Damaging Activities Threatening Significant …...Damaging Activities Threatening Significant Roadside Vegetation at Newham, Victoria 4.0 References DEPI (2014) Advisory List of Threatened

Damaging Activities Threatening Significant Roadside Vegetation at Newham, Victoria

Prepared for Newham and District Landcare Group

Karl Just December 2016

Damaging Activities Threatening Significant Roadside Vegetation at Newham, Victoria Page i

Karl Just, ecological consultant Castlemaine, Victoria 3450 [email protected] Ph: 0434815374

Damaging Activities Threatening Significant Roadside Vegetation at Newham, Victoria, January 2016

Document Version: Version 1

All photographs by Karl Just except where otherwise credited.

Plate 1 Significant roadside vegetation at Sheltons Road, Newham.

Damaging Activities Threatening Significant Roadside Vegetation at Newham, Victoria Page ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 3

1.1 Project Context ................................................................................................................................. 3

2.0 EXAMPLES OF DAMAGING ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................. 4

2.1 Three Chain Road, north-west of the junction with Bolgers Lane ................................................... 4

2.2 Hennerbergs Road, north of Finchers Lane ...................................................................................... 7

2.3 Three Chain Road, east of Boundary Road ..................................................................................... 10

2.4 Three Chain Road, east of Chases Lane .......................................................................................... 11

3.0 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. 12

4.0 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 13

Plate 2 Significant roadside vegetation, Three Chain Road

3 Damaging Activities Threatening Significant Roadside Vegetation at Newham, Victoria

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Project Context

The Newham district contains extensive areas of significant roadside vegetation that function as vital

habitat links and support numerous threatened flora species. These remnants also contain high

quality remnants of plant communities that are poorly represented in the regional conservation

reserve system (Just 2016). The vegetation of the roadsides is primarily managed by Macedon

Ranges Shire Council (MRSC) and VicRoads, with other important stakeholders including the

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (e.g. adjacent to Cobaw State Forest), the

Newham and District Landcare Group (NDLG) and private landowners.

In spring 2016, the NDLG engaged the author to document some examples of damaging activities

affecting high value roadside vegetation in the local area, primarily during roadworks. These

examples do not represent all of the ways in which damage has been has been inflicted over the

years, but represent some of the more common activities observed.

The NDLG is seeking to work with Macedon Ranges Shire Council and other relevant stakeholders to

develop strategies that can prevent such incidents occurring in future (Penny Roberts pers. comm.).

The aim of this report is to feed into the general recommendations of the proposed Roadside

Management Plan that is to be prepared by MRSC in early 2017.


2.0 Examples of damaging activities

Several recent examples of damaging activities to roadside vegetation are described below. These

are examples only and such incidents have occurred frequently across the region for many years.

2.1 Three Chain Road, north-west of the junction with Bolgers Lane

Summary of damaging activities:

A road grading machine drove over and parked on top of significant vegetation in spring 2016

Piles of mulch dumped on significant vegetation

Native plant species, including orchids, sprayed with herbicide on road verge

In spring 2016, a grading machine drove over and parked on top of a significant area of remnant

vegetation dominated by Themeda triandra (Kangaroo Grass) that contained significant flora species

such as Diuris chryseopsis (Golden Moths Orchid). On inspection of the site in October, it was found

that many of these orchids had been trampled and the soil compacted.

Other damaging activities noted at the site included several mulch piles that had been dumped onto

native vegetation, smothering the grasses and forbs beneath. A broad band adjacent to the road had

also been sprayed with herbicide, which had killed a variety of native plant species.

How could this have been avoided?

Roadwork vehicles and machinery often require areas to park that are close to the location of work

sites. Driving such vehicles back and forth from the depot in between tasks is simply unfeasible.

However, a solution would be to identify patches of already degraded vegetation along the length of

significant roadsides where parking such vehicles would not cause negative impacts to biodiversity.

Piles of mulch should either be removed from the site or similarly stored in identified areas along the

roadside where there are unlikely be significant impacts. Herbicide spraying should be limited as

much as possible. Spraying of native vegetation only leads to replacement by exotic species which

grow more prolifically, making them less tidy and more of a fire hazard.


Plate 3 A grader parked on top of significant grassy vegetation on the north side of Three Chain Road. This activity crushed many significant plant species and compacted and scalped parts of the soil, increasing the chance of weed invasion. Photo by Penny Roberts

Plate 4 An old plant of Pimelea humilis (Common Rice-flower) crushed by the grader at Three Chain Road.


Plate 5 Trampling and damage to the soil caused by the grader at Three Chain Road. Photo by Penny Roberts.

Plate 6 a pile of mulch dumped on top of significant groundflora at Three Chain Road.


2.2 Hennerbergs Road, north of Finchers Lane

Summary of damaging activities:

Removal of endangered vegetation during the reforming of drainage channels

Dumping of soil piles

In spring 2016, a grader destroyed a significant area of endangered Scoria Cone Woodland (EVC 894)

while reforming a drainage channel. This patch of Scoria Cone Woodland represents a plant

community that is exceedingly rare in Victoria and the roadside is one of the most significant in the

Newham area (Just 2016).

