Factors Affecting Flora Conservation - Victorian Environmental ...

107
An additional section gives a summarised
description of fresh-water fish, and a general
discussion on the influences on fish
conservation. A short section on invertebrates,
prepared for CouncU by Mr P.J.
Vaughan, has also been added.
Common names have been used throughout
the text, except for several species of reptile
that do not have accepted ones. The
scientific and common names of all species
are given in Appendix V; those for mammals
follow Menkhorst (1987); for birds Emison et
al. (1987); and for reptiles and amphibians
die Atlas of Victorian WUdlife (Cogger 1986)
except for Litoria spenceri, Austrelaps
ramsayi, Lamphropholis, and Sphenomorphus).
Because of the many taxonomic
changes in recent years, many species names
used in this report differ from those listed in
CouncU's 1973 report. To enable the reader
to make use of that earlier information, these
changes are documented in Appendix VII.
Historical Changes to the
Vertebrate Fauna
Being close to Melboume, the study area has
more historical faunal information than many
other parts of the State. This is especially
tme for regions such as the Mornington
Peninsula, Western Port, and the
Dandenongs. However, only limited information
is available for much of the Central
Highlands.
The first published comment on the fauna
was made by George Bass when he entered
Western Port in 1798. He was impressed by
die large numbers of waterfowl, and
commented that 'black swans went by in
hundreds of a flight, and ducks, a small but
excellent kind, by thousands, and the usual
wildfowl were in abundance'. In 1855
William Blandowski, the first government
zoologist of Victoria conducted two
excursions reporting on the fauna: one to the
Mornington Peninsula; the other to the
eastern side of Westem Port and to Phillip
and French Islands.
By far the most comprehensive historical
description of the fauna was written by
Horace Wheelwright (1862), an Englishman
who became a professional hunter in the area
between Port Phillip Bay and Westem Port,
between 1853 and 1857. He described all of
the species with which he was familiar in his
book 'Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist', and
gave a comprehensive record of the fauna and
its local abundance at the time. Andrew et
al. (1984) provide a list of more dian 200
identifiable species, with a quote from
Wheelwright for each indicating abundance,
and a comment on the present stams of the
species if it has changed markedly.
Some parts of the study area have changed
drastically since European setdement as a
result of habitat destmction or modification.
This has affected the composition of the
fauna and also the abundance and distribution
of the remaining species. Some species are
now extinct in the study area, others have
decreased in abundance, while some have
benefited from the alterations. The range of
some species-has contracted and disttibution
changed.
Mammals
Compared with other parts of the State, such
as the Mallee, where large numbers of
mammal extinctions have occurred, this area
has fared reasonably well, as only two
species, here the eastern quoll and Tasmanian
pademelon, have become extinct here. The
eastern quoll, which no longer occurs on the
Australian mainland, was described by
Wheelwright as 'one of the commonest of all
the bush animals ...'. By the 1940s it had
disappeared from almost the whole of its
former mainland range.
The Tasmanian pademelon was recorded in
the 'Narracan Hills' (south of the La Trobe
Valley) last century. Wheelwright noted that
'I never met with the wallaby on the
mainland in these parts, but I believe they are
common in certain places further inland: diey
abound however, in the scmb on PhUlip
Island, in Westem-port Bay. The wallaby is
very common in Van Diemen's Land, and on
certain islands in the strait.' Unfortunately
there are no museum specimens of this
species from the study area to confirm these
observations, and it is now extinct on the
mainland.
Several species reported by WTieelwright
have decreased in numbers. The eastern grey
kangaroo was so abundant on the Mornington
Peninsula that he believed '... it seems as if
they could never be shot out; although as the
country becomes more peopled, their