), 113
reptiles (2 crocodiles, 5 turtles, 66 lizards, 40 snakes), 365 birds and 47 terrestrial mammals
(2 monotremes, 20 marsupials, 5 rodents, 19 bats, dingo).
2.7. Communities and species with high conservation significance.
QDEH (1995) have assessed the conservation status of Queensland’s regional ecosystems,
within 11 biogeographic regions. Each ecosystem, identified primarily by the major types of
vegetation and landform, has been classified as endangered (< 5% of pre-European extent
remaining), vulnerable (5-10% of pre-European extent remaining), of concern (10-30% of
pre-European extent remaining) or no concern at present (>30% of pre-European extent
remaining). The Townsville Plains Province contains 15 regional ecosystems which are listed
as endangered, vulnerable or of concern (Appendix A.1)
Information on endangered, rare and vulnerable plant and animal species was compiled from
Queensland Herbarium data, the Queensland Biodiversity Network vanishing flora and rare
and threatened fauna databases (Griffith & Griffith, 1996), CSIRO list of Australian
vertebrates (Stanger et al, 1998), Townsville City Council region-vegetation communities and
conservation priorities (Skull, 1996) and Townsville Thuringowa Strategy Plan (QDLGP,
1996). These species and their present legislative status in the Queensland Nature
Conservation Act are given in Appendix A.2.
The present distribution of most of these species is very poorly known. Where possible, a
representative distribution record has been given for each species. The actual distribution and
habitat requirements of these species will not be clear until detailed surveys and ecological
studies are conducted.
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