In the process of reforming the drainage channel, a relatively large area was destroyed to each side

of the existing channel by either removal of soil, trampling, or pushing large amounts of soil onto

groundflora. This led to the mortality of several hundred lilies, grasses, orchids and other significant

plant species. The impacted area is now likely to be invaded by annual weeds, threatening remaining

native vegetation immediately adjacent.

Significant damage to high value roadside vegetation during reforming of drainage channels has

occurred repeatedly throughout the Newham area for many years (Penny Roberts pers. comm.).


While drainage channels occasionally need to be reformed, this needs to be carried out carefully to

ensure that the area of impact is not made greater, particularly along high value roadsides.

Furthermore, rather than spreading the soil that is scalped from the channel onto adjacent

vegetation, this soil should be removed from the site and taken to an area of low value roadside that

has been identified as a soil dump.


Plate 7 Significant damage to endangered Scoria Cone Woodland vegetation at Hennerbergs Road. The grader has removed a large patch of herb-rich vegetation that will now likely be colonised by weeds.

Plate 8 Significant damage to endangered Scoria Cone Woodland vegetation at Hennerbergs Road.





2.3 Three Chain Road, east of Boundary Road

In 2014, soil was scraped from the edge of parts of Three Chain Road and dumped onto areas of

significant vegetation. To reduce the impact of this activity, six volunteers from Newham Landcare

spent two hours removing as much of the soil as possible by hand. Despite these ameliorating works,

it is likely that large amounts of weed seed were moved from the edge of the roadside (where weeds

typically proliferate) into the core area of the remnant.


Because roadside soil contains large amounts of weed seed, engine oil and other unwanted material,

it should always be removed from site and not dumped onto native vegetation. If absolutely

necessary, soil could be stored in identified areas that pose less threat to significant remnants.

Plate 11 In 2014, soil was scraped from the edge of Three Chain Road and dumped in areas of significant native vegetation. Photo by Penny Roberts


2.4 Three Chain Road, east of Chases Lane

In December 2016, several scattered patches of *Nassella neesiana (Chilean Needle-grass) were

located across several kilometres of Three Chain Road, beginning east of Chases Lane. The largest

patch was over 300 metres long while at least five additional smaller patches were scattered to the

east. It is very likely that these infestations were introduced by slashing machines.


Mowing and slashing machines are one of the most common vectors for the spread of needle-grass

infestations (personal observation). The two common needle-grass species in the region are

*Nassella leucotricha (Texas Needle-grass) and *Nassella neesiana (Chilean Needle-grass), both

which produce seeds that mature around late November through to December. Because this time of

year coincides with the high fire danger period, slashing often occurs just as the seeds are mature

and ready for dispersal.

Considering the very high threat that these grasses pose to both environmental and agricultural

lands, it should be a high priority to identify the location of infestations and develop strategies for

their management and eradication. Ideally, the seed should be cut by hand and removed off site

before plants are sprayed with herbicide (this would require several years of treatment of eradicate

an infestation). If resources are not available to undertake this in a given year, it would be safer to

slash these areas with a brush cutter to avoid machinery driving through the patch and spreading

seed elsewhere.


3.0 Conclusion

The damaging activities described in this report included:

Physical disturbance to vegetation caused by machinery driving onto roadside vegetation or

when reforming drainage channels;

Dumping of mulch and soil onto vegetation;

Excessive herbicide spraying;

Spread of noxious weeds by slashing machinery.

These activities are predominately not due to negligence or deliberate intent but due to a lack of

policies and procedures that could potentially avoid such incidents. A pathway for preventing

damaging activities would be to properly identify high value roadsides and to implement of set of

policies for these areas. This could include setting up works stations in degraded areas occurring

across these sites where machinery can be parked and mulch and other material stockpiled. Workers

involved in roadside works should undergo some simple training to raise awareness regarding the

importance of roadside vegetation, its susceptibility to disturbance and the process of weed invasion.

It is anticipated that the Roadside Management Plan currently being developed by MRSC will be

addressing these issues.


4.0 References

DEPI (2014) Advisory List of Threatened Plants in Victoria – 2014. Department of Environment and

Primary Industries, East Melbourne Victoria.

Edwards, J., Willman, C., McHaffie, I., Olshina, A. & Willocks, A (1997) The geology and prospectivity

of the Castlemaine, Woodend, Yea and part of Bacchus Marsh 1:100 000 map sheets. Department of

Natural Resources and Environment.

Just (2016) Flora Assessment of High Value Roadside Reserves in Newham, Victoria. Prepared for

Newham and District Landcare Group. Just, K. & Aquilina, B. (2014) Flora assessment of a roadside reserve along Three Chain Road,

Newham. Prepared for Newham and District Landcare Group.

Just, K. (2014) Assessment of Three Grazing Exclusion Fences at Newham, Victoria. Prepared for

Newham and District Landcare Group.

Just, K. (2014b) Flora assessment of roadside vegetation along Three Chain Road, Newham. Prepared for Newham and District Landcare Group. Willman, C.E., Bibby, L.M., Radojkovic, A.M., Maher, S., Haydon, S.J., Hollis, J.D. & Osborne, C.R.,

(2002). Castlemaine 1:100 000 map area geological report. Geological Survey of Victoria Report 121.

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Damaging Activities Threatening Significant …...Damaging Activities Threatening Significant Roadside Vegetation at Newham, Victoria 4.0 References DEPI (2014) Advisory List of Threatened