Client: Parks Victoria
Location: Reef Hills State Park, Victoria

Key Services Provided:

• Terrestrial Fauna Monitoring
• Evaluation of productivity of vegetation
• Management planning recommendations

Overview

Reef Hills State Park is an area of 2040 hectares located approximately 200km north-east of Melbourne. The Park is a multi-use area currently utilised for nature conservation and human recreational activities, with a history of gold mining and stock grazing. Currently, the park is experiencing a significant decline in native vegetation diversity, with native shrub species particularly affected. While some of this decline is attributable to drought, our previous work identified fire exclusion and the level of macropod grazing as major influences. This project designed and implemented an appropriate methodology for counting macropod numbers and determined their habitat preference.

It was found that macropod density and abundance estimates were most accurately determined using a line transect method, and were recommended that this survey method be implemented regularly to accurately ascertain macropod densities and abundance. Additionally, plant productivity was the same in the grazed areas as in areas where grazing is excluded, suggesting that macropods were foraging on annuals such as herbs and forbs rather than perennial native grasses. Other recommendations were associated with fire and macropod grazing management and were formulated to assist in enhancing native vegetation recruitment and improve the overall condition of the Park.

Contact:

Steve Hamilton (steve.hamilton@watech.com.au)
Senior Ecologist
Phone 03 5721 2650 or 0409 356 331
PO Box 792, Wangaratta VIC 3676